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Guest Editorial
Did Brian Williams Help Kill Over 3,000 Americans?
By Mia Kulper
Dec. 14, 2001 -- Throughout the entire 2000 Presidential campaign Brian Williams didn't waste any of his time discussing "trivial" issues such as campaign finance reform, terrorism, or the national debt.
No. Instead, Brian Williams was busy "getting it right the first time" repeatedly by "uncovering" the earth-tone "scandal" being displayed on his TelePrompTer and reporting that so-called "news" to the American electorate.
Here's just a small sampling of Brian Williams' "hard-hitting journalism":
October 4, 1999: And John [Zogby], what happened to the notion of, "Well, [Gore] he's vice president, let's not forget, he blows into town on Air Force II, he's got a motorcade, all the trappings of office"-here is a guy taking off his suits, going around more and more in the non-motorcade motorcade, this [showing tape] is the casual sweater look, what's going on here?
October 6, 1999: Claire [Shipman], I don't know if this is answerable or not-when does this start to become very transparent? The fact is, we're looking at [Gore] at this event today-he would have been in a suit a month ago. The fact is, American women may very well find campaign efforts aimed at them and they will know it's part of the pre-announced drive to attract more women. When does that start to backfire in its transparency?
October 6, 1999: Howard, same lead-off question to you as we asked Clare Shipman. Al Gore: when does this all start becoming so transparent [that] no one is fooled-the sudden move to Tennessee, ditching the suits, wearing polo shirts twenty-four hours a day, and now the sudden emphasis on women's issues.
October 8, 1999: No disrespect to the campaign intended, but you know we've talked on this broadcast and so many others about the fact that he's [Gore] wearing these polo shirts that don't always look natural on him, that he's trying to chuck his notes, that he is moving the campaign to Tennessee, and now we learn that they're going to target woman voters. When does that get reported so much that it becomes absolutely transparent when they go out into the hinterlands ands try to sell it?
October 11, 1999: Let's talk appearances here. He [Gore] stands up at a weekend joint appearance and challenges his rival to debate. You and I have said this last week he's trying to ditch the suits and the appearance and all of this.
November 1, 1999: The latest to come to the fore, as you know, Naomi Wolf, the feminist author, apparently is to Al Gore's clothing selection what the astrologer was to Nancy Reagan...
Gore was and remains a virtual Boy Scout and genius, and all the Brian Williamses of the so-called "liberal media" could talk about early on in the campaign were his polo shirts and his earth tones. I cannot help but think what would have happened if greedy spinners like Williams had actually discussed some issues instead of the relentless "earth tone" drivel served up night after night after night: Gore would have not only won the popular vote but the electoral vote, and with ease.
Now, consider the fact that Al Gore helped draft the Airline Security report -- a proposal which George Bush discarded and ignored early this year. It's entirely possible that the vapid sort "news coverage" from the blow-dried lackeys like Brian Williams prevented the implementation of the report's recommendation, and aided terrorism.
If Williams and his ilk had stuck to substance rather than style, then maybe, just maybe, 3,000 Americans might
still be alive and with us today.
May those poor souls haunt your dreams for the rest of your life, Brian Williams.
Copyright © 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, American Politics Journal Publications, Inc.
