Gregory's Depiction of Dem Iraq Maneuvering Wins Bill Bennett's Praise [Video]

NewsBusters ^ | Mark Finkelstein

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Imagine you're John Kerry this morning, comfortably installed before your television in your silk robe, watching David Gregory's "Today" segment on the way the Dem presidential contenders are maneuvering their Iraq war positions. Suddenly, the screen fills with the infamous clip of you claiming you were for the war before you were against it. Enough to make a man spit out his pain au chocolat! Then Gregory adds insult to injury by pointing to your performance as an object lesson of how being too nuanced can hurt a nominee's chances.

That Gregory chose to run the Kerry clip is a mark of how 'fair & balanced' his segment was this morning. His focus was not so much on the substance of the various Dem contenders' positions on Iraq, but on the politics of their positionings, to wit:

"Wednesday, Democratic hopefuls stepped up their attacks, including Senator Hillary Clinton . . . Clinton's attention-seeking announcement came one day after Senator Barack Obama's high-profile presidential campaign launch. Obama, who unlike Clinton has always opposed the war backed Clinton's call for a troop cap. But their approach falls shot of what another 2008 presidential contender, former senator John Edwards has advocated -- an attempt to cut off war funding. As Democrats maneuver around the war debate, the question centers on just how far to go in challenging the president. One danger is that an overly nuanced opposition [as the Kerry clip began to play] may backfire, just as Senator John Kerry's infamous war stance in 2004 hurt him."

That's gotta hurt - right in the foie gras. By the way, have a look at the appalled look on the face of the veteran in the lower right-hand corner of the Kerry shot. Priceless!

View video of Gregory segment here.

Bill Bennett, chatting with Matt Lauer thereafter, described Gregory's report as "excellent" - as indeed it was. We've often roasted Gregory here, but fair is fair.

Bennett also made these thought-provoking points:

"This was best put by John McCain, who said and I take him at his word, he would rather lose an election than lose a war. This thing is unpopular; there's no doubt about it . . . But to hold this war hostage to political outcomes it seems to me is the wrong thing. We are in . . . a global war against terrorism, look at t [which trumpets the senators' opposition to the Bush plan] and think of the consequences. . . I don't want to attribute sheer, or mere, political motives to the people who are opposing but it's the loudest voices who are running for president. What's the motivation of the people on the president's side?" Bennett's implication - while political opportunism accounts for at least some of the opposition, those supporting an unpopular war are by definition less opportunistic.

View video of Bennett comments here

.Matt was moved to acknowledge: "Right. I understand what you're saying."

Mark was in Iraq in November. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Kerry-pain-in-the-foie-gras ping to Today show list.

[JZelle]

Maybe NBC's trying to prove to Bill O'Reilly they're not so left wing.

[cake_crumb]

I watched that this morning and it was indeed an excellent piece....in fact it was actual journalism

That had to be a Gregory lookalike. Gregory is not that articulate and has a far sulkier expression, like a kid who's just been punished for the minor infraction of painting swastikas on synagogues.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Pretty harsh, considering that presumably really was Gregory who presented that excellent segment!

[norwaypinesavage]

David Gregory kicking an already dead mule is hardly an example of even handedness. Let's see him do a critical piece on Lord Obama.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

True, but have a look at the rest of Gregory's comments - he was clearly portraying the Dems' positioning on Iraq as politically-motivated - not very flattering.

[Mo1]

Matt was moved to acknowledge: "Right. I understand what you're saying."

Did he really understand .. or was he trying to move off that topic?

[jmaroneps37]

The report wasn't all that good. gregory is trying to help the rat by telling him to shape up. There is a reason why a very civil man like W calls gregory, gregory and not by his first name. gregory is still the same old scumbag. He just hit frenchie out of "show biz". He felt he had to make it look like he was attacking a rat, so he hit frenchie knowing the poor dumb bastard it dead already. gregory will never attack any rat candidate he thinks has a chance - never.

[popdonnelly]

Too bad Gregory didn't point to the most recent absurdity, Hillary's one day trip to Iraq, and subsequent media blitz. If ever there was a project conceived by staffers to get Hillary some press, this was it. And listening to her speak on her plan yesterday would lead one to believe she would have been better off spending the trip in a closet.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

It struck me as a bit of both.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

True, but he did mention her "high-profile" press conference, a not-so-subtle dig.

[The South Texan]

I guess that is NBC's monthy shot at the Rats. We won't hear another bad thing against the Rats from them until February. Maybe not, it's a short month.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Whoops, Gregory actually spoke of Hillary's "attention-seeking announcement," an even less subtle dig!

[Mo1]

My take on that Gregory piece was more about trying to frame the debate on the war in Iraq then it was about Dems or Kerry

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Good point about February. I'll set my VCR for March 1st ;-)

[mollynme]

I guess that is NBC's monthy shot at the Rats.

I would guess that this is just the first of many Obama promotions.

[CPT Clay]

Excellent tag line!

[cake_crumb]

"Pretty harsh, considering that presumably really was Gregory who presented that excellent segment!"

LOL...the first part was a compliment. The second was just pointing out the contrast between pre-segment Gregory and what I saw and heard this morning. I would have cheered if my jaw hadn't been stuck on the foot thingy for the recliner. It was truely astounding: astounding because it was true!

[cake_crumb]

"There is a reason why a very civil man like W calls gregory, gregory and not by his first name. gregory is still the same old scumbag."

Remember when Gregory sulkily asked why HE wasn't tapped for WH Press Secretary and President Bush told him it was because he wouldn't pass the background check?