# MSNBC Edits Mitt Romney Speech To Make Him Look Silly **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 20, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msnbc-edits-mitt-romney-speech-to-make-him-look-silly/625769 "2012-06-20T17:43:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msnbc-edits-mitt-romney-speech-to-make-him-look-silly/625769/1 "2012-06-20T17:43:05Z")
Like the cite says, [Editing down for time is one thing. Selectively editing and mocking based on the selective edit is another.](http://mrctv.org/videos/msnbc-selectively-edits-romney-speech-laughs) This is h\*rseshit and clear bias. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msnbc-edits-mitt-romney-speech-to-make-him-look-silly/625769/2 "2012-06-20T17:48:31Z")
OK, I watched the video. How are we supposed to know what was edited? Can’t get on board with this pitting (this is a pitting, btw) without more info. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msnbc-edits-mitt-romney-speech-to-make-him-look-silly/625769/3 "2012-06-20T18:01:00Z")
I think news outlets in general shouldn’t be in the business of making fun of people. There’s more than enough crap going on that they could actually cover that we don’t need them to spend time covering some _hilarious_ misstatement (99 times out of 100 it’s not even that funny) and asking a person from the opposing political party to make fun of it. That’s a waste of everybody’s time. I’m not really sure what is supposed to have happened in this instance, but in context it sounds like Mitchell was trying to say Romney is out of touch because he’s never ordered a sandwich at Wawa using a touchpad. Is that right? If so, I must also be out of touch because I’ve never ordered a sandwich that way, didn’t realize anyplace did that, and not only that, I’ve never heard of Wawa since I’ve never been to Wisconsin. So if that’s the case, it’s a disingenuous and stupid edit, and I’m shocked, _shocked_, I tell you, that overtly left-leaning MSNBC would do this kind of thing to a Republican. Besides, MSNBC is not nearly as good at this as Fox News is. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msnbc-edits-mitt-romney-speech-to-make-him-look-silly/625769/4 "2012-06-20T18:01:08Z")
I guess they let the cat out of the bad during the supreme court case, where video of the oral arguments was, shall we say, heavily edited to make the government’s position look bad. Sauce for the goose? ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msnbc-edits-mitt-romney-speech-to-make-him-look-silly/625769/5 "2012-06-20T18:02:42Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > This is h\*rseshit and clear bias. Bwahahaha Here is a YouTube version: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/IFcOBRqL8kk/hqdefault.jpg "Wawa Gate: MSNBC/Andrea Mitchell Edits Video to Smear Romney") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFcOBRqL8kk) Essentially, MSNBC edited out the lecture on the lack of competition for the federal government, but the Wawa stuff was all there and in the order delivered. Amazing. One gets the impression Mittens would have been impressed by a Horn and Hardart automat in 1940. ---
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msnbc-edits-mitt-romney-speech-to-make-him-look-silly/625769/6 "2012-06-20T18:02:51Z")
This was Romney’s message, as reported by Politico: \*Discussing how the public sector suffers from a lack of competition, Romney told the audience about an optometrist who wanted to change his address and subsequently received 33 pages of paperwork from the federal government, which begat a months-long bureaucratic nightmare during which the optometrist in question wasn’t receiving his checks. “That’s how government works,” Romney said. Then, to illustrate the advantages of competition in the private sector, Romney shared an anecdote from his visit to the local WaWa chain store. “I was at WaWas, I went in to order a sandwich. You press a little touchtone keypad – you touch this, touch this, go pay the cashier – there’s your sandwich. It’s amazing. People in the private sector have learned how to compete. It’s time to bring some competition to the federal government.”\* Full article here: [MSNBC mischaracterizes Romney remarks - POLITICO](http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/06/msnbc-misportrays-romneys-wawa-remarks-126545.html) ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msnbc-edits-mitt-romney-speech-to-make-him-look-silly/625769/7 "2012-06-20T18:09:39Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > OK, I watched the video. How are we supposed to know what was edited? > > Can’t get on board with this pitting (this is a pitting, btw) without more info. Its split screen, with the bits shown by MSNBC on the left and the full speech on the right. But yea, I agree its dishonest and MSNBC should issue a mea culpa. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msnbc-edits-mitt-romney-speech-to-make-him-look-silly/625769/8 "2012-06-20T18:21:19Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > Essentially, MSNBC edited out the lecture on the lack of competition for the federal government, but the Wawa stuff was all there and in the order delivered. In the order delivered, yes, but without the prefacing story of the optometrist it sounds like Romney is wowed purely by the existence of card-readers at WaWas, and not by the difference between the optomotrists experience and his buying a sandwich. Dropping the first half of the story totally distorts it. Romney actual story was pretty stupid in any case (changing the billing address of a doctors office isn’t in anyway similar to buying a sandwich, so trying to draw a conclusion by the fact that one involves paperwork and the other doesn’t is dumb. I used to work in a medical billing office, and dealing with Medicare generally involved a lot less hastle and paperwork then billing the private insurers). But stupid or not, MSNBC shouldn’t have distorted it. > [@](#): > > One gets the impression Mittens would have been impressed by a Horn and Hardart automat in 1940. One does get that impression, yes. That’s the problem. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msnbc-edits-mitt-romney-speech-to-make-him-look-silly/625769/9 "2012-06-20T18:22:22Z")
I don’t think it’s dishonest, I just think it’s bad commentary. They didn’t misrepresent anything he said, which was that the sandwich ordering system at WaWas, which is the direct result of private sector competition, is amazing. MSNBC tried to make it seem like automatic sandwich ordering is commonplace. “Look how out of touch Mitt Romney is, like he’s never bought his own sandwiches!” But you know what? Ordering a sandwich at WaWas IS amazing for like 90% of the country who have never been there. So I share his sentiment, and even with the clips all taken out of context like that, the supposed “ha ha” moment that MSNBC wanted just doesn’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msnbc-edits-mitt-romney-speech-to-make-him-look-silly/625769/10 "2012-06-20T18:30:29Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > This is h\*rseshit So is the concept that it’s acceptable for Romney or any other Republican to be President. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msnbc-edits-mitt-romney-speech-to-make-him-look-silly/625769/11 "2012-06-20T18:55:04Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > So is the concept that it’s acceptable for Romney or any other Republican to be President. And in furtherance of that goal, it’s OK to do… what, exactly? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msnbc-edits-mitt-romney-speech-to-make-him-look-silly/625769/12 "2012-06-20T18:58:19Z")
**Kaylasdad** , I fear you have offended \*\*Bricker’\*\*s delicate sensibilities. Say you’re sorry! ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msnbc-edits-mitt-romney-speech-to-make-him-look-silly/625769/13 "2012-06-20T19:01:03Z")
I think Romney was lying about the 33 pages of government forms, it’s actually a two page form. So maybe they were trying to help him but cutting out the lies. Of course, there will have to be a lot of editing if that’s their standard. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msnbc-edits-mitt-romney-speech-to-make-him-look-silly/625769/14 "2012-06-20T19:20:33Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I think Romney was lying about the 33 pages of government forms, it’s actually a two page form. So maybe they were trying to help him but cutting out the lies. Of course, there will have to be a lot of editing if that’s their standard. Are you sure? You have to notify the state board of optometry - obviously how you do that depends on your state, but let’s say that’s only one page. And let’s agree to not even count the quasi-governmental USPS form. Then there’s [this form for updating your Medicare / Medicaid provider information.](http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/CMS-Forms/CMS-Forms/Downloads/cms855s.PDF) It appears to be 37 pages long. What form are you talking about – the two page form? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msnbc-edits-mitt-romney-speech-to-make-him-look-silly/625769/15 "2012-06-20T19:24:18Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I think Romney was lying about the 33 pages of government forms I normally assume that politicians are lying when they make these kinds of claims. That’s a separate issue from MSNBC’s edit of the speech. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msnbc-edits-mitt-romney-speech-to-make-him-look-silly/625769/16 "2012-06-20T19:25:51Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I think Romney was lying about the 33 pages of government forms, it’s actually a two page form. So maybe they were trying to help him but cutting out the lies. Of course, there will have to be a lot of editing if that’s their standard. Well, that’s the other reason why the story is annoying. There are at least two legitimate issues to attack Romney on regarding that story: one is that it doesn’t appear to be true (or at least, so far no one seems to be able to come up with a change of address form for Medicare reimbursements that approaches anything close to 33 pages) and even if it were true its nonsensical. Buying a sandwich isn’t in anyway like changing your address for Medicare reimbursements. But instead MSNBC decided to just make something up. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msnbc-edits-mitt-romney-speech-to-make-him-look-silly/625769/17 "2012-06-20T19:36:32Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > In the order delivered, yes, but without the prefacing story of the optometrist it sounds like Romney is wowed purely by the existence of card-readers at WaWas, and not by the difference between the optomotrists experience and his buying a sandwich. Dropping the first half of the story totally distorts it. > > Romney actual story was pretty stupid in any case (changing the billing address of a doctors office isn’t in anyway similar to buying a sandwich, so trying to draw a conclusion by the fact that one involves paperwork and the other doesn’t is dumb. I used to work in a medical billing office, and dealing with Medicare generally involved a lot less hastle and paperwork then billing the private insurers). But stupid or not, MSNBC shouldn’t have distorted it. > > One does get that impression, yes. That’s the problem. We already knew he was easy to impress. The right height of trees in Michigan, etc. MSNBC did us a favor by editing out the snoozefest lecture. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msnbc-edits-mitt-romney-speech-to-make-him-look-silly/625769/18 "2012-06-20T19:52:49Z")
Spokeswoman for NBC had a nice take on the matter: [Link](http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/19/msnbc-edits-romney-rally-speech-portrays-candidate-as-out-touch/) > [@](#): > > Lauren Skowronski, a spokeswoman for NBC, which owns MSNBC, denied that any deceptive editing took place. > “MSNBC did not edit anything out of order or out of sequence and at no time did we intend to deceive our viewers,” Skowronski said. Let’s stick to her rule. Not out of order or out of sequence. No intention to deceive. Fixed quote: > [@](#): > > “MSNBC did [del]not[/del] edit [del]anything[/del] out of order or out of sequence and [del]at no time did[/del] we intend to deceive our viewers,” Skowronski said. No intent to deceive. I promise. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msnbc-edits-mitt-romney-speech-to-make-him-look-silly/625769/19 "2012-06-20T19:57:59Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > … (or at least, so far no one seems to be able to come up with a change of address form for Medicare reimbursements that approaches anything close to 33 pages) … Ahem: > [@Bricker](#): > > Are you sure? > > You have to notify the state board of optometry - obviously how you do that depends on your state, but let’s say that’s only one page. And let’s agree to not even count the quasi-governmental USPS form. > > Then there’s [this form for updating your Medicare / Medicaid provider information.](http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/CMS-Forms/CMS-Forms/Downloads/cms855s.PDF) It appears to be 37 pages long. > > What form are you talking about – the two page form? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msnbc-edits-mitt-romney-speech-to-make-him-look-silly/625769/20 "2012-06-20T20:01:30Z")
The sad part about this was it wasn’t one of the Democratic shills on a commentary show that inhabit prime time for them, it was Andrea Mitchell. She’s supposed to be a straight up news reporter with a reputation to uphold. **Bricker** : To be fair, that post was only 5 minutes after yours, so he probably didn’t see it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msnbc-edits-mitt-romney-speech-to-make-him-look-silly/625769.md?page=2)