Norah O'Donnell aired cropped "John is right" clips, but in nearly all instances, Obama was criticizing McCain
SUMMARY: On MSNBC, Norah O'Donnell aired a montage of what she described as "the multiple times that Barack Obama said 'John [McCain] is right' " during the first presidential debate. Following the montage, O'Donnell commented, "I thought this was a debate." In fact, in nearly all instances, Obama was actually criticizing McCain after first noting a point of agreement on the topic Obama was discussing.
During the September 27 edition of MSNBC Live, NBC chief Washington correspondent Norah O'Donnell aired a montage of what she described as "the multiple times that Barack Obama said 'John [McCain] is right' " during the first presidential debate. Following the montage -- which echoed a misleading McCain ad -- O'Donnell commented, "I thought this was a debate." In fact, in nearly all instances, Obama was actually criticizing McCain after first noting a point of agreement on the topic Obama was discussing.
For example, O'Donnell aired footage of Obama saying, "John mentioned the fact that business taxes on paper are high in this country, and he's absolutely right." In fact, Obama said the following:
John mentioned the fact that business taxes on paper are high in this country, and he's absolutely right. Here's the problem: There are so many loopholes that have been written into the tax code, oftentimes with support of Senator McCain, that we actually see our businesses pay effectively one of the lowest tax rates in the world.
Similarly, O'Donnell aired footage of Obama saying, "John, I -- you're absolutely right that presidents have to be prudent --". Obama actually said this:
John, I -- you're absolutely right that presidents have to be prudent in what they say. But, you know, coming from you, who, you know, in the past has threatened extinction for North Korea and, you know, sung songs about bombing Iran, I don't know, you know, how credible that is.
During the segment, O'Donnell also referenced a McCain campaign web video, which -- like the montage O'Donnell played -- consisted of several clips of Obama saying he agreed in some respect with McCain without noting that Obama was, in fact, criticizing McCain. O'Donnell said: "The Republicans -- and I was getting some emails from 'em -- said, 'Wow, look at this.' And they immediately turned it into an ad."
Below are the transcripts of the clips O'Donnell aired, followed by the context in which Obama made those comments, according to a New York Times transcript.
MSNBC clip:
OBAMA: Well, I think Senator McCain's absolutely right that we need more responsibility --
Context:
JIM LEHRER (moderator): Do you have something directly to say, Senator Obama, to Senator McCain about what he just said?
OBAMA: Well, I think Senator McCain's absolutely right that we need more responsibility, but we need it not just when there's a crisis. I mean, we've had years in which the reigning economic ideology has been what's good for Wall Street, but not what's good for Main Street.
And there are folks out there who've been struggling before this crisis took place. And that's why it's so important, as we solve this short-term problem, that we look at some of the underlying issues that have led to wages and incomes for ordinary Americans to go down, the -- a health care system that is broken, energy policies that are not working, because, you know, 10 days ago, John said that the fundamentals of the economy are sound.
MSNBC clip:
OBAMA: Senator McCain is absolutely right that the earmarks process has been abused --
Context:
LEHRER: Senator Obama, two minutes.
OBAMA: Well, Senator McCain is absolutely right that the earmarks process has been abused, which is why I suspended any requests for my home state, whether it was for senior centers or what have you, until we cleaned it up. And he's also right that oftentimes lobbyists and special interests are the ones that are introducing these kinds of requests, although that wasn't the case with me.
But let's be clear: Earmarks account for $18 billion in last year's budget. Senator McCain is proposing -- and this is a fundamental difference between us -- $300 billion in tax cuts to some of the wealthiest corporations and individuals in the country, $300 billion.
Now, $18 billion is important; $300 billion is really important. And in his tax plan, you would have CEOs of Fortune 500 companies getting an average of $700,000 in reduced taxes, while leaving 100 million Americans out.
So my attitude is, we've got to grow the economy from the bottom up. What I've called for is a tax cut for 95 percent of working families, 95 percent.
And that means that the ordinary American out there who's collecting a paycheck every day, they've got a little extra money to be able to buy a computer for their kid, to fill up on this gas that is killing them.
And over time, that, I think, is going to be a better recipe for economic growth than the -- the policies of President Bush that John McCain wants to -- wants to follow.
MSNBC clip:
OBAMA: John mentioned the fact that business taxes on paper are high in this country, and he's absolutely right.
Context:
OBAMA: My definition -- here's what I can tell the American people: 95 percent of you will get a tax cut. And if you make less than $250,000, less than a quarter-million dollars a year, then you will not see one dime's worth of tax increase.
Now, John mentioned the fact that business taxes on paper are high in this country, and he's absolutely right. Here's the problem: There are so many loopholes that have been written into the tax code, oftentimes with support of Senator McCain, that we actually see our businesses pay effectively one of the lowest tax rates in the world.
And what that means, then, is that there are people out there who are working every day, who are not getting a tax cut, and you want to give them more.
It's not like you want to close the loopholes. You just want to add an additional tax cut over the loopholes. And that's a problem.
MSNBC clip:
OBAMA: John's right that we've got to make some cuts.
Context:
LEHRER: But if I hear the two of you correctly neither one of you is suggesting any major changes in what you want to do as president as a result of the financial bailout? Is that what you're saying?
OBAMA: No. As I said before, Jim, there are going to be things that end up having to be --
LEHRER: Like what?
OBAMA: -- deferred and delayed. Well, look, I want to make sure that we are investing in energy in order to free ourselves from the dependence on foreign oil. That is a big project. That is a multi-year project.
LEHRER: Not willing to give that up?
OBAMA: Not willing to give up the need to do it but there may be individual components that we can't do. But John is right we have to make [some] cuts. We right now give $15 billion every year as subsidies to private insurers under the Medicare system. Doesn't work any better through the private insurers. They just skim off $15 billion. That was a give away and part of the reason is because lobbyists are able to shape how Medicare works.
They did it on the Medicaid prescription drug bill and we have to change the culture. Tom -- or John mentioned me being wildly liberal. Mostly that's just me opposing George Bush's wrong headed policies since I've been in Congress but I think it is that it is also important to recognize I work with Tom Coburn, the most conservative, one of the most conservative Republicans who John already mentioned to set up what we call a Google for government saying we'll list every dollar of federal spending to make sure that the taxpayer can take a look and see who, in fact, is promoting some of these spending projects that John's been railing about.
MSNBC clip:
OBAMA: Senator McCain is absolutely right that the violence has been reduced --
Context:
LEHRER: I know, OK, let's go to the latter point and we'll back up. The point about your not having been --
OBAMA: Look, I'm very proud of my vice presidential selection, Joe Biden, who is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and as he explains, and as John well knows, the issues of Afghanistan, the issues of Iraq, critical issues like that, don't go through my subcommittee because they're done as a committee as a whole.
But that's Senate inside baseball. But let's get back to the core issue here. Senator McCain is absolutely right that the violence has been reduced as a consequence of the extraordinary sacrifice of our troops and our military families.
They have done a brilliant job, and General Petraeus has done a brilliant job. But understand, that was a tactic designed to contain the damage of the previous four years of mismanagement of this war.
And so John likes -- John, you like to pretend like the war started in 2007. You talk about the surge. The war started in 2003, and at the time when the war started, you said it was going to be quick and easy. You said we knew where the weapons of mass destruction were. You were wrong.
You said that we were going to be greeted as liberators. You were wrong. You said that there was no history of violence between Shia and Sunni. And you were wrong. And so my question is --
[crosstalk]
LEHRER: Senator Obama --
OBAMA: -- of judgment, of whether or not -- of whether or not -- if the question is who is best-equipped as the next president to make good decisions about how we use our military, how we make sure that we are prepared and ready for the next conflict, then I think we can take a look at our judgment.
MSNBC clips:
OBAMA: John, I -- you're absolutely right that presidents have to be prudent --
OBAMA: Senator McCain is also right that it's difficult.
Context:
OBAMA: Nobody talked about attacking Pakistan. Here's what I said.
And if John wants to disagree with this, he can let me know, that, if the United States has Al Qaeda, bin Laden, top-level lieutenants in our sights, and Pakistan is unable or unwilling to act, then we should take them out.
Now, I think that's the right strategy; I think that's the right policy.
And, John, I -- you're absolutely right that presidents have to be prudent in what they say. But, you know, coming from you, who, you know, in the past has threatened extinction for North Korea and, you know, sung songs about bombing Iran, I don't know, you know, how credible that is. I think this is the right strategy.
Now, Senator McCain is also right that it's difficult. This is not an easy situation. You've got cross-border attacks against U.S. troops.
And we've got a choice. We could allow our troops to just be on the defensive and absorb those blows again and again and again, if Pakistan is unwilling to cooperate, or we have to start making some decisions.
And the problem, John, with the strategy that's been pursued was that, for 10 years, we coddled Musharraf, we alienated the Pakistani population, because we were anti-democratic. We had a 20th-century mindset that basically said, "Well, you know, he may be a dictator, but he's our dictator."
And as a consequence, we lost legitimacy in Pakistan. We spent $10 billion. And in the meantime, they weren't going after Al Qaida, and they are more powerful now than at any time since we began the war in Afghanistan.
That's going to change when I'm president of the United States.
From the noon ET hour of September 27 edition of MSNBC Live:
O'DONNELL: Yeah, you know, substance of course is very important in this and so is style, and McCain's tone and temperament has been subject to debate during this whole campaign -- also the way Barack Obama conducted himself last night. Let's play these clips of the multiple times that Barack Obama said "John is right." Take a listen.
[begin video clip]
OBAMA: Well, I think Senator McCain's absolutely right that we need more responsibility --
[...]
OBAMA: Senator McCain is absolutely right that the earmarks process has been abused --
[...]
OBAMA: John mentioned the fact that business taxes on paper are high in this country, and he's absolutely right.
[...]
OBAMA: John's right that we've got to make some cuts.
[...]
OBAMA: Senator McCain is absolutely right that the violence has been reduced --
[...]
OBAMA: John, I -- you're absolutely right that presidents have to be prudent --
[...]
OBAMA: Senator McCain is also right that it's difficult.
[end video clip]
O'DONNELL: I thought this was a debate, but what does that say? I mean, some people suggested that played really well with independents. The Republicans -- and I was getting some emails from 'em -- said, "Wow, look at this." And they immediately turned it into an ad.
BOB FRANKEN (political analyst): Well, here's something profound. Norah, I think you're absolutely right on that.
[laughter]
FRANKEN: What you just said. Do you get the impression as you are watching this that we had this remarkable thing where John McCain morphed into Barack Obama and vise versa? And you also had to feel sorry, I think, for Jim Lehrer a few times, who kept on trying to get the candidates to talk to one another, and they were really talking past each other. This was really a collection of your old tried-and-true sound bites.
O'DONNELL: But those two things, Anne -- "John is right," which Barack Obama used John's name, I think, more than 20 times in the debate, John McCain never used the word Barack or Obama.
ANNE E. KORNBLUT (Washington Post staff writer): Not only that, he didn't look at him, which, of course, was commentated on as it was unfolding. At least Obama didn't refer to him as "my friend," but I think that Obama was trying to engage, trying to have some kind of personal contact, and McCain I think probably under orders, went up there with a mission of speaking directly to the audience, trying to bypass both Jim Lehrer and Obama and just get through that filter and talk to the however many tens of millions of people were watching.
O'DONNELL: Finally, let's just play here the part on Iraq.
What? ANOTHER surrogate for McSame? What woodpile are these people coming from? This is too transparent to go unanswered. I, too, didn't feel comfortable with Obama's seeming to agree with McCain, but he did "use" that agreement to make his case and point up their differences. Just who IS this woman? Is she a reporter, an analyst, a "journalist", a free-lance blow-hard, a shill? It is getting more and more difficult to cut through the bulls**t, not by the smell, but by the very amount!
As a salesman, this is a verbal tactic to soften the blow as to what follows. It shows professionalism (which mickey c totally lacked). I bet they teach that in law school because to be an effective attorney in front of a jury and to disarm someone on the witness stand, this would be a great verbal tactic (not a strategy). I use it in sales. It works. All mickey c could do is attempt to make Obama look like a ignorant child. This really disgusted me and I think it did a lot of independents and Demos.
Nah. Fock context. Fock all that. Norah is rolling out official McCain campaign talking points. Do you think she's getting frequent liar miles for spreading McCain propaganda, like AA?
Being an idealist personality type, Obama has the skill to first find a point of agreement and work from there to cooperatively solve problems. It's a common thread among people who have the knowledge of how diplomacy works. Of course, in this case it may not have been the best application of his obvious strength, seeing as how it was exploited.
This is just some more of the same old, same old of Republicans using an opponents strength against him/her. It's old and stale, but there are the wilfully ignorant who will fall for this cheap tactic. And then there are the journalists (sic), like O'Donnell who enable them.
No doubt. Finding common ground is the first rule of diplomacy. It's an interesting, thoroughly hypocritical, dynamic at work with this attack from the McCain entity.
McCain wants to act like he is in rebellion against the Republican party, like he's willing to work with the opposition in bipartisan fashion. And the entity likes to say that he has a long history of working with the other side. But when Barack reaches out to the entity, the entity chidingly, as you observe, exploits Barack's diplomatic nature for cheap political points in a sleazy campaign ad.
It is old, it is stale. But that's to be expected from Republicans today. They have no shame. They are addicted to power and will say anything to maintain control.
Thankfully, the percentage of willfully ignorant has windled to a paltry 19%.
But freakin' Nora effin' O'Donnell, man. This so called journalist needs to have her credentials revoked. Within minutes of the debate, as indicated by the youtube link in my prior post, the McCain entity was out there running ads mocking Obama's keen ability to persuade. And we're supposed to believe that it's just coincidence that Nora 'Armstrong Williams' O'Donnell comes out spouting the same argument, with the same clips as the McCain campaign?
Please. Girl is a disgraceful propagandist.
Of course, in this case it may not have been the best application of his obvious strength, seeing as how it was exploited.
A question. Is it even possible to find something the Repubicans wouldn't twist/exploit? After all, that seems to be their entire strength. If the Republicans were once an honorable party--and they were--at this point in time the honor has left the building.
Yes, on Obama's part care is needed, but we are electing a President and we need to see how he would stand, and speak, on the world stage.
the mccain camp lies [yet again] and she repeats the lie by not noting how why it's incorrect. as in the statement about taxes on business. obama agreed that the rate was high, but that there are so many loopholes the effective rate is a lot lower. it's selective editing to produce the exact opposite of what obama meant. either she is spouting pro-mccain propaganda or she knows so little she's unqualified to comment.
This woman is paid to look good (although she looks less attractive to me now). I fail to see the point in this piece. Only an idiot could not see what Obama was doing. Idiots do vote however. All I can say is crummy buttons. (an oold Dick Van Dyke saying)
the point is that people seeing the ad and not the debate will be misled. she's joining in the false portrayal of the ad.
Mefirst, BOTH of the things you said are right.
Norah O'Donnell is a lying right wing Republican hate hag who is both spewing and/or rubber stamping pro-McCain lies, and she's unqualified to comment.
I do not think it is just her.
Most of media is guilty of the same thing. Whether they do it intentionally or not, we never know.
McCain says earth is flat, Obama says earth is, kind of, round, and the media report both things with equal weight and with a lot Norahs appearing to suggest it is flat.
My expectations are gone, have been for a while. When did these people turn into children? I would have a much better time listening to this garbage if, instead of seeing them make meaningless hand gestures to compliment their foolish distortions of truth, they were molding play-Doh into shapes of they're favorite amimals. I'd be ok with Norah's utterences if she produced along with them a modest farm animal or perhaps an octopus with multi-colored tenticles.
My Gov., your expectations are low indeed. Mine have been for about the last 5 years. That's why I've tuned out these miscreants on a permanent basis. They offer nothing but propagandistic malarky to feed imbecilic rubes.
...propagandistic malarky to feed imbecilic rubes
That's got a ring to it. Maybe Fox News could refresh their motto?
I knew this was going to be an issue when I watched the debate last night. I turned to whoever would listen to me and said: "He sounds like he's agreeing with him too much; the right-wing and other critics are going to have a field day with this tomorrow." I hate being right. I know it's nuanced, and I know it's a MLK-style debate strategy to cede a point to argue a larger point, but nuance is lost on this American electorate. Obama's people need to tell him to STOP agreeing, STOP saying he's right about anything. Did you notice McCain never ceded anything? In fact, his catchphrase was "Sen. Obama doesn't understand."
How about THIS, Dr. Engine. Only a sci-fi idea, but what if Obama had the means of hiring Karl Rove to take over his campaign? Wow, what a coup that would be! Can you imagine the effective dirty tactics (er, strategy) at Obama's disposal. Shades of "Twilight Zone". AND, the inside information that Karl could put to evil use. I'm not going to get too much sleep tonight...
Give pigrove enough money and he will take mickey c on a hunting trip and blame it on cheany. Of course you could get him to say just about anything also.
Karl Rove would sell his own mother to Osama bin Laden if the price was high enough!
That creepy little bastard is so vile.... I can see why we only see his mug on FoxNoise!
As for Nora O'Donnell..... I wish I could say that she should know better than to undermine her status as a journalist and purposely removing the CONTEXT of Obama's own words........... but I'd only be kidding myself!
I wonder when Max Dharma is going to show up? Can wait to see what he thinks of this...... Oh Max.... come out, come out where ever you are!
And yet, Obama won the debate, according to every poll I saw. I think the electorate understood what he was doing quite well.
If Obama doesn't say McCain is right in order to pursue a larger point, then he'll get criticized for that. "Why can't Obama just say McCain is right about something? Is this indicative of mature leadership?" If people are going to find a criticism no matter what, make them look hard. Make them be dishonest in order to do it. There's no way to prevent someone from being disingenuous, so wringing your hands over something like this is a waste of time.
It should also be noted that we've had bitter divisiveness in this country for fourteen years at least. I don't think that advising Obama to stop agreeing or saying McCain is right about anything does much to make anyone think that he's a candidate of change. McCain's failure to be cordial and respectful (particularly his inability to look in Obama's direction) may have been a major factor in the poll results.
You're exactly right. I said the same thing to my wife, that Obama was giving McSame credit and repeating "he's right" a bit too much. He should stop that immediately.
DAY THREE AFTER OBAMA KICKED MCCAIN BUTT AND THE WEB SITES ARE TALKING ABOUT MR. NEWMAN PASSING BUT IF MCCAIN HAD WON THE WEB SITES WOULD STILL BE TALKING ABOUT HOW MCCAIN KICKED OBAMA BUTT. WELL JUST WAITE FOR THE PALIN BIDEN DEBATE IF PALIN DOES A GOOD JOB OF BIDEN LOOKS LIKE HE IS ATTACKING THE POOR WOMEN THE WEB SITES AND NEWS SHOWS WILL BE TALKING ABOUT THAT DEBATE 24/7.
O'donnell's cut and paste video clips have about all the weight and substance of a third-graders' art class papier mache project.
I think they mean cropped. If you change the meaning of something by taking it out of context, that's cropping a quote. Clearly if Obama is disagreeing with McCain's larger points, then that context changes the perception of his concessions.
That darn Norah O'Donnell! She's so conservative it makes me sick!
“Norah O'Donnell aired cropped "John is right" clips, but in nearly all instances, Obama was criticizing McCain”
That’s because what’s newsworthy is that:
1. the McCain camp came out with that ad before the candidates walked off the stage
2. the ad is flatout hilarious
Why is anyone surprised by this? It’s called ratings.
PS. The ‘ratings’ comment explained: The reason’s it has to do with ratings is because if Norah O'Donnell aired cropped "John is right" with a full blah blah blah about how Obama was actually criticizing McCain, she would have sucked the funny out of the story whereby reducing ratings.
You think this is a problem, right? Or do you think that journalists should concentrate on humor over honest reporting?
The funny aspect was a freebie. Remember, the #1 reason for the story was “the McCain camp came out with that ad before the candidates walked off the stage”
The whole point Norah O'Donnel was making was that Barack said John was right so many times, that the republicans were quick to pick up on that and that it may have played well with independents.
MMFA’s presentation here is either disingenuous or incredibly naïve in suggesting that the context should have been explained.
What the hell are you talking about? The ad creates the impression that Obama actually ceded rhetorical ground to McCain. That impression is false. O'Donnell saying that it wasn't actually a debate clearly pushes that false impression, which is irresponsible journalism at best.
Do you really have an argument to the contrary?
The ad creates the impression that Obama actually ceded rhetorical ground to McCain. That impression is false.
I understand that, but the ad content was not the focus of the comments by Norah O'Donnel. Norah O'Donnel’s whole point was that republicans were quick to pick up on that and that it may have played well with independents
That’s the point. That’s what was being reported.
This is reverse psychology working out against Barack Obama. He should know better than to give McCain any sort of praise or credit even if the old man deserves it. And this discussion is precisely the reason why. The media is controlled by interests that are more aligned with McCain than Obama and will take anything out of context if it suits their agenda.
Obama should refrain from continually saying "John is right, but..." because the media will not bother to address what comes after the "but" and instead will just echo "John is right". It is such an elemental rhetoric mistep I'm surprised Obama keeps doing it.
To paraphrase the great linguist Professor George Lakoff, if you address a room full of people and you tell them "Whatever you do, do NOT think of an elephant", that's exactly what people are going to do.
Obama would be smart to study Lakoff.