BREAKING-Brian Williams to take a sabattical

[DemocratSinceBirth]

NBC Nightly News Managing Editor and anchorman Brian Williams said Saturday that he is temporarily removing himself from the network’s nightly broadcasts following revelations he made false statements about his experience reporting in Iraq in 2003.

“In the midst of a career spent covering and consuming news, it has become painfully apparent to me that I am presently too much a part of the news, due to my actions,” Williams said in a statement to NBC staff. “As managing editor of NBC Nightly News, I have decided to take myself off of my daily broadcast for the next several days.”

Earlier this week, the publication “Stars and Stripes” published a story, based on eyewitness accounts of the incident, saying Williams was incorrect when he said a helicopter in which he and his team were traveling during the invasion of Iraq was hit by rocket propelled grenades.

[malaise]

1. Guess he's going to spend time checking on whether he

actually saw a body floating by the Ritz in the French Quarter during Katrina.

[hrmjustin]

2. Wish him the best.

[Logical]

18. Why??? Nt

[hrmjustin]

21. Why what?

[book_worm]

3. I wonder if he will actually return.

[99th_Monkey]

5. I'm waiting for NBC to announce that Brian Williams will "step down" as soon as

ALL of these other personalities who have mis-remembered stuff in a combat zone, ALSO step down from their professional lives.

GWBush, Reagan, Hillary Clinton, Joe McCarthy, Mark Kirk, Dick Blumenthal, and a VERY long list of others
have lied about their experiences on/off the battlefield. To my knowledge NONE of them has had to "step down"
from their careers or their professions. Not. One.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/brian-williams-motley-crew
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/top-moments-in-politicians-lying-about-military-service

[Ilsa]

7. Agreed. I realize the standard is higher for

Newsers than politicians, but at least his lies didn't kill anyone (that we know of).

[arcane1]

27. Dick "The Dick" Cheney lied his ass off about Arlington Cemetary.

He said in an interview something to the effect of "Every time I fly in and out of DC I pass Arlington, and see those rows of crosses, and it reminds me of the sacrifice blah blah blah".

But Arlington doesn't have rows of crosses.

[virgogal]

33. That's not a lie---but it certainly is lack of knowledge.

[arcane1]

36. Good point. And it's also a lame way to fake patriotism :)

[99th_Monkey]

4. :-(

[BootinUp]

6. I remember when the word sabattical was used more seriously. nt

[ChairmanAgnostic]

17. Sob-at-ick-hall

A meeting of rich, pampered new readers who have no clue how real people live, and who are crying because their make-up staff was cut down to two.

[TeeYiYi]

8. He's the number one MSM news anchor...

...in my opinion. If I happen to watch MSM, Brian Williams is the one I turn to.

NBC is crazy if they decide to 'Dan Rather' him. I can't believe that they'd let their diamond go so easily.

TYY

[glasshouses]

13. If your business is reporting news you can't have a bullshitter as your lead man or woman

[TeeYiYi]

14. Do you believe...

...that he may have conflated the situation or are you of the belief that he outright lied in the interest of a big fish story?

I think that he believed his helicopter was one of two that received enemy fire. Both helicopters were ultimately forced to land and take cover for the night, in the desert of Iraq.

From my understanding, his helicopter was indeed in the line of fire and though fired upon, may not have actually been hit. The other helicopter with them had definitely been struck with enemy fire and they were both forced to land and hunker down in the desert as a result...

I'm willing to give Brian Williams the benefit of the doubt. He believed his life was in danger that night and I'm inclined to believe his interpretation of events. If his helicopter didn't take fire, it was most definitely fired upon...

TYY

[glasshouses]

15. I don't think so he said in one interview it was the one in front of his that was hit

I do believe he lied

[GGJohn]

16. Yeah, ummmm, no, that's not what happened according to several

soldiers who were actually on board the bird Williams was on.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/06/media/stelter-iraq-pilots/

"Simeone and Kelly said only two helicopters were in their group, from Company B of the 159th Aviation. They said Krell was piloting the first helicopter. Simeone and Kelly were pilots on the second Chinook, and Miller was in their crew."

The paper continued: "All three said Williams was riding with them, not with Krell. They all said neither bird took fire at any time that day."

The pilot I interviewed on Thursday about Brian Williams is no longer standing by his story.

That pilot, Rich Krell, told me he was flying the helicopter Williams was on in Iraq -- an account now contradicted by several other soldiers.

On Friday morning, Krell told me that "the information I gave you was true based on my memories, but at this point I am questioning my memories."

Taking fire and being fired upon are the same thing.

[glasshouses]

20. 2 minutes in

[GGJohn]

23. Thanks for the link.

Yeah, he lied about the whole incident, probably to elevate his war time story creds.

[cwydro]

31. This is a stolen valor story to me.

Sickening.

[TeeYiYi]

24. Was either helicopter...

...fired upon before they landed in the desert?

If not, I wonder why they landed...?

TYY

[GGJohn]

25. The only ones saying that the birds were fired on are Williams and Krell

and now Krell is questioning his memory of that day.
As to them landing, I have no idea why, maybe one of the birds suffered a mechanical problem, but it seems pretty certain at this time that neither bird took any ground fire.

[TeeYiYi]

32. If either of the helicopters...

...took fire that night, I have to give Brian Williams a pass.

If neither helicopter was the target of enemy fire, then it is most likely that Brian Williams is a ridiculous liar.

The fact that both helicopters landed and made camp in the middle of the desert, leads me to lean toward believing that it was a precarious and scary situation...

TYY

[GGJohn]

37. I'm leaning towards one of the birds suffering a mechanical malfunction,

and both of them landing for the night.
I flew helicopters in the Army, shot down twice in Vietnam, forced to land a few times due to mechanical failures, it is a precarious and scary situation.

[TeeYiYi]

39. I suspect...

...that he received a convoluted version of events as they were happening in the air and on the ground; and never bothered to confirm the details.

In his position as a lead journalist, I would imagine that he relied heavily on his support staff to keep him informed.

TYY

[GGJohn]

40. That's a definite possibility,

That's what got Dan Rather, not confirming the details.
But, I gotta say, when you're receiving ground fire, there no mistaking it, trust me on this.

[TeeYiYi]

41. I think that...

...the Rather deal was a little more shady than you're remembering...

Not being a soldier and having never received ground fire in his entire life, how would Brian Williams be expected to know the difference if he was 'told' that his helicopter had been fired upon?

That said, thanks for serving in Vietnam and living to tell about it.

I DO trust you on this.

TYY

[former9thward]

45. See post #20.

Where he also says he was fired upon in a copter over Israel by the Hezbollah. He has a thing about this. He also claims that people who were with him during Katrina died. All BS.

[TeeYiYi]

49. Interesting vid...

He clearly states that it was the chopper ahead of him that got hit by the RPG and not the chopper he was in.

TYY

[former9thward]

53. Yes, that is what he said in 2007.

That had changed to the copter he was in by 2013. Also in the video he makes it sound like he saw the first copter being hit (as if he could have been hit also). But his copter was 30 minutes behind the first and he could not have seen anything.

[TeeYiYi]

58. He does seem to embellish his stories...

"I looked down the tube of an RPG rocket that had been fired at us and it hit the chopper in front of ours," is definitely a creative flourish. "Katyusha rockets passing just underneath the helicopter I was riding in," definitely sounds precarious.

Isn't that what he does, though? Read news stories and make them sound interesting? His support staff provides the info and he weaves it into an important, heart stopping headline.

I'm willing to chalk up most of his bravado to the confusion and fog of reporting from a war zone. He's already apologized for his incorrect understanding of events...

That said, if the investigation turns up a mountain of bullshit, he'll be forced into retirement. I hope that's not the case.

TYY

[tblue37]

52. Or if he didn't actually know why they had to land and wait. In a war zone he

might have just assumed they were worried about enemy fire, and then over time that became a "memory" of having to land because of enemy fire. Neuroscience research shows that people's memories are not accurate records, but bits and pieces (including guesses and fabrications) cobbled together into plausible narratives, and most people, unless they are almost pathologically insecure or self-effacing, will remember their own life stories as though they were shot through a golden filter--not in the sense that all was good, but in the sense that their own behavior was decent, courageous, and generally admirable.

I can imagine scenarios where he, not a warrior type, was almost constantly nervous and scared while in a war zone, especially in a helicopter, which would be especially vulnerable to enemy fire. Then when they had to land and stay put, if he wasn't clearly apprised of the reasons right away, he could have conjured up all sorts of frightening reasons. Even if he was told the real reason then or later, the scary version, coupled with the natural human tendency to remember our own behavior and experience in the most interesting and admirable light, could easily overwrite the true story in his memory.

A person who seeks to be and revels in being, in front of the public, like performers of any sort, which our "news" anchors really are, is even more likely than others to remember himself "starring"--or at least having a notable part--in stirring events. I would not be surprised if he returned to his embellished version of the story so often in his own mind that by the time he went public with it he genuinely believed that his own story or something close to it really was what happened.

[GGJohn]

55. Nope, see post #54.

They landed due to deteriorating weather.
They actually landed next to an armored unit.

[GGJohn]

54. Here's more on why they landed.

http://pagesix.com/2015/02/05/pilot-of-brian-williams-flight-all-that-hit-us-was-dust/

Pilot of Brian Williams’ flight: All that hit us was dust

I was the pilot in command of the flight that carried Brian Williams into Iraq in March 2003.
The mission was to deliver bridges to the Objective Rams region in order to support our ground-force advancement. We were briefed that we would be operating forward of the line of troops and that the objective was unsecure.

We were a flight of two, and I was the rear aircraft. Our flight to Objective Rams was uneventful, with the exception of a desert dust storm that caused deteriorating conditions not suitable for flight.
We determined that we would not make it back to Kuwait as planned. When we arrived at Objective Rams, we found a US armor unit on the objective. There was also a CH-47 from the “Big Windy” unit out of Germany.

The CH-47 was already shut down, and the entire crew was no longer at the aircraft. We dropped off the bridges and landed next to the parked CH-47 and the Bradley Fighting Vehicles due to the weather.

[cwydro]

22. Conflate?

Sick of this word already.

Seems to be the new word for LYING.

I'm pretty damn sure I would remember if I were in an aircraft that was hit by an RPG, ground fire, or whatever.

Both my parents were in England during WW2. Both could tell detailed memories of the bombs that missed, the ones that were close, and the destruction they saw.

[TeeYiYi]

28. I think that 'conflate' is the perfect word for this situation, and...

...without a better synonym; although 'fuse' comes close...

con·flate
kənˈflāt/
verb
combine (two or more texts, ideas, etc.) into one.
"the urban crisis conflates a number of different economic and social issues"
synonyms: mix, blend, fuse, unite, integrate
"the plot gets weighed down when the writers conflate too many issues into one episode"

My feeling is that both helicopters took enemy fire that night; and that one or more soldiers in camp, spoke openly about the incident before nailing down the details.

TYY

[cwydro]

29. All reports I've read is that

he was in a copter ONE HOUR behind the one that got shot down.

That's what Stars and Stripes reported.

Yeah, I would've preferred "confused" because it sounds as though you are at least taking a TEENY bit of the blame.

This conflate word for complete obfuscation is just nonsense.

Reminds me of Oliver North. At least he just kept saying he could "not recall."

[TeeYiYi]

34. If it turns out to be...

...a total 'big fish' story, then Brian Williams only has himself to blame.

I look forward to the results of the 'internal investigation.'

TYY

[cwydro]

35. Yeah, there's all this other stuff coming out about Katrina.

Maureen Dowd's column tomorrow is about this issue with Williams.

Check it out.

[TeeYiYi]

38. Yeah, holy shit...

...Katrina.

Like 9/11, I remember Katrina like it was yesterday. A brazillion posts right here at DU alone...

So, I guess Brian Williams made mention of a body floating down the street, outside his hotel window. Maybe he was in a hotel in the 9th Ward and got confused about his location... :/

...or not.

TYY

[rocktivity]

9. He takes either that or a trip to the unemployment office.

And I'm glad the decision was made quickly, for a change -- particularly for Hillary "Tuzla" Clinton's sake.


rocktivity

[CTyankee]

10. I doubt if he's relying on UI to get him thru...

I'm sure he has a load of money socked away and is already getting offers for other gigs. He's too high profile to be gone for a very long time. And he might get his old job back, if he is penitent enough...I'm not planning to run any benefits for him just yet...

[braddy]

11. Good, the more videos of him telling whoppers I see, the more I think he can't recover.

[cui bono]

12. Link?

[ND-Dem]

19. "for the next several days.” = not really a sabbatical, more like a 3 day weekend.

[melman]

56. He's not coming back

[ND-Dem]

57. who says?

[bluestateguy]

26. He "steps down"

Whenever a news anchor, corporate executive, university president or politician does wrong, they never resign or are fired. No, they "step down".

Eye roll.

[cwydro]

30. With a golden parachute too.

No doubt.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

42. I don't wish him any ill will..

If this is the beginning of the end it's kind of sad.

The challenge is viewers might not know when he is delivering the new and when he's delivering fiction.

[JHB]

43. Sabbatical. That's Greek for 'penalty box', right?

(Well it is in this context.)

[DemocratSinceBirth]

46. That was my terminology. It was either that, hiatus, or sojourn. /NT

[Sunlei]

44. I wish him well. His helicoptor had to land in the desert of Iraq. I don't doubt-life was in danger

That must have been long hours for that small group.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

47. There is s lot of schadenfreude going on.

I rarely watch the evening news except to see which story is first.

[MohRokTah]

48. So let me get this straight. The only person punished for lying about IRaq is Brian Williams?

That's not quite right.

[Generic Other]

51. That's cause he lied for personal aggrandizement

not for the official lie.

[tblue37]

50. Wanna bet it stretches out until he can quietly announce that he

has found other--irresistable--opportunities to pursue?

Either that, or NBC will see its numbers drop and decide that once things quiet down it will be safe for him to return.

If whoever replaces him gets good ratings, though, he is toast.

[Koch Ebola]

59. To me...They focus on the anchor and the network is ever suspected

To this very day, the political right still...still claims the media is Liberal. Brian Williams is a moderate and the right is having a field day with this scandal. they had a campaign with Dan Rather some time back. They were some what successful. the fools think they have a, "Gotcha Moment". Sorry gang, Brian is not part of the Liberal conspiracy.
Brian Williams romanticized Edward R Murrow just like Les Nesssman on the sitcom WKRP. Poor Brian wanted too much to be a war corresponded. So he embellished a story a little. So what? Brian doesn't write his copy that he reads. The real problem lies on his bosses, which is the corporate news media.

[GGJohn]

60. He didn't embellish the story,

he flat fucking lied about being in the formation of birds that was fired on.