MSM Dissection: NBC On Gitmo

The last time I watched a network evening news broadcast was on Dan Rather's last broadcast, but I'm told some people still watch these antiques. Here's what NBC's viewers saw last night on Gitmo:

Brian Williams: Now to the battle over the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The fight over whether Gitmo is a necessary part of the war on terror or an international embarrassment moved to Capitol Hill today. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski has been watching all this from the Pentagon.

What battle? What fight? There's a lot of assumption in that set-up, and no discussion of just where this allegation of "international embarrassment" comes from. They say it, but I can't imagine that people in other countries care a whit about this ... unless you count crazed street mobs in Whereverstan responding to misreporting by MSM.

Jim Miklaszewski: Good evening, Brian. This was the first congressional hearing to deal with the legal issues surrounding the prisoners at Guantanamo. And not surprisingly, the debate broke down pretty much along party lines.

One by one, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee warned that Guantanamo Bay had become a symbol of torture and abuse and a stain on America's reputation.

Senator PAT LEAHY (Democrat, Vermont): Guantanamo Bay is an international embarrassment to our nation, to our ideals, and it remains a festering threat to our security.

Senator JOSEPH BIDEN (Democrat, Delaware): We're doing real badly. We're doing real badly on that part of the war. Matter of fact, it's a disaster.

MIKLASZEWSKI: But even some Republicans argued that Congress may have to write new laws to clear up confusion over the legal status of Guantanamo prisoners.

Senator ARLEN SPECTER (Republican, Pennsylvania): I think any fair analysis would say that we have a crazy quilt which we are dealing with here.

Specter. Sheesh. But the others! Would someone please ask Leahy to explain how Gitmo is a threat to America? That would be true only if the Dems prevailed, it was shut down, and the anti-America fanatics now kept safely 80 miles from our shores were allowed into our prisons.

So that was a bit of a biased, but altogether typical MSM set-up: Three negative quotes. Objectivity only requires that somewhere, sometime, the other side gets a shot, because after all, Mik said there was debate and that it was along party lines. But no Republican Senators (other than the PA turncoat) are quoted. Instead:

Mik: The primary question for administration lawyers, just how long can the US hold these prisoners without putting them on trial.

Mr. Michael Wiggins (Assistant US Attorney General): It's--it's our position that legally they could be held in perpetuity.

That's called returning with the wrong question. Mik didn't ask the primary question for admin lawyers -- that would have been, "Is anything illegal going on at Gitmo?" -- instead, he let the Administration answer the easily countered allegations of Leahy et. al., instead, he stuck Wiggins with a question that could only be answered in a way that played into the opposition's hand.

And that was all the "objectivity" offered, because NBC went right back to the Dems, with Mik saying they strongly disagreed followed by a quick Leahy soundbite to that effect, followed by some more piling on the administration:

Mik: The most damaging testimony came from a military lawyer who was appointed to defend detainee Salim Hamdan. Lieutenant Commander Charles Swift claimed Hamdan had to first admit he was guilty.

Lieutenant Commander Charles Swift: The only way I could guarantee that I would see him again was if he agreed that we were going to plead guilty to something.

Look, Mik, this isn't a US court hearing. It's a detention and intelligence gathering operation.

Finally, in the wrap up, NBC gives the Republicans an opportunity:

Mik: But Republicans argued that because the prisoners are foreigners and unlawful combatants, they are not entitled to the constitutional protection of due process.

Mr. WIilliam Barr (Former US Attorney General): There is no need to bring charges. They are being held because they were identified on the battlefield as threats to our forces and to our military mission.

Mik: And despite increasing calls to shut down Guantanamo, Pentagon officials insist tonight that wouldn't happen any time soon. Brian:

So, let's look. Six anti-Gitmo soundbites (three by U.S. Senators) and two Administration soundbites, both from attorneys. No evidence of any mishandling, rudeness or rough stuff, and a closing statement that makes it seem the Administration is stubbornly digging in its cowboy-booted heels in the face of a large opposition.

What large opposition? NBC, like all political operatives, knows that if you don't have the people on your side, you simply say that you do.

And that's the way it is.