A man who became rich, famous, and influential for his ability to tell outrageous lies with a straight face is now, um… telling the truth with a straight face? I guess it’s not outside the realm of possibility.
After the ad where the guy from Community sanctions your porn habits for some reason, here’s Brian Williams taking another baby step toward the day when anybody, anywhere trusts him again:
“I was not trying to mislead people.” “It came from a bad place.” So he’s pleading insanity? Either he was trying to mislead people or he doesn’t know the difference between fantasy and reality. Not that either one precludes a journalism career, I suppose, but…
Come on, Brian. It wasn’t a “sloppy choice of words.” You can’t “own this” without owning this. You lied. Just admit you lied.
I mean, are we supposed to feel bad for this guy? Sure, he fell from a great height, but he’s landing in more money than most of us would ever see in 10 lifetimes. Even if he’s banished to MSNBC, he still gets to pretend to be the guy he has pretended to be his whole career. He still gets to squint into a camera and play anchorman.
Hell, his life will be so much simpler now. Hair, makeup, teleprompter, repeat. He doesn’t have to worry about “sloppy word choice” anymore, because now he’s talk-show poison. Now he can’t get a commencement-speech gig at an elementary school. Now he’s Ron Burgundy without the gravitas.
Works for me.
(Hat tip: Ed Morrissey)