What did Tom Brokaw say that had him apologizing so awkwardly last night on Twitter?

Let's read the original text, the transcript for "Meet the Press." I saw the show at the time, and I wasn't paying that much attention to the words. I was noticing how old and out of it Tom Brokaw looked and sounded. He is speaking on a panel moderated by Chuck Todd, and the subject, at this point, is the government shutdown. Brokaw says:

I really didn't think that you could widen the gap between the Beltway and the rest of the country any more, until this happened. And now, it's completely gone. 

Notice the incoherence. What is "completely gone"? The "gap"? He means the gap is much greater now, so he's saying the opposite of what he means.

I mean, you know, I told you earlier that I talked to these westerners who began by saying, "Like Trump, like his policies." Then, they said, "Wish he’d stop, wish he would stop tweeting all the time." Last time I talked to them, "He's a clown. I can't stand him. But it's still the policies that we believe in." 

How often does 78-year-old Tom Brokaw go out west and reinterview characters who give him the clichés he needs —  "stop tweeting all the time," "clown"? He's in trouble for what he said about Hispanics, but "these westerners" is also a stereotype.

But anywhere I go, Republican, Democrat, or Independent, "Why can't they talk to each other and find common ground?" Every community in America finds a way to build a new school or to do something about downtown. But here, we can't do it, because we breathe the same air. And it's toxic, in its own way, about what needs to be done and how seriously people take their very minute positions on something.

That's just generic ranting about how people in Washington can't work together.

Next panelist Hugh Hewitt opines that dealing with the political situation in Venezuela is "going to bring us together," and Chuck Todd expresses skepticism. Then Yamiche Alcindor, the White House correspondent for the PBS NewsHour, talks about the new bipartisan committee that will be looking at border security, and they are going to "actually talk about facts and, maybe, try to get on the same page."

It's at that point that Chuck Todd — with the skeptical remark, "The problem is in Wyoming and in South Dakota, they think they need a wall, and in Texas and in Arizona, they don't" — throws it to Tom Brokaw, and Tom Brokaw says the things that will get him in trouble:

And a lot of this, we don't want to talk about. 

That suggests he believes he's stepping up to the responsibility of confronting us with the uncomfortable truth.

But the fact is, on the Republican side, a lot of people see the rise of an extraordinary, important, new constituent in American politics, Hispanics, who will come here and all be Democrats. 

That's a fair, blunt statement.

Also, I hear, when I push people a little harder, "Well, I don't know whether I want brown grandbabies." 

What?!! Where does old Brokaw find these people? In his head? He's claiming to be out there, not just talking to people, but pushing them, hard and then harder. Is there evidence that he goes on these excursions into the hinterlands and investigates what's in the heart of Republicans? It's just a damned lie, isn't it? "People" — that's plural — who have been talking to the venerable newsman Tom Brokaw, break under his dogged pushing and come out with lines that sound like the first draft of a third-rate screenplay about somebody's secretly racist mother?

I mean, that's also a part of it. It's the intermarriage that is going on and the cultures that are conflicting with each other. I also happen to believe that the Hispanics should work harder at assimilation. 

"The Hispanics" — now he sounds like the "people" he's been talking to out west. That "the" makes a difference. It says I've got a stereotype for you.

That's one of the things I've been saying for a long time. 

I guess you were saying it in more elegant language.

You know, they ought not to be just codified...

Codified? That can't be what he said, can it?... I checked the recording. He said "codified." I can only imagine that he meant "cocooned," but he sure didn't say it. [ADDED: Meade, reading this to me out loud, says "He meant 'coddled.'"]

... in their communities but make sure that all their kids are learning to speak English, and that they feel comfortable in the communities. And that's going to take outreach on both sides, frankly.

2 panelists speak before anyone reacts to Brokaw's awkward statement, then Alcindor says:

I would just say that we also need to adjust what we think of as America. You're talking about assimilation. I grew up in Miami, where people speak Spanish, but their kids speak English. And the idea that we think Americans can only speak English, as if Spanish and other languages wasn’t always part of America, is, in some ways, troubling.

And Chuck Todd (who knows he's out of time) scrambles to make nice and garbles this:

All right, we'll leave it there. As somebody who grew up on ¿Qué Pasa, USA?, three generations, all Spanish, Spanglish, and all English. That's all we have for today....

All right. Now, here are Brokaws tweets, which I won't link individually, because there are just too many of them. Normally, I avoid the term "tweet storm," which is used on Trump when he has perhaps 3 tweets in a row. But this is a tweet storm from Brokaw. Here are the 9 tweets, from oldest to newest:

1. i feel terrible a part of my comments on Hispanics offended some members of that proud culture

2. from my days reporting on cesar chavez to documenting the many contributions of hispanics in all parts of our culture

3. i’ve worked hard to knock down false stereo types. in my final comment in Meet i said ALL sides hv to work harder

4. at finding common ground - which i strongly believe
dialogue not division

5. my twitter acct failed me at the worst time.
i am sorry, truly sorry, my comments were offensive to
many. the great enduring american tradition of diversity is to be celebrated and cherished. yamiche, thank u for your comments.
let’s go forward together.

6. finally, i am sorry - i never intended to disparage any segment of our rich, diverse society which defines who we are.

7. finally,i am sorry I failed to convey my strong belief that diversity - dynamic and inclusive is what makes America

8. my tweet portal is whack
i hv been trying to say i am sorry i offended
and i so appreciate my colleague

9. great
Yamiche is a wonderful colleague and an important voice

My observations:

1. Brokaw doesn't do capital letters except for "Hispanics," "Meet," and "ALL."

2. He said "whack."

3. He thinks "stereotypes" is 2 words. Imagine the fun we'd have if Trump had talked about knocking down false "stereo types." He sounds like he's going to storm into my apartment and throw my speakers on the floor if I didn't buy the right brand.

4. Brokaw is sorry only because he found out that people were offended, and he still thinks that his statement, understood properly, is correct.

5. He wants his long career as a journalist to vouch for his good intentions, but as my comments on the transcript show, he is making implausible claims of recent journalistic activities. In these days of cries of "fake news," it doesn't work anymore to say I am journalist, respect me.

6. And he blames Twitter. It "failed" him. It's "whack." That doesn't help his credibility.

7. The rote incantations about diversity — "our rich, diverse society which defines who we are," "my strong belief that diversity - dynamic and inclusive is what makes America" — sound like he's heard again and again what he's supposed to say. And that resonates with his statement on the show he calls "Meet" — "A lot of this, we don't want to talk about."