Can one even imagine CNN fact checking any of the skits SNL on President Bush or Sarah Palin?? Heaven forbid SNL finally make fun of President Obama. CNN couldn't help themselves. They actually fact checked the jokes.
[Update, NBStaff, 10:35 am Eastern: Transcript of CNN segment added below.]
The transcript of CNN’s “fact-checking” report, which aired 28 minutes into the 6 pm Eastern hour of Monday's Situation Room:
WOLF BLITZER: It seems no politician is safe from Saturday Night Live. While many people think SNL has mostly spared President Obama, what they’re doing now is not necessarily all that kind. They essentially cast the leader of the free world as a do-nothing president, at least so far. Even though SNL deals in comedy, what they said about the President rings true for a lot of you, apparently. So, did the show accurately capture a mood, or did it go off track for comedic effect?
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Let’s bring in CNN's Kareen Wynter. She’s checking the facts for us. All right, Kareen, what are you finding out?
KAREEN WYNTER: Hi there, Wolf. Well, some observers say- sure, we are just talking comedy here, but that, on many points- well, SNL couldn’t have been more off the mark.
WYNTER (voice-over): A cold open for the country’s commander-in-chief.
FRED ARMISEN (as Barack Obama): Because, when you look at my record, it’s very clear what I have done so far, and that is- nothing. (audience laughter)
WYNTER: Obama on Obama- well, not really. Saturday Night Live comedian Fred Armisen’s opening sketch stirred up big laughs with a scathing report card on the President, which lampooned him as having accomplished nothing since he took office.
ARMISEN: Almost one year and nothing to show for it (audience laughter)- you don’t believe me? You think I’m making it up? Take a look at this checklist.
WYNTER: A checklist of promises SNL says Obama failed to deliver.
ARMISEN: On my first day in office I said I’d close Guantanamo Bay. Is it closed yet? No. (audience laughter)
WYNTER: And on Afghanistan?
ARMISEN: I said I would make improvements in the war in Afghanistan. Is it better? No, I think it’s actually worse. (audience laughter)
WYNTER: But is there any truth to this?
BILL ADAIR: They got some things wrong.
WYNTER: Bill Adair, editor of PolitiFact.com, a non-partisan fact-checking website that rates the statements of elected officials, says SNL missed the mark on some of its claims- for instance, Afghanistan.
ADAIR: I think SNL tended to kind of gloss over what is a- a fair amount of progress by this administration- about sending two additional brigades to Afghanistan. We rated that had a promise kept. On Iraq, Saturday Night Live said not done and, of course, that’s true- they’re not done, but they hadn’t promised to be done by now.
WYNTER: As for health care, Adair says SNL also got it wrong, since that legislation is still stalled in Congress. But Adair says the sketch did get some things right, like Guantanamo Bay. PolitiFact says the President has fallen short on that promise. So is this harmless humor or damage done?
ADAIR: Saturday Night Live is a very important factor in how people get information about American politics.
WYNTER: Still, Adair says the sketch won’t resonate with the audience as much as this.
TINA FEY (as Sarah Palin): Are we not doing the talent portion?
WYNTER: Comic Tina Fey’s dead-on impersonation of former GOP vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin- some credit it with reinforcing an impression of Palin as ill-equipped for the job. But this type of stinging satire is something Adair says Obama may see more of as he faces increasing opposition to some ambitious promises made on the campaign trail.
ADAIR: This is not a fair portrayal of- of how Obama’s done. But it’s comedy- it doesn’t have to be fair.
ARMISEN: If I see any more of this hateful rhetoric, I’m going to have to take drastic action- nah, not really.
WYNTER: Wolf, we reached out to the White House for their reaction on this. They wouldn’t comment. Wolf?
BLITZER: Kareen Wynter, thanks very much.
—Kathleen McKinley is a blogger whose posts appear at Rightwing Sparkle.
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CNN chasing MSNBC, but closing...
October 6, 2009 - 07:37 ET by BKeyserThere are so many things wrong with this, I'd have to watch it over and over again to tally the list. Suffice to say, CNN you... aw, never mind.
Wolf Blitzer Fact Checking
October 6, 2009 - 09:34 ET by allanfWolf Blitzer "fact checking"? Is that an SNL skit. Blitzer is a partisan.
Did he even have to fact check?
October 6, 2009 - 12:09 ET by DEVILDOCMOMHe probably used the vast wealth of knowledge he showed on the recent game show, Jeopardy...
When good times go bad...
October 6, 2009 - 12:45 ET by ontheright...let the canibalism begin.
Well, I guess if they are
October 6, 2009 - 07:38 ET by HermanoWell, I guess if they are not willing to fact check things that need to be checked, then at the very least they are doing something. After all "Something has to be done, and done fast." Sounds like healthcare, stimulus and TARP. Maybe that could be CNN's thing - fact checking comedy.
Only two forms of government? Find out why... http://www.flixxy.co...
CNN is pathetic!
October 6, 2009 - 07:39 ET by c5thenTheir bias is showing so much that they are soon to be in the running with MSNBC for most Obama infatuated network.
Throw 'da bums out!!!
no incumbent re-elected, with very few exceptions!
www.loyaltoliberty.com
Tina Fey
October 6, 2009 - 07:42 ET by karelingMSNBC ran and reran video of Tina Fey impersonating Sarah Palin so many times, that the masses became confused enough to believe it was really Sarah who said she could see Russia from her house.
And didn't Tina Fey get some kind of award for doing her part in this stunning example of disinformation?
Answer: A joke pretending
October 6, 2009 - 07:46 ET by danboAnswer: A joke pretending to be a newsman.
Question: Who is Wolfe Blitzer?
HAHAHAHAHA. HEHEHE. I didn’t even know about it. Um. So, you’ve got me at a loss. I don’t know. (Charles Gibson of the dead media.)
This is positively hilarious!
October 6, 2009 - 07:51 ET by motherbeltIt belongs in the "You can't make this stuff up" file.
CNN fact-checking a comedy skit?????
It's a joke, right?
They took Michael Moore's "documentaries" at face value, and this they investigated for truth????
Good grief!!
There's a pattern here
October 6, 2009 - 08:03 ET by jon_torlinI'm beginning to see a pattern here. We get this couple that disavowed TP for a year, partly because the wife saw "Inconvenient Truth" and took it to heart despite having some fallacies in it and CBS doesn't mention anything about that (they probably think it's real). The MSM/SRM is grasping at straws here.
What are they thinking?
-Jon
Thinking?
October 6, 2009 - 08:17 ET by boomerconJon, now you're really putting an unfair burden on the SRM, to expect "thinking" on their part.
CNN is a paragon of
October 6, 2009 - 07:51 ET by nadadhimmiCNN is a paragon of integrity and truth telling. I believe everything they say. hahahahahahahah! Them and the Easter Bunny.
CNN's abdication of their role as a news organization
October 6, 2009 - 08:00 ET by FeynmanFanYou have to think that when a news organization starts committing their resources to fact-checking a comedy skit, they are pretty much out of the real news business.
Maybe they will branch out to fact-check other shows like Sesame Street, Spongebob Squarepants or The Simpsons. How about fact-checking Mythbusters or The Dog Whisperer?
Or maybe they can go back and fact-check some of the old TV shows. Were Lois Lane and Clark Kent really just co-workers? How did Lassie always know what to do when something went wrong? Did Barney Fife really only carry one bullet for his gun? Was the Beaver's Mom always that worried about the Beav? What was really going on that made her so concerned?
Only a crack news organization like CNN has the mentality and (apparently) surplus resources to research and get to the truth about the really important questions that their viewers need answered.
I hope they get on it right away and quit teasing us with that "serious" news stuff.
"Reason and persuasion are the only practical instruments against error. To make way for these, free inquiry must be indulged" - Thomas Jefferson
Palin? Bush?
October 6, 2009 - 08:55 ET by frankmerThe main difference here is that the Palin and Bush scetches dealt with how stupid they both were. I'm not sure there was much to fact check.
So you're making the case
October 6, 2009 - 09:07 ET by TenebrousSo you're making the case that news organizations should be spending their time fact-checking comedy shows? What else is there to say?
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Random-jumbled-thoughts.blogspot.com
If what the scetch is
October 6, 2009 - 10:33 ET by frankmerIf what the scetch is saying is bull, then yes. The writers on this website spend countless hours combing the news to find what amounts to nothing in most cases. If CNN wants to fact check an SNL skit, god bless 'em.
Incidentally, this only shows how dumb-down ALL news has become on every network. I think this says more about that than any liberal conspiracy.
"If what the scetch
October 6, 2009 - 12:35 ET by G. MayWell there are far more comedy shows that dump a lot more bull than SNL. Are you advocating CNN take the time to fact check every comedy show, or just those that make fun of Obama? Clearly neither you nor CNN understand comedy. And Bush is the stupid one?
Countless? I'm sure the writers here can easily quantify the time spent contributing to this website. But that's just a little quibble with your nonsense. Why don't you demonstrate how most of the writing here amounts to nothing?
Considering no one is claiming a "conspiracy", it looks like your comments amount to nothing in this case. Probably most cases.
I'm making the case that
October 6, 2009 - 11:19 ET by frankmerI'm making the case that ALL news has been dumbed-down. Just you wait... everyone will be critiquing and fact-checking comedy and whatever else now.
The right has been using SNL as a punching bag to hammer down its liberal bias BS for years. How is it OK for Fox News or any other right wing news source to spend time criticizing SNL scetches, but CNN can't? Do a search on foxnews.com for SNL. They seem to spend a good bit of time discussing and syndicating stories about SNL.
"How is it OK for Fox
October 6, 2009 - 12:44 ET by G. MayMay I direct your attention to the upper right-hand corner of your web browser to the following quote:
Allow me spell it out for you: if FNC isn't showing liberal media bias, guess what? It's not going to show up here. Is that simple enough for you to understand?
Good job, GMay. It took me ten minutes to translate
October 6, 2009 - 19:19 ET by BO STINKShis slop into English. Thank you for treading where others refuse to go.
"How strangely will the Tools of a Tyrant pervert the plain Meaning of Words!" Sam Adams
If only Bush and
October 6, 2009 - 09:18 ET by G. MayIf only Bush and Palin had the intellectual capacity to reach audiences in all 57 states...
Of course, in your bizzaro
October 6, 2009 - 11:37 ET by PeskyDaneOf course, in your bizzaro world the MBA, jet-fighter pilot president was "stupid."
How's that for a fact-check, Hawking?
It is laughably strange
October 6, 2009 - 09:09 ET by MidAmericaIt is laughably strange how close to the old Hans Christian Andersen story about the 'Emperer Who Has no Clothes' is the tale of obama and his supporters. Obama is the emperer of course and the swindling weavers are the media, the people of the court are comparable to hollywood and their ilk, and of course the common people are the bitter clingers of guns, the dreadful right-wing racists who cannot see the beautiful cloth woven by the media.
"We didn't cover ACORN or
October 6, 2009 - 09:23 ET by G. May"We didn't cover ACORN or Van Jones because...what...with two wars, an economic crisis, healthcare reform, a nuclear Iran, rummaging through Sarah Palin's underwear drawer and fact checking SNL skits - we just had more important things to do!"
I got more chuckles out of this "fact checking" than
October 6, 2009 - 09:33 ET by JTPI did from the skit itself. This is exactly what SNL needed. I know where they can get some new writers for the show now. CNN producers and prompter readers should soon be looking for new jobs.
"Live for yourself...there's no one else more worth living for.
Begging hands and bleeding hearts will only cry out for more"- Rush--Anthem
To be fair, wasn't it CNN
October 6, 2009 - 09:44 ET by nolotrippenTo be fair, wasn't it CNN that recently uncovered the whole ACORN sex for hire story?
Oh, that was Fox. And a couple of freelance reporters working on their own dime.
Never mind (Emily Litella, SNL, the good years)
Sorry for the double post
October 6, 2009 - 09:44 ET by nolotrippenSorry for the double post
what they said about the
October 6, 2009 - 09:48 ET by Radical1979what they said about the President rings true for a lot of you, apparently
So CNN felt the need to stand up for Obama.
Comic Tina Fey’s dead-on impersonation of former GOP vice presidential
candidate, Sarah Palin- some credit it with reinforcing an impression
of Palin as ill-equipped for the job.
But this type of comedy needed no fact checking.
No wonder Fox kills in the ratings.
The Death of CNN
October 6, 2009 - 10:01 ET by slickwillie2001Anyone else think the White House suggested this to CNN?
And way the by, Fox News 3am ET show 'Redeye' is now beating some primetime CNN and MSNBC shows, like Campbell Brown, Morning Joe and CNN's American Morning.
More Demo Viewers Watch Fox at 3am Than CNN at 8pm: http://www.mediaite.com
PS This would make a great addition to next week's SNL.
There does appear to be some orchestration
October 6, 2009 - 10:32 ET by trak65Yahoo News also had a similar fact check of the SNL skit that -- surprise! -- pretty much rebutted each SNL joke.
Well my humble opinion is this
October 6, 2009 - 10:08 ET by Chattychito"Saturday Night Live is a very important factor in how people get information about American politics"
Anyone who gets there information about American Politics from a satirical comedy program is an absolute idiot.
"The ultimate result of shielding men from the effect of folly is to fill the world with fools."
Herbert Spencer's "State Tamperings with Money Banks"
A lot of voters
October 6, 2009 - 10:27 ET by StarAZA LOT of people thought Sarah Palin said she could see Russia from her house.
Did they fact check...
October 6, 2009 - 11:03 ET by buzzyboopTina Fey's Sarah Palin impression that she could see Russia "from my house?" I don't think so.
Cheers, Frank
Government is the only enterprise in the world which expands in size
when its failures increase. -- DC Circuit Judge Janice Rogers Brown
CNN News Flash:
October 6, 2009 - 11:04 ET by InfidelphiaMichael Jackson is STILL dead.
as CNN slips further into complete irrelevance.
October 6, 2009 - 11:34 ET by katainkent____________________________________________
The Emperor, he has no clothes
Hey CNN
October 6, 2009 - 11:38 ET by Airforce_5_OHow about doing some real fact checking on who the Prez has put in office around him. All those "czars" that are sucking up tax payer money! the NEA comes to mind....
Liberalism: The haunting feeling that someone, somewhere, can help themselves.
They 'know nothing' about
October 6, 2009 - 12:20 ET by Six String SpiffThey 'know nothing' about ACORN, but have all this time to rebuke an SNL skit? Really?
Wow. Pathetic.
Define "propaganda." A
October 6, 2009 - 12:21 ET by lotrDefine "propaganda."
A cable news organization spending valuable time and resources, both on and off air, to "research" and "set the record straight," in a blatant effort to "debunk" a comedy skit, lest any viewer come away with a bad impression of the Democrat in the White House.
Never mind the fact that this is the first time we've seen any Obama satire among the mainstream establishment comedians. Not so for poor GWB.
Never mind also that the SNL skit satire was primarily critical of Obama from the left!
So here we have CNN essentially trying to reassure us that the Dem in the White House really is trying to bring about that leftist agenda he promised us (!), and that we need only to be a bit more patient with him! After all, the poor soul has to deal with all those Republicans and teabaggers!
"Steady." -- Keith Olbermann to Chris Matthews
Why doesn't SNL do a spoof
October 6, 2009 - 12:21 ET by buddycWhy doesn't SNL do a spoof on CNN factchecking SNL skit on Obama?
Honestly I heard their fact chack and started laughing.
Wolfie !
October 6, 2009 - 15:13 ET by jacktheripperyou should of fact checked Obama!!!!
twit
"The American Republic will endure, until politicians realize they can
bribe the people with their own money." – Alexis de Tocqueville
Re Spoof
October 6, 2009 - 15:58 ET by slickwillie2001This is also the kind of thing that Jon Stewart might jump on. Watch for it.
This is too much
October 6, 2009 - 16:19 ET by r22weissIf CNN is taking time out of their day to "Fact Check" SNL, then they must feel that SNL was right on the money and they need to counter the message. Think about it. Why else would they comment on what SNL thinks? For 8 years they used SNL to show how stupid Bush was but now that SNL goes after their boy Obama they have to make sure that even a joke goes through the "Fact Check". They have made it a bigger story than it should be and have acknowledged that they think what SNL did has some bearing!
Got a great idea for an SNL skit!
October 6, 2009 - 19:09 ET by BO STINKSAn SNL comic dresses up like Joseph Goebbels and does a fact check of a parody where Hilter talks about everything he is doing/not doing. Then the entire of cast/crew/execs of SNL are frog-marched off the set. We all know where they wind up, wink wink.
Mine sounds a lot more plausible than this crap. Have we all dropped down the rabbit hole?
Keep it up, Wolfie. "Alex, I'll take the 'Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz' for $2,000 please."
"How strangely will the Tools of a Tyrant pervert the plain Meaning of Words!" Sam Adams
How surreal is that? the
October 6, 2009 - 19:26 ET by Jack BauerHow surreal is that?
the guy who recently limped to the LOWEST EVER SCORE on Celebrity Jeopardy is "fact" checking a comedy show.
Next week Wolf fact checks the movie ZOMBIETOWN.
#1 inaccuracy? No such thing as Zombies.