Labor journalist Mike Elk (In These Times, 5/16/11) made an excellent point after watching NBC host David Gregory interview Newt Gingrich on Sunday’s Meet the Press (5/15/11). Elk wrote:
Speaking yesterday on Meet the Press, Republican presidential candidate and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said that “the Obama system of the National Labor Relations Board [NLRB] is basically breaking the law to try to punish Boeing and to threaten every right-to-work state.”
While Meet the Press host David Gregory vigorously challenged Newt Gingrich on details of his personal life, he failed to challenge Gingrich on his false assertion that the NLRB was breaking the law by finding that Boeing punished workers for striking in Washington state by moving a planned new production line there to nonunion South Carolina. Despite the NLRB complaint against Boeing being one of the most high-profile NLRB cases in decades and entirely consistent with past legal precedent, Gregory failed to say anything.
His decision not to challenge Gingrich on the Boeing case is especially troubling since the main sponsor of Meet the Press is none other than Boeing. The top of Meet the Press‘ website proudly boasts that the show is “sponsored by Boeing.” No other corporation is listed so prominently as a sponsor on the website. In addition, Boeing is the exclusive sponsor of Meet the Press‘ iPhone app.
This reminded me of Gregory’s response last year when ABC‘s This Week started posting factchecks (courtesy of Politifact) of their guests on their website:
An “interesting idea,” Gregory allows, but not one the NBC show will be emulating. “People can factcheck Meet the Press every week on their own terms.”
I guess that’s especially true when the subject is a sponsor.
Newt is toast.Why so much time spent on him FAIR?
I’d note that this post isn’t really about Newt, it’s about Meet the Press’ relationship with Boeing.
Gregory is an utter embarrassment to his profession and should have been fired years ago.
When contacted about Gregory’s assertions that Social Security and Medicare are a major reason for our deficits, I was told that the Factcheck.org only fact checks politicians; they do not fact check the TV pundits. In fact, Social Security adds not one dime to the deficits. Medicare, as is Social Security, from the FICA payroll tax. Social Security is totally funded by the payroll tax. Medicare has other sources of funding; co-pays, deductibles, and contributions from the beneficiaryies Social Security benefits. Also, for those with higher incomes, they must pay taxes on up to half of their Social Security benefits depending on their total income. Those taxes are dedicated to fund Medicare. Social Security is not part of the federal budget and Medicare should not be since they both have their own sources of income that seperate from federal income taxes.
Furthermore, Social Security has been exempted from across the board spending cuts through past legislation. In 1983 and by Graham, Rudman, Hollings act, Social Security became an off budget program again. In 1968, President Johnson started reporting Social Security in the unified budget. It was a matter of how to report the general budget. You can read all about the process at: http://www.ssa.gov/history/BudgetTreatment.html
Thank you, Gene. These are good points that politicians and the media almost across the spectrum regularly ignore.
David Gregory should have bill orlys old job on the “Entertainment Tonight” show. There he could really put his particular skills to work, digging up important news about celebrity marriages and adulteries.
“MC Smirky” lost what respect I had for him back when he was documented gettin’ jiggy on stage with MC Rove at the Press-Pol cirque de jirque.
TC, why do you contribute something here that people need translation to understand?
Gregory is not an utter embarrassment to his profession, he is an embarrassment to journalism. In terms of his profession, he is doing exactly what he is supposed to do.
Jamie, what gives, I think I understood TC.
Jiggy is what I think to be:
1. a rapid, lively, springy, irregular dance
And MC Smirky Is what Gregory has on his face most of the time, a smirk. Master of Ceremonies, I think and the cirque de jirque is the circle of jerks at the press and politicians event.
I would like to add that I saw MC Smirky at Rush Limbaugh’s wedding and he was cutting a rug, enjoying himself.
Love that term “right to work”.What American could disagree with that?