Norah O'Donnell are YOU a Republican?

[kpete]

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Norah O'Donnell are YOU a Republican?
by John in DC - 12/29/2005 01:59:00 PM

Enough already.

This is MSNBC's O'Donnell interviewing a former CIA agent who is critical of Bush's non-existent hunt for Osama:



O'DONNELL: So, Gary, you say that you knew where Osama bin Laden was and the president says he was in a cave with a door on it.

BERNTSEN: Well, let me say this. We tracked bin Laden with our reporting from Kabul, down to Nangarhar Province, into Jalalbad, down into the mountains. We had a steady stream. But, you know, every once in a while you get a report that says he's off, you know, in left field.

Here at this place or that place, but when you get a line of reporting, a stream of it, and we're marking it on a map, we can see consistently, you know, which way he's moving and from multiple sources. And then, of course, we were listening to his voice on an unencrypted radio.

O'DONNELL: Can I ask you, Gary, are you a Democrat?

BERNTSEN: No, I'm a Republican. And I'm a loyal supporter of the president and I think the president is doing a good job in the fight on terrorism.
What kind of a question is that?



And Norah, next time you interview a mom who's murdered her three young children, be sure to ask her "are you a Republican?"

http://www.americablog.org/

[Oceansaway]

1. i e-mailed the losers at MSNBC

yesterday about Norahs question....
I let them know that IMO Keiths show was the only left i cared to ever see...
and that they named Hardball wrong.....it should have been LARDBALL....cuz the spew from it was all lard.....

[FreedomAngel82]

2. Wow how rude of that eh?

:crazy: What's up with O'Donnell lately? :shrug: He also said that he thought Bush wasn't spying on political opponents (uh there are reports of this being done). I heard this on the Young Turks earlier either this week or last week.

[FreedomAngel82]

26. Ah you're all talking about Norah O'Donnell

Oops. :blush: Sorry to O'Donnell from the "West Wing." :blush:

[CatWoman]

3. there was a mass head explosion here on DU last night

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5705122

[converted_democrat]

12. I wrote a scathing email...They probably didn't read it, but it made me

feel better. I'd love to show you, but it was too nasty to print on DU...Oh, and I sent one to Kaygan too. I just switched out the names, and some info, and sent one to her to while I was fired up. I have to say, it made me feel better.

[CatWoman]

16. bwahahahaha

pm it to me!!

I'd LOVE to see it :D

[converted_democrat]

19. Check your inbox...n/t

[CatWoman]

30. LOL

Got it. Great.

However, I could do with a few more f-bombs sprinkled thruout :D

[warrens]

4. I think this is, unfortunately, a fair and necessary question

If she hadn't asked, Scottie or some other creep would have called him a partisan out for political advantage, and the news that he was a Republican would never have been printed. At least we know upfront that this is not a partisan attack.

The issue, of course, should be, is it TRUE? But with this bunch of unelected scum, any excuse to avoid talking about the issue will be used and the Limbaughs and O'Reilly's will hammer it home incessantly.

[acmejack]

7. I think you are on drugs!

And darned good ones at that. There was nothing fair or necessary about that question! The mere fact you feel that it is proves they have accomplished their aims.

[Journeyman]

10. Or maybe Warrens just recognizes the politics of the moment. . .

better than you. Is that a possibility? No one, least of all Warrens, believes it's a valid question, but in light of current bitter realities the question assumes a certain pre-emptive nature, and though Norah the Whorah probably didn't intend for it to close the partisan aspect of the inquiry, that's certainly the result.

[gulliver]

13. I think she probably did "intend for it to close the partisan ...

... aspect of the inquiry."

[liveoaktx]

17. I think so, too. In another round on same show with Randi Beers

she brought up the "Some people may say you're a partisan, working for Kerry campaign" etc.

I was initially annoyed at her, but I kind of enjoyed it last night-Setup the RNC Talking Points and every guest knocked them down.

[Journeyman]

27. Thank you for your input, gulliver. . .

I don't watch television news very often, least of all cable news, so I'm not up on the personalities and politics of the reporters but simply based my response on reason and the seeming rationality of warrens' post. I'm glad to hear others agree with warrens' assessment. For myself, I regret the appellative I repeated for Ms O'Donnell -- there was a funny post yesterday with a great graphic that inspired that response, something I intend to avoid in the future (we need to encourage every positive act we find in any of the media). And again, thanks for your input to this thread.

[NNN0LHI]

34. I am voting for the "on good drugs" option here

The woman is an obvious knee pad wearing Republican hack. She has as much business acting the part of a "reporter" as I do.

The only thing that has been accomplished is that we now have the media forcing certain guests to take the equivalent of a loyalty oath test to be considered credible.

And the irony is that this is all happening during a time we have seen the proof how cheap our media sells out to the powers that be.

Don

[gulliver]

11. I agree. I think people might be misjudging O'Donnell.

This topic is also discussed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=5705122&mesg_id=5705122

Norah O'Donnell doesn't strike me as partisan. She strikes me as a hyper-inquisitive big mouth, exactly what I like to see in a journalist. She understands the politics and pulls the trigger on seemingly sensitive questions fearlessly. This last question is an example. I'm glad she asked it.

Remember when Bush gave his big speech at Fort Bragg and he was greeted with silence from the soldiers. His own press flaks started the only applause. Norah O'Donnell practically shouted it from the rooftops. And the Hardball segments she hosted recently have been among the best.

[liveoaktx]

18. EXCEPT this, I think WAS egregious

VIDEO

EDIT-oops had wrong link, fixed.

MOST PEOPLE??? Based on what?

[gulliver]

21. That's not Norah O'Donnell. Did you mean to post ...

... a different link?

[liveoaktx]

22. Fixed-distracted by CNN on the fires in Texas

near me. I have sprinklers going, wind is picking up again here.

[gulliver]

29. She is a bit of a loose cannon -- which is fine.

Maybe she was thinking of the polling that shows most Americans do support some kinds of wiretapping. Maybe she was just being presumptuous about her impression of American opinion -- which I think is the correct impression, BTW. Dems have a fight on their hands on this Spygate issue, and I am glad that Norah pulled no punches on Rand Beers. If Beers beats down an argument from the other side, I want it to be their strongest argument. I think Norah was giving Beers an opportunity to do that.

[Poiuyt]

28. I think she is partisan, but I think she's been doing a good job on

Hardball. She's been asking tough questions, as she should. If she asks a tough question to a Democrat, he/she SHOULD be able to answer it. She seems to be a little frantic at times, and interrupts too much, but I think she's been fair in her interviews.

What I don't like, however, are her news reports, where she tends to gush over Bush too much.

[azmesa207]

37. Partisan and doing a good Job

She nothing but a Partisan Hack and is a good replacement for Matthews , they both Kiss the republicans ass.

[Fla Dem]

42. I tend to agree with you on that. She gave some Repug talking head

a pretty scathing examination. Also, on the ex-CIA guy; I felt it gave MORE credibility to his criticisms of Cincom for not giving him the troops to pursue Osama. If he had said he was a Dem, then all the RWer's would write him off as a partisan hack. It may not have been a necessary question, but the answer was great.

[sandnsea]

40. It was an accusation, not a question

Asked with a sneer in her voice that left the implication that he was just anti-Bush, no matter his party affiliation. Norah is a hopeless idiot. Watch her interview with the Muslim chaplain and then get back to me.

[Auntie Bush]

44. Saw it! I was furious with her partisan questions and innuendos.

She's definitely a Rethug! She never, never takes a Dem. slant on any question and always defends the Rethugs.

[BushOut06]

5. Are you sure it wasn't Hannity with a wig & skirt on?

Sounds just like the kind of question he would ask.

[trotsky]

6. Far from the first time she's shown her blatant pro-Repuke bias.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200508230004

[UrbScotty]

8. She is, after all...

[BushOut06]

9. I was wrong - no way could Hannity ever be that attractive

Maybe she's Ann Coulter's long-lost cousin or something

[Supersedeas]

20. corporate lipstick bush bot

[azmesa207]

38. She is after all

The picture says it all . Norah O'donnell Msnbc- The White House Ho

[flordehinojos]

14. did his answer come back to bite her butt? was she expecting him to say,

yes. i am!

was she intending to show him off as having an ulterior motive for writing his book and going after bush?

norah, whorah, borah ... never ask a question that you don't know the answer to, and never, never, ask a question that you don't want to be asked of you.

are you a republican norah whora borah?

[Buns_of_Fire]

39. Maybe she DID already know the answer...

...A Republican and avid Bush supporter, Berntsen, 48, retired in June and hasn't spoken publicly before.

The Seattle Times: Politics: Ex-agent says CIA squelching his book Note the date of the article: Friday, July 29, 2005.

Now, it took me all of ten minutes to find this, and I'm sure that MSNBC (like DU) has researchers who can run rings around me in their sleep.

Whether intended or not, it cleared up a question, that -- alas -- is very common when trying to determine whether a valid criticism is tainted by partisan politics. But it's a damned shame that truth is now perceived to be filtered based on party affiliation. That is part of boosh's so-called "legacy," too...

[flordehinojos]

46. interesting point of view ...

thanks for the illumination.:)

[ticapnews]

15. Was just checking her bio on MSNBC

she has a husband who is in the restaurant business in DC. Anyone know his name? Might be interesting to see if he or his business have made any political donations (Norah has been smart enough not to)

[nevergiveup]

23. I think Norah is an airhead and usually avoid her

but I did see this interview and thought she did a good job. I liked her question asking Berntsen if he was a Democrat and I felt uncomfortable with his response. Here is a guy who says Chimpy let Osama get away and in the same breath says Chimpy has done a great job fighting terrorism. Duh! The guy to me comes across as a creep.

[gulfcoastliberal]

24. Norah, are you on the WH payroll - a whore?

Sounds like it.

[LiviaOlivia]

25. O'Donnell is a Metaphorical Monica

Metaphorical Monica
By Prairie Sage
Dec 29, 2005 -- 09:37:46 AM EST
http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/12/28/203551/86

First a caveat, it's damned tough to actually sit through the entire broadcast of the Hardball program without getting pissed at the bias of spokesbot Nora O'Donnell...

~snip~

Throughout the evening she injected "partisan bias" into every conversation, whether the subject was the abuse of FISA or Gary Berntson's book on the hunt for bin Laden. Most galling, out of nowhere, she asked Berntson if he was a Democrat. Sorry, Nora, that dog won't hunt. Your adherence to the Rovian talking points (with a nod to "professor" Barr for the strategy-outing) that every questioning of Bush is a partisan attack, and it's weakening the war on terror, is clumsy in its obviousness. And gives yet another point of evidence to Larry Johnson's commentary some weeks back about the inherent bias at MSNBC.

And as for why the military didn't give Berntson the support he asked for to capture bin Laden, that answer's easy: capture bin Laden, and you cut the major source of public support for the invasion of Iraq. While it would be easy to give Nora O'Donnell a pass that this is all MSNBC's doing, the fact is the woman has been a breathless cheerleader for Bush since her reporting of his first presidential campaign. In effect, a metaphorical Monica.

And my nominee as the latest entry in the Media Hall of Shame. And one last thing, Nora, or your scriptwriters, or whichever WH flack spun the tale that Bush is reading on his holiday: there is no such word as "broughten" as in, broughten some books to the ranch. The dumbing down of American journalism is, to channel Olbermann for a moment, the Nth horseman of Bush's apocalypse agenda.

[EFerrari]

31. I can't watch her. She called Cindy Sheehan a radical

long after the war was unpopular with the whole country.

Presstitute.

[mandyky]

32. I HEARD that exchange and was outraged

People do not oppose or criticize Bush just because they are partisan. The man has blundered his way to 1600 PA Ave. and many important things since then.


With the "free press" we have, it oughta be called public relations and marketing. After all, GWB is a PR creation, the Iraq invasion was a marketing project (Andy Card even said so), and our free press is doing Rush Limbaugh type interviews of anyone who has the termerity to criticize Herr Bush and the Fourth Riech.

[SeattleRob]

33. Short answser YES!!! n/t

[MelissaB]

35. #5 to expose Corporate media whore

This makes me sick.

[Ksec]

36. I believe Norah is a repug.

I can sense these things, shes an easy study.

[lost democrat]

41. are you a republican

hey guys its a trap. he is either going to write a book or has written one already.nora is looking for an argument for t v ratings. she was hoping he would blow up at her. remember a good lawyer never ever asks a question with out knowing the answer same for a good journalist. they are hoping this will be picked up by the NYT front page. then boom we all find out he is a dem. plant. the republicans are smart very smart.

[Catherine Vincent]

43. the republicans aren't smart. they're assholes

:eyes:

[MidnightWind]

45. Her gig at MSNBC is just her on-air audition for her future job

at Fox. Her eyes light up light when she talks about Bush. She's so biased it's not funny. I fired off an email to Hardball as soon as I saw she was subbing for Matthews--who is bad enough on his own.

[Blue_Roses]

47. guess if he would have been a Dem

it would have been proof he was lying:eyes:

Norah is horrible at this job.