Posted on 02/19/2006 5:14:27 PM PST by wagglebee
NBC White House correspondent David Gregory ate a little crow Sunday on this "Meet The Press," apologizing for his arrogant behavior during White House press briefings dealing with the shooting of a hunting companion by Vice President Cheney.
Reacting to the storm of criticism leveled by the public at the Washington press corps for complaining that they were not told immediately about the incident, leaving the job of reporting it to a small-town Texas newspaper, Gregory apologized for his boorish behavior.
"I think I made a mistake, he told host Tim Russert. "I think it was inappropriate for me to lose my cool with the press secretary representing the vice president. I dont think it was professional of me. I was frustrated, I said what I said, but I think that you should never speak that way, as my wife reminded me, number one. And number two, I think it created a diversion from some of the serious questions in the story, so I regret that. I was wrong, and I apologize.
But Gregory quickly reverted to type complaining that another guest, Mary Matalin, "and others in the White House have been eager to stoke this as a false debate between the vice president and the White House press corps, attempting to cast this as the White House press corps is a ping-pong in the culture wars.
Then, in a comment that once again revealed how remote the Washington media has become from the American people, he made the astounding comment that "No matter how you feel about the White House press corps - and were worthy of criticism, and we can take our lumps - this is about how the vice president chooses to communicate to the American people. We are a proxy for the American people. Whether you have faith in us or not, and we do make mistakes, we are still a proxy. This is about how the vice president chooses to communicate to the public. My view is not that I should have been informed or others should have been informed. Its not about that. Its a question of, "Does the vice president have a responsibility to the American people to inform them of his public and private activities?
I would like to recall my 'proxy' and personally burn it.
Gregory, you Putz, you finally asked the right question...but you failed to arrive at the right answers: "yes" and "NO!"
If Cheney had shot a public official or someone politically inconvenient, such as Justice Sutter, or Senator Blowfish, or Terry McAwful, or his legal counsel; if he had lied to investigators or otherwise committed a chargable offense (like BJ); if he had purposefully killed someone or covered up an accident (like Sen. Blowfish); then yes, that would be a public matter. But Cheney does not have a "responsibility to the American people" to make an urgent, public spectacle of a private citizen, like Mr. Whittington.
BJ's & Monica's lewd behavior became a public matter when: it resulted in a sexual harassment charge, and Clinton lied under oath; and Monica attempted to coerce her friend to commit perjury.
"NBC's Gregory Eats Crow Sh*t"
Got that right!!!
Who, exactly, appointed the WH press corps as our "proxies" ???
Be sure to check out the graphic in #92!
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my miscellaneous ping list.
Exactly!
The American people chose Cheney to be their Vice-President.
They didn't choose David Gregory to be anything.
No wonder Lance dumped her.
Anybody up this time of night?
The Meet The Press replay is on MSNBC right now, just starting the good part.
Thanks for that info, YaYa123!
Ping!!
I assume that if Cheney raped the man it would be a private matter. ;-)
Matalin was SUPERB -- as good as I've EVER seen her. She singlehandedly tore apart the arguments of the three leftists on the panel (four if you include Russert).
Make that two - Dowd and Gregory. Gigot isn't a leftist, he just didn't have much to say.
I saw David this morning. I really didn't expect croweating from him. His e-mail, etc. must have been blistering him, his network and his sponsors all week. Now, he should apologize directly to Scott McClellan and to VP Cheney.
More like humble pie than "crow," let's not get ahead of ourselves here.
""I THINK I made a mistake," he told host Tim Russert. "I THINK it was inappropriate....I don't THINK it was professional of me....but I THINK that you should never speak that way....I THINK it created a diversion from some of the serious questions"...."
If you take all the 'I THINK's' out, the statement is more resolute and less ambiguous as in an opinion versus fact. That way he can give an apology he doesn't mean with a straight face most will believe. Subconsciously, when he says 'I Think' he's not 100% committed to what he's saying. It's a liar's technique I've noticed several times in this life.
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