Posted on 02/03/2005 7:54:50 AM PST by paudio
MSNBC's "Hardball" host Chris Matthews suggested last night that the high point of President Bush's State of the Union Address - the emotional hug between grateful Iraqi voter Safia Taleb al-Suhail and Janet Norwood, mother of a Marine who died liberating her country - was staged by the White House.
The cynical host apparently first voiced his skepticism during a commercial break. His comments were immediately seized upon by "Hardball" guest, MSNBC contributor Pat Buchanan when the show returned.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
Mrs. Norwood should challenge Chrissy Matthews to a duel. I think she could take him.
Any clear thinking person watching that moment unfold could tell it was NOT staged. Most of us FReepers are political animals, thus the cynicism but there's no doubt in my mind that was a genuine moment (and now we have the Marine's parents confirming it).
It did not start there with me. It started when Matthews trashed John O'Neill. Who, I hope, is still somewhere rolling around on the floor laughing at the fact that O'Neill and the Swift Boat Vets drove Kerry's chances to be elected president right into the dirt.
I have not watched Matthews since he dissed O'Neil.
Post #316: Disco writes~~"More typical junk. Nothing but insults and turning yourself into a liar, sad sad sad."
Publicly calling a fellow FReeper a liar - was that staged also to demonstrate hypocrisy?
um ... no. the REASON the camera was on those introduced is because they were introduced. it's called good manners.
Any clear thinking person who understands how TV works know that there had to be some staging, that there's no accident involved in why those two ladies hadn't been introduced to each other before. I'm not cynical and there's no doubt in my mind that it was a genuine moment, but I understand why that genuine moment happened during the speech not before. You can have genuine moments during staged events, live and semi-live (aka live to tape, recorded but largely unedited) TV is all about staging genuine moments. It's a matter of putting the right people together under the right circumstances and letting the cameras capture it, and there's nothing wrong with that kind of staging. That kind of staging captured some of the most memorable moments of TV, most good, some bad.
Think about this, we've all seen the WWII re-union photo of the sailor just about devouring his girl upon getting off the ship. It's one of the greatest photos that's ever been shot, merely thinking about it makes me mist up. It didn't happen by accident, a photographer found out a ship was coming into port and figured there'd be a good chance of some good photos so he went down and started doing what photographers are supposed to do: looking for that memorable event that he could capture on film. That's a form of staging, there's a reason why the military didn't bar journalists from the scene, and there's a reason that photographer went to the scene. Doesn't mean what happened wasn't genuine, doesn't make the photo anyless magical, at least not for me. Maybe some people just don't like to see the man behind the curtain.
Mathews is a childish idiot, I am disgusted with him, now and from now on.
He said he was done posting to me, then posted two more times, turned himself into a liar. Rest assured if I ever tell you I'm done posting to you there won't be anymore posts to you from me. People shouldn't say they're done until they're really done.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1335393/posts
The mother of a Marine who died liberating Iraq and who provided the emotional high point of Wednesday night's State of the Union Address when she hugged a grateful Iraqi voter sitting in the gallery, denied Thursday morning that the unforgettable episode had been staged, as several left-leaning commentators have alleged.
And the reason they hadn't been introduced to each other until the President introduced them to America...
The mother of a Marine who died liberating Iraq and who provided the emotional high point of Wednesday night's State of the Union Address when she hugged a grateful Iraqi voter sitting in the gallery, denied Thursday morning that the unforgettable episode had been staged, as several left-leaning commentators have alleged.
And I believe her. What she fails to understand is that it was no accident they hadn't been introduced before. I'm not saying she was queue, coached or acted in anyway. I'm saying things like this are controlled and there's a reason these women weren't introduced to each other until the speach, a reason I support, have no problem with, and in no way feel lessens the power of the event.
If I'm in the booth at the SOTU, the shot setup pre-show would be in place and I'd be calling it by the book as the event went along. However, I'd also be using the monitors for however many cameras they have rolling for "beauty shots" or any other "good TV" that we hadn't planned.
It's very likely that one of the cameras had the Iraqi voter as one of its many assignments (along with the First Lady, who was nearby), but I very much doubt that they knew that the hug was coming. Once it started, I also doubt it took more than about 1.4 seconds for the booth to tell camera 3 to frame that hug as a two-shot and then say, "Go 3!" That's just good, professional television production.
On another note: Chrissy better hope that he doesn't cross paths with any of that fallen Marine's comrades. Matthews accused that Marine's Mom of something faintly dishonorable, which means that Matthews has won a free clock-cleaning, courtesy the USMC.
LOL... see #21
IMO just another petty Dem comment designed to deflect attention from the real issues enunciated in the SOTU speech - And it seems it is working!
>>>And the reason they hadn't been introduced to each other until the President introduced them to America...<<
oh would you get OFF your high horse. you have NO evidence to make a statement like that except your own guessing. that's right - you are guessing. you may call it an "educated guess" (which no doubt you do) but it is ONLY that.
Right on Nikos!
oh cool! now you are even telling us what the Marine mother "failed to understand"
this is rich..
Perhaps they had not been introduced before was because they are from different states and this was the first time they had been invited to the same event..Perhaps you are so jaded that you cannot accept that the moment was genuine and unplanned..
The symbolism of having an Iraqi there was planned, the symbolism of having parents of a military man who had given his all was planned(The mother had written to the President)..
The moment absolutely could not have been planned..Mrs Norwood reached down to hug the Iraqi woman whose father had been executed by Saddam..
Piffle.
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