Misplaced Anger

This is Brian Williams from last night's NBC News ripping Mark McGwire.

Here's the quote:

Good evening. Because this is a family broadcast, we probably can't say what we'd like to about the news today that Mark McGwire—the home run hitter, the family favorite from the St. Louis Cardinals—stopped lying today and admitted that he did it while on steroids. For those of us who were raising young baseball fans and baseball players who looked up to Mark McGwire, that summer of ‘98 was magical stuff, as he and Sammy Sosa vied back and forth for the title of Single Season Home Run King. He didn't tell the truth to Congress or to his fans until finally, formally coming clean today. He's been unable to get into the Hall of Fame and, apparently—even for him—the shame here was too much.


Have you ever heard Brian Williams or any other network news anchor use that type of language: "stopped lying today" and "shame" when describing anything?

-Americans misled about Weapons of Mass Destruction?
-Torture?
-The shift of wealth over the past decade from the working and middle classes to the very wealthiest?

There isn't a political issue that isn't couched in "there are arguments on both sides" regardless of the merits of those arguments.  We have watched the erosion of our civil liberties, the erosion of our natural environment, the erosion of our nation's infrastructure, the erosion of any moral standing we might have had following 9-11 - we are still in the middle of an incredible economic collapse; Americans are dying every month because of a lack of health insurance; 25% of all mortgages are underwater - we have watched as, on multiple fronts, we have crept closer and closer to midnight on the Doomsday Clock -

And this is where Brian Williams decides to show some outrage.  This is who should feel shame: 

Mark McGwire. 

Unbelievable.  Unbelievable.  To future historians, let me suggest to you that as you look back at the early days of the 21st century, that your theme be the insanely misplaced priorities of those who held the megaphones.  While our country was in decade long freefall what we shouted about was steroids.