Posted on 07/18/2008 9:07:05 AM PDT by camerakid400
On this morning's "Morning Joe" on MSNBC, co-host Tiki Barber asked guest Dan Rather about his feelings regarding the recent Jesse Jackson imbroglio -- his "off mike" comments about Barack Obama. In the middle of praising Jackson, Rather referred to Barack Obama as "Osama bin Laden" -- and none of the four "Morning Joe" co-hosts reacted (nor did Rather).
Question: Will the media pick this up? That one of America's longest-serving network news anchors referred to one of the two presidential candidates as the world's most wanted terrorist -- and no one in the room seemed to notice?
While you ponder, here's what the former anchor of the "CBS Evening News" said:
RATHER: ...with Jesse Jackson, and I realize this is not popular to say with a lot of people, but I have a respect for Jesse Jackson. That he was an important figure in paving the way for an Osama bin Laden to appear.
Freudian slip, no doubt.
I think the really remarkable aspect of this is that anybody CARES what Rather has to say at all.
I saw that and was wondering why nobody corrected him.
Its too dumb to react to that’s why no one reacted.
It’s frightening that none of them noticed it or called him on it.
Dan’s senile.
Can you imagine having a President that people continuously refer to as Osama? Even Kennedy did it.
Seems like an accurate statement to me.
He and Ted Kennedy must have met for drinks this morning.
Ratherism?
Comments from a blogger on this:
Dan Rather, Who Did You Say Jesse Jackson Paved the Way For? Obama or Osama?
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Fri, 07/18/2008 - 10:02am. Be-Elected
BE ELECTED
by Christine Bowman
Friday morning Dan Rather was chatting with the “Morning Joe” crew at MSNBC about his pending lawsuit against CBS. Their talk turned to Barack Obama’s run for the White House, and Jesse Jackson’s recent off camera remarks at Fox News that were so insulting and insensitive.
By way of indicating his long-standing respect for Jackson and his long work in civil rights, Rather acknowledged that Jackson had “paved the way for an Osama bin Laden.”
Nobody at MSNBC stopped to question or correct that.
They went on talking about how “This is a historic campaign anyway you cut it.” They discussed the meaninglessness of polls (the “Bradley effect”) and that Obama’s upcoming travels represent a big risk, but could yield potentially big gains.
No one can deny Dan Rather is a well-informed and accomplished journalist. That’s putting it mildly. He knows a thing or two. But Osama? Obama? Whatever ...
Maybe it’s time we admit that, in the human brain, there’s some kind of something that fails us, somewhere between the conception of an idea and its iteration. We easily flub up with certain words that have similar contours, even when we essentially know what we’re talking about. “Iraq/Iran” is another of those word pairings that easily gets spit out incorrectly.
Dan Rather misspoke, but it’s odd, too, that Joe Scarborough and the other MSNBC pundits all misheard. No reaction, no correction. Maybe there’s some other factor — cognitive dissonance? — that prevents them from believing their lying ears?
Of course, some right-wing and racist pontificators intentionally link the names Obama and Osama, just as they try to link the Democrats’ choice for president with the Muslim faith. The hate-mongers take advantage of the fact that human brains seem to go fuzzy in quirky ways. They create and exploit false connections, knowing that people remember, and may come to believe, catchy comments or linked concepts that they hear over and over, regardless of truthfulness or a lack thereof.
We can brush off the slips of the tongue. But never the propagandizing.
LOL
I’m sure they DID notice it. It’s just one of those social situations where you just don’t bother to correct crazy people. What’s the point? Between the trolls and the one issue nut-jobs, can any of us say that this same situation doesn’t happen all the time right here on FR too. ;-)
The panel couldn’t correct Rather as it would have reinforced a negative about Obama.
They are trained well..
They all knew he meant Barrick Hussein Obama, innocent mistake.
Mathews does it and as does everyone else.
However, adding “Bin Laden” at the end is something new.
Only Rather is capable of being that lost.
Yeah haha adding the bin laden is a new twist.
Ha nice catch!
I tune in at the top of the show to see if Mika has plunged a knife into Joe’s forehead - her death wishes for him are so regularly displayed it is painful to watch and listen.
There is never any blank space with Mika making commentary like a running crawl as if none of the audience can tell what is going on for themselves.
It is a terrible show. Dan Rather is a perfect guest for the muddled mob. I will give Kudo’s to Geist for keeping a cool head but he is a suck up as well - they all are. They haven’t an original thought among themselves.
Could it be nobody made note of this gaff from dear old Dan because nobody was watching perhaps?????
I think CNN, CBS, ABC, and MSNBC could save a great deal of money in ‘personality pay’ by just running script of their directives to the audience for the day:
You will think between the hours of 6am and 10am ....”-——”
You will think between the hours of 10am and 3pm ....”-——”
There is no doubt a message is being delivered with determination by Big Brudda.
I learned as a lad to never correct Gandma or Grandpa. Never.
“Its just one of those social situations where you just dont bother to correct crazy people”
My morning laugh - thanks!
Aren’t they cousins or something?
I saw a magazine cover this week with Osama’s picture on Obama’s wall.
Wait until they capture the ‘real’ OBL and Pres OBL meets with him to find out why he hates us so much and what we need to be best buds.
The press will have OBL meeting with OBL.
Gunga Dan got confused because the name was written in a peripheral font.
Talking Dead-Heads.

This actually is very easy to do without meaning to.
Thank God Michelle Obama isn’t a Knitter.
I was flipping channels this AM and saw it.
Tiki was nodding along, then they hit that.
It was funny as heck.
I have never once seen this site's proprietor referred to as Rim Jobinson.
“I saw that and was wondering why nobody corrected him.”
As noted, because it’s true.
Liberalis in the USA betrayed the Shah of Iran, which permitted fanactical Islamists to grow up all over the Shia world, starting with Iran. Sunni secular dictators noted we were weak and similarly permitted militants to prosper, knowing we would object to the efforts necessary to keep a cap on the militants.
So it’s true that liberals like Jesse Jackson paved the way for Osama Bin Laden.
New Tagline
Quick quiz -- who said it, Dan or Abe?
“That he was an important figure in paving the way for an Osama bin Laden to appear.”
“Seems like an accurate statement to me.”
I agree!!! I think Dan nailed this one!!!
Didn’t he use to host a news show or something?
No sympathy....Barry has a Muslim name similar to a mass murderer....It’s bound to happen.
ping
Kennedy had an excuse. He was drunk.
Bingo - they were in a catch-22
- didn’t want to make Dan look like an idiot
- didn’t want to highlight the “Muslimness” of Obama’s name
Senile is as senile does.
Maybe Rather was right and he meant it.
They're both cut out of the same cloth although rancher Rather's dumb animals have four legs and Obama's have two.
Leni
Grandpa:"The last time the meteors came, we thought the sky was on fire. Naturally, we blamed the Irish. We hanged more 'n a few."Rather:"I used to be with it. But then they changed what it was. Now what I'm with isn't it, and what's it seems scary and wierd. It'll happen to you."
Grandpa:"Nuts to you!" (falls asleep on the couch.)
Rather:"I don't know nothin'. I used to get by on my looks. (holds up a wrinkled hand): Now they're gone! Withered away like an old piece of fruit! (sobs)"
That’s the first accurate comment Rather’s made in years.
Dan was having another Alzheimer’s moment — cut him some slack.
Let's review that quote:
[Jesse Jackson] was an important figure in paving the way for an Osama bin Laden to appear.
No, I'd say intellectual honesty. Rather unusual, don't you think?
Surprised? Obama isn’t. Dan Rather, just another typical white person.
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