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Culture

NBC Suspends Serial Humble-Bragger Brian Williams for Six Months, Costing Him $5 Million

Move comes despite defenses from millionaire media friends like Jon Stewart (who's also retiring, BTW).

Matt Welch | 2.10.2015 9:42 PM

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When NBC Nightly News anchor/Managing Editor Brian Williams semi-apologized Feb. 6 for fabricating (not his words) an anecdote about his helicopter coming under fire in Iraq, and banished himself from his ratings-winning evening news broadcast for an unspecified few days, it certainly did not seem like his employer was in charge of the rapidly devolving situation. Well, no more.

Tonight NBC banished Williams to Liar Island for six months without pay—which means that this tireless man of the people will forfeit $5 million in salary. Buzzfeed has the memo from NBC News President Deborah Turness. Excerpt:

While on Nightly News on Friday, January 30, 2015, Brian misrepresented events which occurred while he was covering the Iraq War in 2003. It then became clear that on other occasions Brian had done the same while telling that story in other venues. This was wrong and completely inappropriate for someone in Brian's position.

In addition, we have concerns about comments that occurred outside NBC News while Brian was talking about his experiences in the field.

As Managing Editor and Anchor of Nightly News, Brian has a responsibility to be truthful and to uphold the high standards of the news division at all times.

NBCUniversal Steve Burke added that "Brian has jeopardized the trust millions of Americans place in NBC News. His actions are inexcusable and this suspension is severe and appropriate." It's a pretty vigorous slap of that news division's most valuable asset. Given that NBC's internal investigation is "ongoing," I think it's safe to assume that the 2003 helicopter saga will not be the only turd found in that particular punchbowl. Meanwhile, Lester Holt (who's good!) will continue pinch-anchoring.

In related media news that's burning up the Twitter, Jon Stewart announced late this afternoon he's leaving Comedy Central's The Daily Show this year. Leading to the question: Are the two stories related??? Actually, they are, at least a bit. Read on about the outgoing Jersey boys, their collaborative moments in Williams's downfall, and how this story had the unlikely outcome of putting Stewart, Bill O'Reilly, and David Brooks on the same page.

Williams has been a frequent guest on The Daily Show, trotting out the kind of faux-humility and alleged comic stylings that made him the most successful personality in the nightly news business. (I have never been a fan, but people speak highly about these skills, and he got numbers until now.) One of Williams's shaggy-dog stories currently getting scrutiny, regarding a 2006 helicopter ride over Israel, received embellishment in Stewart's chair. The two gentlemen also genially discussed another now-doubted story—about Williams being held up at gunpoint while selling Christmas trees as a teenager in Red Bank, New Jersey—at a local event in 2012.

So last night, a visibly conflicted Stewart gave Williams an extended noogie for his transgressions (making some shrewd points about the difference between news-delivery and bar-bullshitting), and then pivoted to the hypocrisy of journalists giving Williams the kind of scrutiny they failed to apply to Dick Cheney 12 years ago:

Stewart's "yes, but" analysis, which drew mixed reviews, mirrored similar comments from the likes of Michael Moore and Bill Moyers. Other news celebrities coming to Williams's qualified defense include Dan Rather, Joe Scarborough, Dan Abrams, Joe Klein, and Fox News ratings monster Bill O'Reilly. Like many of the above, O'Reilly is particularly upset with you, the rabble, with all your gleeful schadenfreuding on the Interwebs:

"Every public person in this country is a target," he said. "With the Internet — you know what it is, it's a sewer. And these people delight in seeing famous people being taken apart. I just think it's wrong. I mean, we're human beings just like everybody else."

Bolding mine, out of mad respect for the Elephant Man reference.

New York Times columnist David Brooks agrees with The Factor, describing the public response to Williams as "barbaric." Former CNN host Piers Morgan decries the "brutal slaughterhouse of social media," with its "ferocious critics" who "want to see his bones removed, sawn into pieces and hurled into the Hudson river." Well.

If I was a seven-figure teleprompter reader (note that I do not disparage that skill!) able to command $40,000+ speaking fees and luxurious real estate on The New York Times bestseller list, I, too, might look upon the Internet's looming swarms of potential career-killers with a special kind of loathing. As indeed Brian Williams himself did back in 2007.

But the story here is actually quite simpler: The guy lied about stuff, in a gross kind of way, on his broadcast, and also while promoting his show in other fora. Social media's biggest role here, aside from giving some knowledgeable veterans a place to challenge the original helicopter story, was to let NBC and Williams know that people were laughing at them. If you're going to dine out on the ersatz populism, do not expect my tears when the crowd turns on your fraudulent work.

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NEXT: Homeschooling: The New Techie Fad?

Matt Welch is an editor at large at Reason.

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  1. Wicked Skin   10 years ago

    So basically all of the high profile professional liars are fucking scared out of their minds. Sweet.

    1. S. Quincy   10 years ago

      Dumb lie? Or dumbest lie ever?

  2. Gannicus   10 years ago

    Fuck off Jon Stewart.

    1. Curt   10 years ago

      Fuck Stewart; Fuck O'Reilly; Fuck Rather; Fuck Moore; Fuck all of them.

      O'Reilly complains that, "Every public person in this country is a target." He's exactly right. But, these assholes are just accustomed to being the ones who are taking shots at the target. When they show up in the cross-hairs, suddenly this is somehow wrong and immoral.

      Stewart's entire career is founded on taking shots at public personalities based on this kind of crap.

      Fuck all of them.

  3. Grand Moff Serious Man   10 years ago

    Stewart's "yes, but" analysis, which drew mixed reviews, mirrored similar comments from the likes of Michael Moore and Bill Moyers.

    Tu quoque for you and me!

    1. Dweebston   10 years ago

      Look, we're not supposed to hold our public personas in the news media accountable for their grandiose preening, whether they're grossly trying to catch reflected light (Brian Williams then) or caught flat-footed lying (Brian Williams now). We're supposed to trust credulously their every word and at the end thank them for their service. Anything less would be uncharitable given the sacrifices they routinely make, like the time Brian Williams got dysentery.

      1. Wicked Skin   10 years ago

        I just don't understand why faith in our foundational institutions continues to fall...

        1. Dweebston   10 years ago

          They're not failing our faith, friend. Our faith is failing them.

          1. Wicked Skin   10 years ago

            Damn I feel so badly for letting them down. It's like I am the Cleveland Browns.

            1. Dweebston   10 years ago

              It's the weakness of our spirit. They make it so damned easy to despise them.

              1. NebulousFocus   10 years ago

                Dweebston killing it.

            2. Gorthan   10 years ago

              + eleventy billion

          2. Scarecrow Repair   10 years ago

            Don't call him/her friend, pal.

            1. HalJordan   10 years ago

              I'm not your buddy, guy!

              1. Swiss Servator, ... Switzy!   10 years ago

                I am not your guy, amigo!

                1. Curt   10 years ago

                  I am not your amigo, homey!

    2. Cytotoxic   10 years ago

      It doesn't even rise to Tu Qoque. It was never proven or anything close to proven that Cheney or Bush lied.

      1. Crusty Juggler   10 years ago

        War for oil, bro.

      2. UCrawford   10 years ago

        No, the truth of it was worse. Bush and Cheney didn't lie to get us into Iraq. They were so fixated on Iraq that they talked themselves into believing things that weren't true and ignored all evidence that they were utterly wrong.

        Being a delusional fool with power is far worse than being a liar with power.

  4. Gorthan   10 years ago

    I am not pleased. I was hoping to see him thrown from the top of 30 Rock. All hail Gorthan!

  5. Dweebston   10 years ago

    Any predictions about Jon Stewart next gig? Will he follow the Al Franken route, and make a hash of a senatorial career?

    1. Crusty Juggler   10 years ago

      He will direct one more shitty movie, create a failed sitcom, and then podcast.

      1. Dweebston   10 years ago

        Some of my favorite people are podcasters.

        My latest fave: James Delingpole.

        1. Crusty Juggler   10 years ago

          Oh, I think podcasts can be great places to find entertainment, especially those of the intellectual sort.

          I just think that is where Stewart will end up. Hosting a podcast wearing a sweatshirt and a baseball cap, unshaven, smoking cigarettes and interviewing friends, telling fake "real" stories about what it was like hosting the daily show. Oh, he is so tired with "the grind" of making millions! "Tell us more, Jon!" He will also probably sink into depraved, Alec Baldwin-like politics.

          1. Sevo   10 years ago

            "Oh, he is so tired with "the grind" of making millions!"

            After Breathed 'retired' from cartooning, another cartoonist made the comment that he wished he were rich enough to 'burn out',

            1. UCrawford   10 years ago

              I think he'll just walk away from it ala Seinfeld. Seems like he's at that age where he'd rather just enjoy his life.

      2. MJGreen   10 years ago

        ...Good call. I'll applaud you in 2019.

  6. Gorthan   10 years ago

    Oh, and Jon Stewart needs to choke on a bagel. All hail Gorthan!

    1. NebulousFocus   10 years ago

      HAIL! Wait, what?

  7. Notorious G.K.C.   10 years ago

    Like I was saying to the Queen just the other day, "it's really tragic how the public likes to pull down celebrities. You ask me, it's just jealousy."

    1. Dweebston   10 years ago

      But the public quite likes RuPaul.

  8. Notorious G.K.C.   10 years ago

    But Williams should have known better than to bear false witness. After all, he was with Moses on Mount Sinai.

    1. Dweebston   10 years ago

      He wasn't with Moses on Mount Sinai, he landed there in a following helicopter about an hour later.

      1. Sevo   10 years ago

        Dweebston|2.10.15 @ 10:11PM|#
        "He wasn't with Moses on Mount Sinai, he landed there in a following helicopter about an hour later."

        It would have been sooner, but the smoke from the burning bush was too thick.
        He apologized for not covering it better, and mentioned that god was kind enough to give him dispensation.

        1. Ayn Random Variation   10 years ago

          Was that Hillary's burning bush from the sniper fire?

    2. Gorthan   10 years ago

      But you can lie if you're Jesus.

  9. angus   10 years ago

    Is O'Reilly off his meds again?

  10. Irish   10 years ago

    Man. It sure is gross how the common folk are holding their intellectual and moral superiors accountable for lies.

    It's especially disgusting how they expect honesty from the person who gives them their news.

    1. Wicked Skin   10 years ago

      It's like all that money we invested in obedience training didn't stick.

    2. Gorthan   10 years ago

      News? That ceased happening a long time ago . . . what we have now is feminized gov-prop.

      1. Crusty Juggler   10 years ago

        All hail Gorthan!

        1. Gorthan   10 years ago

          Yes! All hail Gorthan!

  11. Notorious G.K.C.   10 years ago

    You know, if I were Williams, I'd be like, "well, it was fun while it lasted," and I'd take my money and move to Gstaad or Bermuda where I could chat up women who don't care if I fudge an autobiographical fact or two.

  12. Notorious G.K.C.   10 years ago

    Is anyone else getting the 50 Shades of Gray S&M Teddy Bear ad?

    1. Notorious G.K.C.   10 years ago

      The House at Pooh Corner...After Hours.

    2. Sevo   10 years ago

      "Is anyone else getting the 50 Shades of Gray S&M Teddy Bear ad?"

      Yes, and doesn't it look like a Norway rat?

      1. Swiss Servator, ... Switzy!   10 years ago

        Is not rat! Is hamster!!

  13. Rich   10 years ago

    Tonight NBC banished Williams to Liar Island for six months without pay?which means that this tireless man of the people will forfeit $5 million in salary.

    When he leaves NBC he'll probably be dead broke.

  14. Dweebston   10 years ago

    Former CNN host Piers Morgan decries the "brutal slaughterhouse of social media," with its "ferocious critics" who "want to see his bones removed, sawn into pieces and hurled into the Hudson river."

    Or those of us a little repulsed by the brazen lying may simply want to see a man who's paid to parlay the faith of a trusting public tossed out on his rump for having demonstrated an insufferably narcissistic, and entirely unearned, ego.

    But I suppose those are identical sentiments if you're in the entertainment business.

    1. Rich   10 years ago

      "want to see his bones removed, sawn into pieces and hurled into the Hudson river."

      Must be a British thing.

      1. Scarecrow Repair   10 years ago

        Or a liar thing.

      2. Suthenboy   10 years ago

        Wrong York.

  15. BoscoH   10 years ago

    Let's hope The Jacket has his glam shots and resume packaged up with a bottle of scotch and some fine English chocolates. Looks like hiring season.

    1. UCrawford   10 years ago

      He'll never work in journalism again. Not after this.

      He's not just a run of the mill fabulist trying to get ahead. The man's a pathological liar who lied about things that really didn't even benefit him professionally or personally. Once people like that get exposed in journalism, they might as well be pedophiles.

  16. Irish   10 years ago

    If John Stewart is really so miffed about the news media failing to hold elected officials accountable, I can think of a few other examples of bad behavior that could warrant his attention.

    It's really ridiculous that Stewart constantly does this "Hey look, over there!" act in order to protect his friends, but the shiny object being used to distract his audience is never a Democrat.

    Cheney and Bush had one period where they got no scrutiny and that's because the media had been worked into a war lather. After that short period of time where Bush could do whatever he wanted because the media was actively pushing the Iraq War, Bush got vastly more scrutiny than the Obama administration has. But of course, Stewart's audience might get a bit fussy if he used that as his example of media malfeasance.

    1. Gorthan   10 years ago

      Stewart was/is content to occupy this murky, elastic middle position between straight news and pure comic schtick. He has always used this to deflect criticism of any kind. He's a totem of a brain-dead generation.

      1. Irish   10 years ago

        Hey, I'm a member of that braindead generation!

        Incidentally, I argued with my cousin about Stewart a few months ago and pointed out that he deceptively edits videos to make it appear that people said things they didn't say.

        She claimed this was no big deal because everyone does it.

        I then pointed out that when Bill O'Reilly was duped into showing a deceptively edited James O'Keefe video on his show, he apologized when it became clear it wasn't accurate and then has continued to apologize in the years since for his errors in judgment.

        That's right - John Stewart is provably less ethical than Bill O'Reilly.

        1. Cytotoxic   10 years ago

          He's also NOT FUNNY ANYMORE. He just ain't.

        2. Gorthan   10 years ago

          In all fairness, I probably should have said a brain-dead country. The problem with Jon Stewart is that we used to have Mencken.

  17. Grand Moff Serious Man   10 years ago

    Stewart's sudden discovery of magnanimity for Williams' sins bolsters my theory that he's calling it quits to avoid covering a Hillary Clinton campaign.

    The "yeah, but look at these conservative assholes" schtick would wear thin pretty quickly if he had to bust it out every night to deflect from a Hillary gaffe or transparent bit of cronyism/corruption.

    1. Cytotoxic   10 years ago

      It portends badly for Hillary and the Dems if one of their chief fluffers just can't stand the thought of defending her campaign. She's going to be a disaster on the trail.

      1. Wicked Skin   10 years ago

        Can you fluff a snizz?

        1. S. Quincy   10 years ago

          Can you snizz a fluff? I know you can, you dirty bastard.

          1. zray   10 years ago

            Just reading made me go blind..

        2. Eggs Benedict Cumberbund   10 years ago

          Maybe snuke?

          1. S. Quincy   10 years ago

            Disgusting!

    2. Suthenboy   10 years ago

      I strongly suspect the Hildebeast will never sit in the Oval Office.

      The Epstein scandal is growing. Apparently there are videos. The Hillary team members are shitting themselves.

      Three guesses who is likely on video banging a 14 yo......

      1. Palin's Buttplug   10 years ago

        VINCE FOSTER!

      2. NebulousFocus   10 years ago

        Is the MSM covering this story? Links?

        1. UCrawford   10 years ago

          Nope...not yet. Closest they've gotten to the respectable publications seems to be the Daily Mail and the Daily Caller. Not enough to say the story's really legit. Most of the scandal, after all, is based on the so-far unsubstantiated claims of sex abuse leveled by one woman against Prince Andrew and Bill Clinton. That could easily turn out to be bullshit.

          But it is worth keeping an eye on that story, I suspect, to see if evidence surfaces in support of the woman's claims.

          1. Steve G   10 years ago

            Mmmm, one woman's accusations. Not a very good track record with those lately. We'll see...

      3. zray   10 years ago

        Biden?

  18. Palin's Buttplug   10 years ago

    http://www.mediaite.com/tv/ste.....iraq-lies/

    TDS on how the media bent over for the devastating lies of the Bushpigs and how they now attack Williams for his.

    1. Dweebston   10 years ago

      Somebody already filled the tu quoque quota above. You're relieved of your services tonight.

    2. Cytotoxic   10 years ago

      It was never proven that Bush or Cheney lied.

      1. Palin's Buttplug   10 years ago

        TEAM RED WOULDN'T LIE!

        1. Wicked Skin   10 years ago

          "In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members ... It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons."

          -- Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002

          1. Gorthan   10 years ago

            There's a 50% chance that she is our next president. Unfortunately, there's also a 50% chance that Jeb Bush is the next president.

          2. Palin's Buttplug   10 years ago

            Fuck her. She DQed herself for the AUMF vote alone.

            I don't care about Team Blue.

            The only thing I have said is that Obama is easily a better president than Dumbya was - and that is proven by the numbers.

            1. Pathogen   10 years ago

              What numbers?

              1. Brian   10 years ago

                8 percent

            2. Scarecrow Repair   10 years ago

              You mean because Obama has attacked more countries?

              1. Palin's Buttplug   10 years ago

                Look at the Team Red rats run to cover for the Bushpigs.

                1. Pathogen   10 years ago

                  You were going to elaborate more on those "numbers"?..

                  1. Palin's Buttplug   10 years ago

                    Fuck you. I have run the numbers many times and it is always -

                    BUT THE LFP RATE IS 2% DOWN! SEE THERE!

                    Like you Team Red jackasses don't know about Boomers retiring.

                    1. Pathogen   10 years ago

                      Sooo... no "numbers"? 🙁

                    2. NotAnotherSkippy   10 years ago

                      http://www.heritage.org/resear.....very#_ftn3

                      Rerunning the analysis shown in Tables 3 and 4, but only accounting for aging would find demographics accounting for half the drop in labor force participation, as the CEA did. Accounting for aging and education simultaneously shows that demographics explains less than a quarter of the drop in labor force participation.

                      So even being the most generous and allowing the CEA analysis, only half of the drop can be explained by demographics. The rest is all of the "investments" your boy Barry likes to make with my money.

                      Now tell me the one where you and Barry personally increased the US oil supply.

                    3. Palin's Buttplug   10 years ago

                      Heritage are known liars.

                      To summarize the results so far, the model attributes three-quarters of the decline in the labor force participation rate since 2007 to demographics and other factors mostly captured by the cohort effects.

                      http://www.federalreserve.gov/.....464pap.pdf

                      Nevertheless, job growth for 54 consecutive months (a record), biggest job gains in 17 years, and UE down over 2 points from when Obama took office.

                      On jobs, GDP, deficits, exports, inflation, USD strength, market strength, bank balance sheets, interest rates - and other measures Obama is clearly the winner.

                    4. Sevo   10 years ago

                      Palin's Buttplug|2.10.15 @ 11:32PM|#
                      "Heritage are known liars."

                      Turd, YOU are not the authority to make that claim.
                      You lie always and everywhere. For you to call anyone else a liar is to be irrelevant.
                      Oh, and fuck off, turd.

                    5. John Titor   10 years ago

                      Remember kids, Palin's Buttplug hates 'irrational religion'. Which is why he constructs elaborate fantasies where Obama/God is responsible for all that is good while BOOOOSH/Satan must never be forgotten as a symbol of evil.

                    6. GR8IPAZ   10 years ago

                      Please explain the specific things the president did to lead to these "fabulous" increases?

                      What policies? Or, was his name just on the mailbox?

                    7. Whahappan?   10 years ago

                      You stupid fuck, retirees aren't included in LFP.

                  2. Rich   10 years ago

                    Here's one "number".

                    1. Sevo   10 years ago

                      Rich|2.10.15 @ 11:10PM|#
                      "Here's one "number"."

                      Shucks. I was hoping it'd be a link to *8%* for the turdish.

                    2. Pathogen   10 years ago

                      8% of the population of Turdistan thread shit on a daily basis..

                  3. Ayn Random Variation   10 years ago

                    You know, like those numbers it posted the other day showing spending under Obama being higher than under the bushpigs. And this was supposed to show how great Obama is

                    "I don't care about Team Blue."

                    It's hilarious that it can't go two sentences without lying.

                    "Like you Team Red jackasses don't know about Boomers retiring."

                    But I guess outright lying is more commendable than using misdirection.

                    Hey PB, when you suck off Obama, do you at least have the decency to keep going to the end?

            3. Sevo   10 years ago

              Palin's Buttplug|2.10.15 @ 10:49PM|#
              ..."I don't care about Team Blue."...

              And turd retires the chair for tonight!

        2. Sevo   10 years ago

          Palin's Buttplug|2.10.15 @ 10:39PM|#
          "TEAM RED WOULDN'T LIE!"

          Fuck off, turd.

  19. Irish   10 years ago

    Also, remember the time Piers Morgan got fired from his job for publishing fake pictures of Americans torturing Iraqi prisoners or that other time Piers Morgan was implicated in a phone hacking scandal?

    Just the sort of stand up bloke I'd want defending me if I were accused of journalistic malfeasance.

    1. Notorious G.K.C.   10 years ago

      Don't forget Dan Rather is defending Williams, too.

      1. Wicked Skin   10 years ago

        Wait. He's not dead?

        1. Crusty Juggler   10 years ago

          Kenneth killed him, right?

          1. Wicked Skin   10 years ago

            No no, he killed Kenny and then that bastard Michael Moore ate him. Then he was kidnapped by the Amish and beheaded during a barn raising.

      2. Gorthan   10 years ago

        Rather has no choice but to defend him. Mendacity seeks validation.

        1. Crusty Juggler   10 years ago

          All hail Gorthan!

          1. S. Quincy   10 years ago

            Wait, whut?

            1. Gorthan   10 years ago

              All . . . Hail . . . Gorthan!

              1. Scarecrow Repair   10 years ago

                Don't bother, he's illiterate.

              2. S. Quincy   10 years ago

                Ok, I get it. Weather Alert for Storm Gorthan. Park your cars indoors.

  20. Cytotoxic   10 years ago

    In two experiments, the researchers tested how introverts and extroverts would appraise peers of the opposite personality type after having worked together on teams for the previous few months. The results showed that introverts were more likely to give negative performance appraisals to extroverts, particularly if the extroverted peer had an over-bearing personality style, even if the extrovert's performance was comparable to other team members. Introverts were also six times less likely to recommend extroverted peers for performance bonuses.

    We introverts only do that because extroverts are obnoxious douchebags.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/da.....ays-study/

    1. lap83   10 years ago

      When extroverts are good, they're very very good. But when they're bad they're horrid.

      1. Gorthan   10 years ago

        And when introverts are good, they're really really lousy. But when they're bad they're excellent.

        1. lap83   10 years ago

          It doesn't really matter what introverts are because everyone forgets we exist.

          1. S. Quincy   10 years ago

            I remember you.

            *hiding behing a tree*

          2. Notorious G.K.C.   10 years ago

            Hey, pipe down back there, I can't hear myself talk!

          3. Cytotoxic   10 years ago

            We're everywhere, and you don't even see us.

    2. NebulousFocus   10 years ago

      Exactly.

  21. Notorious G.K.C.   10 years ago

    "The audience for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress on March 3 is shaping up to be largely Republican?and almost completely white.

    "Many members of the Congressional Black Caucus say they're planning to skip the speech, calling it a slight to President Barack Obama that they can't and won't support."

    http://www.politico.com/story/.....z3RP9U5qbZ

    1. Palin's Buttplug   10 years ago

      The GOP might just as well whip out their war boners and splooge all over Bibi when he demands a war with Iran.

      1. Cytotoxic   10 years ago

        What an illuminating, thoughtful comment. Clearly listening to someone is the same as war boners ejaculating.

        1. Palin's Buttplug   10 years ago

          We're currently negotiating a NPT with Iran.

          Of course that is the whole point to you chicken-hawks. WE GOTTA PRE-EMPT THAT FUCKING TREATY AND GO TO WAR! HITCH EM UP BIBI!

          1. Sevo   10 years ago

            Palin's Buttplug|2.10.15 @ 11:03PM|#
            "We're currently negotiating a NPT with Iran."

            Fuck off, turd.

            1. Mike M.   10 years ago

              Our brief respite from Weigel was sure nice while it lasted.

              I knew before I even clicked on the link though that he'd never be able to resist this particular piece of clickbait.

          2. NotAnotherSkippy   10 years ago

            I can't help but be reminded of another treaty that guaranteed peace in our time.

          3. UCrawford   10 years ago

            Yeah, because the leaders of countries like Iran and North Korea sit quaking in their boots at what might happen if they renege on a treaty with Obama.

            He might give them another lecture off of a teleprompter that someone wrote for him.

    2. Pathogen   10 years ago

      Well, I suppose it will spare Bibi the time and aggravation of having to Photoshop them out of the pictures later...

    3. Suthenboy   10 years ago

      Remarkable.

      It is almost as if the country and policy dont matter and the CBC supports Obumbles because of his race.

    4. Stickler Meeseeks   10 years ago

      Late to this comment, but worth posting. Looks like Obama knew about Netanyahu visit before Bibi accepted the offer to speak before Congress:

      "Correction: January 30, 2015
      An earlier version of this article misstated when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel accepted Speaker John A. Boehner's invitation to address Congress. He accepted after the administration had been informed of the invitation, not before."

      http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01......html?_r=0

  22. Notorious G.K.C.   10 years ago

    "Jon Stewart, who will retire as host of Comedy Central's 'The Daily Show' later this year, has had an immeasurable influence on American politics, media and satire, members of the Washington political establishment said Tuesday night....

    "Several politicos took to Twitter to offer praise for Stewart as well, including Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who wrote: "Washington is rigged for the big guys - and no person has more consistently called them out for it than Jon Stewart. Good luck, Jon!""

    http://www.politico.com/blogs/.....02434.html

    1. Pathogen   10 years ago

      But.. but.. who will carry their water now?!?

  23. Sevo   10 years ago

    So after 6 months, we're to believe him?

    1. Pathogen   10 years ago

      Rehab.. I blame the bath saltz..

      1. S. Quincy   10 years ago

        Zombie Williams! Rwar!

        1. Pathogen   10 years ago

          I wish. It would make him somewhat more interesting.. and credible..

          1. Sevo   10 years ago

            Maybe we could get turd to disappear for 6 months and then he could hope someone would believe BOOOOOOOOSH!?

            1. S. Quincy   10 years ago

              I always believed in bush.

  24. Notorious G.K.C.   10 years ago

    "For one tortured weekend, the parents of Kayla Mueller refused to believe that their daughter was dead. From their home in Prescott, Ariz., they issued an impassioned plea to the Islamic State, which had held her captive since August 2013, and urged the extremist organization to contact them privately with proof of her death. The militants acquiesced and sent at least three photographs of her corpse."

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02.....share&_r=0

  25. Paul.   10 years ago

    Buzzfeed has the memo from NBC News President Deborah Turness. Excerpt:

    11 things Brian Williams will do on his six month vacation?

  26. creech   10 years ago

    How much will really change? I expect I'll be hollering at Mr. Holt and Mrs. Greenspan on tv everynight..."Tell the other views, dammit"...instead of hollering same at Mr. Williams and Mrs. Greenspan.

    1. Notorious G.K.C.   10 years ago

      "Mrs. Greenspan"

      She raises *his* interest!

  27. Paul.   10 years ago

    then pivoted to the hypocrisy of journalists giving Williams the kind of scrutiny they failed to apply to Dick Cheney 12 years ago:

    Shrike is Jon Stewart?!!

    Man, I have to take back some things I said about Shrike...

  28. Paul.   10 years ago

    "Every public person in this country is a target," he said.

    Uh oh, he's going to get the Devil Wears Prada speech.

    1. Sevo   10 years ago

      Paul.|2.10.15 @ 11:13PM|#
      "Every public person in this country is a target," he said."

      There's a local columnist who has flogged the 'we're all only one paycheck away from homeless!' trope for years.
      I really do hope that it's true in his case, and I hope that twit is a 'target'.

  29. Choadintheroad   10 years ago

    Yeah, I'm sure that was the only untruth told on NBC that day. Seriously it's TV, it's lies.

  30. Fist of Etiquette   10 years ago

    Bolding mine, out of mad respect for the Elephant Man reference.

    I'm thinking more The Merchant of Venice.

  31. Pro Libertate   10 years ago

    Why don't they just fire him? They aren't going to discover that he was telling the truth, after all, because he admitted the wrongdoing already. What's known should be enough for termination, especially when he's supposed to be in a position of trust.

    Here's hoping people finally realize that news readers, journalists, and politicians, among others, are not to be blindly trusted. These people, who hold power and/or act as gatekeepers, should be held to higher standards, not lesser.

  32. Monty Crisco   10 years ago

    Just revisited Hillary's lie about Tuzla on youtube and -MAN!- it is tough to get more brazen than that. She just comes out and says she was dodging sniper fire and then you get to see the greeting ceremony that she actually went through at Tuzla. Its pretty bad. No "conflation", no "blurring of events", no "fog of memory". She said one clearly plain thing, and the videotape shows one CLEARLY OPPOSITE thing. Wonder why she got a pass for that.

    1. Libertarian   10 years ago

      What has always struck me about this is that she did this while being the First Lady. Did she not think that people shooting at the First Lady was huge, huge, news? Front page news that would not be investigated?

      My only explanation is that, at this level, the lying is so ingrained, so second nature, that it's just a natural thing to do, and that they're used to getting away with it.

      1. Monty Crisco   10 years ago

        But it was just so fucking blatant and VERIFIABLE. I love how these fucking libtards and media figures get so comfortable with the media being ON THEIR SIDE that they just assume anything they say will be taken on faith and not checked. What a rude awakening when it turns out that maybe they can't just outright LIE (as Hillary did) with impunity after all...

      2. Knarf Yenrab!   10 years ago

        My only explanation is that, at this level, the lying is so ingrained, so second nature, that it's just a natural thing to do, and that they're used to getting away with it.

        The hayekian in me says that it's more fundamental than this. The reason why they occupy the positions that they do in the first place is because of their willingness to violate every edict of the common person's conscience.

        Which is to say that lying like a rug isn't second nature to them, but first.

    2. zray   10 years ago

      Wait a minute, if you were her wouldn't you think all those spitballs could have been bullets.
      After all she does have a very active imagination.

  33. Knarf Yenrab!   10 years ago

    With the Internet ? you know what it is, it's a sewer. And these people delight in seeing famous people being taken apart. I just think it's wrong. I mean, we're human beings just like everybody else.

    Oh, yes. Yes, that's the very best part of the internet. If only the internet had existed millennia ago, we would've had photos of Jesus feeling up Mary Magdalene and saved us an awful lot of anxiety and conflict.

    Teaching the world that its idols--even clean-cut young men with good haircuts and Eagle Scout souls like Matt Welch--have feet, legs, and torsos of clay is the great achievement of the interwebs, and that's precisely why it's essential to a more liberal, Smithian, and skeptical future. And if that entails ripping apart a Bill O'Reilly or a Brian Williams every now and then, so much the better.

  34. AlgerHiss   10 years ago

    One would be foolish to believe, for all those decades when Cronkite, Brinkley, Sevareid, Huntley, etc? were the only game in town, that this crap was not going on.

    Those 3 decrepit, fossilized, worthless networks ought to be disbanded and the leftovers given to the DNC as mementoes.

  35. Alan Vanneman   10 years ago

    "If I was a seven-figure teleprompter reader (note that I do not disparage that skill!) able to command $40,000+ speaking fees and luxurious real estate on The New York Times bestseller list ..."

    But you aren't, Matt. because you aren't worth it. It's called CAPITALISM.

  36. Enjoy Every Sandwich   10 years ago

    Cheer up, Brian. I'm sure that MSNBC has a spot for you. Shit, if Sharpton can have a MSNBC show I don't see why you can't.

  37. lesliewcole   10 years ago

    Start working from home! Great job for students, stay-at-home moms or anyone needing an extra income... You only need a computer and a reliable internet connection... Make $90 hourly and up to $12000 a month by following link at the bottom and signing up... You can have your first check by the end of this week.........
    visit this web-site...
    ???????????? http://www.netcash50.com

  38. Alan@.4   10 years ago

    Just another "talking head" bites the dust???

  39. EndTheGOP   10 years ago

    It's hard to believe anybody watches O'Reilly (I guess this explains why the country is going down the tubes). If it wasn't for the 60 and up Progressive crowd, the same 47%-ers Romney foolishly got caught yapping about, Bill would be in an asylum somewhere screaming profanities at the wall.

  40. zray   10 years ago

    After all is said and done, once again. Who gives a darn.
    I've never looked up to any of those in those so called journalistic jobs. After all it's ALL about the money / currency they produce for themselves and the networks. After all how smart must one be to stand outside in a Hurricane and report on the high winds, or expect me to feel sad when you get caught in a war zone.

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