Without any kind of correction or even an update to a previous story that said the exact opposite, ABC News has just released enhanced video that shows a massive gash on the top George Zimmerman's head the night he was taken into custody (but not charged) with the shooting of 17 year-old Trayvon Martin. If you remember, it was just five days ago when ABC News released the same video without enhancement and a headline that declared: "Trayvon Martin Video Shows No Blood or Bruises on George Zimmerman."
In his article today about the release of the enhanced video, John Sexton writes, "At this point, ABC needs to explain why it took them until today to correct the record. Enhancing 4-5 minutes of video is not a five day job." Another question I would ask is why would ABC News declaratively say the video showed no "blood or bruises" when they knew they had the technology to enhance it and had yet to do so.
Part of the answer for this appalling behavior can be found over at NBC News, another outlet currently embroiled in a similar scandal, this one surrounding the "selective editing" of the 9-1-1 call Zimmerman made to police the night of the shooting. Simply put, NBC edited the tape to make Zimmerman sound as though he was racially profiling Martin:
Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black.
It was later discovered that the unedited 9-1-1 conversation went like this:
Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good. Or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about.
Dispatcher: OK, and this guy — is he black, white or Hispanic?
Zimmerman: He looks black.
It's worth noting that this edit, which the Washington Post's Erik Wemple called "high editorial malpractice well worthy of the investigation," did not appear on some MSNBC fever swamp show. This unthinkable and inexcusable act occurred on the NBC's legendary "Today Show."
Furthermore, it wasn't the MSM or any of our "esteemed" media watchdogs who caught these outlets red-handed. In the case of ABC News, The Daily Caller was the first to raise questions, and in the case of NBC, it was Fox News' Sean Hannity and Newsbusters. Or, new media.
So what's going on here? Why are ABC and NBC News joining CBS (remember Rathergate?) in the infamous pantheon of being caught red-handed engaging in the worst kind of journalistic corruption imaginable?
In a word: Desperation.
Obama's in trouble. He's been community organizing America for a number of months now and today he sits at 47% as Republicans are just starting to coalesce around our likely nominee, Mitt Romney. Obama's only chance of winning reelection is get his base out and the only way to gin up the base for a failed president is to get them angry and scared.
From Occupy Wall Street to attacking the Catholic Church to the rise of Obama's war against a non-existent war on women to the hypocritical crusade against Rush Limbaugh, nothing yet has gotten Obama up over 50%, which is where an incumbent needs to be going into an election. Four rounds of national community organizing and no luck in the polls.
What to do?
Well, then came round five, which we'll title: "He Would Look Like My Son," a presidential declaration that (with the help of Al Sharpton) pushed a local crime story (in a crucial swings state) into a nationally divisive racial flamethrower. This is what community organizers do. With the help of their media accomplices, community organizers get out the vote by exploiting tragedies, enflaming racial passions, and dividing communities.
ABC and especially NBC News want Obama to win reelection. The motives behind this disgraceful behavior isn’t any more complicated than that. Both threw out phony stories that they apparently thought would be game changers. And if you want to throw a little more media malfeasance into the mix, how about all this ridiculous "white Hispanic" nonsense.
What ABC and NBC did, however, is useful. Going into November, it's good to know just how low the MSM is willing to stoop in order to see Obama win a second term. Intentionally and maliciously enflaming racial division with false information is about as low as it gets.
