Brokaw compared Foley scandal, Haggard to Kerry's "botched joke"
Discussing the weeks and months leading up to the midterm elections on the November 7 broadcast of NBC's Today, NBC special correspondent Tom Brokaw stated, "Both parties have been rocked by the unexpected," and then compared "[Sen.] John Kerry's [D-MA] clumsy joke about education and service in Iraq" to "Congressman [Mark] Foley [R-FL] and the congressional page scandal," as well as "the Ted Haggard story."
As Media Matters for America has noted, Kerry said he intended his remarks at an October 30 campaign event in California to be a criticism of President Bush, but they were misrepresented by the White House and other Republicans as a denigration of U.S. troops in Iraq. Foley, on the other hand, resigned from Congress in September after ABC News reportedly confronted him with sexually explicit instant messages he allegedly sent to underage congressional pages; in the wake of Foley's resignation, questions arose about conflicting statements by members of the House Republican leadership about when they learned about Foley's communications with the pages and what action was taken. Rev. Ted Haggard, founder and former senior pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, allegedly solicited a male prostitute for sex and drugs.
From the November 7 broadcast of NBC's Today Show:
BROKAW: Both parties have been rocked by the unexpected. The Republicans by Congressman Foley and the congressional page scandal; the Democrats by John Kerry's clumsy joke about education and service in Iraq. And the Ted Haggard story; who knows what effect that will have on the important evangelical vote. The bloggers and the cable news outlets had a field day, but by tomorrow the big question will be the same one that defines the war in Iraq: Do we stay the course or change direction?
...that Tommy B. still gets the GE memos along with his subtantial retirement payments. Onward Christian soldiers.
I think Kerry was having fun with students and feeling cfarefree young again while the other two were having fun with hipocrisy. Haggart, I am amazed that noone in his 14000 followers ever thought of watching his activities and for Foley, none of the "watchers" showed courage to do something about it. That is the big problem with church and state. The state judges with facts and the church judges with faith.
Both parties had to deal with CONTROVERSY.
I'm not seeing that he's even attempting to equate SEX Scandals to a Botched Joke. Only that they were ALL unexpected.
NOTE he only makes the following observation:
"Both parties have been rocked by the unexpected."
That is a TRUE statement.
Brokaw is one of the last of our noble newsmen left. I'm a bit irked at MMFA's attempt to smear him here.
You are absolutely correct, and Brokaw is anything but some right wing newsie. The analogy the way he presented it is valid. It wasn't speaking to the weight of each incident by comparison, but rather the way they are politically connected.
You expressed my thoughts BETTER than I did.
Not better, I only punctuated the point you already made. Thanks,
Would you guys please get a room?
The way he stated it was not a comparison. He is right they were both unexpected controversies, that in no way makes them equivilent or comarable
I actually agree with you on this one. Its taking something Brokaw said way out of context. This is a good man who has always been fair.
Kerry's botched up joke is the only thing Mr Brokaw could find. These are two completely different flavored ' unexpected's ".
I'm glad we agree on something ;-)
Brokaw has earned a great deal of respect because he's managed to remain FAIR & HONEST.
I believe he's one of the FEW newsmen out there whose opinions and observations are above reproach. AND are given without bias.
now, I don't necessarily think MMFA is smearing, but I would agree the statement is a little disengenious.
This is a common occurrence, this 'everybody's the same' mentality that you see in the conventional media.
MMFA is correct in calling Brokaw on this-- the comparison is foolish, at best. At worst, it's evidence of a clear attempt at leaning over backwards to give Repubs the benefit of the doubt.
Brokaw ain't that liberal-- that's how watered down the term has become after twenty years of Republican hegemony.
Jeter2 "I think it pretty OBVIOUS that all Tom Brokaw is saying HERE is...Both parties had to deal with CONTROVERSY. "
No, I heard Brokaw and he was repeating the lie that Kerry's joke implied that only the uneducated served in Iraq. There was nothing controversial about it. Anyone who saw the entire clip knew Kerry was dissing Bush. Rove just tried to swift-boat Kerry again and it didn't work. Don't be so gullible.
I know it stinks, but aren't they comparable at this point?
Even though Kerry's was a "scandal" (use hand gestures to illustrate), as opposed to a real scandal, couldn't one (Brokaw)say at this point that yes, the fallout from the verbal gaffe, even if misrepresented, was rather dramatic, and perhaps comparable to the Foley or Haggard scandals (with a capital S)? He's surely seriously in trouble for any future political aspirations, and it did hurt the Dems.
Believe me, I think anyone who looked at that speech for more than two seconds and got outraged was either totally disingenuous or completely stupid. But I think one can say that Kerry's situation, despite the manufactured aspect of it, was a big issue for the Democratic Party.
because the MSM did the RNC bidding on reporting as one.
There was really nothing "unexpected" about Kerry's ridiculously minor botched joke at all. We all should have expected, by now, that Republicans, right-pundits and right-wing talk show hosts would spend hours, days, trying oh so desperately to pretend -and make others believe- that Kerry really was insulting the troops.
For Brokaw to place this on an equal footing with major scandals by the Republicans only feeds right into the Republicans' desires: that Kerry's "joke" was somehow just as bad as the Foley and Haggard scandals.
I got a hang nail. You got an arm crushed in a factory press. There is no need to examine either claim, just to show both sides, for the MSM "balance" is more important than truth.
Both were accidents unexpected.
Except I didn't actually get a hang nail, my political opponent, who constantly lies, said I got a hang nail, and he was parrotted ceaseless with out any objective analysis of his statements about my hang nail.
so hang nail and major mutilation, unexpected? yes. belong in the same sentence? no.
Perfect analogy.
Kerry botches a joke. Foley likes teen boys and Haggard likes male prostitutes. No. I don't see much of a comparison, Tom. Sorry.
Brokaw did say the joke was about education and "service in Iraq" and not about education and making disastrous foreign policy mistakes (ie. getting "stuck")...the joke had nothing to do with service in Iraq. Did he, then, botch his lead in, or just parrot the "slight against the military" talking point?
As always in the MSM, being neutral is more important than being correct.