MSNBC’s propensity to selectively edit video to smear conservatives has reached a new low. Speaking on her self-titled show on February 21, host Rachel Maddow openly admitted to playing edited footage of Senator John McCain to smear the Arizona Republican.
Speaking last week, Maddow aired footage of McCain addressing a constituent whose son was killed last year at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, who spoke to Senator McCain about her belief that “These assault weapons allow a shooter to fire many rounds without having to reload. These weapons do not belong on our streets.” [See video after jump. MP3 audio here.]
Maddow then played McCain’s edited comments, which show him saying, “I can tell you right now you need some straight talk. That assault weapons ban will not pass the congress of the United States.”
Maddow then ridiculously admits there is editing with the clip she played, but that doesn’t stop her from slamming McCain:
Obviously, there was an edit between the end of the woman's question and the part where John McCain sneers the straight talk line at her. So maybe that edit was cut in a way that’s not fair to John McCain.
Had Maddow felt the need to play the complete clip, she would have seen Senator McCain expressing his condolences and sadness for those victims who died in Aurora, Colorado, as well as other tragic shootings. However, being a fair, albeit opinionated journalist, is not Maddow's aim:
Maybe he really wasn't in real time so insensitive and abrasive to a woman who probably deserves some sensitivity when she is talked to about these matters. But for what it's worth, Patricia Maisch, the woman who disarmed the Tucson shooter, she was in the room at that John McCain town hall. She saw the whole thing happen. She saw that woman ask the question about what John McCain thought should be done about gun violence and saw him answer by saying you need some straight talk. And Patricia Maisch, who was in the room, told Talking Points Memo in an interview after the town hall that she found Senator McCain’s response "Unsatisfactory."
The total disregard, and in this case, outright glee on by the liberal MSNBC hosts regarding their selective video editing practices shows just how corrupt the network has become.
See relevant transcript below.
MSNBC
The Rachel Maddow Show
February 21, 2013
9:07 p.m. EST
RACHEL MADDOW: The woman who stopped the Tucson shooter by not letting him reload that day still lives Arizona and yesterday she attended one of these town hall meetings in Arizona, which the Republican Senator there, John McCain, has been holding in his home state. The woman who stopped the Tucson, Arizona shooter was there in the room when this happened today at John McCain's town hall.
UNKNOWN WOMAN: My 24-year-old son Alex was murdered in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. These assault weapons allow a shooter to fire many rounds without having to reload. These weapons do not belong on our streets.
JOHN MCCAIN: I can tell you right now you need some straight talk. That assault weapons ban will not pass the Congress of the United States.
MADDOW: I said that was today. That was actually yesterday. John McCain's Arizona constituents, you can hear them there at the end there applauding there boisterously at his ability to bestow some patented John McCain straight talk on that woman, who obviously needs it, that woman whose son was killed less than a year ago in the Aurora, Colorado mass shooting. That's the footage that was aired by Channel 3 in Phoenix. Obviously, there was an edit between the end of the woman's question and the part where John McCain sneers the straight talk line at her. So maybe that edit was cut in a way that’s not fair to John McCain. Maybe he really wasn't in real time so insensitive and abrasive to a woman who probably deserves some sensitivity when she is talked to about these matters. But for what it's worth, Patricia Maisch, the woman who disarmed the Tucson shooter, she was in the room at that John McCain town hall. She saw the whole thing happen. She saw that woman ask the question about what John McCain thought should be done about gun violence and saw him answer by saying you need some straight talk. And Patricia Maisch, who was in the room, told Talking Points Memo in an interview after the town hall that she found Senator McCain’s response "Unsatisfactory." "In my opinion she said, "the comment the Senator made saying Karen needed some straight talk was a bit disrespectful in light of her son being murdered by a man with a gun less than a year 'ago." According to TPM's interview Patricia Maisch said she's hopeful McCain will support expanding background checks for gun sales but "you never know with these guys. I hope he does the right thing." So at John McCain's town hall yesterday in Arizona discussing gun rights a woman whose son was killed in the Aurora shooting massacre was there. The woman who disarmed the Gabby Giffords shooter in Tucson was there.
