No longer even the appearance of impartiality

Gwen Ifill, an anchor at PBS who is scheduled to moderate Thursday's Vice-Presidential debate, is writing a book (to be published around Inauguration Day, no less) that's apparently going to be an adulatory tome about Barack Obama and three other black politicians. This means, of course, that she has a blatant conflict of interest, as Obama's winning is crucial to her book getting a large amount of sales:

"The moderator of Thursday's vice-presidential debate is writing a book to come out about the time the next president takes the oath of office that aims to 'shed new light' on Democratic candidate Barack Obama and other 'emerging young African American politicians' who are 'forging a bold new path to political power.'"

I guess it was too much to ask to find a moderator who at least pretended to not be in the tank for one of the candidates.

And to top things off, there's no disclosure whatsoever of Ms. Ifill's book on either the host university's or the debate commission's websites:

"However, there's no mention of her upcoming book. Nor does the website for the Commission on Presidential Debates, which is organizing the meetings of the candidates, mention her book."

This is an unbelievable travesty of fairness. Ms. Ifill should immediately be replaced by someone who does not have a vested interest in one of the candidates winning the election.