Watching the debate last night, I was struck by the fact that we’ve now seen several of these gabfests unfold without a single mention of one of the Republican Party’s biggest and most irrational problems — their total rejection of science in many important areas.

In the early debates we saw some extremely embarrassing moments, as candidates exhibited stunning ignorance on issues like climate change, evolution, vaccines, and more. But the media seem to have an unspoken arrangement now to lay off the GOP. In last night’s debate, not a single question was asked about the most dangerous threat to human life, climate change.

You might expect that with such incredibly rich material, the media would dig in and follow up on the denialism rampant in the GOP. But … nothing. There seems to be a tacit agreement between the GOP and the media to give the Republican candidates a pass.

Are the media more invested in making sure there’s a close presidential race, so they can rake in the ratings and advertising dollars, than they are in getting at the truth behind the GOP’s anti-science craziness? It’s hard to come to any other conclusion; it’s the only way to make sense of this glaring silence on the vitally important issues of science in the 21st century.