Posted on 02/03/2005 7:54:50 AM PST by paudio
MSNBC's "Hardball" host Chris Matthews suggested last night that the high point of President Bush's State of the Union Address - the emotional hug between grateful Iraqi voter Safia Taleb al-Suhail and Janet Norwood, mother of a Marine who died liberating her country - was staged by the White House.
The cynical host apparently first voiced his skepticism during a commercial break. His comments were immediately seized upon by "Hardball" guest, MSNBC contributor Pat Buchanan when the show returned.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
No it wasn't staged. THe woman obviously reached down to hug the other woman on the spur of the moment.
Can I hear it on the internet?
I listen to Laura on the web while I'm freeping, even at this moment.
http://www.ksky.com
Good station out of Dallas.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
The Norwood's and the Iraqi woman were both featured in his speech.
As honored guests, they were seated near First Lady Laura as ALWAYS.
Their intereaction was spontaneous.
YES, it was great TV for ALL America, save for the hardened, bitter democrats, but it was REAL, not staged.
Using some of your warped logic:
Hillary Clinton felt ill.
Hillary Clinton fainted while speaking.
Hillary Clinton staged the whole thing because she knew that she was ill. The fact that she spontaneously fainted was just a product of clever staging techniques.
Can you people give me a break here. You base your logic on a false premise and assumption.
Try again when you come up with a sound logical argument.
Chrissy's statement is what was staged. He must have been scrambling for something negative to say within seconds of that awesome moment. So he went to Gore's playbook for examples.
A mullet! Ha!
Matthews is pure evil.
Triple-Dog Puke!
Chris Matthews thinks it was "staged" because, (1) it would never occur to him had he been there to honestly give a hug to anyone under any circumstances, (2) he's jaded & cynical, (3) he saw that as only a "Republican" moment, not a Democrat moment, therefore only evil can ensue.
I REMEMBER NOW... ANOTHER JERK...
NIKOS VLACHOS
NBC -- 212.664.4444 --- ask for viewer relations and leave a message for Chrissy.
Lets see: (1)The women sent a letter to Pres Bush not the other way around,(2) The Iraqi women also sent a letter thanking Pres Bush, (3) There are only a small number of seats in the "special Pres guest area" so they would have to be close by neccessity (4)They were visiting with each other prior to the speech. Are you assuming that the administration made the introductions and stating it as fact?
HEY!!! my daughter is in the Peace Corps (Azerbaijan) and she's a red state ditto-head if there ever was one... So watch it, bub!!
LOL.
Let me get this right. It's perfectly okay with Chrisssssssy Mathews to plant stones in France for Clintoon to "spontaneously" make a cross, but it's absurd staging to put these two women near each other to show that genuine people actually have genuine feelings for one another regardless of circumstances.
No wonder we laugh at the Dumbocrats all the time.
Actually, even if it was, it was more powerful and sincere than stacking a bunch of rocks on Omaha beach. 8^>
This is a non issue and speaks more of Matthews than the event.
What a shame for Matthews to "pile on" the parents of this dearly departed Marine. What could possibly be the reason to impune the motives/actions of the grieving parents or the Iraqi woman?
MSNBC ought to go ahead and cancel hardball.
You sure like to extrapolate.
Let's not apply inaccurate terms. I was very plain and did not deny the two women represented what the President explicitly described they represented.
I do not think anybody "planned" (aka "staged") the hug. They certainly did not tell them to cry.
The point that you are missing because you're hanging onto your "staged" bone is that the genuine spontaneous gesture and the genuine emotion evident in the moment gave lie to the dem/media spin that the Iraqis resent our presence.
The hug was not staged, and I doubt anyone even said "with any luck, they'll hug!". That does not ring true of this administration. Staged implies the emotions were faked. They clearly were not.
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