Malkin not convinced that Bush's video conference with troops was "staged"

Bush_Eats_Beef

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Thu Oct-20-05 09:32 AM
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Malkin not convinced that Bush's video conference with troops was "staged"

http://mediamatters.org/items/200510190003

n her October 19 syndicated column, Michelle Malkin took to task "the Associated Press, NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell and others in the Bush-bashing press corps" for "accusing the White House and 10 soldiers from the Army's 42nd Infantry Division of 'staging' " an October 13 video conference in which President Bush spoke with soldiers stationed in Iraq. Malkin also criticized NBC News for "indulging in its Bush-deranged feeding frenzy over the 'staged' talk with the troops." But the very same NBC Nightly News report specifically referenced by Malkin included extended video of preparations for the event making it abundantly clear that it was, in fact, "staged."

Malkin's comments echoed those of The Washington Times, which had similarly expressed skepticism that "some of the soldiers who appeared had supposedly been coached by White House aides."

On the October 13 broadcast of NBC's Nightly News, correspondent Andrea Mitchell reported on the video conference, the advance preparations for which were inadvertantly transmitted to reporters via a live satellite feed. In the words of Nightly News anchor Brian Williams, the feed "showed a full-blown rehearsal of the president's questions, in advance, along with the soldiers' answers and coaching from the administration," although the live video event was billed as a spontaneous exchange between the president and the troops. Mitchell's report included video footage of Allison Barber, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for internal communications, coaching the soldiers on delivering their answers and at one point referring to some of the questions as "scripted."

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http://www.townhall.com/opinion/column/michellemalkin/2005/10/19/171893.html

Wherever did we get that idea? Let's revisit the mainstream media brouhaha last week over President Bush's question-and-answer session with some of our soldiers in Iraq. The Associated Press, NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell and others in the Bush-bashing press corps accused the White House and 10 soldiers from the Army's 42nd Infantry Division of "staging" the event. (This is the same hypocritical media that eagerly abetted the staging of anti-war agitator Cindy Sheehan's Endless Summer tour of discontent.) Vicious anti-war activists smeared the soldiers as "stooges."

Sergeant Ron Long, an Army combat medic, was one of the participants. He gave his side of the story (which the media has chosen to ignore, of course) on his personal blog (http://278medic.blogspot.com/). "I believe that it would have been totally irresponsible for us not to prepare some ideas, facts or comments that we wanted to share with the President," Long noted. He explained further:

We practiced passing the microphone around to one another, so we wouldn't choke someone on live TV. We had an idea as to who we thought should answer what types of questions, unless President Bush called on one of us specifically.

President Bush told us, during his closing, that the American people were behind us. I know that we are fighting here, not only to preserve our own freedoms, but to establish those same freedoms for the people of Iraq. It makes my stomach ache to think that we are helping to preserve free speech in the U.S., while the media uses that freedom to try to rip down the President and our morale, as U.S. Soldiers. They seem to be enjoying the fact that they are tearing the country apart. Worthless!