Video of news reader Brian Williams poking finger at George W. Bush

posted at 3:50 pm on January 30, 2012 by

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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How many times has bho poked his finger at someone or on the face middle finger at someone? Has anyone called bho out on that? Dare I say, NO not gonna happen!
L

letget on January 30, 2012 at 4:02 PM

No. I think that a sitting gov should be more entitled to do the “finger poking” than some hack media figure.

chickie on January 30, 2012 at 4:06 PM

Hey this guy bows to Obama..he’s cool

burrata on January 30, 2012 at 4:09 PM

0dumbo has been wagging his finger at us for, what? Five years now?

It’s about time someone wagged one back at him.

Dominion on January 30, 2012 at 5:51 PM

So Brian Williams is obviously a racist – he just happens to hate WHITE Presidents….

dentarthurdent on January 30, 2012 at 6:47 PM

I think its a visual perspective thing. If you look closely, he’s not “poking” at Bush. He’s actually pointing to the right of Bush (Williams right), gesturing to go along with the question. He is gesturing in a circular motion about a “circular” question. Right after that, he swings his hand to his left, points at him, & asks “how have you been read wrong?”, gesturing the “you”.
To be fair, you could also say the same about the picture of Brewer pointing in the general direction of O’. It is harder to tell there though.

mgman on January 31, 2012 at 8:19 AM

NBC news reader Brian Williams

I see what you did there… and I like it!

The left constantly plays semantic games with our lives – we should return the favor. Refuse to pretend that these media bozo’s are anything more than talking heads, and hammer the point home at every opportunity. Each and every mention of Bri-Bri and his cohorts should be prefaced with “news reader”.

bofh on January 31, 2012 at 8:36 AM