Betty vs. Veronica in Washington, D.C.
On August 1, CBS News White House correspondent Norah O'Donnell was interviewing Obama Press Secretary Jay Carney about the debt deal reached between the president and Congress. O'Donnell explained to Carney, "Democrats are saying, 'We got nothing!'" John Podhoretz, the conservative editor of Commentary magazine pounced. He believed that O'Donnell had simply said "We got nothing," thus placing herself firmly in the Democratic camp.
Podhoretz did not hear the preceding "Democrats say," which is mostly inaudible in the clip. Yet instead of backing down, Podhoretz doubled down. He claimed that O'Donnell's body language and tone were themselves evidence of bias.
"This is something to which I, as a conservative member of the media and watcher of media for three decades now, have long since been hypersensitive," Podhoretz wrote. "The raised eyebrow, the cynical half-glance, the ironic turn of phrase, some inappropriate anger -- these are all behavioral cues that reveal a supposedly objective reporter's true feelings and in which they unconsciously express their ideological fealties."
He's right. You don't need to be a language expert to detect when a person's tone and body language reveal their true feelings. And in the case of O'Donnell, it's not necessary to split hairs and go all Zapruder with 10 seconds of tape when there is a much bigger, and hilarious, clip that gives her away with no room for ambiguity. (Oh, and in a much lower key there is also this Freudian slip.)
It was November, 2009, and Sarah Palin's book Going Rogue had just been released. The media was hypoxic. Most simply could not hide their rage at Palin, a gorgeous, sexy, fertile, pro-life conservative Republican. Andrew Sullivan, suffering the vapors, was actually driven offline for several days.
Stories had been floated out that some sections of Going Rogue were not true (stories which themselves turned out not to be true), and on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" the atmosphere was like a high school clique of cool kids who had just found out that the head cheerleader was busted with a joint.
Norah O'Donnell could not resist the breathless, witch hunt atmosphere. Her reaction was so silly, so dinner-theater awful and over the top that it was in fact flattering to Palin. Because it revealed that Norah O'Donnell is a lousy liar.
After Joe Scarborough and his gang piled on the insults and questioned Palin's credibility, O'Donnell, her entire face clenched, blasted in: "We have to find out," she pleaded, "IF SARAH PALIN IS TELLING THE TRUTH!!!" She looked like she was having trouble breathing. She hadn't read one syllable of the book.
I have been trying to track this clip down. Consider this column an open request to someone with better access to surf through the "Morning Joe'" archives. I submit to you that, were that clip ever to get out, the debate about Norah O'Donnell's bias ends.
Forget about the usual gripes: that O'Donnell could not summon rage, much less average curiosity, about Obama's books (and past). Or that, as John Podhoretz notes, her "some say" approach to questioning is indeed a cover for delivering liberal talking points under the mask of "objective journalism." Forget her DNC-friendly insights on "The Chris Matthews Show," where she is a regular.
Just watch that tape of her talking about Palin. It is the look of Veronica Lodge finding out that Betty Cooper has a date with Archie. It is a spasm of the right brain, that place of pure feeling and emotion beyond rationality and logic. It is someone denying they are in love with someone even as they blush and stare at their shoes.
And it said one thing: Norah O'Donnell is liberal, and she despises Sarah Palin. After looking at this elusive clip, only a fool would think otherwise.
It's sad that Palin is unlikely ever to become president, thus denying us a front row seat at a show that would be a combination of "Oprah," "Face the Nation" and "Jersey Shore." Purely as repressed psychosexual drama, watching O'Donnell cover the Palin White House would be the greatest reality show of all time -- "Betty and Veronica in D.C."
Just think about the gymnastics O'Donnell would have to perform. She would have to "objectively" cover someone whom the lizard part of her brain wants to strangle. This would lead her to attempt to overcompensate, perhaps by complementing Palin on an outfit or on being a strong mother. But in fact these positive stories would only be chits to be used later, when O'Donnell reported the stories that attempted to bring Palin down.
"I supported leaving Piper and Bristol alone," O'Donnell would plead. "I was down the middle on her recycle-your-cupcake-wrappers initiative. I think I've been fair."
All the while, her coiled neck muscles, the umber of her rage-filled cheeks, her ADD-style outbursts would all say one thing: kill, kill, kill. It would be awesome. Chris Matthews could be Mr. Weatherbee.
