I wrote that last night as a footnote to a subject that did interest me: Maureen Dowd's revelation that NBC executives knew Brian Williams had a problem of "constantly inflating his biography" and that it had become "a joke in the news division." Why was nothing done about it?
I was writing on my iPad last night, so it was too hard to elaborate, but now that I've got a keyboard, I wanted to say that there are 2 reasons why I'm not interested in the news that "Brian Williams is stepping away from NBC Nightly News for a number of days."
1. Williams should be fired. A
voluntary (or coerced) hiatus is too piddling to matter.
2. I never watch any nightly new shows. It's like a corruption scandal in a sport I don't watch.
I think in the whole
time I've been writing this blog, I watched a nightly news show exactly once: to check out the debut of Katie Couric as a network news anchor: "Okay, I'm watching the Katie Couric show." ("It's so annoying to feel forced into it!...)
I do watch the Sunday morning talk shows — ugh, they'll probably blab too much about Brian Williams today — but that's because they are bloggable — more analysis of the news I've already read (and there are transcripts).
The nightly news shows — if I remember them correctly — present summaries of news stories that I already know about through reading. I guess I could blog about the slanting and distorting and the choice of stories, but I can't bring myself to care by the end of the day when I've already applied my bloggerly attention to the printed mainstream media like the NYT and the Washington Post. And there's no transcript.
The network news just doesn't seem important anymore. Good news for Brian Williams: There's a limit to the damage you've done. (I must say, I feel a little sorry for him — his lying seems pathological, the man appears to be mentally disordered — but he makes $10 million a year, so... no pity.)
It's those network executives who deserve our contempt. Their failure to do anything when they knew for so long about his problem shines a light into the abyss of their standards.
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98 comments:
Ann, points 1 and 2 are well taken. You would think that if there were any adults at NBC they would be helping Williams pack his bags. I, too, do not watch the news, but regardless of the source I dislike -intensely - self-aggrandizement. If you have earned your bragging rights then I will not deny you a little show of immodesty. But if you are telling fairy tales to make yourself one of the "boys" (particularly the boys and girls who go in harm's way), like Williams, then you don't deserve a break.
The network news just doesn't seem important anymore.
Having heard, over and over again, how the broadcast nightly newscasts had become totally irrelevant dinosaurs, it's oddly refreshing to now hear how Very Important They Really Are.
Thanks for the sua sponte elaboration on your earlier comment, Ann. I originally read it as kind of hypocritically shaming those of us who are following the Williams story too closely, but I let it go. This is insightful.
Althouse: It's those network executives who deserve our contempt. Their failure to do anything when they knew for so long about his problem shines a light into the abyss of their standards.
Like the failure of American voters to do anything about Government over-reach and special interest legislation?
But, then most Legislators and the current Executive are contemptuous of American voters.
They, NBC/Brian Williams and all the other Obama minions crucified Hillary in 2008 for her Bosnia story. Lefties are whining that Fox lies everyday, every show. But we know for sure that it does not lie for the corrupt Obama administration. So when you have NBC propping up their liars for so long, how do you expect them and their liars to go after corrupt politicians? Brian Williams was the first lapdog, footlicker, ass warmer for Obama.
Network journalism ceased to be journalism the day they gave Barbara Walters the anchor desk.
Kudos, Althouse, for your abjuration of "XYZ Network Nightly News"
I did watch Brian Williams regularly after I watched the full hour of Fox's Special Report with Bret Baier just to find out what news story MSM led with. At least 2/3 of NBC Nightly News consisted of soft cutesy human interest stories. After 10 minutes Brian Williams was not worth watching. The non-apology apology broadcast laced with more prevarication was the last time for me. NBC Nightly News is not worth the time.
There is nothing surprising about this. These guys lie all the time through distortion and omission of what they cover. We see them consistently cling to and push false narratives.
Push Global Warming - Ignore data massaging scandals.
Push hands up don't shoot - ignore inner city real crime stats.
Williams tall tale is just to embarrassingly silly to let pass.
Maher jokes Fox News will offer Williams a job, but he should have plugged in the liberal, and unethical Rolling Stone.
Network news was important in the pre-internet days where you wanted to see what had happened since the newspapers went to bed the night before. I have not watched network news in 25 years. I watch Fox a bit but tire of O'Reilly and his blow hard personality. The only TV I watch fairly frequently is Pawn Stars because of the interesting things people bring in.
With Football over until late summer, my TV watching is down to Sunday morning talk in which I switch back and forth. Here they are all on at the same time.
I have about 15 books in my "too-read" stack and can get going on them.
The network news shows are more worth watching to see what they don't cover and in what direction they try to spin what they do.
Just another long standing failed institution in America. They are beyond counting. At 10 mil / year, you’re a card carrying member of the royal court. Social norms and graces are no longer applicable.
Since 1990s the Network News shows became the early show pandering to the age 60+ demographic who have no internet and no CNN or Fox cable shows.
The old lady viewers love the anchors and feel they are their friends. Actual news is limited to what the old ladies believe in. And the commercials are directed to their ailments.
Since NBC is intentionally a pure propaganda operation, what do we care if it's all made up instead of half made up.
I strongly agree with Althouse. My wife and I stopped watching the nightly news, both local and national, some 25 years ago. Someone, I think it was Andrew Weil, advised this, saying that it was a very effective method of increasing personal happiness. He was, is, right. It is also a very effective of significantly reducing anst, agita, anger, whatever.
Since NBC is intentionally a pure propaganda operation, what do we care if it's all made up instead of half made up.
Because there are still gullible people who vote for people like Obama based on that propaganda and because someone has to fight for the integrity of journalism and its place in a democracy.
khesanh0802 said...
But if you are telling fairy tales to make yourself one of the "boys" (particularly the boys and girls who go in harm's way), like Williams, then you don't deserve a break.
Fairy tales start: "Once upon a Time..."
SF tales continue: "...In a Galaxy far far away..."
MSM News start: "Brian Williams, reporting from..."
War stories start: "No $hit, we was unda fire and I..."
I expect both of us have told a few war stories, it's expected in the rough men community, but those lies are only allowed intramurally...
Me too...
I often don't agree with you, Althouse. But suggestion #1 gets my vote.
There is nothing new here:
“If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're mis-informed.”
― Mark Twain
THEN, why did you bother with this post?
Prof, you forget the point. The media frenzy is so that it can be protected when HRC and Bosnia story emerges.
At that time, there will be two responses (and only two) from HRC and the NYT and all Democratic Party volunteers/cheer leaders:
1. What different does it make now?
2. We have been through this already.
So, Dowd is going after Brian W., so to not do this again when HRC runs.
Everyone is taking up against BW, so they will not have to do this again.
If GOP raises the Bosnia and HRC story, then the two responses will be there:
Again:
1. What different does it make now?
2. We have been through this already.
This is Brilliant. This is fantastic. The Left is just too smart.
Brian Williams is the only person to be punished for the Iraq debacle.
At first I thought this had something to with that Kardashian thing.
Both 1 and 2 , Althouse. I didn't even know who this guy was. Now I care even less.
Their standards are ratings, not hard news. Stockholders not ideals.
The hard news is a fiction to make soap opera viewers feel good about watching that crap.
They put on hard news attire. It's acting. It's the schtick.
But it's soap opera all the time.
It's like a corruption scandal in professional wrestling. I've know it was corrupt since eight grade and am amused that other people are just catching on.
Williams has been fired, but in the manner befitting a man who's pulling down $10MM a year as Top Meat Puppet. The phrase "step away" strikes me as trendy, a little exciting, full of energy and momentum. Like a runner stepping off the bag, ready to steal a base. Or like "leaning in," which is (career wise) the opposite. All these euphemisms!
But behind the screen of verbiage, the truth is the same. He's toast. Mark Steyn does a lovely job on him today.
I don't know any 60+ year old women who don't have cable and don't use the internet so I guess no one is watching the nightly news.
Brian Williams is the only person to be punished for the Iraq debacle.
Saddam Hussein begs to differ.
Brian Williams was funny on Imus long ago. So he has a good sense of humor.
I believe he described the White Plains airport as a dump, and White Plains airport complained, so he came on next time favorably recounting his many trips taken to the airport just to spend time in the various shops and restrooms, with no trip in mind.
If you save as many puppies as Brian Williams did, you'd have told the story about being in the copter and looking down the barrel of the RPG.
These are the same cretins who threw $300k per year at Chelsea Clinton.
How they look shareholders in the eye I'll never know.
Here's what a 2003 editorial in the Orlando Sentinel had to say, which is why the kerfuffle over Brian Williams really is relevant:
"What journalists do have to sell is credibility. Without it, they're out of business.
And every time a Jayson Blair or Brian Walski or Christopher Newton undermines that credibility, he hurts not only himself but all other journalists and, ultimately, readers -- who must wonder where to turn for reliable information."
Today you can add Brian Williams and Dan Rather to the list. Tom Brokaw gets it, which is why he has led the charge (or at any rate appears to be leading the charge) within NBC to have Williams fired. Rather still doesn't get it. And to the extent that they didn't square Williams around when they had the chance, neither do the executives at NBC News.
Brian Williams is the only person to be punished for the Iraq debacle.
Apparently you don't get that your Democrats took a won war and turned it into a debacle. Did your mother drop you on your head when you were a baby?
Twice for good measure.
In general, troops of my day had no respect for journalists. They were out to make themselves look good at the expense of both the troops and the country. This was shown vividly in a classic video:
Jennings & Wallace, reporters first, Americans second
Jennings & Wallace, reporters first, Americans second
I kind of wish Brian would stay on, not that I watch NBC.
I like the public knowing that their newsreaders are inveterate liars.
@Drill SGT Got a laugh from your comment @ 0944.
As you know, there is a world of difference between a "war story", usually told after a few beers and in the company of those whose BS meters are extremely sensitive (though, perhaps, turned off for the moment) and what Williams was doing. Any war story that contains more than one "no shit" statement can't/ won't be taken seriously by anyone - even the perpetrator!
Semper Fi.
Jason, NBC is owned by Comcast now. Much bigger fish to fry at that company than paying Chelsea.
@ garage Are you referring to the withdrawal of all troops from Iraq after we had achieved a modicum of success? No, I didn't think so.
These events with BW will not hurt journalism. If morals and integrity mattered with journalists, there would never been a JournOlist, but there was, and no one lost their job over it.
I tend to watch the CBS and NBC nightly news. CBS news I have tended to prefer. Scott Pelley has a kind of coolness about him that Williams doesn't. And NBC news more overdramatizes weather situations. I'd say you should at least watch CBS news a few times if only to see how cool Pelley is.
Not that I had anything against Williams--I assume he is only slightly responsible for content. As for his problematic behavior, I too am not particularly interested in thinking about the matter, because it is so bizarre to me I take it that I have no insights worth exploring.
The PBS NewsHour tends to be too elitist, notwithstanding Shields and Brooks are worth looking at occasionally--it's especially good to be reminded that people with different opinions can be civil with one another and yet make fairly interesting conversation. And news ratings have gone down so much with increased competition that all-day news channels like CNN dilute themselves too much given what they can afford. Concentrating on just a few stories that can be done in 30 minutes allows the few stories nightly news covers to be covered with more attention and expense. And television, being visual, makes a more definite and lasting impression than the written word does; some of each seems preferable for me.
The Sunday talk shows I would find dull, I guess because almost always I am not particularly interested in the people talking as people. As for transcripts, I'd rather read something carefully wrought over time. And politicians tend to know less about what needs to be done than most people, and even if good they tend, like trial lawyers, to plead the best that is politically expedient rather than what is best period, which makes them especially uninteresting to theoretically-minded people as myself. What they say is mostly only interesting to me in deciding whom to vote for. But I am not trained in law and am not a political blogger, so I'm not saying you shouldn't do those things if that's what you want to do.
When people say "do what makes you happy", maybe what some mean is "do what you want to do that luck has especially enabled you to do" (rather than just determinedly sticking to goals that would remind you of your misfortunes rather than your blessings)?
I watch the morning news with George Stephanopolous occasionally. if you want to call it news. It's about 10% news,and 90% fluff.
Nowadays if I want to get news news I'll just turn on Fox. Not MSNBC, Fox.
khesanh0802: "@ garage Are you referring to the withdrawal of all troops from Iraq after we had achieved a modicum of success?"
Field Marshall Generalissimo Garage Mahal has not idea what he is referring to.
He wants to make a funny but is doing it all on his own without cut-and-paste adult supervision so the results are precisely what we've come to expect.
He's going to need some immediate reinforcements from front-line fodder madisonfella.
Also I'll catch the Nightly news at 6PM. That's the only actual news program that the major networks want to show.
On Sundays I'll catch some of the talk shows, (again with Stephanopolous). And while those are not really news, so much as talking heads, at least its not complete fluff.
"Brian Williams is the only person to be punished for the Iraq debacle."
it wasn't a debacle until the dems withdrew and gave up the peace.
Think about how much was actually accomplished in the Iraq war, that actually lined up with previous administrations stated goals. (That means democrats like Clinton/Gore)
Regime change. Transition to new regime that has modicum of stability. Ability to oust troublesome leaders through elections. Sadaam and his sons killed or facing trial, then killed. Not having to contain Iraq in perpetuity.
Oil for food being lifted, and Iraq able to sell its oil.
Iraq was such a success that Biden and Obama were crowing about the victory there. It was Bush's victory though.
"Democrats took a won war......"
The stupid. It burns.
And the idea that Iraq wasn't a threat for WMD's is revisionist history.
They have standards. They require an Obama fanboy for the job.
The network executives refused to protect Williams from himself, the corrupt liberal media.
It's becoming quite clear that Karl Rove is responsible for this entire Williams kerfuffle.
When will Rove be held accountable?
garage mahal said...
"Brian Williams is the only person to be punished for the Iraq debacle."
Don't worry Garage, we involved in the Iraq liberation are punished every day having to listen to shit birds like you sitting on your couch shaped high horse hiding under our protection projecting your own failures on us.
Jason said...
"These are the same cretins who threw $300k per year at Chelsea Clinton.
How they look shareholders in the eye I'll never know."
Because their return on investment for these activities is better than actually producing a product. Employing idiot scions of powerful people is a common way to gain the favor of your ruling class.
there are only three scenarios when it comes to Iraq, and all of them involve Iraq having WMD"s or posing a threat for WMD.s.
One, Iraq had WMD's. This is in keeping with what was discovered under Clinton. It was, after all, why Clinton bombed Iraq in 1998. Madeline Albright said at the time we couldn't get all the WMD just degrade their capability. And it's also why Clinton passed the Iraq Liberation Act calling for regine change.
In the case of why Iraq didn't have the stockpiles we assumed there as a long lead up to war. More than enough time to destroy stockpiles while maintaining the ability reconstitute them. And we have the satellite imagery of whole sites being looted to the ground and stuff moved. Since we dindnt' invade Syria we can't know that those stockpiles weren't used (and possibly later used on the Syrian people).
But we did find a lot of stockpiles which largely went underreported.
Two - Sadaam tasked his scientists to build more WMD's but they couldn't. And, fearing for their lives if they told him they failed, they strung him along. That certainly suggests intent to get WMD, just not the capability. But it would stand to reason then that we, monitoring Iraq's action would assume, just like Sadaam, that Iraq was in fact developing WMD.
Three - Sadaam lied to project strength to his enemies. In other words, he had no WMD's but had to make it seem like he did. Good show then. If you're a convincing enough liar people might actually believe the lie.
But even there the suggestion is that Iraq wants WMD's. And the only thing preventing him from having such stockpiles would be that we were containing them.
Suppose we let inspectors finish their jobs and they found little stockpiles (again, see scenario one). Would we then end containment?
Who thinks that if we did that Sadaam wouldn't immediately rebuild his arsenal? SInce, as established he either had the arsenal, thought his scientists were making the arsenal or needed to pretend to have the arsenal.
There is no scenario where Iraq was not a threat because of it's desire to get WMDs. And there is no scenario, other than regime change or perpetual containment, that would change that dynamic.
And even with containmenent. Who amongst the libs, who said there were no WMD's would argue that containment would still be justified? We should contain Iraq even if we don't think they have WMDs? Containing Iraq despite knowing that Iraq had no WMD's would be just as immoral as waging a war knowing that Iraq had no WMD's.
As soon as lifted containment who thinks Iraq wouldn't have a whole new batch of WMD's in a month?
And this is a continuation of the first Iraq war. A cease fire was granted but it required Sadaam to comply. At any time we could have reneged on the cease fire because Sadaam was not in compliance. He never was.
Bush got regime change, Clinton only talked about it.
"NBC executives knew Brian Williams had a problem of "constantly inflating his biography" and that it had become "a joke in the news division." Why was nothing done about it?"
They also knew to fool the Stupid Voters, the Apparatchik-talking-head of the Democratic Bureau of Propaganda must look earnest and sincere.
CBS' Dan Rather was grave in pronouncing his unearthing of an 1972 Word Document. Before him, ABC's Ted Koppel, in his October 1992 Nightline Shows, earnestly warned the voters of Herbert Walker Bush's secret missions to ask the Ayatollah not to release American hostages.
Fibber Williams's silly fibs remind us how gullible we Stupid Voters are.
In any case, what difference does it make to the Executives? There are no guarantees that other Anchor-fibber could fib better.
Maybe NBC News should fire itself. Maybe Williams is more a symptom than the disease.
Williams did what he was paid to do: look pretty and read the news. The helicopter ride was ABOUT inflating his biography. That's why the peacocks arranged it. If the heat gets to be too much they'll just replace him with whatever Ted Baxter, Ron Burgundy, or Perd Hapley is waiting in the wings.
The professor is right on.
Chelsea Clinton was paid $600,000 / year by NBC to appear sporadically on Brian Williams newsmagazine program.
Next, NBC executive will belatedly admit that Milton Berle had a history of inflating his... biography.
I think in the whole time I've been writing this blog, I watched a nightly new show exactly once: to check out the debut of Katie Couric as a network news anchor...
Inasmuch as she's said to be one of the circling buzzards, you may get the chance to watch Katie do an encore debut.
What is needed is Angry Mean weather man. A dude dressed haggardly reading the weather and bitching and moaning throughout. A Tony Clifton of current climate.
"Okay looks like tonight we got a low of 39 and some rain. Son of a... Again? (pounds table) Buncha crap. (pounds table) Drive home will be an hour again now. Idiots out there can't drive in rain or at night, not to mention both. Be lucky to make it home. You morons stay off the roads tonight after I get off the damn air here.
"And anyway tomorrow looks sunny and 70 degrees. Better watch out for skin cancer if you go out in that. My uncle died from skin cancer. Horrible. I told him vitamin D enriched milk but he insisted on going outdside everyday, and you can see what that got him.
"Tomorrow night-What the hell more rain? Are you kidding me with this (looks around flailing arms and papers all about)? I am too old for this... At least the damn birds won't be screeching. I am getting out here, and I suggest you do the same. Don't follow me though. In fact, maybe you ought to just stay here."
jr565 @ 11:31
You know you're explaining this for our left leaning idiots, don't you? None of them can possibly grasp what you just wrote. They are incapable of deviating from the narrative without instructions.
The effort is noble though.
I suspect that most television newscasters have more in common with Ted Baxter than with Ernie Pyle, but the trick is in not letting on. The mask slipped and, by lying, Williams paradoxically revealed the truth of who he truly was.
Lester Holt is filling in. Good move. Now only a racist can possibly object to NBC Nightly News.
I won't be watching NBC nightly news, but I do like Lester Holt. He should be the permanent replacement.
He's very pleasant.
If I were doing a hierarchy of newsmen scandals, I would rate Dan Rather far higher than Williams. Rather used shoddy journalism to influence an election. Williams simply tried to puff his reputation. I don't think his lies were malicious or Machiavellian but were simply self serving. Let he who has never told a self serving lie about himself cast the first stone......Williams can no longer function as a newsman, but worse people walk the earth and the halls of network news programs.
Not that I had anything against Williams--I assume he is only slightly responsible for content.
10:54 AM
He is (or was) the managing editor of the nightly news. Wouldn't that mean that he has final say over what airs?
@ Eleanor...Yes, probably the 60+ ladies you know don't watche the Network News unless they are sitting with their elderly house bound parents.
Those over 60s, friends sound like they are in The Professor's category who want 30 minutes of news in 30 minutes of time instead of 5 minutes of news dribbled out among 25 minutes of laxative and catheter commercials.
Stopped watching network news years ago. The last to go was PBS McNeil-Lehrer after McNeil.
Local news is putz mainly on weather, traffic, fires and auto accidents. Some shootings but little to none on city-state government. No one digs for news or does any investigative reporting. Any federal government news is mainly NYT regurgitation.
Rely mainly on the Internet and blogs that attempt to 'vet' the news.
Oh dear.....
Hersh said the American press spends ‘so much more time carrying water for Obama than I ever thought they would’.
In his opinion, the solution would be to shut down news networks like NBC and ABC and fire 90 per cent of mainstream editors and replace them with ‘real’ journalists who are not afraid to speak truth to power.
‘The republic’s in trouble, we lie about everything, lying has become the staple,’ he said.
"I kind of wish Brian would stay on, not that I watch NBC.
I like the public knowing that their newsreaders are inveterate liars."
Yes, I'd like that too. Maybe it's time for an "Operation Chaos" caper where we bombard NBC with demands that they overlook poor Brian's lying. See if we can get him kept on. Mobilize AARP on his behalf. Story of a little old lady lying in hospital, heart failing, spends her last moments on earth composing appeal on behalf of Brian. Sadly, she sends it to CNN because she can't remember which is his company.
"I must say, I feel a little sorry for him — his lying seems pathological, the man appears to be mentally disordered — but he makes $10 million a year, so... no pity."
Rich or poor or in between, I'm going to give him (and Hillary) the benefit of the doubt. Their problems with reality could very well be neurological.
Brian Williams will segue over to MSNBC: MSNBC would see nothing wrong with what he did.
I am Laslo
Their failure to do anything when they knew for so long about his problem shines a light into the abyss of their standards.
Exactly, Just like your failure to do or say anything about Scott Walker's many lies and falsehoods (other than continue to be his biggest cheerleader) shines a light on your standards. As a blogger and as a person.
I left a comment ("I love Brian Williams") on NBC, the Peacock Channel, and was invited to join their Peacock Panel. That's offensive - why not "Peahen Panel?" Or why not "Peahead Panel" and drop the gendered-exclusionary semi-criminal survey agenda implied by "Peacock" or "Peahen". Just drop the panel. But "Keep Brian Babbling."
Here is Paul Mirengoff of Powerline on lying.
"As time went on, I noticed that judges and juries were less impressed by a showing that a party lied. To take but one example, in my last trial, a case I handled for a friend last year, the judge (who was generally excellent and who decided the merits in our favor) was dismissive of evidence that demonstrated dishonesty by the opposing party.
The turning point, I think, was the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky matter. President Clinton was revealed to have lied under oath in a legal proceeding. But most people considered him a good president and the lie was about a private, sensitive matter, his sex life. Thus, Clinton was able to ride out the storm (though he later lost his law license)."
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2015/02/lying-isnt-what-it-used-to-be.php
There is no incentive for scrupulous honesty in television or other forms of entertainment. Why would anyone expect it?
"NBC executives knew Brian Williams had a problem of "constantly inflating his biography" and that it had become "a joke in the news division." Why was nothing done about it?"
NBC executives were (a)complicit having already let it continue and (b)backing and filling to protect [what was left of] their brand equity.
I believe he described the White Plains airport as a dump, and White Plains airport complained, so he came on next time favorably recounting his many trips taken to the airport just to spend time in the various shops and restrooms, with no trip in mind.
Now, that's funny. I wasn't really familiar with him before, but I already like him.
"your failure to do or say anything about Scott Walker's many lies and falsehoods"
Inga, enough with your conspiracy theories !
khesanh0802 said...
Semper Fi.
You want me to tell the ones about Khe Sanh '71?
I have a couple of good ones...
Lying is a part of their job description so why would the network executives be alarmed, they consider it their job to advance their preferred narrative regardless of the facts.
Speaking of Scott Walker and his tendency to be optimistic: "Wisconsin Ranks 2nd in the Midwest for Private Sector Year-over-Year Growth"
It should be pointed out that Brian Williams's NBC Nightly News ignored the Fast & Furious gunwalking scandal for 18 straight months, and was only forced to cover it when Congress held Attorney General Eric Holder in Contempt of Congress for his role in the cover-up.
Ann, your comment reminded me of the fellow who wrote a review of American Sniper after bragging about not having seen it.
NBC rigged the truck to explode. They've been ok with lying for decades. The Gatekeepers are losing it.
Achilles
I don't need your protection from Iraqis. I never did in fact. If anything I'm entitled to a refund from that impossibly stupid war.
I stumbled on to the TV evening news the week the movie "Interstellar" premiered.
The highlight of the broadcast was EXCLUSIVE interviews with the stars of the movie....on the evening news.
Pfft.
In any event, my first job in journalism in the 1970s was interning for a once prominent network correspondent who was then doing radio work for the network. He sheepishly acknowledged to me that he had no "diplomatic sources" or "local officials" talking to him. He just said what he wanted to say on the radio and invented anonymous attributions.
Day after day after day. For years.
Nothing surprising about this scandal.
They were not shamed to act, for they feel no shame, they adhere to selective morality. They are taking action with an undisclosed, ulterior motive.
I think this is an educational event. I think it explains why TV and Hollywood people are mostly Democrats. They think that anybody who has anything above the poverty level got it dishonestly or by pure luck and don't deserve it, because that is how they got they have. They know they don't deserve it.
Republicans are evil because they support the dishonest and lucky. Nevermind those who actually earn what they have.
General Garage Mahal: "If anything I'm entitled to a refund from that impossibly stupid war"
LOL
Just chalk up your obamacare "savings" as your payment.
If you didn't bother getting into the green energy scam to scoop up even more of that gov't largess you have only yourself to blame.
For some reason, the fact that Brian Williams lied about a personal exploit is considered THE major issue with his show that should determine if he stays or goes. What a bizarre and superficial reason.
Ann points out that Williams – and almost every other evening news show – re-hashes the talking points that have been raised by the NT Times and Washington Post. Something that Rush Limbaugh has been pointing out since he began broadcasting. He has a whole riff about it. Why bother getting your talking points almost a day late?
What has Williams done about digging into, say, the lies told by the President about the ACA? The lies about the video being the reason for the attack on the Benghazi embassy? The lies about Fast & Furious (I mean, how stupid do you have to be to accept the story that the Feds were going to follow the guns into Mexico when they could not follow the guns into Mexico)? Where are the stories about the IRS from Williams if the NY Times doesn’t want to investigate?
Let’s face it, Brian Williams and his brothers and sisters – and the differently gendered, the women with and without vaginas – are not news reporters, they well paid are actors delivering their lines. They are as smart as Cher. They provide the narrative that is supposed to lead the American people to think the right thoughts and believe the right things. And today we are supposed to hate Netanyahu, to forget about the video that caused the Benghazi attack, to believe that the “moderates” in Iran can become our partners for peace, to believe that Islam is a peaceful religion, to believe in Smart Diplomacy™ and the inevitability of Hillary Clinton unless Elizabeth Warren becomes inevitable.
If Brian Williams lied about his exploits, so do football players about beating their wives and Kim Kardashian about her sexual proclivities. What’s the big deal? It has nothing to do with his ability to read his script.
---do or say anything about Scott Walker's many lies and falsehoods (other than continue to be his biggest cheerleader) shines a light on your standards. ---
Crackpottery. You had top men, top men investigate Walker for years and years. Zippo nada bupkis.
Go look in the mirror and see if you can find a small remaining spark of rationality.
As a non-TV watcher I am always amazed how much effort other media like newspapers and blogs spend on what happens on TV.
I quit watching because I think TV is somewhere between a waste of time and evil.
I do enjoy hearing about TV's self-destruction.
"I caught a fish this big!"
"Fire him."
If he lied about or ignored important news, fire him, but for telling tall tales about himself, politely nod or say, "You really shouldn't do that. You are embarrassing yourself." Oh, reporters lie about or ignore important news all the time? You don't say... And there aren't a million stories about it? Well, isn't that odd. You'd almost think television was built on entertainment and selling advertising instead of great integrity and the seeking of truth. You'd almost think most viewers don't even care about those latter two things. You'd think they wanted to be entertained and these Williams stories, with their red-facing nature, are just part of the entertainment.
garage mahal said...
Achilles
I don't need your protection from Iraqis. I never did in fact. If anything I'm entitled to a refund from that impossibly stupid war.
2/8/15, 2:59 PM
I'll take my refund for Johnson's Great Society and the War On Poverty thank you very much.
Having heard, over and over again, how the broadcast nightly newscasts had become totally irrelevant dinosaurs, it's oddly refreshing to now hear how Very Important They Really Are.
I enjoy the ads on Nightly News. Geritol. Pain relievers. Burial insurance.
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