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Brian Williams signs off after 28 years with a message for America

Embiid

Embiid

Member
Feb 20, 2021
5,946
Did a search and couldn't find a thread. I thought this was great and very poignant. Always thought the dude got a bad rap. Yeah, the exaggeration scandal was bad but everyone fucks up.

"America is unrecognizable"


Video:



Transcript:
BRIAN WILLIAMS, NBC NEWS: Well, look at the time. I'll try to keep this brief. After 28 years of peacock logos on much of what I own, it is my choice now to jump without a net into the great unknown. As I do for the first time in my 62 years, my biggest worry is for my country.

The truth is, I'm not a liberal or a conservative. I'm an institutionalist. I believe in this place. And in my love of my country, I yield to no one.

But the darkness on the edge of town has spread to the main roads and highways and neighborhoods. It is now at the local bar, and the bowling alley, the school board, and the grocery store. And it must be acknowledged and answered for.

Grown men and women who swore an oath to our Constitution, elected by their constituents, possessing the kinds of college degrees I could only dream of, have decided to join the mob and become something they are not while hoping we somehow forget who they were.

They've decided to burn it all down with us inside. That should scare you to no end as much as it scares an aging volunteer fireman.

To my coworkers, my love and thanks...

As a proud New Jersey native, this is where I get to say, "regrets, I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention."

What a ride it's been. Where else, how else was a kid like me going to meet presidents and kings and the occasional rock star? These lovely testimonials that I can never truly repay make me hyper-aware that it has been and remains a wonderful life. It's as if I'm going to wake up tomorrow morning in Bedford Falls.

The reality is though, I will wake up tomorrow in the America of the year 2021, a nation unrecognizable to those who came before us and fought to protect it, which is what you must do now. My colleagues will take it from here.

I will probably find it impossible to be silent and stay away from you and lights and cameras after I experiment with relaxation and find out what I've missed and what's out there.

Every weeknight for decades now, I've said some version of the same thing. Thank you for being here with us. Us, meaning the people who produced this broadcast for you. And you, well, without you, there's no us.

I'll show myself out. Until we meet again, that is our broadcast for this Thursday night.
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trashbandit

trashbandit

Member
Dec 19, 2019
3,910
Dude said a whole lot of nothing. If you're concerned about the "darkness at the edge of town spreading to the main road" fucking say what that darkness is. If your left you'll read that darkness as the right, if you're right you'll read that as the left, and if he truly cared about being an institutionalist he'd name the actors that we're actively attacking that institution.
 
nsilvias

nsilvias

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,926
Grown men and women who swore an oath to our Constitution, elected by their constituents, possessing the kinds of college degrees I could only dream of, have decided to join the mob and become something they are not while hoping we somehow forget who they were.
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this feels like something that could be used by both the left and right to shit on each other.
 
Mekanos

Mekanos

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 17, 2018
44,267
I knew his speech would be some vague centrist crap.

Imagine being a "proud New Jersey native." It's Jersey!
 
Desi

Desi

Member
Oct 30, 2017
4,212
his comments read like the youtube comment section of the 1984 film during the rally. where each side claims he is talking about the other.
 
OP
OP
Embiid

Embiid

Member
Feb 20, 2021
5,946
I think not naming names made it more poignant of a sendoff. We all know the idiots he's talking about.
 
Mekanos

Mekanos

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 17, 2018
44,267
I'm not going to name names, but there were two countries in World War II that did a lot of fighting, and both have a responsibility to clean up their act and move away from the darkness.
 
Nothing Loud

Nothing Loud

Literally Cinderella
Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,003
I'm so tired of white people taking a both/neither side approach. They're complicit in violence against the oppressed and minorities in this country. Take a fucking stand. Call out nazis and racists and homophobes and TERFs and antivaxxers. Highlight the danger they are with your platform for gods sake. What pitiful cowardice. If you're quitting your job and leaving a message, at least make it worthwhile
 
OP
OP
Embiid

Embiid

Member
Feb 20, 2021
5,946
For the record, I had no idea he's a longtime centrist, just thought it was a poignant warning.
 
samoscratch

samoscratch

Member
Nov 25, 2017
2,843
trashbandit said:
Dude said a whole lot of nothing. If you're concerned about the "darkness at the edge of town spreading to the main road" fucking say what that darkness is. If your left you'll read that darkness as the right, if you're right you'll read that as the left, and if he truly cared about being an institutionalist he'd name the actors that we're actively attacking that institution.
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Preach, very well said.
 
OP
OP
Embiid

Embiid

Member
Feb 20, 2021
5,946
Strike said:
"We" do, but it really needs to spelled out for a lot of people. Reality is no longer objective.
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Good point. However, spelling it out would mean the right instantly disregards it. Even though everything he said is true they'd immediately shit on it and call it fake news.
Written with symbolism like this, maybe it'll hit different.
 
Kyrios

Kyrios

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,737
trashbandit said:
Dude said a whole lot of nothing. If you're concerned about the "darkness at the edge of town spreading to the main road" fucking say what that darkness is. If your left you'll read that darkness as the right, if you're right you'll read that as the left, and if he truly cared about being an institutionalist he'd name the actors that we're actively attacking that institution.
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That's been the problem for a while now, it's only ever the left being directly called out, but when it's the right being called out, it's always some vague shit or they both sides it.
 
Grouch Douglass

Grouch Douglass

Banned
Nov 9, 2017
3,777
5925a40834911bf6378b5ce8


His daughter is a good actress at least.
 
bdbdbd

bdbdbd

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,909
Jesus folks, it was a 2 minute farewell at the top of an hour long episode. I haven't watched his show much, but he does generally "name names" plenty from what I've seen.
 
LegendofJoe

LegendofJoe

Member
Oct 28, 2017
12,099
Arkansas, USA
That was a wet blanket of a statement. The cowardice of media people like them who refuse to call a spade a spade is a huge reason why America is no longer recognizable.
 
rjinaz

rjinaz

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
28,443
Phoenix
Be more like Dan Rathers. That guy rips into the Right every chance he gets, and, names them.

Fox News could play this speech and follow up with "he's right, Socialism is very SCARY!"
 
Autumn

Autumn

Avenger
Apr 1, 2018
6,414
Depending on who you are in American, it has always been unrecognizable.

And 28 years in media you know how the sausage is made.
 
trashbandit

trashbandit

Member
Dec 19, 2019
3,910
Embiid said:
Good point. However, spelling it out would mean the right instantly disregards it. Even though everything he said is true they'd immediately shit on it and call it fake news.
Written with symbolism like this, maybe it'll hit different.
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Either they disregard it or they can then use what he said as fodder for their arguments. Last I checked providing more ammo for the fascists is the worse option between that and them brushing off criticism.
 
ryan13ts

ryan13ts

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,108
bdbdbd said:
Jesus folks, it was a 2 minute farewell at the top of an hour long episode. I haven't watched his show much, but he does generally "name names" plenty from what I've seen.
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Yeah, I really don't get all the hate, especially for someone attempting to make light of the shitty situation this country is in currently. Just by his words he's making it perfectly clear which people are ruining the country, which are hardcore conservatives engaging in fascism like January 6th and other shitty acts.

Not everything needs to be complete scorched earth to get a point across.
 
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trashbandit

trashbandit

Member
Dec 19, 2019
3,910
ryan13ts said:
Just by his words he's making it perfectly clear which people are ruining the country, which are hardcore conservatives engaging in fascism like January 6th and other shitty acts.
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Except he's not making it perfectly clear, he's making it vague enough for people to interpret it as they please. You interpret it as a jab at hardcore conservatism, and even if that's his intention as well, hardcore conservatives who are bought into their way of thinking are not going to assume he's talking about them. No one assumes they're the bad guy, and to do so requires a degree of introspection that the right has shown little interest or ability in doing.

It is pure, uncut naivete to assume this is some poignant statement that's going to send a message to people undermining a democracy to re-think their ways. This is real life, not the West Wing.
 
PAFenix

PAFenix

Unshakable Resolve
Member
Nov 21, 2019
14,802
I didn't realize he was still on NBC. I quit seeing him at all after Lester Holt replaced him on weekly night news.

nsilvias said:
this feels like something that could be used by both the left and right to shit on each other.
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That was, unfortunately, the point. No accountability.
 
OP
OP
Embiid

Embiid

Member
Feb 20, 2021
5,946
Damn remind me not to make political threads again 😆. I understand the replies but I didn't think it would be this hostile. Just thought it was a good, poignant message for his sendoff. I seriously doubt it's vague enough where conservatives would use it as fodder. It's obvious he's talking about them and he's done plenty of naming names on his show in the past so put 2 and 2 together.
 
joedick

joedick

Member
Mar 19, 2018
1,390
rjinaz said:
Be more like Dan Rathers. That guy rips into the Right every chance he gets, and, names them.

Fox News could play this speech and follow up with "he's right, Socialism is very SCARY!"
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But there's a difference to comments made on social media or on the panel of a late night comedy show vs. the summation to your decades long career. He does a news show, it shouldn't have heavy handed opinions, especially if it's off the top of the episode as someone mentioned. If he did, it would just be a lefty version of those Fox news shows, which MSNBC has enough of. From what (admittedly little) I've seen, Williams has called shit out as it pertains to the news, and gives his take when he's a guest on other shows.

People calling out MSNBC for not being liberal enough, never thought I'd see the day
 
painey

painey

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,621
I am not American, so to me this guys claim to fame is lying that he got shot down in a helicopter by an RPG.
 
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