MSNBC, FoxNews.com flip out over purported "flip-off"
SUMMARY: MSNBC and FoxNews.com reported on Sen. Barack Obama's touching his right cheek at a campaign event while referring to Sen. Hillary Clinton. Of the action, MSNBC's Contessa Brewer stated, "[S]ome think it looks like a flip-off."
During the 4 p.m. ET hour of MSNBC Live on April 18, anchor Contessa Brewer aired video of Sen. Barack Obama at a campaign event in Raleigh, North Carolina, the previous day -- shot from Obama's front -- in which Obama, while speaking about Sen. Hillary Clinton, reached up and touched his right cheek. Noting that "the blogs are buzzing about this one," Brewer claimed that Obama "made an unfortunate gesture," adding: "[S]ome think it looks like a flip-off. You can judge. Watch it." Brewer continued: "Maybe his cheek had an itch. If it itches, scratch it. What do you think? Hey folks, they don't call this the silly season for nothing." However, as video of the event shot from Obama's right side clearly shows, Obama had both his middle and index fingers extended when he reached up to touch his cheek. The video showing both of Obama's fingers extended was available prior to Brewer's report.
FoxNews.com went so far as to suggest Obama may have been "flipping off" Sen. Hillary Clinton because the gesture came as he was referring to her. An April 18 article headlined "Did Obama Give a 'Flip' Response to Clinton Attacks?" posted at 12:16 p.m. reported, "Just when you thought the Democratic race couldn't get uglier, Barack Obama is being accused of giving Hillary Clinton the finger at a town hall meeting in North Carolina." The article continued: "The gesture -- which may have been an innocent scratch of the face or, according to some, something more mischievous -- came as Obama was complaining Thursday about the debate in Philadelphia the night before. Bloggers were quick to note that as the Illinois senator scolded his Democratic rival for her performance at the debate, he raised his right hand and scratched his cheek with one finger. That finger" [emphasis in original]. On April 18, Daily Kos diarist jimmyhoffa2222 posted a screenshot of the video at 3:32 p.m. ET in response to the FoxNews.com article.
One of the blogs "buzzing," as Brewer put it, over the allegation was the conservative RedState.com, which posted video of the Obama rally -- also shot from Obama's front -- in an April 17 entry (reposted and updated on April 18) and stated affirmatively that "Obama gave Hillary the finger today." In an April 17 entry on his blog, Politico senior political writer Ben Smith called RedState's claim a "myth," writing, "That looks like two fingers to me." RedState responded by linking to yet another video of Obama's comments, taken from a slightly different angle, and writing: "Ben Smith might want to look at the different angle before eagerly myth busting."
In this screenshot of Obama at the rally, two fingers appear to be touching his face:
From the 4 p.m. ET hour of MSNBC Live on April 18:
BREWER: Wow, the blogs are buzzing about this one. On he campaign trail in Raleigh, North Carolina, yesterday, Barack Obama made a -- he made an unfortunate gesture. As he complained about the ABC debate and his rival, Hillary Clinton, some think it looks like a flip-off. You can judge. Watch it.
OBAMA [video clip]: I don't blame Washington for this, because that's just how Washington is. They like stirring up controversy and they like playing gotcha games and getting us to attack each other, and I have to say, you know, Senator Clinton, you know, looked in her element. You know, she was taking every opportunity to get a dig in there.
BREWER: Now, there it is. Right there. That very last piece. I don't know why it takes so long to get to it, but it does. We're keeping you on your edge of your seats -- it just took a minute. Maybe his cheek had an itch. If it itches, scratch it. What do you think?
Hey folks, they don't call this the silly season for nothing.
The state of Texas has just finished presenting its evidence in the case that will decide whether the children of alleged polygamists should go to foster parents. NBC's Don Teague joins us from outside the courthouse. So, Don, what's the latest here?
Whatever else happens in this election, I believe this year does represent the death a burial of the electronic newsmedia. They should be looked at from now on as nothing more than an irritating amusement..something like the Jerry Springer Show.
If you're still watching hours of cable news, your logic is fawlty.
The media will never improve or go away, but I long for the day when their audience is 100 people - 50 relatives and 50 media watchdogs.
Why do I get the feeling that any little thing that Barack does will be somehow an 'unfortunate gesture' or that we just need to know that he's a bad bowler or that he hasn't distanced himself from Rev Wright enough.....
They (the corporate owned for profit media) know that they have nothing on him and they know that he will be our next president and it scares them to death......
This, my fellow Americans..... is the state of that press that our founding fathers wanted FREE from government or other influences (like being owned by for-profit corporations!)
Unfortunate gesture indeed!
And there was this great moment from our oh-so-dignified Supreme Court Justice Scalia:
http://wonkette.com/politics/media/another-fingergate-update-the-ocular-proof-164027.php
You didn't even need that screenshot to see that he used two fingers.
Is this something that the Onion News network rejected?
That's a bad thing? At least the Panthers didn't volunteer to kill people who never did anything to them.
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he's a black panther, no question about it.
And he's coming to visit you! He's going to give you a few pointers. Many people use captital letters, soon you will be able to also.
Don't bother to reply its all quasi-rhetorical.
This is a NEWS story? What if he scratched his a**? WOW, I guess that would be a
20 minute story on 60 Minutes. Every day the MSM gets stupider and stupider.
But you must remember, that it's much easier just to expound off the top of your head (or out of your a**), then do any real journalism or reasoned analysis of the news. After all, you can't expect these talking head bimbos to really offer anything of substance, can you?
I think you should have a special section for Contessa Brewer like you do for Tweety and BillO.
That woman is non-stop confirmation of the proverb, "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."
Too bad MSNBC pays her to "speak out."
Doesn't this sound like something from a Seinfeld episode? [greatest sitcom ever]
Yeah, cause it was already done, more or less ;-)
This reminds me of when George thought the waitress was flipping him off by pointing with her middle finger at the menu, & scratching her face with her middle digit.
I'd flip her off, if I was him. Or if I was her, I'd flip him off. Or McCain, for that matter.
Meanwhile, in the real world:
Bush's entire cabinet discussed the details of torturing people never convicted of any crimes IN THE WHITE HOUSE. But, I guess there wasn't enough time to cover that story between the wall-to-wall coverage of fingergate and flagpingate.
It just gets crazier every day. The news media is out of control.
I suggest we boycott them all and possibly lack of viewers will
open their eyes, altho doubt it as they seem to think they are
GOD.
They insult our intelligence!!
Look at the people behind Obama to his immediate right and left what you will see is a different crowd. I have not looked at the Redstate but compare the Ben Smjth politico clip with the ABC, with the MSNB. At first they appear identical because the words are the same the pause is the same, the gesture is the same but the people behind him are different. Spontaneous gesture more than once that day? I doubt it. This is just what is going to restore our dignity around the world. Media Matters please examine these different clips more carefully.
They ALL deserve to be flipped off. Voting for Hillary, Obama, or McCain is settling for the lesser of three evils. A pox on the entire lot.
Don't put Obama in your flip off boat pal.
I just saw a video of Obama for another speech when he was NOT talking about Hillary.
When he looked down at his notes, his finger went across his face exactly like in the above picture. It looked more like a mannerism than a scratch.
How about the fact that MSNBC edited the video clip so it was completely out of order and made no sense? Compared to the actual video of the event, the bias is evident. The "big deal" is not whether he used one or two fingers, it's how the audience reacted at the point he made the gesture. Neither are apparent in the MSNBC clip; they mashed together brief clips out of sequence and misrepresented what happened. I think that's more important than whether they chose to cover it or not.
This is all very funny and sad, but it does point up a very serious issue that should be of concern to everyone whether they are progressive or conservative.
These kinds of antics by cable news indicate a complete breakdown of their ability and willingness to present unbiased information. You may delight in having such "news" channels bash politicians you don't like, but remember that the news outlets also can provide information important to citizens of this country.
If a news outlet like FOX, CNN, MSNBC, etc can be purchased by corporate or political interests to bash or support political candidates, they can also be bought so as to present distorted information about health and safety matters.
What if one of these news outlets presents false information about unsafe drugs or household products? Perhaps the toy companies (just to take an example) decide that it is cheaper to buy off a cable news channel to downplay stories of children getting injured than recall the toys or pay litigation. What if your child is injured because the news media failed to report such stories or even presented false information?
Once it becomes clear that the news can be "purchased" and influenced by the highest bidder, then we are all in trouble.
This is why such stories are important what the larger issues being presented by MMFA are about.
It HAS already happened. The recent story in NY Times pointed out that a number of the 'military analysts' we've been seeing on the air were basically shills for Bush. Retired military men with business ties to companies supplying the military were fed information and given privileged access to secrets. These folks used the access they were given to promote their business interests and told us - thru Fox, MSNBC and others, what Bush wanted us to hear.
These folks were referred to as 'force multipliers' by the Pentagon officials who ran what could be viewed as a psy-op, or disinformation campaign on the citizens they were supposed to be working for.
We expect to get 'the party line' from government officials but, the government shouldn't be using what are represented as independent analysts to shovel their manure!
It's also a shame that the networks lacked the integrity to vet their analysts.
It astounds me that the more we know, the more it becomes apparent that Bush was going to use any and all propaganda to invade and then torture in order to get "justification" for the occupation.
Such passion to topple Saddam tells me that the main and maybe only reason was to out-do daddy Bush and avenge the assissination attempt. Nice that our military is ruined, our economy is in the dumps, and thousands upon thousands are dead and wounded because of a GRUDGE!
At least the Troglodytes have tipped their hand, and shame on Hillary Clinton for participating in it. I think they were a little worried about Obama at first. After all, how long has it been since a candidate actually got voters excited about voting? They knew the real issues would sink McCain like a stone, so they're going to peck Obama to death with insignificant minutiae like this. I must admit, given the collective stupidity of the American public, it's a clever strategy.
I don't watch the news anymore, mainly becasue of BS like this. Granted this one totally takes the cake, but in terms of being substantive, it is far from the first story that could be rated a "0" to anyone even remotely interested in anything other than just "bashing the candidate / party I don't like" - typically the democrats. Seems these corporate shills are brainless as well as shameless. Hopefully they've overstimated the "dumbing down of America." I hope so. If this garbage is "news" we're in trouble as a country.
Why insult Jerry Springer? He at least makes no pretense to be anything but fluff. The BBC gets more and more of my listning and viewing time for real news. It is by and large "fair and balanced"
People, please get to the point! Make it CLEAR what needs correction in the media. In this case, as in many others, you are not effectively presenting your case.