Betty White Trumps Gordon Brown

Let me make sure I understand this. On Monday, embattled British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that he would step down as Labour Party leader in September in order to facilitate a deal that would allow a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition to run the country. But Brian Williams did not even mention this on Monday's Nightly News broadcast. Instead, Brian devoted a minute and a half to "news stories" about Will Ferrell's clownish impersonation of a drunken minor league baseball player and Betty White's appearance on Saturday Night Live (with a special mention that SNL "posted its best overnight ratings in 18 months"). This was the second "story" Brian did about Betty White's SNL appearance--he also closed Friday's broadcast with an earnest report about the "living legend" along with clips from her SNL rehearsal. That means that Brian has reported almost as many stories about Betty White's SNL appearance (2) as stories about the British election (3). You'd think that with no Nightly News airing on Saturday or Sunday (because golf was more important), Brian would report actual news on Monday instead of wasting our time with pointless entertainment drivel and self-promotional back-patting. But, of course, you'd be wrong. That is disgraceful.