Posted on 08/17/2005 5:08:14 AM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest
Today Show: US Soldier in Iraq Zaps Media - "I'd be Depressed Too if I got my News from the Newspapers"
When The Today Show sprung a surprise this morning - an unannounced trip to Iraq by Matt Lauer - one US soldier had a little surprise of his own for Today and the media at large.
Lauer interviewed a group of soldiers at Camp Liberty in Baghdad, and at one point asked about the state of morale. After getting two responses to the effect that morale was good, Lauer had this to say:
"Don't get me wrong, I think you're probably telling the truth, but there might be a lot of people at home wondering how that might be possible with the conditions you're facing and with the insurgent attacks you're facing."
If Lauer was the advocate for the anti-war case, he then made the cardinal mistake that no advocate should make: asking a question to which you don't know the answer.
Asked Lauer: "What would you say to people who doubt that morale could be that high?"
Captain Sherman Powell nailed Lauer, the MSM and the anti-war crowd with this beauty:
"Well sir, I'd tell you, if I got my news from the newspapers I'd be pretty depressed as well!"
Bada-bing!
Powell went on to add that, while acknowledging the difficulties the media face in getting out into the field in Iraq,
"For those of us who have actually had a chance to get out and meet the Iraqi Army and Iraqi police and go on patrols with them, we are very satisfied with the way things are going here and we are confident that if we are allowed to finish the job we started we'll be very proud of it and our country will be proud of us for doing it!"
Finkelstein has degrees from Cornell University and Harvard Law School. He lives in Ithaca, NY where he hosts "Right Angle," a local political talk show. Finkelstein specializes in exposing liberal bias at NBC's Today Show.
A good start. But next time, tell Lauer you hope he's paid a salary big enough to make back-stabbing his country something he can live with.
"Bada-bing! Gotta love it."
We southerners/Texans have begun to say "bada-bing" once in awhile...maybe a little too much of "The Godfather/Sopranos" influence? I don't know...
At any rate, for all the Yankees/mafia types, etc. (I AM joking, O.K.?), here's the Texas version of "bada-bing":
"Shut 'er down, Newt! She's pumpin' mud!" If you're a Texas, or oilfield trash, you've heard this one a hundred times. AND, with the newly increased interest in oil and gas drilling in Texas/Oklahoma, the phrase has new meaning!
If you're a yankee, drop this little number on the subway...your fellow travelers will either think you're smarter than Hillary or stranger than a $3 bill.
Rush is discussing this item, and in teasing it even made use of my line about Lauer committing the lawyer's mistake of asking a witness a question to which he doesn't know the answer!!
I am thrilled to think that one of our soldiers in Iraq is actually reading this. On behalf of everyone here, thank you for your service. Have a great time at the USO show. If there's any way to get a message to Capt. Powell letting him know that his comment to Lauer is having a big impact back home, that would be great. National Review has picked up my thread, and Rush is discussing it too!!
Rush is playing the transcript! WAHOOOOOO!
I also noted that Rush twice mentioned the point I made about Lauer having made the fatal lawyer's mistake of asking a question to which he didn't know the answer. Would have been nice for Rush to have cited the source!!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032633/?ta=y
has the video of the interview now. Lauer followed up with "What do you think isn't being reported correctly" or words to that effect, and after the reply stumbled over the admission that the news has dealth almost exclusively with 'the insurgency' and hardly at all with the average Iraqi citizen.
My family and I would like to thank you personally. We know what you do and are, quite frankly, in awe. Please pass our thanks along to the others as well. We are with you until the job is done. And let the Iraqis know that we are behind their quest for freedom.
BTW, I would never be stupid enough to bet against you guys. No matter what. Ha!
Just for the record, the article, which I wrote, contains the following verbatim quote from Lauer:
"Don't get me wrong, I think you're probably telling the truth."
Reminds me of the time a few years back when Peter Jennings was asking people on the street what they didn't like about the news being reported
And a nice gentlemen when asked this .. looked at Peter and said "you"
Good stuff! I love it!
No problem. I have often indulged in the time-honored FR tradition of posting a comment without entirely reading the underlying article!
Thanks PS - glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks, governsleastgovernsbest!!
PLEASE tell us what Lauer responded to THAT zinger! Can you describe the look on his face as well?
****
Go listen or read (not sure) on Rush's website.
Hey!!! How about an AAR???? Pretty please???
Wonderful! Heard Rush talking about this today... thanks for the ping. :o)
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