Bodies, Puppies and RPG’s

The sordid tale of Brian Williams alleged escapades as an apparent super hero posing as a fairly arrogant newsman are coming to a noisy and calamitous end. Williams was finally outed after repeating his now 12 year old lie about being in a helicopter in Iraq back in 2003 that he claimed was hit by enemy fire and forced into an emergency landing. It’s all a lie that was finally ferreted out by actual heros working for the United States military.

But that it seems is just the beginning. Apparently Mr. Williams who is the face and head of NBC news- the number one nightly newscast in America has been spinning tall tales of his extraordinary life as a super reporter for years. Funny considering he already is getting paid millions and really didn’t need to continue inflating his fraudulent resume’.

Some of his accounts, like one in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina when he claimed a body floated past his French Quarter Hotel just defy logic. There was very little flooding in that part of the city and many are saying a body could not have floated by his hotel.

If you look deeper you can find a story of the young Williams saving a puppy from a burning house. Or maybe two puppies depending on which version of Super Hero Williams you have read. Heck maybe he saved a whole town from invading rats by playing his flute too.

The point is this; Brian Williams has zero credibility and I know for many of you this will come as no surprise but it is important and a sad commentary on the state of American journalism. If a complete fraud can occupy the most watched news chair in America- and do it for years there must be a much bigger systemic problem. There is.  It results in millions of Americans getting their information from a dubious source to say the least. I mean if Williams call casually lie about being shot down in Iraq and never bat an eye- what else is he willing to lie casually about? Would he lie about Benghazi, immigration, the President or other issues that could be pivotal to you and your family? Of course the answer is yes.

I worked for NBC for years. I know that legitimate stories were routinely ignored while others that had dubious merit were pushed forward because they were ‘sexier’ to management. Those in charge are of course always looking to push the ratings needle and those upstairs demand those higher ratings to sell more ads to increase the bottom line.

In a perfect world I don’t actually think news should be sponsored at all because it compromises the integrity of the process. I don’t even think sports and weather should have sponsors on a local newscast but I am an island of one on this point it seems.

The bottom line is this; Brian Williams and several of the management people around him should be fired. Unfortunately whether or not that happens the bigger problem will not be solved and the reckless, ratings and revenue driven American media will remain largely unchanged. Funny that all this greed and arrogance flows so freely from a liberal bastion that usually looks down it’s collectives noses at the likes of you and me and anyone who puts profit first.

As of now Williams has decided to take a few days away from the job. Williams wrote “As managing editor of NBC Nightly News, I have decided to take myself off of my daily broadcast for the next several days". Excuse me Brian but wouldn't it actually be NBC's show? I guess he is a bit of a slow learner. You would think after all the time he spent with Ghandi he would have a better understanding of humility.

We will now wait and see if NBC News does the right thing and fires Williams for all the right reasons.