When things like this happen...

... you begin to wonder what power any individual has over the process anymore. "Kucinich was barred from the NBC debate tonight":http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/nbc-wins-battle-over-debate/index.html?hp, as, according to the network, "there are only three viable candidates". Of course, when you are judge and jury you _can_ decide what number of candidates there are, independent of reality. As many in the NY Times thread rightly point out, it is within NBCs right to decide who to invite or not. But when the networks take on a quasi-governmental role in presenting the debates, and when the candidate has been deemed worthy enough to receive federal election funds, you can't see this action as anything but undemocratic. But there's not much one can do, as there's no way I have the ability to mount a legal challenge to this on my own. All I can do is complain on my blog, vote for Kucinich if I can (if I get my registration changed in NY soon enough, that is), and bemoan direct attacks on our democratic process. And maybe give people some "alternative outlets":http://zeitkunst.org/blog/2007/12/07/fluid-networking-for-activists/ while I'm at it.