One of the more amazing stories of the recent past is the revelation yesterday that Brian Williams has been telling the public for the last 12 years that he was in a helicopter that was shot down in Iraq. The story only went public because after Williams latest retelling of the tale, some of the soldiers who actually were on the helicopter that was hit by an RPG came forward with the truth. Williams followed that up with an apology for "misremembering" the events of 12 years ago. He indicated that he had just told the story for the first time last Friday and that the helicopter he was on was just behind the one that got hit. The truth is that there are now 13 separate videos circulating on the internet of Williams telling the story on different occasions over the last dozen years. On top of that, Williams was actually on a chopper that arrived about an hour after the attack; he was nowhere near the site when the attack happened. It is roughly the equivalent of a reporter who got to ground zero on 9-11 an hour after the World Trade Center towers went down describing his harrowing experience of being in the buildings when the planes hit and his desperate escape after that tragedy. In other words, it is a complete lie. Even Williams apology is a complete lie.
So why does it matter that Brian Williams who heads the NBC Evening News is a liar. We certainly have enough of those in public life (like our president); Americans are used to it by now. The answer is that Williams is the guy who has perhaps the biggest news audience in the country. If he lies (and we now know for certain that he does), how can we believe him when he reports the "facts"? He really needs to go. NBC either has to fire him, or he should resign.
And while we are talking about false stories of taking fire in a combat zone, let's not forget about Hillary Clinton and her tall tale. She claimed that she landed in a zone and had to get to a building while under fire. It was a totally phony story. Who knows? Maybe Hillary got her inspiration from Brian Williams.
So why does it matter that Brian Williams who heads the NBC Evening News is a liar. We certainly have enough of those in public life (like our president); Americans are used to it by now. The answer is that Williams is the guy who has perhaps the biggest news audience in the country. If he lies (and we now know for certain that he does), how can we believe him when he reports the "facts"? He really needs to go. NBC either has to fire him, or he should resign.
And while we are talking about false stories of taking fire in a combat zone, let's not forget about Hillary Clinton and her tall tale. She claimed that she landed in a zone and had to get to a building while under fire. It was a totally phony story. Who knows? Maybe Hillary got her inspiration from Brian Williams.
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