It can’t be any fun for liberals trying to build a case against Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer as (a) rude, (b) racist, or (c) both for wagging a finger in the face of President Obama, but Breitbart.tv has dredged up an old video clip of NBC news reader Brian Williams poking a finger in the chest of then-President George W. Bush.
Frankly, having watched the video (in which the former president, detractors will be quick to note, adds an extra syllable to the word eclectic), I can’t for the life of me figure out why Williams made the gesture. The clip, which lasts approximately 90 seconds, appears to be part of a longer interview, whose broader context might shed light on the gesture. In the portion highlighted in the clip, the exchange between the two men seems largely amicable.
Interestingly, the gesture comes after an observation by the former president that contains a kernel of advice the current president might do well to follow:
The great thing about the presidency is that you’re totally exposed. And people—particularly if you’re making decisions, and hard decisions—spend a lot of time not only analyzing the decisions. They analyze the decision maker, and I understand that. But a president must never let them get him off track.
Of the gesture, Mediaite writes, “There’s a difference between a media figure and an elected official” poking a finger at the sitting president. That’s true. A state governor is a high-ranking political figure whose stature is much closer to the president’s than some member of the press.
It will be interesting, though, to see whether Brewer’s critics will react to this clip.
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