Stung by Ingraham, NBC Claims Its Iraq Coverage. . . Not Negative Enough!

Today Show/NewsBusters ^ | Mark Finkelstein

[Mo1]

And while my comments may not be optimistic, how many here believed we would be at the troop levels we are today three years ago? Yes, troops would be there, but I believed they would be much smaller in number.

I knew back then we would have troop levels there .. this is part of the WOT

What I didn't except was that some of our media and members of congress would be fighting us too like they are

[Elyse]

I am certain that this representation of life in Pittsburgh is as accurate as NBC's representation of life in Iraq.

But that news report is for people that live in Pittsburg. You can look around you and see with your own eyes that that isn't the whole story. I don't think you can compare local news coverage to coverage of a war in a foreign land where we are reliant on the media to show the whole story because we can't see anything but what they show us.

[Sir Gawain]

It's time for someone to slap monkeyface Gregory.

[demlosers]

I noticed how Senator Salazar's positive comments yesterday in Iraq have never found their way into MSM articles this morning.

Oh, now Kenny boy is zagging back away from the bats.

[kevinm13]

I heard Laura on her radio show from WABC in NY last night at 8PM. Good stuff. I'm glad that Laura has spoken up and hope that she continues to do so especially on her radio show. It is great that Nothing But Crap (NBC) is defending its position the day after Laura's appearance. That proves to me that everything Laura said was right, as usual.

By the way, when Michelle Malkin or even Maureen Dowd "Catherine Zeta-Jones" is involved in a post, aren't there rules about pictures? Laura should be here in her written words and in pictures daily.

[Freee-dame]

"Most Iraqis I speak to say most reporters get it wrong.

Message to MSM reporters:The Iraqis you choose to speak to could be the problem. A small group of Sunnis were Sadaam's preferred people. They lived quite well before we arrived. They do not have as much now. Most of the population had very little and now live much better. If you interview in the places where the former elites lived, you will naturally get complaints. Get out and about.

[austinaero]

I'm with you. Who thinks they can predict the future? If so, how many more years are we going to have troops in Kosovo, and South Korea? Geeesh, I don't live for these types of statements or numbers. The job is done when it's done, especially in such a "fluid" situation,,who can predict the exact moment of that? I never understood that complaint. I also don't understand the nitpicking of "the President said x, but he didn't say y in the same speech - SO?" Does the President have to speak to the public like they are two-year old idiots? Does have to explain every nuance of every position to the nth degree? Give me a break. Some questions cannot be answered just yet,,about troop levels in Iraq, and a lot of other places. Big deal. I'd rather have a President that can think on his feet than one who sets up a rigid script for being followed in order to "reassure" the public who just can't seem to figure it out on their own......

[joesbucks]

What I didn't except was that some of our media and members of congress would be fighting us too like they are

I'm sorry, I cannot accept that from you. While we may disagree on certain issues, I will at the end of the day know the difference was an honest difference. that statement is simply dishonest.

If I knew how and had the time, I could go back and check your posts on this site and find that from day one that you would have believed that some of our media and certain memebers of Congress would be against our invasion and ongoing effort in Iraq. It's a given. There is no way that you can find surprise that the certain media folks and Congressional folks would be against this action. Yes, in general, the chin music was much less at the beginning. But that was as we were performing at Desert Storm levels or better as we marched in and surgically took over the Country.

Believe me, if this war had been executed exactly as it has been executed to this day, but the President was Gore (I shudder), you and scores others would be pointing out the shortcomings of exactly the same actions you are now defending. Please don't give me the reply Gore wouldn't have done it this way. That's not the point. The point is if he did. You would not be happy with the progress to date.

[joesbucks]

There is a major difference between Viet Nam and Iraq. When the Jane Fonda's and John Kerry's turned America against the war, and even they didn't do that single handedly, but it was an ongoing effort from many camps including the supporters of that war, they also turned the American people against the military. That hasn't happened in this campaign. The support for the military is as strong now as it was when we first went in. I just recently traveled and as I was went from airport to airport, I was so gratified to see how well our military folks were treated and honored by the average American as they moved through the concourses. That wasn't the case in Viet Nam.

And while they hate the radical hedonism that Hollywood promotes, those who hate that aspect of our culture also hate those of us who believe and live our lives for Christ. There's no difference in their eyes.

I too cannot understand the terrorist mindset. I don't believe you can understand insanity.

[loveliberty2]

With reference to Timeout's question about Arnot, there was a thread on FR some time ago regarding the circumstances of Arnot's departure from NBC. The thread included a February 2004 article by Joe Hagan of the NY Observer that is quite telling. It can be found here

Here we are in 2006, and Laura Ingraham is making the same charges about how NBC reporters go about doing their reporting as Arnot cited way back then.

[Mo1]

Joe .. you seem to assuming more then what I said

I said .. "like they are"

Yes, I realize before the war there were dissenters and those that were against this war and yes I didn't expect them to shut up

But what I didn't expect was to the extent they would sell out and harm our country like they have with the lies, distortions and leaks of national security like they have.

As for Gore .. I can't speak for something that never happened

Though I will say .. if Gore had someone like Wesley Clark in charge of running this war as Clinton had him in charge with Kosovo .. yes, I am sure I would have a few things to say

Not because helping others and defending peoples freedoms is wrong .. but because Wesley Clark is an idiot

[joesbucks]

Ok, maybe I read more into your note than what you intended. I'll give you that. But for as much as this forum says there is a bias by the media against Presidnet Bush, there is an opposite bias against the media in many places in the conservative movement. Some with merit, some not.

As for the Gore comparision, I'm saying if everything had been done exactly as it had been done to date, exactly, I don't think many rank and file, grass roots or other types of conservatives would be defending our current situation. I'm asking for intellectual honesty. I don't think you would be happy with our current situation in Iraq if this was a dem president, but the events had been played out in the same manner.

[Mo1]

there is an opposite bias against the media in many places in the conservative movement. Some with merit, some not.

I understand your point there .. but at the same time .. SOME in the media deserve those attacks because of their history .. that you cannot deny

As for Gore .. if he fought this war exactly like President Bush has .. no, I wouldn't slam him .. because he would be doing the right thing in fighting this WOT

But since Clinton and Gore didn't do that when they had their chance (8 years) .. I highly doubt that Gore would fight this war like Bush has

[ontos-on]

Bingo!

[ontos-on]

Tim Russert in a dishonest man who unfortunately has the reverse reputation. He is a sublte spinner clearly wihtin the Democratic party camp. Every doubt is blown the left's way; the way he assembles issues and questions are sublte yet clear acceptances of the left's premises. Within that orbit, one can appear objective by asking questions straightforwardly and seemingly evenhandedly; but the game has been stacked from the beginning by the selection of the framework.

[FreedomCalls]

Well if it's all that bad, why is he standing on a balcony?

Because it's connected to the bar several floors below.

[FreedomCalls]

Their ratings would be in the toilet if they led each newscast with an economic analysis of household income of Kurds or increases in nationwide megawatt output.

Had John Kerry won the Presidency in 2004, that is EXACTLY the stories they would be reporting.

[FreedomCalls]

Frankly the administrations admission the other day that any withdrawl would likely occur on some other administrations watch is a very different story of when we were told we would leave if asked by the Iraqi government.

That is a lie. All he was doing was acknowledging reality. Even if the Iraqi government asked us TOMORROW to leave, we couldn't just snap our fingers and they all would disappear from Iraq and reappear at Ft Hood. He prefaced that remark by saying that if the question was about a complete withdrawal down to the last man, then only the next President would be able to answer that as it would take at least 2 1/2 years to completely remove all of our troops.

[FreedomCalls]

How many of those journalist and their assistants were killed because they were caught in a firefight while "embedded" with the insurgents?

[FreedomCalls]

I don't entirely buy the argument of WWII. Most of our troops were put there not to keep the Germans, the Italians or the Japenese in place as policemen. They were there as part of the cold war......to keep an eye on the Soviets.

So you don't think Iran would move in and attempt to take control of Iraq in our absence? Or Syria? Or Al Qaeda? Even if we left with Iraq a democracy, the "cold war" with international terrorism and their state sponsors would still be ongoing.