Per HuffPost and AP: NBC anchor Brian Williams lies about being in helicopter hit by enemy fire in Iraq

[@DCGoldPants]

If people want to hold NBC to a higher standard than they do for Fox, then he needs to go. Sucks because he does seem so likable. But that's just how it goes. 

[Corcaigh]

[Jumbo]

This sucks, I enjoyed Brian Williams on the news. Thought he was above this kind of ridiculousness.

Lester Holt here we come

 

 

I tend to view Brian as a guy who for years has been living off of an earlier-crafted image as a respectable news man (an image which he obviously likes) but in recent years is much more attracted to being a celebrity than a reporter---like a Matt Lauer with gravitas. But at least he had a sense of humor and I "liked" him well enough for what he was to me, but I haven't really respected him as a serious reporter for awhile---just a well-spoken talking suit for reading the network news.

[Riggo-toni]

This sucks, I enjoyed Brian Williams on the news. Thought he was above this kind of ridiculousness.

Me too. Maybe I am biased because I loved his appearances on the Daily Show, but I never thought he pandered the way the Cable news guys do.

[Predicto]

It's sad.   Definitely reminds me of Hillary Clinton claiming to have been under fire at that airport, or Ronald Reagan claiming to have helped liberate Nazi concentration camps even though he spent the entire war in Hollywood.  

 

It seems to be a commn part of human nature.   It makes you wonder how much of what you hear in history is actually true, or just embellishment after the fact.

[Popeman38]

Kinda undercuts his "apology" last night. He used this at MSG. No way MSG had all of this infor without Brian Williams feeding it to him.

[tshile]

Now people are digging through all his stories.

 

The problem with the helicopter story is that he's told it multiple times. The idea that it was a bad recollection 12 years later is just garbage. This wasn't the first time he told that story that way.

 

Also, according to members of the military that were there, he not only showed up an hour later, but he wasn't even there that long. He asked a few questions and then was flown out. If this turns out to be true, not only is the original story a lie but his apology was full of lies too.

 

His Katrina comments have been brought up as well. He apparently said he saw a body float by his hotel in the flood waters. Except he was put in a hotel in an area that didn't even flood.

 

His apology came off as a genuine mistake that he owned up to. But it's turning out to look more like a bunch of BS. I hope they uncover more. I liked Brian Williams, but I think people that do this need to be held accountable.

[TimmySmith]

My guess is what helped his career 12 years ago might kill it today.  Quit calling it a "mistake", tell the truth and maybe you have a shot to keep a bit of dignity.

[RansomthePasserby]

My guess is what helped his career 12 years ago might kill it today. Quit calling it a "mistake", tell the truth and maybe you have a shot to keep a bit of dignity.

Seriously. "Oh, wait, I DIDN'T have the traumatic and life threaten experience of being shot down in a helicopter? We landed safely? Wow, I must have misremembered a few details. My mistake."

[Predicto]

If I was Bob Woodruff, I would be PISSED.   He actually got half his brain blown out by a roadside bomb in Iraq, he will never be the same, and it cost him his anchorship at ABC News.  

 

Brian Williams just got to pretend.  

[Elessar78]

I doubt all the stuff he said on 30Rock now too.

[USS Redskins]

If he would have come clean last night and just said, I made it up... I would have much more respect for him...

 

I hate people who cover their asses with more bull.

 

I know he wont do that.. but it would have been refreshing.

[Wrong Direction]

Can I turn this into an anti-media thread, cause I sort of hate them all. News media today is about everything but providing a balanced, contextualized set of facts. That is true on the left and right, online, in print, on TV and on radio. The more I look, the more transparent it is. 

 

Anyway, I'm sure Brian Williams has done much worse in terms of how he structures his reporting than this. This episode smacks against his integrity, but the joke that is the media is a much bigger story than his stupid lie.

[USS Redskins]

If he was doing this to get chicks, then he gets a pass... I mean who among us hasn't embellished a bit to impress the ladies?

[Bang]

Frankly, it's a stupid thing to do, and he should get suspended for it.. but fired?

Shoot, be real, the guy READS the headlines and introduces the reporter to give a report.

It's not like what he does requires him to be doing a whole lot other than getting makeup and cues.

Anchors aren't reporters. They're readers. he throws it to Richard Engel who's in the middle of some **** somewhere. Williams is the front man. he may write the headlines he reads, but i doubt it, and if he does, they're headlines and an introduction.

I really don't have an opinion about him one way or the other as far as newsreaders go, because the news always has to be double checked anyway,, so if i hear him read an introduction to a story that seems interesting, i should look into it. So it's not like i feel he has betrayed a trust, because you shouldn't trust any one source to be your news these days unless your'e a fool.

Other than this fish tale, he seems to be pretty good at what he does.. he's engaging, he reads well, he's affable, and easy to listen to.

he shouldn't have done it simply for the embarrassment of being found out, but these days everything is a reason to destroy someone, and i just don't dig that vibe. Bloodthirsty.

The humiliation is a just punishment.

~Bang

[Kilmer17]

If this is an anti media thread, id like to know when morning joe decided to become the today show and who thought it was a good idea.

It's aweful now.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Always thought he was a giant bag of douche fluid.  Smug.  

 

I don't care if he's fired or not, I stopped watching "news" a long time ago.  

 

Honestly, I get my news from the ES Tailgate.  Yes, that's right.  If there's something major going on, chances are there's a thread on it here with a solid discussion with different viewpoints that make me think.  

[Forehead]

Well, that tears it.  I'm not believing any "on the front lines" reporter anymore unless it's Geraldo.

[Slateman]

Meh, every veteran embellishes to one extent or another. Brian was just trying to fit in.

[LeesburgSkinFan]

I recall when Dem Senator Tom Harkin, himself a pilot lied when he said he saw combat in Vietnam. The truth was he was ferrying a fighter to a base, hardly combat. Reputation ruined by embellishment.

[Elessar78]

Good posts, guys. That Williams guy is a sad douche. Sorry I couldn't add anymore until now. I was out all night and all morning partying with three bikini models and drinking some Dom poolside. Off to bed.

[airborneskins]

Meh, every veteran embellishes to one extent or another. Brian was just trying to fit in.

 

This is how I feel.  Who really gives a crap if he lied about being in a helicopter that was shot. 

Atleast he was out there on the front lines trying to report.

[twa]

NBC employs liars.....this is new? 

[LeesburgSkinFan]

His Hurricane Katrina experiece may be BS too:

 

 

http://pagesix.com/2015/02/06/brian-williams-hurricane-katrina-experience-in-question-report/

 

 

Others in the business have been summarily fired for much lesser.

[Predicto]

It's funny how the active military guys and veterans in this thread are less pissed off about this than the rest of us.  I wouldn't have expected that.