Posted on 01/12/2014 9:25:33 AM PST by servo1969
Why would CNN’s Jake Tapper bring a U.S. soldier on his show and blatantly insult him and the 11 SEALS and 8 soldiers who died alongside him in combat in Afghanistan?
Answer: He wouldn’t. He didn’t.
But thanks to conservative radio personality and world renowned dingbat Glenn Beck and The Blaze‘s Oliver Darcy, Tapper was still up at 2 a.m. this morning arguing for journalism to happen. In other words, he wanted his words interpreted fairly. He wanted what he voiced Friday to be spelled out without the glaze of crazy. On his program Friday, Tapper interviewed former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell and Mark Wahlberg for the movie Lone Survivor. The movie, debuting this weekend, is based on Luttrell’s 2007 memoir by the same name.
The only thing The Blaze got right was that the interview turned tense. The interpretation? Entirely wrong. Sometimes in journalism, common sense must prevail. But fat chance of that happening as Darcy dug in his heels and insisted that Tapper had repeatedly told Luttrell and Wahlberg that the soldiers died for nothing. Not even watching the show blind drunk on Ambien could it be interpreted like that. Darcy desperately needs a course in TV watching. (Hey BuzzFeed‘s Dorsey Shaw, can you tutor him? Start slowly with something like Here Comes Honey Boo Boo or Sex Sent Me to the ER (a real show) and build up to CNN’s “The Lead.”)
In his story, Darcy claimed that “Former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell pushed back at CNN’s Jake Tapper after the host suggested in an interview that the ‘lone survivor’s’ fellow veterans died for nothing.” What Tapper actually said? “I don’t want any more senseless American deaths.”
But let’s look at it in full context.
Tapper’s words:
“One of the emotions I felt while watching the film is first of all the hopelessness of the situation — how horrific it was and also just all that loss of life of these brave American men,” Tapper said on his program Friday. “And I was torn about the message of the film in the same way that I think I am about the war in Afghanistan itself. I don’t want any more senseless American death. And at the same time I know that there were bad people there and good people that need help.”
At that moment, Luttrell strangely misinterpreted Tapper’s comments, and things grew tense. Luttrell snapped, “I don’t know what part of the film you were watching, but hopelessness really ever came into it. I mean, where did you see that? Because there was never a point where we just felt like we were hopelessly lost or anything like that. We never gave up. We never felt like we were losing until we were actually dead.” It was bizarre. But it’s also tough to say why Luttrell interpreted Tapper’s words as he did. To The Mirror, it seemed the SEAL had a hair trigger temperment, as though he was poised for battle. How he confused “I don’t want any more senseless American death” for ‘the soldiers died for nothing’ is baffling.
Even after Tapper tried to explain himself, Luttrell wasn’t having it.
Tapper: “Just the sense of all these wonderful people who died. It seemed senseless. I don’t mean to disrespect in any way, but it seemed senseless — all of these wonderful people who were killed for an op that went wrong.”
Luttrell: “We spend our whole lives training to defend this country and then we were sent over there by this country — so you’re telling me because we were over there doing what we were told by our country that it was senseless. And my guys — what? They died for nothing?”
Tapper: “No, I’m not saying that.”
Luttrell: “That’s what you said. So, let me just say, it went bad for us over there, but that was our job. That’s what we did. We didn’t complain about it.”
Except that’s not what Tapper said. Nonetheless the headline The Blaze blared: ‘They Died For Nothing?’ Marcus Luttrell Hits Back At CNN Host in Tense Interview.”
UPDATE: Tapper explained to The Mirror, “The whole reason I aired that part of the interview was because I think that disconnect – my reaction to the movie as a civilian, his feelings about the mission as a warrior – is an important part of our society that we never talk about. I knew that some people might misinterpret it for the sake of cheap clicks but I think that disconnect between civilians and the one percent who fight and die for us is worth bringing some attention to. Obviously anybody familiar with my book, my travels to Afghanistan and Iraq and my coverage of troops and veterans knows that this meme is not an accurate one.”
TALE OF THE TAPE: The Twitter battle royale between Tapper and Darcy with a sprinkling of Beck.
12:32 a.m. Oliver Darcy tweets his story.
Tapper, 1:13 a.m. “@oliverdarcy don’t think 1st paragraph is accurate. No one said they died for nothing. Are you at all familiar w my reporting on the war?”
Darcy, 1:17 a.m. “@jaketapper no one bluntly said they died for nothing & that’s not what I reported. you did however make the suggestion repeatedly.”
Darcy, 1:18 a.m. “@jaketapper ’It seemed senseless. I don’t mean to disrespect in any way, but it seemed senseless.’”
Tapper, 1:25 a.m. “@oliverdarcy then quote, don’t mischaracterize.Spent yrs reporting on heroes like these. said clearly I wasn’t saying they died for nothing.:
Tapper, 1:26 a.m. “@oliverdarcy there is a big difference between saying a death is senseless and saying the person died for nothing.”
Darcy, 1:30 a.m. “@jaketapper can you please define what the difference exactly is?”
Darcy, 1:31 a.m. “@jaketapper I don’t want to engage in a twitter argument, just having a hard time following you here… I don’t feel I mischaracterized you.”
Tapper, 1:32 a.m. “@oliverdarcy I emailed you. If you legitimately want to understand the difference you can write me back.”
Glenn Beck, 1:32 a.m. “Jake tapper ‘taking on’ Marcus Luttrell? Jake, I don’t recommend doing that again. Really. But nice save.”
Tapper, 1:36 a.m. “@oliverdarcy you can state what I said or editorialize/judge what you think I was suggesting even tho I dispute it. One is journalism.”
Glenn Beck, 1:39 a.m. “The best my friend has ever been on tv. This is the Marcus the world should know and J. Tapper never met.”
Darcy, 1:40 a.m. “@jaketapper I respect your work, but don’t feel I mischaracterized your comments. I think you did make the suggestion.”
Darcy, 1:41 a.m. “@jaketapper in the interest of being fair, I’ll note that you do disagree with the characterization & would be happy to include a statement.”
Darcy, 1:43 a.m. “@jaketapper If you would like to speak with my editor, you can email my editor @bakerlink at sbaker@theblaze.com.”
Tapper, 2:05 a.m. “@oliverdarcy a person is the best judge of what he is suggesting. Just quote me, no need to put words in my mouth.”
They won't wail - they're the fifth column.
The Daily Caller ridiculously crafts biased headline,
No doubt he feels much freer to practice his progressive religion at cnn... but I never liked him at abc. You are correct that occasionally he did ask questions that other journolistas would never ask. Being the best turd in a punchbowl does not make you an orange slice. ;-)
What you said to the TENTH POWER!
Words don’t mean much anymore. What I saw in that exchange was the fantasy world of the self-aggrandizing media that thinks the world revolves around their fantasy coming face-to-face with the cold harsh reality of what it means to be in harms way and seeing your brothers die in war.
I saw fear in Jake Tapper. I despise the media for thinking they are even worthy of asking these men questions.
Thanks!
Perfectly stated.
Yes indeed!
Oh, they will wail for the few seconds between their realization that the barbarians aren’t sparing fifth columnists and the moment their throats are slit.
This is how civilizations fall. The elite sneer at the virtues that built it, those virtues disappear and the foundation collapses and the walls come tumbling down.
Those sneering effetes always think it will be different this time because they’re special, and smarter, etc... but it never is; the ash heap of history is composed of their bones.
I think deep down, Jake Tapper has a warning ping of cognitive dissonance that makes him occasionally ask a hard question, but not quite enough courage to pursue it and so invariably retreats back into the hazy comfort of liberal groupthink.
“Tapper never said that they died for nothing, but Darcy’s headline makes it appear that he did.”
Yes he did! And the guy that was there told Tapper about it.
I watched that interview, he looked like he was going to get up a bust Tapper in the mouth!
What got those SEALs and military support killed was the INSANE rules of engagement and the knowledge of what the traitorous American media would do to them if the SEALs did what they knew they needed to do in the first place.
“Am I allowed to say war is senseless anymore? Or will people think I said war is for nothing?”
You are allowed to say anything you wish,
We are allowed to Flame your ass
Be my guest. I’m bored.
I stopped reading when this ahole nobody Betsy Rothstein referred to Glenn Beck as a “world renowned dingbat.”
“Being the best turd in a punchbowl does not make you an orange slice. ;-)”
Roger that LOL
Tapper I expect this BS from.
Daily Caller should be ashamed.
Leftists and MSM types don’t understand the difference between movies and real life:
MOVIES: You can ask your friend, or the Director, IN ADVANCE, ‘How does itside tji?’ Then you can decide whether to go see the movie.
REAL LIFE: You don’t know how it’s going to end. You accept the risks involved, train as best you can, then proceed into battle hoping luck and God are on your side as things unfold. Then, after the ending unfolds and you live thru it, MSM reporters pretend they knew the ending before it occurred and declare that based upon their crystal ball, we should have perhaps skipped that mission, and perhaps we should skip future military missions because that mission became a disaster.
It’s the ‘we lost in Vietnam therefore we shouldn’t fight’ approach.
* “how does it end.......”
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