Brian Williams’s just-announced resignation from NBC doesn’t really matter. Other than depriving MSNBC of a familiar, marketable face at a time of plummeting ratings, and when a number of its major stars have one foot out the door, it’s not going to change anything about the network. Nor is it going to change anything about the poisonous, profit-driven dynamics of cable news, easily the most powerful disseminators of misinformation in today’s politics, something Williams participated in with relish.
But it’s worth dwelling on, because Williams embodies one of the more noxious and pervasive trends in not just US news media, but American life more generally: the normalization of serious ethical breaches and the lack of any serious accountability for people with wealth, power, or influence.
As you’ll read and hear today in many stories covering Williams’s resignation, he was suspended and demoted by NBC in 2015 for “exaggerating an anecdote about a helicopter ride in Iraq” or telling “an inaccurate story about his helicopter’s having been hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.” This is technically true, but the facts of the scandal here are presented so misleadingly that it rivals Williams’s own infamous bullshittery.
For one, Williams didn’t just tell a story inaccurately one time, as this phrasing suggests. Williams told the story at least half a dozen times over the years, embellishing its details with each retelling, until he eventually started claiming it was his helicopter that had been fired on, not a different helicopter an hour ahead of his, as was the reality.
Secondly, it wasn’t just this one story. When outraged military veterans pointed out that Williams was lying about the incident, a months-long NBC investigation soon uncovered at least eleven other similar self-aggrandizing lies Williams had told about other incidents — which they didn’t release publicly, but compiled in a “lengthy file and video,” the Washington Post reported at the time. Reporters dug up examples independently anyway: that he was at the Berlin Wall when it fell; that he witnessed a man kill himself in the Superdome during Hurricane Katrina; that an Israeli helicopter he was riding in came under Hezbollah rocket fire; and more.
Mr. Marcetic makes some similar points but he also makes an important point that I did not make: Once upon a time, lying got your fired. But, I love his column for this, by 2015, NBC decided that lying meant they moved you over to MSNBC -- because, apparently, that is what viewers expect from MSNBC.
From the disgraceful Brian Williams to the disgraceful Hunter Biden. THE NEW YORK POST reports:
Hunter Biden checked out of a Manhattan hotel Thursday following a party to celebrate his solo art show — as controversy over the $500,000 price tags on some of his paintings apparently killed a plan to open the exhibit to the public.
The first son didn’t comment as he left the Greenwich Hotel carrying
his 1-1/2-year-old son, Beau, behind a pair of Secret Service agents
shortly before noon.
We are paying for his body guards. As we did in the past. The Secret Service was around when Mr. Biden was doing his crack. How very sad and how very revealing. And they are around today. THE HILL notes:
Ethics concerns arose over the summer about Biden’s artwork and the White House created an agreement with Bergès to keep purchases confidential, according to The Washington Post. The agreement allows Bergès to set prices for the art and withhold all records, including potential bidders and final buyers.
Bergès also agreed to reject any offer that he sensed to be suspicious or that was above asking price.
But some have been critical of the whole agreement, with Richard Painter, chief ethics lawyer to president George W. Bush, telling The Post that, “the whole thing is a really bad idea. The initial reaction a lot of people are going to have is that he’s capitalizing on being the son of a president and wants people to give him a lot of money. I mean, those are awfully high prices.”
Last year, the Treasury Department also issued an advisory warning that high-value artworks, “make it attractive to those engaged in illicit financial activity, including sanctions evasion.”
The topic of Hunter’s artwork came up at the White House during a press briefing
last month, where press secretary Jen Pskasi confirmed the White House
does not know who purchases any of Biden’s artwork. She said the
decision to keep buyers anonymous lies with the gallerist.
This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for today:
Thursday, November 11, 2021. Burn pits get some media attention and the count goes on in Iraq over the so-long-ago October 19th elections.
Barbara Miller (Australia's ABC) reports:
Julie Tomáška knew that living in the shadow of a burning waste dump the size of football field couldn't be good for her.
How could she not?
"No matter where we were, no matter how the wind shifted, we were smelling and kind of breathing in the smoke and the soot from these burn pits ... 24 hours a day," she said.
The burn pit was the inescapable backdrop to life on the Balad air base in Iraq for Staff Sergeant Tomáška and her colleagues from the Minnesota Air National Guard during her two tours of duty in 2005 and 2007.
The pits were used by the US military across Iraq and Afghanistan to dispose of pretty much anything – styrofoam plates from the canteen, electronics, chemicals, classified materials, contraband and even bombed-out vehicles.
When the flames died down, jet fuel was used as accelerant.
"It permeates everything and there's a layer of soot on everything," Julie Tomáška said.
At the time, Sergeant Tomáška and her colleagues deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom would joke about it.
"You sort of have a morbid sense of humour in a situation like that," the now 42-year-old said.
"We sort of stepped back and said, 'Well, this is really going to come back to bite us.'"
Years after she returned home to Minnesota, the prophecy came true when Julie Tomáška was diagnosed with deployment-related lung disease.
Specifically, she's been told she has a range of conditions, including constrictive bronchiolitis, chronic pleuritis, and pleural fibrosis.
First off, BURN PITS 360 is a good resource for this issue. Over the years, we've heard of veterans like Bethany Bugay who developed chronic myelomonocytic leukemia due to exposure to the burn pits while serving in Iraq.
There have been numerous hearing. Let's drop back to the November 6, ,2009 snapshot:
Now let's go to the November 10th snapshot of that year:
KBR's burn pits were the subject of a hearing, see Friday's snapshot, by the Democratic Policy Committee. Senator Byorn Dorgan chaired the hearing. Video is posted at the Democratic Policy Committee website. And Kat's "Democratic Policy Committee" went up Friday. Sunday, at Third, we noted
some of the testimony the committee heard but that Staff Sgt. Steven
Gregory Ochs and Staff Sgt. Matt Bumpus did not testify at Friday's
hearing. They couldn't because both men are dead. October 8th,
Ochs' sister Stacy Pennington testified to the Senate Veterans Affairs
Committee on behalf of her brother and her family and on behalf of
Bumpus and his family.
Stacy Pennington: Both of
these brave soldiers you see before you dodged bullets, mortar attacks,
roadside bombs and suicide bombers. Eventually their tours of duty would
take their lives. The ultimate sacrifice for a soldier, for his
country, is death. However, their deaths did not show up in the manner
you may assume. In Balad is the site of the infamous enormous burn pit
that has been called by Lt Col Darrin L. Curtis, USAF and
Bio-environmental Engineering Flight Commander, as "the worst
environmental site" he had ever visited. Staff Sgt Ochs and Staf Sgt
Bumpus were both stationed in Balad and war, as strategic as it is,
followed them home. Death lay dormant in their blood and waited for
them to return safely home and into the arms of their loved ones. Like
every silent ticking bomb, it eventually exploded. On September 28,
2007, just months after Steve's return home from his third tour, he was
diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia, also known as AML. He spent the
next ten months as a patient -- more like a resident -- at Duke
University Hospital. Doctors at Duke said his aggressive form of AML was
definitely chemically induced and, like Steve, both agreed it was due
to the exposures he experienced while in Iraq and Afghanistan. However,
the doctors refused to go on record citing as the reason that they could
not prove it. The aggressive AML that Steve endured was similar to
bullets ricocheting in the body causing torturous pain. The graphic
images embedded in my mind are of Steve's last screams for air as he was
rushed into ICU. Steve waved goodbye to my husband. Steve, with very
little strength, said, "I love you, sis" and my mom kissed his forehead
and said, "We will see you when you get comfortable." Five minutes
later, while in the ICU waiting room, the nurse came in to tell us Steve
went into cardiac arrest and they were working on him now. My mom ran
into ICU -- fell to her knees as she realized her son was dying. Screams
filled the air as we begged God to keep Steve here with us. We know
Steve heard us as tears were in Steve's eyes. Doctors and nurses pumped
on Steve's chest trying to revive him. But I knew immediately he was
gone. His spirit that surrounded my dear, sweet brother was gone. We
were left alone with Steve's body for hours as we were all in pure
shock. My mom looked upon my brother's face and wiped away the tears
puddled in his eyes. And at that very moment, our lives were changed
forever. Steve died on July 12, 2008. Two weeks later, on the opposite
of the coast, Staff Sgt Bumpus would succumb to the same fate. For Staff
Sgt Matt Bumpus, the ticking time bomb exploded with a vengeance on
July 31, 2006. Matt was rushed to the hospital by ambulance with acute
appendicitis. In Matt's own words, I quote, "The next thing I remember
is hearing that I had been diagnosed with AML." Doctors declared that
there was chromosome damage due to exposures he must have come in
contact with while in Iraq. Matt ended his prestigious service to the
Army one short year before the war zone chemical warfare showed signs of
its presence. As if this was not enough suffering, Staff Sgt Bumpus'
family was met by the VA with harsh claims of denial to benefits. This
battle continues to this day as Lisa, Staff Sgt Bumpus' wife, is left
alone with two small children to raise with no VA or military benefits
for her family. The aggressive assault of the AML in Matt's body was
taking claim. Jo, Matt's mother, recalls the haunted look in Matt's eyes
as he revealed to her that the AML invasion was back. Matt's mother
will never forget the discouragement and sadness that overwhelmed Matt
as the realization that promises he made to his wife and children to
provide for his family, to love and protect them, and that his sacred
word would be broken. He knew now that the battle was over and he would
be leaving his family behind. Tuesday, July 29, 2008, Matt once again
entered the hospital with fever and septic infection that discharged
throughout his body. Doctors notified the family that it would just be
days before his demise. Matt was heavily sedated as the pain and
incubation was unbearable. Nate, Matt's ten-year-old son, bravely
entered his father's hospital room to lay on his daddy's chest as he
said his final goodbye. Nate curled up by his dad and cried and cried.
Despite Matt's heavy sedation, Matt too was crying. Matt, being a
devoted Christian, appropriately passed away on a Sunday morning,
surrounded by his wife, mother, father and sister as they expressed to
Matt their everlasting love. They, too, were in shock and stayed with
Matt's body as the realization overwhelmed them that Matt would not be
going home. Matt died on August 3, 2008.
Hearing after hearing, and nothing ever gets done.
VOX recently wrote what looked like a slam piece on Jon Stewart. I know Jon and like him as a person. I think his comedy is funny. But the glorification of him that took place? Sadly, misplaced. And we called it out at THIRD. So the notion that we might need to examine Jon doesn't bother me. I think it would be better to examine the media's coverage of Jon. Jon's Jon. He's who he always has been.
The VOX piece -- no link to trash -- blames young people. I'm sorry, what?
Did young people explain Dana Milbank?
Have we all forgotten "angry bitch beer"? His beverage choice for Hillary Clinton?
The problem is not -- and never was -- Jon being Jon. It was the media and how they responded. It was the very clear destruction of journalism that followed. That's not Jon's fault. He's a comedian. That was the whole point in his comments on CNN's CROSSFIRE.
But because Jon is funny others thought they were too. Dana Milbank? The only time he's ever been funny was when he thought he was funny. Yes, the notion that Dana has a good sense of humor is a laugh getter.
And he and THE WASHINGTON POST weren't content to do journalism. No, they needed to do comedy. Which is how you got that sexist and horrible "angry bitch beer" video posted to THE WASHINGTON POST's website.
Jon's Jon. He is not the problem. His popularity is not the problem.
He maybe bears some responsibility for having a gift that makes it look so easy and leads idiots in the news media to think that they can do what he does. They can't. Most importantly, they shouldn't be trying to do what he does. Not grasping that is one of the many reasons that the media remains in the toilet.
While VOX hissed at Jon recently, I had to wonder, what issues has VOX ever led on?
I know they're a party organ for the Democratic Party. I know they're not a real news outlet. Everything is done through the filter of what will get votes for the Democratic Party. It's why THE WASHINGTON POST cut Ezzie Kelin free to begin with -- well, one of the main reasons. A calculation was done. Was his latest scandal worth keeping him. The latest scandal was the Journo-list scandal where he and other journalists plotted on how to cover Barack so that he'd get the Democratic Party nomination for president in 2008. And the problem was that Ezzie had yet again embarrassed the outlet. And he had no real reason to be there. He was only hired because he was popular and a 'new media' star. Why, since he was so popular, wasn't that translating to clicks for THE POST?
Good question. Ezzie was like an actor who slept with a certain male director and ended up on the cover of VANITY FAIR with a big push as the next big star only to then disappear. Those male 'celebs' never were celebs. They were created and pushed by the media. When revealed to be hollow bunnies, they were forgotten and tossed aside.
That's basically Ezzie. He wasn't that popular. He was created. Largely by the incestuous cluster-f**k at CJR's online site. They did their daily blog 'reports,' remember/ Those weren't reports. Those were them doing reach arounds to their friends. It was a circle jerk. And it gave the appearance of popularity but outside of the let's-all-link-to-each-other-and-not-disclose-that-fun-night-in-the-hot-tub (true story, Ezzie and some boys had a fun time in the hot tub) it didn't reach anyone.
The circle-jerk was able to create a buzz but that's all they were able to do and that made outsiders think these men (it was always men) were popular but they never were. And that's why Ezzie was never able to deliver.
It's all these years later and his outlet is tearing down Jon Stewart. For what Jon did or does? No, they're trying to blame the media's problems on Jon. The media's first step would be for various talking heads to grasp that they are not comedians. Stop trying to amuse the world -- there are entertainers who are trained in that. Your job is to address serious issues. Stop thinking you can turn MSNBC into THE DAILY SHOW. Stop thinking that and stop trying to do it.
On his new APPLE+ series, Jon is still championing issues like burn pits.
Help me out with what VOX has spent their time with over the years because, despite claiming to be a news outlet, they really have nothing to show for it.
Courtney Kube (NBC NEWS) reports:
The Biden administration will announce a series of actions Thursday to help veterans who were exposed to burn pits and other contaminants while serving overseas, including making it easier for vets to prove that they were exposed and pushing to find links between exposure and potentially deadly diseases, administration officials said.
The open-air pits were common at U.S. military bases during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dangerous materials from electronics and vehicles to human waste were regularly doused in jet fuel and set ablaze, spewing toxic fumes and carcinogens into the air.
A senior administration official said the issue is personal to President Joe Biden. Biden has said he believes his son Beau died of cancer that was linked to exposure to burn pits during his deployment to Iraq.
"He volunteered to join the National Guard at age 32 because he thought he had an obligation to go," Biden said at a Service Employees International Union convention in 2019. "And because of exposure to burn pits, in my view, I can't prove it yet, he came back with stage 4 glioblastoma."
In August, the Department of Veterans Affairs began processing claims for veterans suffering from asthma, rhinitis and sinusitis based on exposure to the pits.
We'll note this Tweet.
In case the CNN video doesn't show up in the Tweet above, here it is below.
And, below, you can see Jon speaking this week on the issue.
I'm not really getting what VOX has ever put their weight behind other than churning out the vote for the DNC.
Turning to Iraq, THE NEW ARAB offers up a Joe Show video commenting on the October 10th elections and the possible meanings. And, for any wondering, the recount is still ongoing. Maybe someday soon there will be a final and official tally of the votes? Don't hold your breath on that. The word is that certain candidates are already preparing judicial challenges.
In the Tweet below, there's video of Nouri al-Maliki -- former prime minister and forever thug -- noting there can be no do over with the election.
His comments are in response to various groups, such as the Hashd militia, calling for a redo on the elections.
The following sites updated:
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Bahamas on Mountain Stage1 hour ago
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The awful Adam Schiff11 hours ago
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The rank sexism of KING RICHARD11 hours ago
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Jimmy Dore and Jonathan Turley11 hours ago
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Diana Ross11 hours ago
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The disgraced Brian Williams11 hours ago
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Van Morrison11 hours ago
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