White House launches baseless feud with NBC News

May 20, 2008

Yesterday, the feud was between Fox News and NBC News. Today, it’s between the White House and NBC News. (Insert joke here about the lack of distinctions between Fox News and the Bush White House.)

The Bush gang, apparently, is all worked up over the “editing” of an interview between the president and NBC’s Richard Engel. The far-right blogs are equally incensed, but after looking at the controversy, I’m not sure what all the fuss is about. It seems like a manufactured outrage — as if the powers that be decided the GOP base needed a pick me up, so the White House is picking a fight with a media outlet.

The White House on Monday sent a scathing letter to NBC News, accusing the news network of “deceptively” editing an interview with President Bush on the issue of appeasement and Iran.

At issue were remarks Bush made in front of Israel’s parliament earlier this week.

Specifically, White House counselor Ed Gillespie laments that the network edited the interview in a way that “is clearly intended to give viewers the impression that [Bush] agreed with [correspondent Richard Engel’s] characterization of his remarks when he explicitly challenged it.

“This deceitful editing to further a media-manufactured storyline is utterly misleading and irresponsible and I hereby request in the interest of fairness and accuracy that the network air the President’s responses to both initial questions in full on the two programs that used the excerpts,” said Gillespie in the letter to NBC News President Steve Capus.

I haven’t the foggiest idea what prompted such a furious White House response. It’s as if Bush’s communications department was bored, so staffers picked a fight for no reason. Maybe it was a desperate cry for attention from a group of people who aren’t taken seriously anymore?

Engel asked the president, “You said that negotiating with Iran is pointless, and then you went further — you said it was appeasement. Were you referring to Senator Barack Obama?”

Here’s the response, as it appeared edited for broadcast:

“You know, my policies haven’t changed, but evidently the political calendar has…. And when, you know, a leader of Iran says that they want to destroy Israel, you’ve got to take those words seriously.”

And here’s the unedited response:

“You know, my policies haven’t changed, but evidently the political calendar has. People need to read the speech. You didn’t get it exactly right, either. What I said was is that we need to take the words of people seriously. And when, you know, a leader of Iran says that they want to destroy Israel, you’ve got to take those words seriously. And if you don’t take them seriously, then it harkens back to a day when we didn’t take other words seriously. It was fitting that I talked about not taking the words of Adolf Hitler seriously on the floor of the Knesset. But I also talked about the need to defend Israel, the need to not negotiate with the likes of al Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas. And the need to make sure Iran doesn’t get a nuclear weapon.”

This is “deceitful editing”? It’s “utterly misleading and irresponsible”? Huh?

As an aside, I’m tempted to go through the Bush-Engel interview in detail, highlighting every error of fact and judgment, but it appears Olbermann beat me to it.

It apears to me that the issue is that NBC news (the lowest regarded of the big 3 in my view) did not include the inflammatory and sensational language about Hitler and nuclear weapons. I call that smart editing.

  • You even edited the unedited version, CB.
    The last line should read:
    And the need to make sure Iran doesn’t get a nookyuhler weapon

  • I think your first sentence is not really a joke. There looks to be a coordinated effort to demonize NBC as anti-conservative. The right wing wants (needs) to maintain the narrative of “liberal bias” to wind-up their base

  • It’s not “utterly misleading”, but I’d say it is somewhat misleading. Bush semi-criticized the question (“You didn’t get it exactly right”). By snipping that, it makes it sound like Bush accepted the implicit assertions in the question. That said, it’s no more misleading than the editing of many a media interview and certainly not remotely worthy of the level of outrage from the Bush administration. A tempest in a teapot.

  • Karl Rove is called a “political wizard”. However, Senator Obama will expose Rove and the GOP as Wizards (as in Oz) –illusionary figures masquerading behind a curtain of Deceit! The Republican Pretenders are skilled in rituals of smoke & mirrors – Experts in Demonizing and Belittling thier opponents through smear and distortion . We, the American people, are tired of their trickery’s and lies based on illusionary fear-mongering and not fact, and like the Wizard of Oz, when the curtain is pulled back by “the light of truth”, they will be exposed as the fakers and the pretenders that they are — with loud, silver-tounged voices filled with vinegar and no Real Power — pulling strings of “make believe” to coverup their own innate weakness and Experienced villainy, an In-Experience and Naivite that Barack lacks. This unveiling will enable us to finally get off this merry-go-round — this “yellow-brick-road” of illusion and deceit perpetrated upon the American public by these ShapeShifters and Betrayers of the Public Good.

    This massed negativity has been a real detriment to American economic progress and peace in Iraq. Such pretenders and shapeshifters are like a millstone around the neck of humanity, crippling true effort. They proclaim Family Values, yet do nothing but impede true progress while the American way-of-life is dying. Any bills offered by Democrats which will benefit the American families, the GOP votes NO! This massed, organized negativity has been what has enabled them to work so ruthlessly with power and success at the destruction of all that has attempted to get in the way of their projects, desires and greed. They refuse to recognize that humanity can solve its problems without aggression and force and instead use the energy of goodwill and diplomacy, sharing and cooperation.

    If you disagree with the Pretenders’ politics, however, (I do not say policies for they lack true policies) in unison they attack by subterfuge, distortion and lies to disquise their true intent –the control of money and power for the GOP family only (so much for family values). Masters in fear mongering and shapeshifting, they hope to incite fear in an unsuspecting and gullible American public and to get them to embrace thier plans out of fear and against their own common sense and good judgment! Only this time, we will dispell this Illusion and not be fooled again by these “fakers, con-artists and Pretenders”, and our united House, born out of need and true change, will withstand the onslaught of this False, now Fleeting Wind that has devastated the American way of life, no more!

  • There looks to be a coordinated effort to demonize NBC as anti-conservative.

    And if GE and NBC have executives worth their salaries, they’ll embrace this as fast as they can. Being perceived as challenging a president with 28% approval ratings is only going to attract viewers.

  • Yea, Olberman “scathed” right back at the White House. I was suprised NBC News tepid response, personally. I think they should have come hitting back harder. And Raoul above may have it on the real reason for the anger, NBC did edit out the bits about Hitler, those must have been the points to that rambling non-answer Bush gave to Engal.

    And with all those Congressional investigations and subpoenas, doesn’t Ed Gillespie have much more important things to do with his time? Shouldn’t this have been handled by one of Dana Perino’s lackeys? .

    And Note to Richard Engals: When President Bush says ” You’ve got to take the words seriously. When we don’t, it harkens back to the day people didn’t take others words seriously….” Always mention the August 6 PDB and all the Al Quada chatter we picked up before Sept 11. as an example of when some “others” did not take words seriously.

    Does anyone know how the Israeli press and public responded to Bush’s Knesset speech last week? Did they approve of the talk equating Iran to Germany? Or US Dems too appeasers? I’m just curious. I mean, we saw the response and know the Likudnics approve, but what about the normal Israeli’s?

  • Agree with rvadem at #3. It’s not a coincidence. Years after the Dan Rather flap, winger blogs are still crowing about how CBS has been permanently branded as a hotbed of Communism, dangerous lefty radicalism and so forth. NBC’s just the current project.

  • The problem ‘Lil Bu$h and his handlers have isn’t necessarily with NBC, it’s with the fact that they no longer control the message.

    Throughout ‘Lil Bu$h’s presidency, we have seen scripted ‘town hall’ meetings (where participants were hand picked based on ideology), fake news and reporters (gotta mention the homosexual prostitute Gannon here, who before he became the WH call boy was a fake reporter), oaths of allegiance to the President, military ‘ANALysts’ spoon fed info from the Pentagon, and of course the punditocracy’s elites, Russert, et al, who could be counted on to be official WH stenographers.

    Yes, it appears that at least some of the press have found their gnads, most likely because they know “Lil Bu$h, the lamest lame duck of all, is on the way out, and fear of reprisal from the Bu$h gang is on the way out as well.

  • Mr. Bush and his minions have in their possession a determinant narrative. It can’t be penetrated unless one is willing to face the wrath of Mr. Bush and his minions – see Joe Wilson and the head of the world atomic monitoring organization, Richard Clarke and our own weapons inspectors, and the first Bush administration Treasury Secretary as a few examples.

    Bush, unlike the canyons of his mind that echo over and over this determinant narrative, will be judged as a despicable human being and the worst president in all of American history and the history of our planet yet to come. George is in denial! -Kevo

  • Let me tell you how this is going to go down.

    For the Democrats it’s developing into a perfect storm.

    – A reviled president, an incompetent and corrupt administration, a hugely unpopular war and the economy in recession.

    – A young, charismatic and intelligent candidate for the Democrats with no political baggage and a young, vibrant intelligent wife. A campaign that’s awash with cash and people keep on giving – even business sectors that went for Bush big time in 2000.

    – An old, out-of-touch, adulterous Washington insider for the Republican candidate with a violent temper, lots of issues he would rather we all forget, married to a remote, icy millionairess with a pathological sense of privacy.

    – A congress that fails to pass major legislation because (and this is the only reason) the republican minority uses any procedural tactic they can to block everything.

    – A populace that has finally realised that the 2000 election was stolen, the last eight years have been misery and that’s what you get if you don’t get out and vote. They don’t trust what the MSM says anymore (Stephanopoulos – you’re fired) and they’re more energised and alert.

    Now all Republicans running for election are now vulnerable.

    Republicans will become an endangered species in the House and the Democrats will have a veto-proof majority in the Senate.

    An amusing footnote – Lieberman’s career will be over.

  • Bush is a premium-grade asshole idiot.

    Or, to say it like he would: “See, I think you…people ought to listen to … you didn’t hear me right either, Steve… when what I was trying to say, cause the I-raquis know…and the American people know…George Bush…see he’s been…there’s a timetable, see…what I’m…what I’m getting at here is…if you don’t like to hear the truth…then…don’t listen…cause…a Hezbollah…is…they’ve got that enriched geranium program…see, when …. when I went to college…there’s three kinds of gas…see, there’s the cheap stuff…and there’s the premium…see, two kinds of gas…and if you want to fill your tank…I’d give freedom a passing grade…if it was a school child, freedom would be getting straight ‘As’ is what I’m talking about here…see this asshole in Iran…I mean, when you’re talking about freedom…and the liberties that you and I hold dear…see, people who haven’t been to I-raq and I-ran…you can’t judge it unless you judge it through the bullet-proof glass of a limousine…see, that’s why these Democrats are an idiot…”

    Editing him down is the only way to get a complete sentence out of him.

  • The right is anticipating the fact that once it becomes a two person race, it will be almost impossible for the MSM to hide the fact that McCain is a two-faced, senile, mean-spirited moron. Every time he stumbles or rants, it will be because the media tripped him, not because the right doesn’t have a leg to stand on.

  • Whoa! It’s being reported that Ted Kennedy has a malignant brain tumor. How awful.

  • Too funny. The Bush whitehouse is accusing people of bending the truth, when Bush’s “answer” didn’t even begin to answer the question, which was “Were you referring to Senator Barack Obama?”.

    All Bush did was blather about a mistranslation of a supposed threat by a lunatic who holds a weak office in a non-nuclear nation, a “threat” against a nation which not only has hundreds of nukes, but aircraft and submarines to deliver them with, and a powerful ally which would obliterate that puny “threat” if they ever did anything drastic.

  • okay … in the interest of fairness, and to wipe the slate clean, let’s go back and unedit everything Chimpy has said in the past seven years, and run the raw tape on network news.

    see how many english teachers open up a vein.

    guess what W ? if you regularly lie and speak like you sniff gasoline everytime we ask you a question, we reserve the right to edit.

    learn how put a sentence together, and learn to quit pathologically lying everytime your mouth opens … maybe we can take your comments at faith value, you waste of space.

  • President Bush said something stupid, and the White House would like to blame it on NBC.

    It’s the same old “liberal media” scam.

  • As an aside, I’m tempted to go through the Bush-Engel interview in detail, highlighting every error of fact and judgment …

    Being perceived as challenging a president with 28% approval ratings is only going to attract viewers.

    That’s the payoff. If NBC smells ratings, I suspect the ‘liberal media’ brand will be a selling point.

    Editing him down is the only way to get a complete sentence out of him.

    LOL. Ain’t it just? That’s if you can even stand to listen to him at all.

    Angellight, I want to know what you took, how much, and where can I purchase a large quantity?

  • Whoa, NBC edited out Bush’s lie about not using the term “appeasement”? How dare they? No, really–they needed to keep the denial in, then run the clip of Bush saying it. But perhaps they ran out of time. If they had to cover every Bush lie and then debunk it, there wouldn’t be time for any other shows.

  • We’re in the market for some new major appliances, and GE decides to go off the kool aid and get real? WTF?!?

    Good timing, or merely coincidence? If they really go serious on this, and start pounding away at these clowns—I’ll gladly give them my business. Let’s see—there’s all the stuff for the kitchen, then there’s the new “green” washer-dryer combo….

  • “Yesterday, the feud was between Fox News and NBC News. Today, it’s between the White House and NBC News. (Insert joke here about the lack of distinctions between Fox News and the Bush White House.)”

    Inserted Joke: So there you have it – the Bush White House: leading the country a day behind Fox News

  • Look, there’s been a lot of really, really biased media coverage we’ve exposed. If Republicans want to join in the game, they can’t just sit around waiting for the Press to lie about them, so they have to make it up.

    How else do you decry unfair treatment by a Press that bends over backwards for you?

  • talk about a tempest in a teapot. the question was ” Were you referring to Senator Barack Obama?” the long rambling response doesn’t go anywhere near answering the question. so nbc showed a short response that doesn’t go anywhere near answering the question. and this is misleading??

  • Wide stance = cocky…that’s all I noticed. Perhaps the faux anger over the editing has to do with the fact that it also meant less time looking at the codpiece…

  • NBC should have reported, “Today our reporter asked President Bush if his statement to the Knesset was intended to be a reference to Senator Barack Obama. President Bush refused to answer the question and instead rambled incoherently for a while, mentioning Hitler and nuclear weapons.”

  • Kieth, You’re a freaking idiot! And so is Richard Engle!! When are you idiots going to smarten up? Does it take another attack on our soil for you to realize that we live in an age where evil people (of Fanatical Mulslim beliefs) want to destroy us as well as Israel?

    Think about it!!

    I personally lost friends in Beruit in 1984 in the barracks bombing, and so don’t try to act like the world will be fine if we just leave them alone! It won’t and we must continue to take it to them before they take it to us once again!

    Perhaps you ought to stick to sports reporting…

    Get with the program you freaking idiot!!

    G

  • I think Bush actually tuned in to watch himself and didn’t like that arrogant smirk he wears or the lunatic laugh he gives or how inadequate he appears when someone hasn’t written the appropriate response down for him to read. In short maybe he finally saw what the rest of us see and was embarrassed.

  • Guess Ted is getting ready to see Mary Jo again soon. Perhaps he could explain why he left her that night while he took a shower and sobered up, etc…

  • I personally know a woman raped by the ex leader of the Young Republicans of Michigan so what’s your point greg ?

  • What’s with the sniffing? Did cocaine eat through his nose? I don’t often see/hear the guy (don’t watch TV), so I was quite struck by it.

  • I find the White House was right. it’s OK if NBC wants to be a participant in politics instead of reporting the news- but at least present your program as a commentary instead of a “cold facts” presentation.

  • Here’s something for right wing morons like Greg to chew on; a paraphrase that was acquiesced by the 9/11 Commission and anyone else with a brain larger than a pea:

    “Attacking Iraq was on a level of stupidity as … bombing Mexico in retaliation for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.”

    Richard Clark, White House National Security Advisor

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