Found at Redstate.com (http://www.redstate.com/moe_lane/2009/08/19/i-think-msnbc-is-trying-to-get-the-president-shot-at/):
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Wednesday, August 19th at 9:26PM EDT
(H/T Ace of Spades, NewsBusters, & Hot Air) I’m aware that’s kind of an inflammatory statement, but hear me out.
OK, remember last weekend, when there were a bunch of reports of armed people at the Arizona town hall? Lots of stories of bemused reporters trying to get their heads around the notion that in Arizona you can wander around with an AR-15 –
Which is not a fully automatic weapon, by the way. You can’t buy fully automatic weapons in the USA*. I mention this because this is apparently news to our journalistic class.
– anyway, lots of bemused reporters, not least because of this picture (via here):
Health care rationing protester, by the way. See also this video, and stop at about 0:28.
OK, yup, same guy. Now watch this:
They cropped the video to obscure this guy’s ethnicity. Because it didn’t fit their narrative, which was that they think somebody – somebody white – was going to try to hurt the President.
I usually don’t say this sort of thing all that often, but this is one of those times: this is inexcusable. THIS. WAS. DELIBERATE. They had the clip. They knew that the guy was a peaceful protester making a point about the Second Amendment. They knew that – by definition – he was not a crazy white right-winger itching to take a shot at the President. But they altered his appearance so that it matched their argument that there is an active risk of crazy right-wingers itching to take a shot at the President.
This was an insanely stupid move on MSNBC’s part – and one that was dangerous to the safety of the President of the United States of America, not to mention his security staff. I am appalled that a supposedly reputable news agency would do this.
Moe Lane
