When NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last Friday to plug his upcoming NBC Dateline special, Taking the Hill: Inside Congress, Williams made the absurd claim that he was a fair and balanced journalist without an agenda.
Video.JIMMY FALLON: We don't get really too political on our show, but now and then we'll do a joke about Obama, or we'll do a joke about Sarah Palin. Keep it balanced. But, man, people go nuts on Twitter. They go, 'Hey, stop making fun of Palin. Why aren't you making fun of Obama?' And I go, 'We do make fun of Obama.'
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Just today, somebody tweeted me, 'Hey, Brian, does your back get tired carrying all that water for Obama?' (Speaking with a mocking tone, sounding dim-witted)
FALLON: Wow.
WILLIAMS: Dude. Really.
FALLON: First of all, I apologize for sending that tweet. I apologize. I was drunk. I didn't know what I was doing.
WILLIAMS: And it's always like, you know, 'Partyboy@Arkansas.' (Dim-witted voice again)
FALLON: That's crazy, yeah. But I mean, do you find it hard. Being, you know, Brian Williams you can't really have a side. You have to be... you can't pick a side.
WILLIAMS: Well, I try to play it down the middle like you do every night. I do it in news, you do it in comedy. We try not to take a side.
That exchange made me gag.
I think Jimmy Fallon does a great job of keeping his show balanced. It's not overly political. He doesn't push an agenda. It's a great respite from all that stuff. The focus is on fun, not mean-spirited political sniping.
Brian Williams, on the other hand, does not provide balanced coverage of the news. He most definitely has an agenda.
The fact that Williams mocked someone criticizing him the way he did is revealing. Williams didn't cite a tweet complaining about him carrying water for the Republicans. He didn't say it's always from 'Partyboy@Massachusetts.'
Brent Bozell wrote a column about Williams' special and his assault on the Tea Party.
Of course, I didn't watch Taking the Hill, but Bozell's take is interesting. Somehow, Williams never spent a second on his Obama special asking the President how he was going to handle the demands of “hardline liberals” – or any kind of liberal, for that matter. The only hardliners are conservatives who want to stop the spending madness. What this country desperately needs are more “hardline conservatives” to dismay network anchormen.
Williams undermined his own musical intro by questioning Boehner’s grip on power. “Mr. Speaker, is it fair to say you have a bit of a rebellion on your hands?” Sadly, Boehner tried to play along. “I've got a little rebellion on my hands every day. It comes with the territory.”
Williams pulled out the New York Times, not exactly where Republicans go to look good. “You don't look happy on the front page of the New York Times. It says ‘Boehner's Grip on His Caucus is Put to Test on Standoff.’ Feel like you're being tested?” Boehner agreed. The question is whether Boehner wants to pass that test by pleasing liberals like Brian Williams, or by pleasing conservatives.
Williams suggested the newest Tea Party Republicans in Congress weren’t real Republicans: “Your job is to run your party, but there is another party in there too. You have this Tea Party caucus that didn't come to Washington with the same values.”
This time, Boehner had a good answer. “It's not the Tea Party caucus. It would be more what I would describe as some hardline conservatives who want more. I don't blame them. I want more, too.”
And now we arrive at the point where Williams and NBC made colossal fools of themselves.
Williams wanted the political narrative to be painted by ultraliberal Sen. Charles Schumer. “Word has gotten around” that House Republicans held a meeting and showed a motivational movie clip from the Ben Affleck crime movie “The Town,” which Williams said “eventually involves hockey masks and baseball bats and tons of bullets.” Horrors!
After Schumer declared the Republicans were violent nuts, the NBC cameras turned to Republican whip Kevin McCarthy. Williams pushed him about this press-stopping scandal. McCarthy professed amazement that Schumer would be highlighting a movie clip from a meeting he didn’t attend.
He shouldn’t be amazed, and Brian Williams would never try to embarrass Democrats by accepting leaks about movie clips from internal party meetings. That partisan double standard defines the Old Media.
I wonder if Williams sincerely believes that he's fair and plays it down the middle.
Does he really fail to notice the way he exposes his bias?
Could he be that delusional?
Charles Krauthammer gives his analysis of the debt deal - winners and losers.
Video.TranscriptCHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: Our constitutional system is designed so that you can't govern controlling half a branch of the government. It's simply not done. I think the president, if this is avoided, he doesn't gain, he doesn't lose. He didn't show any leadership here. It'll be neutral.
Boehner - I think if he gets 60 percent of his caucus, he'll be OK.
The winner is the Tea Party. They have changed the debate in the country. I think they ought to do what George Aiken advocated in the worst of days of the Vietnam war - declare victory and go home.
There'll be another fight a year from now. Obama is losing it. And I think that's where the big payoff will be. And that's when the country will decide what it wants to do about debt and also about the size of government.
Still no resolution on the debt ceiling.
From the Wall Street Journal:The House postponed a Thursday night vote on Speaker John Boehner's plan to raise the federal borrowing limit after he failed to stem a revolt by conservative GOP members. The delay leaves the credit status of the U.S. government in jeopardy with five days remaining before it begins running out of money to pay all its bills.
The development came after a two-hour debate on the bill was abruptly ended earlier in the evening. Mr. Boehner, knowing that a rejection could undermine his speakership, then joined other House GOP leaders in trying to pressure party members to reconsider their opposition.
Those efforts fell short and it wasn't clear if the vote would be rescheduled. But the development appeared to hand the initiative for the moment to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.), who is pushing an alternative version of the debt bill.
House Republicans and Senate Democrats planned to meet Friday morning at 10 a.m. to plan strategy. Republicans will figure out whether, and how, they can move forward.
"I think what's going on now is a process of dialogue among legislators who are listening to one another and deciding how it's going to be possible for us to move forward within the democratic process," said Rep. Mike Pence (R., Ind.).
Mr. Pence acknowledged that "we're not there yet" in terms of votes for the Boehner plan, but "Our objectives remain the same."
Greg Gutfeld nails it:This is like watching sausage not get made.
The Left went berserk over Sarah Palin and crosshairs.
Why is it acceptable for DEMOCRAT leader, House Minority Whip, Steny Hoyer to use extremely violent imagery when referring to Republicans and their interaction with Obama?
Hoyer was on the despicable MSNBC's Morning Joe on Wednesday. He used language that was not at all in line with the supposed "new tone" in Washington ushered in after the Tucson shootings.
Video. Transcript:STENY HOYER: Bob, I think you're right. I think it's unfortunate that politics is playing a role. I think we're playing Russian roulette, frankly, with the nation's credit worthiness. And unfortunately, all the chambers seem to be loaded in the House side. They want to shoot every bullet they can at the President. I think it's political in that sense, but it is much, much too dangerous to be playing politics with the credit worthiness of the United States, where for the first time in history we wouldn't be able to pay our bills.
I am hopeful, again, John Boehner has offered a number of proposals. Remember back when John Boehner offered a continuing resolution to keep the government open. He lost 59 of his members then on a deal that he made, not a Democratic - Republican agreement, on a deal that he made.
No one called Hoyer on his terrible choice of words.
It's incredibly irresponsible for Hoyer to speak of Republicans wanting to riddle Obama with bullets.
Saying Republicans "want to shoot every bullet they can at the president" is a startling way for Hoyer to make his point.
Where's the outrage now?
Crickets.
The Leftists apply a different standard to themselves.
The hypocrisy of the Left knows no limits.
The debt talks collapsed yesterday.
There are dueling explanations as to what happened.
Here's the full video of Obama's Friday evening news conference:Here's the transcript of an angry Obama's version of events.
Speaker of the House John Boehner tells a different story.
Here's video of his full news conference:
NBC News/MSNBC provides reaction to Osama bin Laden's death.President George W. Bush President Barack Obama called Bush in Dallas at 9:04 p.m. central time to inform him that bin Laden was dead and they spoke for four minutes, a Bush spokesman said.
The Sept. 11 attacks were a defining moment of Bush's presidency. He launched the war in Afghanistan and the hunt for bin Laden spanned the rest of his presidency. His statement:
"Earlier this evening, President Obama called to inform me that American forces killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al Qaeda network that attacked America on September 11, 2001. I congratulated him and the men and women of our military and intelligence communities who devoted their lives to this mission. They have our everlasting gratitude. This momentous achievement marks a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001. The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done."
Bonnie McEneaney, 57, wife of Eamon McEneaney, who died in the 9/11 attacks "It doesn't bring back all the wonderful people who were killed 10 years ago. It's long overdue."
"I'm completely numb. I'm stunned," she told msnbc.com.
Jack Lynch, 75, who lost his son, New York City firefighter Michael Francis Lynch "The first thought I had in my mind was that it didn't bring my son back. You cut the head off a snake, you'd think it would kill the snake. But someone will take his place. People like him still exist. The fact that he's gone is not going to stop terrorism."
"I understand that bin Laden was an evil person. He may have believed in what he was doing. I'm not going to judge him. I'm sure some people will look at this and they'll be gratified that he's dead, but me personally, I'm going to leave his fate in God's hands."
Lee Hanson, 78, of Easton, Conn., who lost his son, Peter, daughter-in-law, Sue, and 2 1/2 year-old granddaughter, Christine — the youngest victim of the 9/11 attacks. They were aboard the second plane that hit the World Trade Center
"It's taken a while to do it, but we've done it. It's a really good thing to get out there — if you fool around with the U.S., you will be caught."
"Many segments wil try to avenge this ... There's still a great danger there."
Still, he said: "There's no such thing as closure."
New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg "After September 11, 2001, we gave our word as Americans that we would stop at nothing to capture or kill Osama bin Laden. After the contribution of millions, including so many who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, we have kept that word.
"The killing of Osama bin Laden does not lessen the suffering that New Yorkers and Americans experienced at his hands, but it is a critically important victory for our nation - and a tribute to the millions of men and women in our armed forces and elsewhere who have fought so hard for our nation.
"New Yorkers have waited nearly ten years for this news. It is my hope that it will bring some closure and comfort to all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001."
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo "The death of Osama Bin Laden is a historic moment that represents a major step in our country's efforts to defeat terrorism around the world and should bring a sense of justice to the victims of 9/11 and his other attacks.
"We will never forget those who were lost, their families and those who risked their lives to save others.
"New Yorkers endured Bin Laden's most devastating and destructive attack, and his death brings back the horrific images and emotions of that terrible day. However, his death also reminds us of our strength, courage, and unity as a people in our response to his actions.
"The Administration's vigilance and dedication to hunt down Osama Bin Laden has never wavered and I applaud their commitment to this cause. I also applaud our men and women in uniform who have fought tirelessly against terrorism and to defend freedom.
"The threat to our state and our nation unfortunately does not die with Osama Bin Laden. We must remain vigilant in preventing terror acts and continue to do everything to keep our state and nation safe and secure."
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio "This is great news for the security of the American people and a victory in our continued fight against al Qaeda and radical extremism around the world. We continue to face a complex and evolving terrorist threat, and it is important that we remain vigilant in our efforts to confront and defeat the terrorist enemy and protect the American people. I want to congratulate — and thank — the hard-working men and women of our Armed Forces and intelligence community for their tireless efforts and perseverance that led to this success. I also want to commend President Obama and his team, as well as President Bush, for all of their efforts to bring Osama bin Laden to justice."
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor "Nearly a decade ago, in the days after 9/11, President Bush said, 'Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done.' Tonight, we've learned that justice has been done. The man with the blood of more than 3,000 Americans on his hands, the man who forced us to begin to think the unthinkable - is now dead.
"Families who lost loved ones at the hands of Bin Laden and his terrorist organization have grieved for far too long and this sends a signal that America will not tolerate terrorism in any form. The men and women of our armed forces and intelligence community have fought valiantly for the last decade and this is a major victory and testament to their dedication. I commend President Obama who has followed the vigilance of President Bush in bringing Bin Laden to justice. While this is no doubt a major event in our battle against terrorism, we will not relent in our fight against terror and our efforts to keep America safe and secure."
Rep. Peter T. King, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security "I commend President Obama on the announcement of the killing of Osama bin Laden.
"Today, the American people have seen justice. The leader of the United States' top enemy has gotten what he deserves for orchestrating the deaths of nearly 3,000 innocent Americans on September 11, 2001.
"In 2001, President Bush said 'we will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail.' President Bush deserves great credit for putting action behind those words. President Obama deserves equal credit for his resolve in this long war against al-Qaeda.
"This great success would not have been possible without the tireless work of countless brave men and women who have served around the world in this War on Terror."
Sen.Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y. "This is a thunderous strike for justice for the thousands of my fellow New Yorkers — and citizens from all over the world — who were murdered on 9/11. It took close to ten years, but the world's most wanted terrorist has finally met his deserved fate. New York's heart is still broken from the tragedy of 9/11, but this at least brings some measure of closure and consolation to the victims and their families.
"This is a massive accomplishment for the countless military and intelligence personnel who have been urgently dedicated to this task for the past decade. Because Bin Laden's evil dogma has poisoned the minds of so many others, we cannot let up in the war on terror. This successful mission sends a definitive message to those who would test the resolve of the people of the United States of America: do not doubt our resolve; if you do us harm, we will find you, we will mete out justice, and we will prevail."
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. "I am overjoyed that we finally got the world's top terrorist. The world is a better and more just place now that Osama bin Laden is no longer in it. I hope the families of the victims of the September 11th attacks will sleep easier tonight and every night hence knowing that justice has been done. I commend the President and his team, as well as our men and women in uniform and our intelligence professionals, for this superb achievement.
"But while we take heart in the news that Osama bin Laden is dead, we must be mindful that al-Qaeda and its terrorist allies are still lethal and determined enemies, and we must remain vigilant to defeat them."
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (she was national security adviser on 9/11) "Absolutely thrilling. I am overwhelmed with gratitude and continue to be amazed at what our military has achieved."
British Prime Minister David Cameron "Osama bin Laden was responsible for the worst terrorist atrocities the world has seen — for 9/11 and for so many attacks, which have cost thousands of lives, many of them British. It is a great success that he has been found and will no longer be able to pursue his campaign of global terror.
"The news that Osama bin Laden is dead will bring great relief to people across the world.
"But above all today, we should think of the victims of the poisonous extremism that this man has been responsible for. Of course, nothing will bring back those loved ones that families have lost to terror. But at least they know the man who was responsible for these appalling acts is no more."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "This is a resounding triumph for justice, freedom and the values shared by all democratic nations fighting shoulder to shoulder in determination against terrorism."
