MEET THE PRESS Loses Credibility by Letting David Gregory MISQUOTE Obama

[Segami]

This shill talking-camel needs to APOLOGIZE.

Meet the Press should correct David Gregory on the record next Sunday. Otherwise, they risk their credibility, which is already skating on thin ice with Gregory having headlined for a major Republican advocacy group. NBC said Gregory wasn’t paid, but they failed to address the matter of his travel, accommodation, meals, swag, etc.

Think Progress busted Meet the Press host David Gregory today, as he “twice asserted that, in May, President Obama declared that “al Qaeda has been defeated.” But apparently, President Obama never said that. As Think Progress points out, Gregory used this false assertion as a premise for laying the Libya attacks on Obama, claiming Obama wasn’t paying attention.



Watch here via Think Progress:

Transcript from TP:

GREGORY: The President has said as recently as May of this year that al Qaeda has not had a chance to rebuild, that al Qaeda has been defeated. There is an election on, as we’ve been talking about, and the President’s challenger said plain and simple, the President failed to level with the American people and call this a terrorist attack, because you had to be concerned about another terrorist attack from al Qaeda in the Middle East after the President said that al Qaeda had been defeated.


http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/09/30/931421/nbcs-david-gregory-misquotes-obama-falsely-claims-president-said-al-qaeda-had-been-defeated/

Think Progress’ Judd Legum corrected the record, noting that in a televised address from Bagram Air Base on the anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden, Obama specifically warned us that “difficult days” and “enormous sacrifices” yet to come.

Obama:

And one year ago, from a base here in Afghanistan, our troops launched the operation that killed Osama bin Laden. The goal that I set — to defeat al Qaeda and deny it a chance to rebuild — is now within our reach. Still, there will be difficult days ahead. The enormous sacrifices of our men and women are not over.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/05/01/remarks-president-address-nation-afghanistan

The problems with this are manifold, not the least of which is Gregory’s failure to address his inaccuracy. Raw Story pointed out “Gregory did not reference the question on his Twitter account or his post-show recap on NBC News’ website.” There is also the issue of the desperate hypocrisy of the underlying argument from the President’s opponents in calling the attacks a terrorist attack. It should come as no surprise that just a few days ago, Paul Ryan was making this argument, saying that Obama’s foreign policy was “blowing up in our faces”. Juan Cole made a definitive argument against Paul Ryan’s attacks on Obama’s alleged foreign policy disasters being based on the violence against our consulates:

By the way, does Ryan always consider attacks on US embassies a sign that an administration’s foreign policy is blowing up in our faces? For instance, if if the US embassy in Athens, Greece, was attacked in 2007,, would that have been an indictment of George W. Bush’s foreign policy? What about if the US embassy in Serbia was burned down early in 2008? If the US embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, were attacked in September 2008? If the US consulate in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, was attacked in 2004? What if thousands of anti-American Iraqis were regularly demonstrating and even shelling the Green Zone in Baghdad where the US embassy is, in 2008? Did all that mean that Bush’s foreign policy, the most recent foreign policy outing of the Republican Party, blew up in our faces, according to Ryan?


http://www.juancole.com/2012/09/is-paul-ryan-right-that-obamas-foreign-policy-is-blowing-up-in-our-faces.html

http://www.politicususa.com/meet-press-destroys-credibility-letting-david-gregory-misquote-obama.html

[Cha]

1. Kick for Shill David Gregory to Apologize to America for

his Misquoting the President on MTPResstitute.

[Segami]

3. WTF....It is called Meet the Press?

From Crooks&Liars:


Ralph Reed Casts Doubts on Obama's Honesty. WTF, Meet the Press?



Those protectionist Villagers are at it again, inviting one of their cocktail partners to opine on a top-rated national program, who deserves no such recognition. And shame on David Gregory and Executive Producer Betsy Fischer Martin for promoting it by inviting Ralph Reed to insult the President of the United States' honesty in his undisclosed role as proxy for the Mitt Romney campaign.

What qualifies Ralph Reed to talk about President Obama's honesty? Even last year, Steve Benen argued that any association with Reed should be toxic:

Indeed, let’s take a stroll down memory lane. Remember this one, from June 2006?


Yet another delightful characterization of Ralph Reed, courtesy of today’s McCain report on the Abramoff scandal. This one comes courtesy of Jack Abramoff himself, via his discussion with Marc Schwartz, a public relations representative for the Tigua tribe in Texas.

Let’s pick up the report on page 148. Schwartz was evaluating whether the tribe should hire Abramoff as its lobbyist: To Schwartz, Abramoff appeared to have the right credentials. Abramoff claimed to be a close friend of Congressman Tom DeLay. He also discussed his friendship with Reed, recounting some of their history together at College Republicans. When Schwartz observed that Reed was an ideologue, Schwartz recalled that Abramoff laughingly replied “as far as the cash goes.”

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_05/palling_around_with_scandalpla029449.php




Or, how about this one?

Ralph Reed, email to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, 1998: “Hey, now that I’m done with the electoral politics, I need to start humping in corporate accounts! I’m counting on you to help me with some contacts.”


http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2005/06/23/1153/ralph-reed-corporation-humper/





Or this?

E-mails and testimony before McCain’s panel showed that Reed, who once branded gambling a “cancer” on society, reaped millions of dollars in tribal casino proceeds that Abramoff secretly routed to him through various non-profit front groups. Abramoff, a lobbyist for the tribes, paid Reed to whip up “grassroots” Christian opposition to prevent rival tribes from opening casinos.


http://blog.washingtonpost.com/44/2008/01/post-270.html

By any reasonable measure, Republicans should avoid taking this guy’s phone calls. As Dave Weigel noted last fall, “Reed was supposed to be dead, dead, dead. His 2006 defeat was covered as the effective end of a 45-year-old political strategist who was forever tainted by scandal.” And now Republican leaders are lining up to kiss his ring and pander to his minions. It’s a reminder that there is literally nothing a conservative can do to be permanently excluded from polite company.







cont'


http://crooksandliars.com/nicole-belle/wtf-meet-press-ralph-reed-casts-doubt

[backscatter712]

2. Press the Meat was really terrible today.

NBC desperately needs to get rid of David Gregory.

[budkin]

4. MTP hasn't had any credibility since Tim Russert hosted n/t

[rhett o rick]

5. Even before that in my book. nm

[Stainless]

7. Tim Russert was a right wing shill

His interview methods always favored Republicans. David Gregory lost his credibility when he danced with Karl Rove at a White House event during the Bush/Cheney fiasco. Russert and Gregory both exhibited a willingness to compromise their integrity in order to ingratiate themselves with the powerful. Fuck em both and fuck NBC for putting up with their bullshit.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

10. You mean this guy?

[img][/img]

[firebrandcentral]

6. I'm really not surprised...

David Gregory and "Meet the Press" is part of the mainstream politics so don't count on him to challenge politicians, although he sets the illusion that he's challenging them with hard questions, and don't think "Meet the Press" is too good to spread a little propaganda from time to time. www.firebrandcentral.com

[The Wielding Truth]

9. Welcome.... Good post. It's good to have you here,firebrandcentral.

David Gregory is not an unbiased or informed anchor. I agree. He is a corporate snot.

[Wellstone ruled]

8. Isn't the Mrs Gregory a

GOP official or something of that nature. Davey isn't going to be the next White House Press Secretary,aw shucks. Another loser in the D.C. cocktail circuit.

[littlemissmartypants]

11. I have been sent here

by the camel lobby. They wanted you to know that they have taken no offense at the remark as it has rolled over the hump on their back without incident. In the future however they request that you refrain from using them as a reference.

Thank you. So much for posting this. Idiots should not be allowed to speak on television. Send him some duck tape.

[markbark]

12. Wait, what?

Meet the Press has CREDIBILITY?
When did THIS happen?

[Supersedeas]

13. Gregory will always be linked as KKKarl Rove's backup dancer

[drlit]

14. Talk about HORRIBLE. Look up that word in the dictionary -- you see Gregory's mug. UGH!