Monday, August 15, 2011

If You're Like Brian Williams...

Anyone who watches Nightly News knows that one of Brian Williams' favorite pastimes is to turn news stories into stories about him. He does this every night with carefully chosen phrases like "for those of us" or "if you're like me". That way, he's no longer talking just about the story's subject, he's talking about himself. This is how Brian feeds his massive ego--by making himself the subject of his stories. He did this several times on Monday's broadcast. During a story about last week's wild fluctuation in the stock market, he said, "That means it's now back to even after all those losses we went through last week." (Gosh, I hope Brian's fortune didn't take too big a hit.) A story about this weekend's Perseid meteor shower included, "For all of us who tried to take in the night sky...." Of course. Because for Brian Williams, the news is always about him. Which makes me curious. During the story Brian read about Warren Buffett's New York Times Op-Ed piece asking the president to tax wealthy people at a higher rate, why didn't Brian say, "For those of us who are super-rich..." or, "If you have an eight-figure income like me...."? Apparently, Brian is only interested in making the news about himself when it feeds into the fake image he's created as a common man of the people, just like his viewers. Yes folks, Brian Williams is a cigar-chompin', NASCAR watchin', beef jerky-eatin' reg'lar guy just like us! Except that he's worth millions and millions of dollars. So he's not really like us at all.

So next time you hear Brian say, "For those of us" or, "If you're like me", take a moment to think about how much like you Brian Williams really is. Or isn't.

No comments:

Post a Comment