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 ...
I still cannot believe that everytime I see it. I cannot believe we EVER elected that man- TWICE!!
Yeah, that was a long fall out of the guard tower.
unlike me? she would except it? lol. you once again show your extreme ignorance by assuming. a big secret huh? only a very few with this knowledge? you are something else.
stop assuming these people were props to me. ok?
I agree.
You know I am beginning to feel sorry for Matthews. DC has jaded him so much that he could not allow himself to share in a moment in history.
Not me; I hope he's miserable.
In fact, I took great joy in taking a close look at his hair last night -- Laura Ingraham was right! He did have it streaked this week!
I missed his show (on purpose) does he still stick to his belief that it was staged?
On his show last night he never said one word about it; he let David Schuster carry the ball when he interviewed the Iraqi woman; he slyly tried to ask questions about "how it happened," "did you know she was going to be there," "what did you say to her," that kind of stuff.
He got nowhere. And when the screen went back to Matthews, he was deadpan.....and moved to the next segment. Not one word of explanation or apology.
BTW, I am glad Schuster left Fox News; he's a wuss.
My understanding of that one is that it both was and wasn't. That the flag raising was done twice, the real time and the photo-op. Of course either way someone ordered that the flag be raised, a frequent order on a tough battle field because it helps inspire the troops, which is a form of staging though a very very low end form.
I don't see a plot behind every good thing that happens, but I do see a plan behind everything that happens on TV, because that's how TV works.
Why shouldn't she accept it? Why aren't you accepting it? Understanding that some legwork went into the timing and location of their introduction does nothing the cheapen the moment or assault the genuineness of her emotion. There's absolutely nothing wrong with accepting the truth behind what happened.
Not assuming they were props, props have no choices to make in how they behave on camera, these people had choices and they made the right choice, the human choice. And I for one am glad it happened the way it did. It provided an moving and wonderful moment in a powerful SOTU, and there's nothing wrong with putting a little work into making those moments.
Not trying desperately to convince anybody of anything. Don't believe me if you don't want to. Ignore all the work that goes on behind the scenes of your favorite TV shows, go ahead, most TV producers would prefer it seemlessness is their goal. Sorry only nasty things I'd rather not be there get seared into my memory, little trivia stuff like how to make a live TV show just sort of sits there taking up space. I have a vast quantity of truly useless knowledge sitting in the back of my head, every once in a while I find a use for some of it and try to share it with others.
Stop making stuff up. Never said I was brilliant or great, never heard a brilliant or great person say their brain is filled with largely useless trivia either. I'm just me, a guy with a different set of knowledge than most people, of course we all have a different set of knowledge than most people, which is why we don't all think the same and come together in places like FR to share that knowledge.
Oh yeah, and I can't type for crap, especially not first thing in the morning in a cold office.
Rush also began to touch on Reid's speech where he rambled on about some 'coffee shop' in Searchlight(his old hometown). Limbaugh made a joke about it being on the way to Vegas.
Turns out... the place IS nothing but mini-casino run by 'The Nugget'. Has over 100 slots! Reid made it sound like it was a slice of old Americana!
Bless your heart...
There was absolutely nothing patronizing in that. Simply a statement of reality, all people are different, all people know different stuff, and the intellectually curious come to places where they can learn from others. I learn a lot more on FR than I even attempt to teach, we won't even get into my hit percentage of what I actually manage to teach which is probably incredibly low.
You've no need to be jealous, we've had a viscious artic wind out of the east all week. All winter the weather has been positively... wintery. Totally sucks.
I agree!!!
nikos
First, did you know she would be there? And did you know you were going to lean over [and hug her]?
MRS. NORWOOD: No. We had no idea who was going to be there. We met as we went in the door [to the gallery]. She turned around and introduced herself. I asked her if her finger was purple and she held it up and showed me that it was. And I just grabbed her finger.
It would have made our son so proud to see the success of elections in Iraq.
MR. NORWOOD: We didn't know about her dad until something was mentioned. But it certainly enhanced our opinion of her. She was a very, very fine person.
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