This X business fascinates me, and while I'm inclined to go with Evan Coyne Maloney -- "CNN should get the benefit of the doubt. There's an old saying: Never ascribe to malice that which can be explained by incompetence" -- I find myself wondering if there would have been a similar reaction on the left had Fox News committed a similar blunder by flashing a big black X over Hillary Clinton's forehead.
Watching the video (which Ian Schwartz has available for streaming), it's certainly understandable why conservatives would react, especially because the hated Dick Cheney is always a favorite, well, target for lack of a better word.
I'd also give CNN the benefit of the "never ascribe malice" maxim, but this brings to mind another maxim called "trust but verify."
There's also such a thing as malicious incompetence, but if I get started I'll be more late for a dentist than I already am, and we can't have my dentist thinking I'm incompetent or malicious, can we?
A well-placed CNN insider claims a control room staffer "laughed" when the image appeared shortly after 11 am.
Are control room staffers supposed to laugh at their work product?
MORE: I kind of like enjoy the CNN explanation in there from the control guy who said it was like your computer will glitch:
And it's the sort of thing that just like your computer will glitch and will suddenly lock up and do something weird, our equipment does the same thing on occasions.
I'm going on occasion soon myself.
posted by Eric on 11.22.05 at 07:19 AM
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A well-placed CNN insider claims a control room staffer "laughed" when the image appeared shortly after 11 am.
Are control room staffers supposed to laugh at their work product?
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The appropriate reaction to an unexpected fiasco like that is a gasp and a look of dismay. If somebody laughed, somebody knew- or somebody doesn't give a damn about competent reporting.
Given the record of CNN, I believe it was intentional. As a great Senator once said about the record of the State Department: "If it was merely a matter of blunders or stupidity, you'd think they'd make a few mistakes in our favor."
They're trying to undercut Vice President Cheney because he is much more conservative, much more hawkish, than the President. He is their real enemy, and they know it.
The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler
Don?t bang your head!
A well-placed CNN insider claims a control room staffer "laughed" when the image appeared shortly after 11 am.
Are control room staffers supposed to laugh at their work product?
--
The appropriate reaction to an unexpected fiasco like that is a gasp and a look of dismay. If somebody laughed, somebody knew- or somebody doesn't give a damn about competent reporting.
Or both. I vote both.