Dan Rather: Jesse Jackson paved the way for...Osama bin Laden?!
By SilentPatriot Saturday Jul 19, 2008 8:00am
When asked for his opinion on the whole Jesse Jackson/Barack Obama dust up, Dan Rather talks about his admiration for the legendary civil rights activists, and says Osama bin Laden wouldn't be possible without him. Say what?
Download | play 
Download | play (h/t Bill W)
I can understand accidentally mixing up Obama and Osama. It happens. What I don't understand is how Dan Rather could make the mistake of actually calling him the full Osama bin Laden. More astonishingly, how can the entire"Morning Joe" cast sit there and not correct him? Stupefying.
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Osama bin Laden in a dashiki, next on the cover of the New Yorker.
They must have fox news on in their grrn room :)
Actually, with MSNBC these days, I am not surprised no one corrected the " accident".
If it wasn't for Countdown I would cancel my cable subscription to MSNBC as try not to watch anything else that's on there anyway.
Morning Joe == Dumb-Founded
Barnicle, I'm ashamed of you.
*Don't mix them up! Don't mix them up!*
He probably said it to himself so many times he fell victim to his own preparedness...
It's just propaganda, don't for a second think it's on accident.
somebody removed the video or is it an error ! the wmv doesnt work,
not trying the QT devil spawn.
I heard that the other morning and did a double take, I thought it was just in my mind and that there is no way he could have said that because I have never heard someone confuse Barak Obama with Usama bin Laden (there is no O in arabic). Sometimes they will say Osama, but never have I heard the bin Laden added. Wow, just wow, i think that is why the cast just sat there, they were as dumbfounded as I was and thought that their ears tricked them because no one is that dumb.
Well, you know all them darker people are the same, right? They have, like, a brown-skin hive mind and stuff! Yeah! That's it!
...
And I think I'm ill just from typing that.
downloaded the mov and used VLC,
sad to see Dan Rather has lost it big time. thats a McCain style senior moment, and we should all expect his retirement announcement tomorrow.
JimboSlice @ 8:
what day was this broadcast !?
It's the least one can expect in the nation of corporate welfare and social warfare where your tax dollars are used to bail out corporations, endebt your children and the last real journalists standing slowly lose their senses. It's sad that there's noone on Morning Joe that will act like a journalist for a second and pause the conversation to correct the guest by saying that Obama indeed was in Iraq once (Thursday) and he's not Bin Laden (Friday). The only reason I watch MSNBC is because I get it for free. Thank God Gore issued the 2018 statement because now it's official and on record and there will be no excuses accepted from the government of, by and for the people as the American public asks them 3 months from now, 1 year from now, 3 years from now what's the status of the adjustments to be energy independent in 2018 and demands to see the progress. After all, it's the Vice President of the United States speaking and one can't get any more serious and credible than that, so if he says it's technically possible to be "fully green" 10 years from now, having all the experience, advisers and scientists by his side, the next 10 years will be finally the years of civic demands - no more f*****g with the American public and excuses that we can't do nothing for 2 years because an oil man is in the White House. WTF? What kind of excuse is that anyway if you fund two wars and use hundreds of billions of Americans' money to bail out a Wall Street bank in the meantime?
I remember the evening when Sir Robin Day 'lost it' and shouted down and harangued a wheel chaired disabled person on the BBC's Question Time,
the person had the gall to ask his question about disability benefits being frozen under the Conservatives, rather than the pre approved question to the panel.
They announced his retirement the next day.
Yeah, I have a similar problem. I keep saying "Adolph Hitler" instead of President Bush. But in my defense, I do think it's easy to confuse the two.
Because it's freaking Dan Rather. He could go fondle Joe and the rest will just have to watch.
Maybe the rest of the panel was just stunned into silence, too stupid to notice, or were spending their time thinking some smart and snarky to say next to actually listen what's going on...
I'm inclined to believe it's the last one.
lou @ 12:
Chimpy's statement about how in SEVEN years we could blah blah blah, forgetting he was the POTUS seven years AGO.
He had the opportunity back in 2001 to get the green ball rolling in the USA, GWB failed deliberately and miserably, all to the profit of his oil buddies.
See? This is how you do satire! If only the New Yorker had known!
c. atrox @ 14:
Hitler had vaguely competent advisers, and some policy or grand thousand year plan,
Chimpy has his drugs, his booze and his Wii, not much else.
We are lucky that we have morons in the WH, if they had been seriously evil then it would have been a very different past seven years.
Where do the Campaign Funds come from:
Open Secret
Obama
Individual contributions $286,382,376 100%
PAC contributions $-650 -0%
Candidate self-financing $0 0%
Federal Funds $0 0%
Other $1,016,219 0%
McSame
Individual contributions $104,783,672 88%
PAC contributions $1,143,214 1%
Candidate self-financing $0 0%
Federal Funds $0 0%
Other $13,667,709 11%
You can see who is beholding and who isn't.
♫..Bangkok Bob..♫ @ 19:
McCain is also going to do the double dip and get $80 million in taxpayer funding illegally.
end of August or September.
♫..Bangkok Bob..♫ @ 19:
it's beholden :)
Kilgore Trout, you do not need cable to watch MSNBC. Since you have an internet connection, simply bookmark Countdown on your computer.
Stunningly and stupefyingly out to lunch, the whole bunch, feuding slip, yes. Will happen again and again and until some one really makes a point about this, ON AIR, it will be sluffed off as a Minor mistake.
Dan will correct this, as soon as he see's it, but the rest, the panel will have a hard time, explainning why they were the deer caught in the headlights.
gus smith @ 22:
More information please.
ferrofluid (Obama 08) @ 11:
Friday morning I believe.
You have to understand though that it is hard for these guys to think of something original to say so you can understand if they are not paying attention to their guest . I mean its Mike "plagiarize or make shit up" Barnicle, and Tiki "Ewing" Barber, not exactly the cream of the broadcasting crop.
Ron @ 24:
countdown.msnbc.com - they have full episodes broken down by segment if you wish to watch. Actually MSNBC has most of their shows available to watch for free on the web in a pretty good format with playlist ability.
If you can get 1-3% of the uninformed public to keep this meme in their head, their boy McElderly can slither in a win! Deliberate and intentional....I am pissed more at Kiki Barber for not correcting him...but after football, he has to keep his corporate media job too.
Bruce @ 23:
You can never convince me that it wasn't deliberate.
Can't expect much from the Morning Jerk crew.
Joe said on the show last week that Valerie Plame was only a "desk jockey", twice and no one corrected him either.
Dan Rather = corporate pimp.
Stupefying to Say the Least ...
OhMiGawd! I saw that live and I also wondered how in the hell the entire panel could let that one slide, outside of some missplaced reverence for Mr. Rather. It further proved how out of touch some of our "respected" journalists have become. Despite some very good discussions regarding race on "Morning Joe" over the last week or so,(MSNBC is one of the few places where you'll see an all-black panel discussing the election rather than the requesite three whites /one black ratio...), I couldn't help but cringe over Rather's continual referral to "people of color" on the subject.
What - you never saw Broadcast News?
For Dan it was probably his concentration (consciously and unconsciously) on ... don't say Osama ...don't say Osama ...don't say Osama ... Osama Bin Laden.
For the others it was simply the fact that they never really listen to what any of their guests are saying and it likely didn't even register with them that he had said Osama Bin Laden. It's rather like reading when you read what your brain thinks is there rather than what is actually on the written page (with the errors, etc.). They're incompetent tools - certainly this is not news.
Morning Joe = morning joke
Not the least bit surprised. This sort of thing is not uncommon on the Morning Joke.
Steve @ 35:
Honestly, Steve, I had not read the comments before posting mine. I'm stealing your material; it's that old "great minds think alike" kind of thing. Sorry.
I don't get it. The slip and the lack of correction I believe are intentional. I don't know why Rather would have gone after Bush on his national guard record, then cooperate with the corporate news hounds on an Obama smear.
I know things aren't that cut and dry, but why lose your career trying to take out a top conservative and play ball trying to demean a top liberal?
What you want to bet no correction will be forthcoming?
ferrofluid (Obama 08) @ 10:
Dan Rather never had it to lose. Walter Cronkite he was not, nor could he ever be.
Not even remotely close.
See above.
"...how can the entire”Morning Joe” cast sit there and not correct him?"
How about that they haven't a brain among them, and also that their job is not to correct the mighty. Remember when Jim Lehrer said the same?
Politicians, especially Republicans, more and more openly lie on TV. They know that any subsequent correction will have only a fraction of the audience than that of the original lie.
Staggering... when you think what they earn collectively and not one of them is on the ball...
The use of Barak Obama with Usama bin Laden in the media is not a slip of the tongue but intentionally done in most cases. The repeated use is intended to confuse and equate him with Americans perceived greatest evil. Think it is bad now just wait until we are 60 days out from the election.
Be fore warned now! Never allow corporate media gain control of the internet as they have done with the printed papers, radio waves and the television transmissions. Americans will be dumbed down even more than the elementary level that the media speaks (shouts) at us now.
Throw rather in with Schieffer as a geriatric has-been. I grew up with Cronkite, but would not waste a minute on CBS News these days.
"Check it out, Dawg. White man won't be denied", Generation Kill, Episode 1.
Obama may as well have his name legally changed to Osama bin Laden since the media insists on calling him that. Then these idiots who call themselves newscasters will mistakingly call him Obama.
Interesting... So Dan Rather just revealed he watches FOX News a lot I suppose.
That wasn't Katie Couric?
I'm rather surprised that only one (thank you Nikola) of the commenters so far seem to be willing to acknowledge that it's possible (and even plausible) to make this mistake. It's particularly embarrassing that some of you seem to be seriously suggesting that it was done deliberately.
All you need is for the person in question (ie. Rather) to be more used to saying the full name "Osama bin Laden" rather than just "Osama" (which in his case I think is quite likely).
Then you just need him to start with the "Oba-" but instead slip into the "Osa-"... and the rest of the name just rolls straight off his tongue unconsciously.
Notice that later in the clip, one (or two?) of the others say "Barack Obama" and then Rather says the name correctly.
I think the lesson for media types is to stop referring to Obama by his surname alone - if they do that then it's just too easy to fall into the "mental typo" O[sb]ama trap. Stick to "Barack Obama" or "Senator Obama" (either of those is more respectful anyway).
Awww, That's just Dan being Dan.
No, I can't, and it shouldn't. EVER.
Frank Dufek @ 6:
It was on accident. Dan Rather is a good man and journalist and is NOT a right wing nutjob.
If you dont believe me check out his reporting on HD Net.
Hedley Lamarr @ 41:
They did not want to draw attention to the slip, nothing more.
Not to worry. The public is so confused now, that most probably don't remember who Osama is.
curtilingus @ 38:
And this proves we all make mistakes
So did Jefferson Davis pave the way for george w boosh?
Although it's a stretch since he used Osama's full name, one must remember that Dan Rather was always more of a Foreign Policy reporter, so Ben Laden would be more on his mind than domestic political stories.
He's also from the old school journalism of the big three networks, where one can study their notes, and not of the 24/7 news cycle.
Scarborough is obviously conscious of recent "darling of the left" accolades, and seems to be compensating.
Dan Rather is pretty liberal if I remember (no pun intended).
I think the slipup was because Dan Rather is at that age to have memory slips, but the staff of Morning Joe and Biden could have stopped him in mid-sentence and corrected him. I doubt he would have been upset at being corrected.
Dan Rather is a self-absorbed, doddering, old shill for the corporate/military/beltway failed elites. His cognitive health is impaired from 40 years of propoganda and intentional self-loathing. His distance from any semblance of the truth from Kennedy's mafia-executed demise to this latest first-year journalism student "slip" is evidence of his lack of objectivity and of acuity. No one should have any interest in what comes out of his mouth.
Neo-classical secular humanist @ 58:
What do you really know about Dan Rather? His reporting on HDNet brings up hard questions the media ignores, such as the increase in soldier suicides (excellent reporting) as well as the use of cluster bombs in Lebanon and occupied Palestine (excellent reporting) to name only two.
Furthermore, Rather's end at CBS was largely the result of his story on Bush bailing out of the National Guard. And, he later sued CBS for breach of contract.
Don't sound like much of a shill, and of you had access to HDNet, you would find his reporting covers stories ignored by the MSM.
Thanks Mark Cuban for HDNet and Dan Rather
Why is anyone surprised that the panel did not correct the error? It is apparent on all these talking head shows that NO ONE listens - they just talk. So these other guys were just waiting for their turn to say whatever bs they were going to say. I like Rather and would rather not see him demean himself on these shows.
curtilingus Said:
I know things aren’t that cut and dry, but why lose your career trying to take out a top conservative and play ball trying to demean a top liberal?
Top Liberal? From what I've seen of Barack Obama he's more middle of the road than Liberal.
Also Dizzy Gillespie paved the way for Haile Selassie.
The Republican party is paving the way for paving over the Earth.
(had to say it)
Ron @ 28:
I have to agree.
The rest just sat there , as mindless as always, simply pretending to be interested in what's being said but just allowing propaganda to flow like shit out their ass!!
Rather glanced to his left just before that weird statement. I wonder if he read "Osama bin Laden" on a cue card or something and it just implanted itself in his mind as he was speaking. I'm on my computer a lot, and sometimes I say the strangest things to people in the room (the real life room) because I happen to read a word or phrase just as I'm speaking. This is Dan Rather we're talking about here...I don't think he would ever do that sort of thing deliberately.
Maybe he has dementia.
"how can the entire”Morning Joe” cast sit there and not correct him?"
just look at the cast...enough said.
People on the news ALWAYS slip up on Iraq/Iran and Obama/Osama. I can see it as an honest mistake. Chris Matthews has done it like 5 times though. With all due respect I can tell the difference between the four, but to some of the Republicans I was arguing with all morning yesterday on Politco.com were suffering terribly from cognitive dissonance. Everyother Repubilcans post hammered away on all the tired spin about Hussein Obama being a muslim, secret agent, for the Al Qaeda, uh in Iran? He doesn't put his hand over his shoulder for the national anthem, but does for the pledge. He doens't wear a flag pin, his wife is REALLY proud of her country.
Tired, right! They litter the comments section with pictures of the Rev. Wright.
When I saw the enthusiam of US Troops meeting Obama I realized he is going to be the next President of the United States. The universe gives us what we need.
These people are supposed to be professionals, so either they aren't or this is BS. Hell, even in a sophomore medieval literature class the students don't confuse Uther Pendragon with Arthur Pendragon. This slip of the tongue excuse is too convenient and too frequent. Sometimes I get confused about whether to write "to" or "too", so I look it up and still scratch my head and still do it wrong, but i would never make the mistake of saying Osama bin Laden when I meant Barak Obama even if I saw it on a teleprompter. Sorry. No sale.
I have had a problem with Dan Rather for a while, no not because of the Bush Military or non-military nonsense but his seemly dislike for Senator Obama and his blatantly admiration for Senator Clinton.
I also watched the show this pass Friday and the moment he said people lie to posters; indicating from his perspective is that they will never vote for a black so they just lie to poster when they call… And from that point I just tuned him out; because this could also be looked at in others ways.
Example: The place where I am employed we have one of our Highest Ranked Brokers who runs around telling everyone not to vote for Senator Obama and to get him to leave, they tell him they are voting for Senator McCain but quietly under their breaths they have all said the same thing. They are voting for Senator Obama and they really hope he wins.
And this is so ironic because in other departments when it was predominately republicans that have all changed their views and will be voting for Senator Obama this November. Their explanation is one John McCain is too old and second when you have been in public life that long you have to now scratch the backs of people who scratched yours.
I do suspect that Senator Obama is having a Senior Problem because the major of the Reporters who seems have negative slanted coverage of him fall in line on the senior side, i.e.; Andrea Mitchell, Dan Rather, Bob Schieffer, McLaughlin and I would have added in Tom Brokaw but I watched him evolve through out the primaries so I have replaced with a non-reporter, Jesses Jackson
wow just gtting the day started and has to start with this
gem unbelievable.......i'm not sure these people caught
wow
odanny @ 51:
Pssh, a real journalist wouldn't just sit by idly collecting a MSM paycheck while our country continues to abandon civil rights and ignores reality.
I don't know if it's too late to address Silent's actual question, but it easily understood why Rather said the entire "Osama bin Laden," instead of just "Osama."
Rather, unlike, for example, Bush, always used Osama bin Laden's full name. Therefore, he is fully automatized (in the psychological sense) to say the entire six syllables once he starts.
Add this to the easy mistake of mixing rhyming names and you get what happened.
No big deal at all. Pretty much the same thing as any other Obama/Osama error.
Frank Dufek @ 72:
Dan Rather is no longer a MSM journalist, and I'm surprised to see him surrounding himself with that crew.
Did anyone figure out who the other two people are with Misha and Scar? I do believe that is Tiki Barber, the ex-NY Giant?
WTF? I can see why this trainwreck of a show had a this, it probably popped up on his teleprompter, and I would guess hefeels rotten about it. I wonder if he will apologize on his own show Dan Rather Reports
odanny @ 74:
The only reason they had Tiki on was because earlier in the week Joe the Idiot was making uncomfortable statement about African American not voting for McCain…it looked like MSNBC was under damage control because they had Tiki on for two days. The first day Joe the Idiot was on and Tiki didn’t look happy at all; quite frankly he appeared to stare down Joe the Idiot. And he also really looked disappointed on what Mika had become.
But Joe the idiot was really on a roll earlier in the week; attacking almost every guest that challenged him especially if it were a woman.
Jesus
"I can understand accidentally mixing up Obama and Osama. It happens."
Not to me, nor anyone I know, nor anyone I've ever met or seen who's not a right-wing nutjob or MSM hack. They're the only ones who seem to have the problem. I wonder why that is...
Commentator @ 77:
Well, it's feasible. It's not understandable, you can just get away with it on FOX.
.
Well Dan, it's in the blogs... YOUR OBL gaff...!
.
Not to worry. If Obama actually wins, I'll bet that when Jay Leno interviews people on the street and asks them who is president, most will respond:
"Uh, Osama bin Laden, right?"
Ya know why Dan can make a mistake like that? Because Osama BinLaden is about as frightening as our children are on Halloween!
The Dumb People are the ones we need to worry about when a mistake like this is made! Between worshipping the false God on Sunday and setting up Jesus camp they often refer to Obama as a muslim anyway...
All this little mistake has done is allow me to realize how old Dan really is...
odanny @ 59:
Agreed. Dan Rather is one of the last of the breed of true journalists with integrety. It's a shame he was booted off of 60 minutes and occasionally replaced by the likes of Katie Couric.
i've said it once and i'll say it again -- choose your battles.
i would bet my life savings on the fact that it was unintentional. a horrible mistake? absolutely. don't turn it into something it's not just to score some points about the media being out to get Obama.
if Sean Hannity had said it, or Bill O'Reilly, then there would be reason to think twice about it b/c you KNOW that they're doing everything they can to discredit the man. Dan Rather? I don't think so.
I am surprised there was no retraction (maybe there has been and i just don't yet know about it.)
Alien@83, you are so right. We seem to be in the minority here today.
Piren @ 84:
Yep, reason seems to seep out of this place with the election so close.
♫..Bangkok Bob..♫ @ 4:
i don't know why you are ever NOT ashamed every time you see barnicle's face.
he was fired from the boston globe for having committed serial plagiarism, over years. "rehabilitated" perhaps? maybe. but it's doubtful considering he's never taken responsibility for it. (and "i'm sorry" doesn't count when you then subsequently take every opportunity to redecorate the past to eliminate the need for that "sorry" and, by extension, the "sorry" itself.)
Ron @ 24:
this is the link that i use to watch countdown every day: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/
it takes you straight to the exact page, all you have to do is click on the "go" arrow.
the day's program is not available until, at the earliest, 9:30 pm eastern time, sometimes they don't get it posted until later, sometimes after 11 pm.
the viewer is quite good in that there is rarely a buffering issue and the segment-commercial-segment-commercial proceeds automatically. in contrast, the ABC viewer (i'm watching Lost from the beginning) is a bit of a pain if you do not have a wireless mouse that works from your easy chair because you have to click "continue" after each commercial break.
Dan said it because he is senile (and has been for a long time). They sat there and let it go by without correcting him, because not only were they embarassed, but they are cowards (and always have been).
Truly UnFuckingBelievable! This is officially forwarded across the universe. Dan Rather reports just got a big thumbs down too. Un-Fucking-Believable! Osama bin-Laden?
Who's that guy who asks Dan Rather the question at the beginning of the clip? I swear he looks just like Tiki Barber.
Just let it go! Dan made a mistake. Pure and simple. He's been a standard-bearer for the left since time out of mind. He's paid his dues and then some. Good grief!
Jo @ 31:
Your comment is based on?????
Chip @ 81:
Thanks. Rational thought alert!
I like the fact that people think Dan Rather is Right wing Nut
Morning Joe is an entertaining show ... You don't have to agree with everything
people say for it to be a good show !
I am NOT saying in this case But in general not one likes to have idea's challenged?
YOU PEOPLE ARE CRAZY
I LOVE BARAK ... But I have made that slip before.
The Problem was no one corrected him !!!
The Bigger Question is Why is a Football Player is on A political panel???
Typical Rather.
John Mclaughlin did it yesterday on his show too. Osama instead of Obama. Again, no one corrected him.
alien @ 83:
True. It's people like Ann Coulter to refer to Obama as "B. Hussein Obama" that are putting out propaganda, but I can understand the frustration among his supporters. It happens too often whether it's unintentional or not.
I wonder if the Obama people are smart enough to do a Geico parody ad with a complaining Osama bin Laden.
"Barack Obama. Fifteen minutes in the voting booth could save your children fifteen trillion dollars in foreign wars."
ferrofluid (Obama 08) @ 18:
They are seriously evil. And the full impact of what they have achieved over the last seven 1/2 years has yet to be apparent. It will have a lasting and profound negative impact on American democracy if not reversed.
Maybe no one said anything because it was clear to them that that was rhe type of thinking that had paved the way for Fox News?
Wow Dan.. you didn't even try to correct yourself..
SAD!
I'm not going to defend Dan Rather, because he should have been a little more alert with his words. However, let's keep in mind that EVERYTHING he reported about Bush's Air National Guard bug-out was true. He was savaged by the right and got no support from CBS because essentially he ws the old guy at the news anchor spot and didn't fit CBS's image any longer. So, CBS torpedoed him.
I remember Dan in his younger days in the field with the grunts in Vietnam, reporting the way Ernie Pyle used to, and when he got attacked at the 1968 Democratic convention by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's bully boys. The man had integrity then, and his beat-down manner today is a result of his shameful treatment by CBS. He was no Edward R. Murrow, but he's still the opposite end of the spectrum from Sh*t Fume and Mike Wallace's sperm stain on F*cx News.
All this means is that we have a presidential candidate whose name sounds enough like that of a terrorist to cause slips of the tongue. Kind of like when Jimmy Carter referred to Hubert Humphrey as Hubert Horatio Hornblower.
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