Conservative talk-show hosts and bloggers have been hammering away
at the gooey NBC News Inside the White House specials with Brian
Williams adoring Obama. But Williams also drew fire from the hard-core
left. On Friday's Bill Moyers Journal, the PBS omnipresence and former
LBJ press aide said Williams offered a "candygram" to the President:
BILL MOYERS: Meanwhile, NBC News this week delivered a candygram to the President - two prime time specials called Inside the Obama White House. President Obama couldn't have asked for a sweeter salute...
BRIAN WILLIAMS: People react strongly to this President. We've seen people moved to tears after just the briefest encounter with him.
MOYERS: As for an exclusive revelation about your government from behind the White House's closed doors, well, hold your breath, here it comes...
WILLIAMS: There are apples everywhere. Orchards worth of them in bowls throughout the building. They are meant of course to promote healthy eating but what we saw more often is this: the West Wing may lead the western world in candy consumption.
WHITE HOUSE STAFFER: These are official White House M&Ms.
MOYERS: Now, I've been there, done that and got the tie clip. I can tell you this is the kind of Valentine every White House press secretary yearns to hand the boss. And it's not all that hard to achieve, because many of our watchdogs are as housebroken as Bo the White House puppy.
Williams not only offered Obama an hour Tuesday night and an hour
Wednesday night, but packaged the two hours together for a Friday night
repeat. NBC clearly offered an in-kind contribution to Obama's
political fortunes.
Of course, Moyers is one to talk about candygrams. Obama critics would nominate that softball Jeremiah Wright interview [1] last year as a Moyers candygram.
-Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center.