NBC's got some explaining to do

NBC has some explaining to do for this obvious stunt MSNBC pulled. And I hope they do it soon, because I'm damn mad.

I wasn't even going to dignify the wingnutosphere's uproar over Michelle Obama's quote with a response, because I knew the story was going to be debunked somehow. But the way it was discredited just shows how eager the media is to swiftboat the Obama campaign.

It turns out MSNBC deleted a word from Michelle Obama's statement, which changed the entire meaning of it. This was intentional. Most people who studied broadcasting in college even in the pre-digital days could do this with a razor and splicing tape and make the modified clip look real, and do a much better job of it than MSNBC did. But when MSNBC edited the C-SPAN clip, they did such a poor job that I can't believe they expected people not to notice.

Real quote: "... I am really proud of my country ..."

Modified quote: "... I am proud of my country ..."

The word MSNBC deleted is the key. Here the adverb 'really' expresses reinforcement of an existing feeling. By deleting the word, MSNBC was trying to question Michelle Obama's patriotism. What she was actually saying was that she was proud of America before, but that this pride has now been highlighted. That she had pride in the country before is actually a good thing, but MSNBC is so untrustworthy that it changed her actual remark in order to change its meaning.

Here's an analogy: I was angry at the media before MSNBC's hoax was exposed, and I thought it was impossible to be angrier. But now this anger is reinforced by this story. If I used the word 'really' to describe my current feeling, it would be simply for emphasis and would just underscore the sentiment of anger that already existed.

You don't believe it was edited? Well, here's the original clip:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ufb46_WvSkQ

Here's MSNBC's bad edit of that C-SPAN clip:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=nu9Zei11uEc

Are we supposed to fall for that shit? MSNBC did a shitty editing job, and people are expected to think it's real?

After the media trashed Dukakis, we really shouldn't be surprised by the media pulling a stunt like this - other than the fact they did such an incredibly bad job of it. Not only is this dishonest, but the very quality of this fraud is simply horrible. If anyone actually believes the MSNBC version of the quote is correct after seeing the clips, they're stupid. That's all there is to it.

I'm a Green, but I'm almost inclined to endorse Barack Obama outright just because the media committed such a poorly executed deception that the candidate must not be too bad if they have to resort to this. (I haven't endorsed him, because the DLC still has months to get into his head.)

Here's what MSNBC's hoax is like. Let's say I want people to think I'm taller than I am. So I take a real photo:


And do this:


That's exactly what it's like.

The FCC ruled in 1969 that it's a serious offense for TV or radio stations to distort news. The FCC should come down hard on NBC for this fraud. Very hard.