Order Mad As Hell on iTunes Available Now Update on the Brian Williams story he has
been suspended for six months without pay that is significant he makes $10 million a
year that'll cost him $5 million he'll be off the air for a six months which is an eternity
in this business and it unclear whether he'll come back so it turns out that they're doing
a thorough investigation of Brian Williams some leaks claim that there's a lot more information
about him rather than just the story about how his helicopter was hit by an RPG in Iraq
and just to be clear do I think that he exaggerated and lied about that incident yes now I've
done an ironic defense of Brian Williams on this show before and on a blog that I wrote
recently and that defense is simply yes he lied but it's about a stupid exaggeration
in the middle of the war the lies that got us into this war are far more egregious and
no one's ever gotten for that for example Phil Donahue Ashley Banfield opposed the war
they they were fired by MSNBC executives that the same company as Brian Williams did they
ever get fired no they never got any repercussions 69% of Americans believed that Sadam Hussein
was personally responsible for 9/11 when we went into the war NBC at the time owned by
GE a defense contractor was part and parcel to that now was Brian Williams part of that
machine yes but that's not what their issue is with him today they say oh you exaggerated
about a little story so what they want to do is throw him under the bus the rest of
the media does so that they can feel good about themselves oh here's a sacrificial lamb
oh look at us we have such great ethics please spare me NBC executives included Deborah Turness
who's the president of NBC News put out statement saying this was wrong and completely inappropriate
for someone in Brian's positions Stephen Burke who's chief executive at NBC Universal says
by his actions Brian has jeopardized the trust millions of Americans place in NBC News his
actions about inexcusable and this suspension is severe and appropriate I'm slightly amused
by all that because really what trust are people going home thinking if Brian Williams
tells me something I really trust him or oh I don't Brian as much anymore but Lester Holt
boy I trust him it's just not how it works man I mean in the old days they had to earn
your trust because there wasn't all these other news sources so you'd come home and
you had to decide who's going to tell me the news is it going to be Walter Cronkite or
one of the two other people right and whoever I trust more I'm going to listen to that news
we already have the news we've already got it online this is news for geriatrics this
idea of oh he burned their trust what trust these are the guys who mislead us on almost
every issue included the Iraq more I'm not just talking about NBC all of the establishment
media you didn't have any trust to begin with I mean Brian Williams again I think this is
a minor issue the much bigger issue he put generals on the air who said oh we absolutely
have to go into Iraq and we have to use the Abrahams take turns out they work for defensive
contractors who represent things like the Abrahams tank oh golly gee I forgot to tell
you about that but if you wanted to go after Brian Williams for that well then you'd have
to fire the same NBC executives are pretending to be outraged with him today no they're not
going to fire themselves are they so they're going to take Brian Williams and make him
a scapegoat so and I've told you before I know Brian Williams a tiny bit he was on the
show once when I was at MSNBC he was a nice guy to me doesn't make much of a difference
as you just heard all of my criticism of him it's not a defense of him it's a justified
attack on the rest of the media now Burke continues Mr. Williams has shared his deep
remorse with me and he is committed to winning back everyone's trust he added he deserves
a second chance and we're rooting for him I believe that I believe that they're all
relatively good friends they've had a long standing relationship and they're rooting
that he can get past this and come back on the plus he's their star they don't really
have good of bench in their world according to the way they think right and so they want
Brian Williams to come back and to be able to this and people that know Brian Williams
say that he is shattered by what has happened to me I saw who cares who reads the news from
the teleprompter they're not writing the news they're producers write the news the executives
decide what is and is not kosher so you've got another actor read the news wow Lester
Holt boy I really trust him based on what I mean Lester Holt I'm sure is a sweat guy
good guy nothing wrong with him obviously I have nothing against Brian Williams as a
person I like him but they are reading a script what's the trust part so then we go to Journalism
Professor Mark Feldstein I don't know how he can ever read the news with a straight
face or how public will respond if he does who gives a shit who's reading the news I
mean understand what the news actors on television do it's as if they grabbed a newspaper and
are like all right I will now authoritatively read the New York Times to you oh thanks a
lot I really appreciate that but do I trust you to read it right I'm just confused by
this whole fucking thing they didn't go out and gather the news I mean look on rare occasion
they'll be out in the field Iraq Hurricane Katrina that's part of what got Brian Williams
in trouble but most of the time just sitting in the studio they have a staff of hundreds
who are writing the news for them so we're really supposed to care which particular actor
reads that news OK Feldstein continues maybe they're hoping that with a six month cool-off
period he's got a loyal fan base which person in the mainstream media has a fan base they've
got the cult of neutrality right they stop being objective they stop telling the American
people hey Sadam Hussein didn't do 9/11 that's a fact he didn't do 9/11 instead they said
Republicans say this Democrats say that George W. Bush says this nobody else said any other
thing because we fired them if they did I'm neutral I'm neutral and you played this passionate
neutral game and it turned out ooops when you got in trouble you don't have any fans
why would you be a fan of any anchor if you want to be generous who's a fan of Scott Pelly
Oh man Scott's on I love that go get em Scott Pelly what world do you live in man you're
living in the world of 1955 that doesn't exist anymore and that's why when you build your
career on quicksand yeah the minute there's any trouble nobody's got your back cause you
didn't earn their trust in the first place and again it's not about Brian Williams it's
about all of them you think anybody would stand up for Lester Holt or Scott Pelly or
David Muir or any of them if they got into trouble why would they stand up for them these
are the guys who told us oh no no no they definitely got weapons of mass destruction
you want to give them a huge pass on that I understand but they never bother to tell
you all the things that the Bush administration was lying about when it was torture they called
it enhanced interrogation because the Bush administration wanted them to tell that I've
got a thousand different examples gee I wonder how you lost their trust it wasn't by exaggerating
or lying about a story about a helicopter being fired on in Iraq that's a tiny little
dot in this whole picture finally New York Times Six months is a long time to disappear
from the television landscape and analysts said it would be difficult for him to re-establish
himself as a viable nightly presence.
All of these people I the old media are living in a completely different world in their world
Brian Williams comes back six months from now and people are like oh who is that guy
I don't quite remember him and I think he's lost my trust I have now built a bond with
Lester Holt I'm not sure I could let him go dude man the whole ship is the Titanic and
you're rearranging the deck chairs we're going to take the Brian Williams chair out for six
months we're going to put the Lestor Holt chair in for six months and both that'll solve
the problem no it's you missed the whole point nobody trusts you at all none of you none
of you television news what is that when's the last time any of these guy ever broke
a story did investigative journalism they don't do it because they don't want to investigate
the government they're not watch dogs they're lap dogs so the idea which particular news
actor is going to read you the news that night is the single most irrelevant thing I have
ever heard and the fact that they're carrying on and on as if it's so god damn important
both amuses and frustrates me so the reality is it doesn't matter OK whether it's Brian
Williams or anyone else they're going to read you the standard thing that the government
is OK with the corporation that runs NBC News is OK with and the establishment and the mainstream
has decided is acceptable it doesn't matter which actor reads it to you the substance
is going to be the same which is proven itself to be over and over again untrustworthy