NBC News Twists Its Network’s Pledge Censorship Into Slam at Rick Perry’s Intolerance
Trying to submerge its own network’s “under God” censorship into a greater narrative, Monday’s NBC Nightly News managed to combine into one disjointed story, pegged to “a tough slog” over the weekend “when it comes to the campaign to get along in our public discourse,” the NBC Sports decision to remove “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance in its opening montage for the U.S. Open golf tournament, “distress” by “Republicans at a leadership conference over an Obama impersonator’s racially tinged jokes,” how “on conservative network Fox News, anchor Chris Wallace and liberal comedian Jon Stewart went at it” and that “Texas Governor Rick Perry won the loudest applause with this line.”
The awful remark, which NBC aired as its last example in a story which carried “BAD DECISIONS” as the on-screen tag: “Let's speak with pride about our morals and our values. Let's stop this American downward spiral!”
Anchor Brian Williams, at least, set up the jumbled story by acknowledging “our own network took a justified beating for something that was omitted during sports coverage.”
From the Monday, June 20 NBC Nightly News:
BRIAN WILLIAMS: A few incidents that took place this past weekend made it a tough slog when it comes to the campaign to get along in our public discourse. Our own network took a justified beating for something that was omitted during sports coverage. There was an attempt at comedy that may not have been judged that funny and some comedians who were downright angry. NBC’s Mike Taibbi has our report.
MIKE TAIBBI: The capper to an ideologically contentious weekend was actually a sports event, NBC’s Sunday broadcast of the final round of the U.S. open. It began with a patriotic montage featuring children reciting the pledge of allegiance.
CHILDREN: One nation-
MILITARY VOICES: Order.
CHILDREN: -with liberty and justice for all.
TAIBBI: But edited out, twice in the segment, the words “under God.” NBC was swamped with complaints from a digital universe. “Unpatriotic” and “godless” were the most frequent criticisms, prompting an on air apology.
VOICE OF NBC SPORTS HOST: It was not done to upset anyone.
TAIBBI: And today a second apology from NBC Sports calling the “under God” omissions a “bad decision,” saying “we are aware of the distress this has caused many of our viewers.” Also distressed, Republicans at a leadership conference over an Obama impersonator’s racially tinged jokes. This one about black history month:
OBAMA IMPERSONATOR: Michelle, she celebrates the full month and I celebrate half.
TAIBBI: And then other jokes bashing Republicans. He got the hook. And on conservative network Fox News, anchor Chris Wallace and liberal comedian Jon Stewart went at it.
JON STEWART ON FOX NEWS SUNDAY: You really think that's a political comment?
CHRIS WALLACE: Yes.
STEWART: You're insane.
TAIBBI: Back at the Republican Leadership Conference, Texas Governor Rick Perry won the loudest applause with this line.
TEXAS GOVERNOR RICK PERRY: Let's speak with pride about our morals and our values. [Edit jump] Let's stop this American downward spiral!
TAIBBI: Right-left, red-blue, it seems our cultural divide is as divided as ever.
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Comments
Always the way of liberals to
Submitted by eaglewingz08 on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 9:32am.
Always the way of liberals to try to turn their utter depravity into a false everyone does it meme. But how they can fault Gov Perry's remarks is of the same piece of the dem socialist mentality at NBC that removed the words "under God" (and I also believe the ad removed the word "indivisible") from the ad.
Idiots
Submitted by stunned on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 10:02am.
Some left wing producer made the call according to my neighbor who works at a NBC affiliate (undercover Conservative). According to him the excuse that to cut the 2.5 seconds was the reason that the words were cut from the piece is a joke. To keep the words in would have been simple and everyone in the industry knows it and is lying. Cut the sky images in the segment and focus on the flag, the troops and the kids and bingo no problem with the time contraints. Comcast is trying to turn the network around but the radicals infest that network. HIs opinion is they honestly thought no one would get their inside joke dissing the "bible thumpers" or even care that "under God, indivisible" were not there since no one they know gives a damn about the pledge anyway.
tired of liberal lies
"It was not done to upset anyone"
Submitted by MightyMouth on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 9:37am.
That's an apology? That's like me deliberatly running over your two year old with my car and then saying to you "I didn't do it to upset you!". NBC blows!!
I like Perry.
Submitted by Texndoc on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 9:37am.
He offers everything Palin does and he's held the job for 12 years. I'm hoping this former Air Force Captain is the nominee against the dude in the sandals getting out of the Prezzie Limo with his shirt untucked.
Yes, NBC, I smell the fear.
I do not support Perry
Submitted by NL207 on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 9:49am.
He is solid on economic matters. He's soft on social issues. He's soft on immigration. He's unknown on climate change nor is his position clear on the repeal of Obamacare.
Perry is preferable to Romney, but why would I support him when I can choose Herman Cain or Michelle Bachmann?
His positions
Submitted by jon_torlin on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 10:06am.
I'm a little surprised by this, I thought he made his positions on illegal immigration clear "no more sanctuary cities" and how the DPS is having to deal with the border situation because the Fed Gov't refuses to.
As for the farcical health care legislation, he cites the tenth amendment as well and the Texas legislature has been passing state laws (or on their way to doing so) such as blocking the tsa patdowns (back on for special session) and some other stuff. Oh yeah, the Texas Legislature is voting against the light bulb ban as well. (texas to feds: shove it!) So that might be an indicator where he is on climate change.
I've said it before, he does have his faults, I won't dispute that.
-Jon
Thank you I was going to say the same thing
Submitted by OldJarhead77 on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 11:25am.
Here is a Governor that pushes the sanctuary City bill BACK into the special session of their Legislature because the dems filabustered it the first time. Now in the special session it only requires a majority vote and the Republicans in Texas have a 101-49 advantage in the State House and a 22-18 advantage in the State Senate. By the way heres just how Republican Texas went in 2010. On Nov 2 2010 there were 76 Republicans and 74 dems in the Texas house on the 4th of November there were 99 Republicans and 51 dems by Febuary two more dems jumped ship and joined the Republicans making it 101-49. This gives the Republicans in the Texas House a SUPER MAJORITY, so the 49 dems really don't have to show up but they do, (as they should.) Every thing you have said here is true The Obama care issue was the one that sparked talk of succession remember?........ As to the other issues Jon has covered them in his post completely.
NBC just doesn't get it. If
Submitted by Beukeboom on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 9:39am.
NBC just doesn't get it. If they were sincere in this they would be looking into and acknowledging all that is going on at MSNBC that fits what they accuse others of doing.
The only thing that
Submitted by dr-go on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 9:44am.
the networks have to fear is fear itself and I detect substantial amounts of fear whenever Gov Perry becomes the topic of their "reporting".
Heres an idea
Submitted by Hunter S. on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 9:45am.
What if we shorten the Pledge to the following:
One Nation Under God.
Would that make everyone happy?
Ignore the Dead Zippers troll.
Submitted by The Vet on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 10:07am.
This is his 27th account. He has been banned for abusive language, threatening post directed at women and their children, and releasing the personal information of other posters without their permission.
Do not feed this troll.
Can you back that up?
Submitted by Hunter S. on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 10:12am.
You seem to know everything about me, how about you back it up?
Hunter S. = TROLL
Submitted by Beukeboom on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 10:56am.
Do not feed the trolls.
Hunter S. = TROLL
Submitted by Beukeboom on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 10:10am.
Do not feed the trolls.
if it had to be shortened to
Submitted by TruthMonger on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 10:44am.
if it had to be shortened to that length then that would be the most accurate phrase
Congratulations Jimmy Carter!
How 'bout we leave it...
Submitted by almostacowboy on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 3:18pm.
the way it is and you go away. That would make me happy.
what am i missing?
Submitted by retrocon on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 9:56am.
I don't get it, what's wrong with Perry's comment? First, we can (generally) speak with pride about having much higher morals and a better value system than libtards.
And...
There is an "American downward spiral" going on, in morals, values, economy, world respect.
Obama and the left are even re-introducing racism (not from us, from them, Holders Justice, supporting La Raza, etc), anti-sematism (Israel centered), sexism (Palin, Bachmann), facism (government control over businesses, regulation, EPA), socialism (government ownership of businesses, GM), totalitarianism (anti-gun rights), etc.
So, explain why you say "The awful remark..."
i don't get it.
my guess is that he was
Submitted by TruthMonger on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 10:47am.
my guess is that he was writing it "tongue in cheek" to mock the story's template
Congratulations Jimmy Carter!
I'm sure you're right....
Submitted by retrocon on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 12:09pm.
But i re-read it three times and it just didn't come through as tongue in cheek...
Hmmm... only tuesday, and it's been a long week.
The Apology
Submitted by stunned on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 10:13am.
Lame apology yes indeed but a year ago under GE the only response would have been mocking of those who objected. The switchboard lit up, twitter lit up and the blogs howled immediately after the segment aired. The power of the new media is that the senior Comcast management was alerted to the public outrage within the hour at home. One un-named top guy was sitting in his lounger with a beer (after working a typical 50-60 hour work week) when the piece aired and according to rumor tossed the can across the room. Hee Hee Hee (Per my NBC source they were PISSED LOL) and the apology was made on the air during the golf tournament. Still waiting to hear what happened on Monday when everyone was back in the office. LOL if any other business made this big a mistake the networks would be camped out in their trucks in front of their headquaters Monday morning but we have to get the news of the fallout from the internet and neighbors.
tired of liberal lies
liberal lies
Submitted by ohio granny on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 10:16am.
Just one more reason why I don't watch broadcast tv. Maybe if Concast can rid NBC of their obvious liberal bias I may watch again. Until that happens I will continue to watch Fox News.
I also do not watch anything on CBS, nor do I buy any GE products because of their liberal bias and total support for democRATs and Obama.
NBC/MSNBC
Submitted by Airforce_5_O on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 11:30am.
Was there any doubt that this was done on purpose? Lets think about it. This is NBC, also owned by GE, who also runs MSNBC. It is not that hard to connect the dots.
I think you missed the point
Submitted by dscott on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 3:52pm.
I think you missed the point of NBC's action over the Under God and Indivisible omission. Just like Sheryl Crow's "one square toilet paper" advocacy to save the planet, NBC is probing whether the country is apathetic enough to let the idea of God drop from the culture and consciousness. They just found out by the backlash that the time is not ripe, yet.
The response to Rick Perry is two fold, first Perry found the sweet spot in the liberal's armor which always bedevils them - morality, namely God centered morality contrasted with the pathetic self centered, self righteous faux chip on their shoulder empty moralizing possessed of the liberal elites, e.g. Weiner, Kennedy, Frank, etc. Perry, a former Democrat like Reagan knows the enemy's weakness and vanity.
But secondly and just as importantly, liberals of all stripes recognize the extreme danger of a Perry candidacy to their agenda. The converts are always more determined to demonstrate the strength of their new found faith. Implying Perry is a racist is just the opening salvo and if that charge can't stick then it's down hill from there. Just remember what happened to George Allen another severe threat to liberalism, btw he's back and running. IF Rick Perry steps into the POTUS race, the GOP steamroller will be running full bore, down the incline with the wind at his back and the lib-Dems know this. http://legalinsurrection.com/2011/06/a-case-for-rick-perry/
How does Rick Perry have anything to do with NBC's edits?
Submitted by falcon on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 11:11pm.
The decision to edit the Pledge of Allegiance was made by an executive producer during a preproduction session weeks before the US Open, and the editing was done shortly thereafter and the piece was put in the can for the broadcast. This didn't just happen on the spur of the moment. And NBC knew good and well what they were doing. Having said that, how do they connect their non-"apology" with Governor Perry? The people working at NBC News are complete and total maroons.
BTW, I'm not a big Rick Perry fan (what with the Gardasil and the Trans Texas Corridor things), but if he winds up running he immediately becomes the front-runner IMNSHO. He's a much stronger Republican than most of the rest of the field (with the possible exceptions of Bachmann and Cain, and with Ed Rollins as her campaign manager Bachmann is doing a good job sinking her campaign). If Sarah Palin decides to run, Perry will not. But if Perry runs, Palin will throw her support behind him and he will be virtually unstoppable (assuming he can weather the storms that the MSM and the Democrats will attempt to create - and he has stepped in it a few times, so he's created the ammo for his own firing squad).
Oh, yeah, and the DNC will attack the fact he's from Texas - like another former Texas governor who became President. But let's not forget, LBJ was a Texan, too (and a Democrat).
“I will not stand by and watch this great country destroy itself under mediocre leadership, that drifts from one crisis to the next, eroding our national will and purpose.” – Ronald Reagan, July 17, 1980.