[feedback doctor]

Standard NTSC video is 30 frames per second. To pull this off, an animation had to be created, striped to tape, and overlayed or keyed over the Cheney feed. It's possible it was a mistake. It isn't likely it was a mistake.

Actually no 'animation' has to be created. The most basic broadcast character generator can flash text at varying speeds. This was most likely sloppy production of a live event. It is possible that someone did it intentionally, but if that were the case, then they would have made the rest of the text at the bottom of the screen more legible.

[Reactionary]

"The most basic broadcast character generator can flash text at varying speeds."

That's true. But, at the very least, the character generator had to be programmed to "flash" the text every 15 frames or so. And someone had to be monitoring the source, in order to perform the fade.

[Greg o the Navy]

Not too many years ago I was in TV production at a small station. Directing newscasts was one of my duties. It wasn't unheard of for crew members to do stuff like this in the background, stuff that wasn't intended for air. Of course, this is precisely when people make mistakes and it *does* get on the air.

Of course, this doesn't make it acceptable. I'd love to see those responsible tossed in the can for a few years -- it'd send a long overdue message to the media elite.