Like dutiful White House shills, the "NBC Nightly News" Monday reported Republican presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann mistaking the Iowa town where actor John Wayne was born.
Hypocritically, NBC News has still not informed viewers of President Obama's horrible error last Thursday when he said he had awarded a Medal of Honor in person to a living soldier who actually had been killed in Afghanistan in 2006 (video follows with transcript and commentary):
KELLY O’DONNELL: Bachmann, who has recently begun stressing her background as a tax attorney and small business owner, has been embarrassed by a string of factual errors like placing the battles of Lexington and Concorde in the wrong state. She missed the mark again in our interview, bringing up an unrelated and incorrect claim about her hometown.
CONGRESSWOMAN MICHELE BACHMANN (R-MINNESOTA): Another famous American that was born in Waterloo, Iowa, was John Wayne.
As NewsBusters reported earlier Monday, MSNBC's Chris Matthews also felt the need to address this calamity.
However, according to CNN, this isn't as big an issue as Matthews and O'Donnell think.
Jeanne Moos reported on the 6PM installment of "The Situation Room":
JEANNE MOOS: Meanwhile, Bachmann started taking shots for a supposed gaffe. Speaking about her hometown of Waterloo, Iowa.
BACHMANN: It's like John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa. That's the kind of spirit that I have, too.
MOOS: Blogs went for the kill, saying it wasn't John Wayne, the actor, who was from Waterloo, but John Wayne Gacy, the serial killer, who lived there. No sooner had the snarky headlines appeared -- "Bachmann Compares Self to Gay Rapist Clown Serial Killer" -- than Bachmann's campaign told "The Washington Times" that actor John Wayne's parents did live in Waterloo.
So it turned out to be a cheap shot.
A cheap shot the folks at MSNBC and NBC seem very comfortable in taking.
But the hypocrisy doesn't end there.
As NewsBusters reported last week, President Obama on Thursday said he had literally awarded a Medal of Honor to one Jared Monti, meaning in person while he was alive.
Unfortunately, Monti was bestowed this honor posthumously in 2009 having been killed in Afghanistan three years prior. Obama later apologized to the family for his misstatement.
Despite the seriousness of this gaffe, MSNBC and NBC have yet to report it. In fact, according to LexisNexis, through Sunday, not one television news network has.
It appears a Republican presidential candidate confusing the names of two small Iowa towns most people have never heard of is far more important than a sitting president mistaking a fallen hero for a live one.
But O'Donnell wasn't done with the Bachmann bashing:
O'DONNELL: Bachmann told me she expects greater scrutiny and needs to be more careful.
BACHMANN: I will make mistakes. It will happen. But I will tell you to the very best of my ability, I'll try and get everything right that is coming out of my mouth.
O’DONNELL: And details matter, and when Bachmann left the stage here, her campaign played the Tom Petty hit song, “American Girl." Turns out petty isn't pleased. His manager says they will ask the Bachmann campaign not to use that song. They also asked George W. Bush not to use any of his music. But Hillary Clinton did use "American Girl" throughout her campaign in 2008. Brian.
BRIAN WILLIAMS, HOST: As they say, when people get in the race, welcome to the NFL. Kelly O’Donnell in Waterloo, Iowa, tonight. Kelly, thanks.
Actually, Brian, it's only the NFL for Republicans entering races. As Americans saw during the 2008 campaign as well as the past two and a half years, it's more like Pee Wee football for Obama, as he can fumble at will and still get a pat on the head from his adoring press.
Will he ever be treated like a big leaguer, or is that an "honor" only bestowed on Republicans?
