Thursday, January 19, 2012

The Question Not Asked: Newt Edition

Ever find yourself yelling at the TV or radio, wishing the interviewer would just ask the right question?! Me, too.

Not that blurting out the question that I would have liked asked here is going to do much good, but I'm going to do it anyway. Here goes.

This Question Not Asked comes from the now infamous Newt Gingrich, Juan Williams exchange at the recent South Carolina debate.

Here's the question Williams asked:

Speaker Gingrich, you recently said black Americans should demand jobs, not food stamps. You also said poor kids lack a strong work ethic and proposed having them work as janitors in their schools. Can’t you see that this is viewed, at a minimum, as insulting to all Americans, but particularly to black Americans?

And to Newts credit, he deftly answered the question (possibly winning the debate that night because of it).

The question I would have asked:

Speaker Gingrich, you recently said black Americans should demand jobs, not food stamps. Do you believe that black Americans are demanding food stamps? How are black Americans different with respect to their demand and use of food stamps versus jobs? Finally, can you tell me the current racial breakdown among those who are on food stamps?

Whew, I feel better.

I dropped the above questions into the Contact Us area on Newt's website. Let's see if totally blows away my expectations and I get back some answers.

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