The folks at MSNBC were at it again Thursday.
In an effort to make it appear Congressman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) said food stamp recipients are all rapists, pedophiles, and murderers, someone at this farce of a so-called news network decided to highly-edit and deceptively cobble together snippets of comments he made at various times on the House floor Wednesday (video follows with transcript and commentary):
THOMAS ROBERTS, HOST: Goldie, you got to listen though to how they’re selling this, because I want to play for everybody what Republican Congressman Pete Sessions had, had said and the comments they pretty much speak for themselves. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONGRESSMAN PETE SESSIONS (R-TEXAS): What we're trying to accomplish is to end eligibility of food stamps that compete against those families, those needy families that we talked about, for rapists, pedophiles and murderers. Whether rapists, pedophiles or murderers will be eligible. But it's pedophiles, murderers, rapists, those who have, should have enough money.
ROBERTS: What's your response to that Goldie?
GOLDIE TAYLOR: I think it is a systemic or institutionalized demonization of our nation's poor, you know, to say that people who are poor also happen to be disproportionately rapists or murderers. Well, that simply isn't the case.
Actually, what simply IS the case is that Sessions didn’t say that.
Quite the contrary, what he said on the House floor Wednesday was that he and other Republicans wanted to PREVENT rapists, pedophiles, and murderers from receiving food stamps so that the program would be solvent for those deserving of it.
Here’s the main clip MSNBC edited from (edited out sections in bold):
SESSIONS: The President’s inability to lead is what is causing this country to have massive unemployment and a GDP rate of about 1.5 percent. It is a nightmare for people.
So I do understand that we have those in our midst who are in trouble. I don’t think this bill is ever aimed at, and we shouldn’t try and say that it would be aimed at, the disabled, mothers with children. That’s not what we’re trying to accomplish here. What we’re trying to accomplish is to end eligibility of food stamps that compete against those families, those needy families that we talked about, for rapists, pedophiles and murderers. That’s why you see members of the Democratic Party coming down here today and they're saying we’re going to take it away from other people. No - rapists, pedophiles, and murderers.
Diametrically opposite meaning from what MSNBC presented, isn't it?
He wasn't saying - as MSNBC misrepresented - that food stamp recipients are rapists, pedophiles, and murderers. Instead that we want to make sure that rapists, pedophiles and murderers DON'T receive food stamps.
Here's more of what Sessions said about this matter throughout the day that it appears MSNBC might have also snipped from:
SESSIONS: Mr. Speaker, thank you very much, and if fact the gentlewoman is correct. There is an amendment that was presented at the Rules Committee that has been made in order that essentially does what the gentlewoman says, and she’ll have a chance to vote for it or against it. But what it says is the amendment ends eligibility of food stamps for those convicted who are rapists, pedophiles, and murderers.
So the gentlewoman and every Member of this body today will have a chance to say on record that’s okay if you’re a rapist, if you're a convicted rapist or pedophile or murderer, that that’s okay for you to be eligible for food stamps in a program that does compete against mothers and children who, in these difficult times, you’re seeing the Agriculture Committee try and set priorities about who should receive this government assistance.
This amendment has not been accepted yet, but every Member of this body will be able to help prioritize; and the amendment that the gentlewoman speaks of is about whether we will let rapists, pedophiles, and murderers, who are convicted felons, to receive, to continue to receive food stamps. And the gentlewoman is right. And today she will get her chance to help us prioritize these government programs about who should be receiving food stamps in America. [...]
SESSIONS: Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman from Massachusetts for furthering his feelings that he wants to talk about this. It is true, there are going to be people dropped off the rolls. We’re having to make decisions based upon money. There’s a vote today— vote today, it has not been decided—whether rapists, pedophiles, or murderers will be eligible. Also, whether we're going to have people have to qualify on their own as opposed to some other consideration maybe that a State would put. And we’re going to take off those that are lottery winners, illegal aliens, and people quite honestly who should have the money to pay for these things. [...]
SESSIONS: Mr. Speaker, I would hope that it, and I can certify that at no time during this process have we vilified any poor people. We’re here to help them. The Republican Party cares very much about families and children, moms who are trying to make a go of it. We’re the ones that are up here trying to lower taxes on everybody. We’re the ones that are trying to make sure we’ve got jobs for people. We’re the ones that are making sure that we’re trying to take pedophiles and rapists and murderers off the rolls of government assistance to those so that it would serve those who need it the most. We’re trying to help prioritize and save this system. That is what Republicans are trying to do.
As you can see, what Sessions said on numerous occasions Wednesday bears absolutely no resemblance whatsoever to what Roberts and MSNBC presented to viewers Thursday, and they should be required to retract it immediately.
Of course, this isn't anything new for MSNBC. Here are some other examples of their seemingly routine deceit:
MSNBC's Bashir Selectively Edits 1981 Reagan Aide Remarks to Make Republicans Look Racist
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Gleefully Admits To Using Edited Video To Smear GOP
Under Fire for Selective Editing, MSNBC Insists It Is 'Reviewing' Newtown Father's Testimony
Another Dishonest Video Edit from NBC as Martin Bashir Smears Gun Rights Supporters
Did MSNBC Doctor Another Video to Trash Romney?
MSNBC Fixes False Report Which Made Zimmerman Look Racist, Doesn't Acknowledge Error
Is this kind of almost routine deceit from MSNBC ever going to stop?
Are the heads of NBC ever going to step in and tell their sister network that this behavior is unacceptable?
Or is this the kind of "news coverage" people should just expect from MSNBC?
And they wonder why their ratings are in freefall.
(HT Mediaite)
