UPDATE: MSNBC Replaces Scrubbed Cheney Alcohol Paragraph; No Explaination is Given

brought to you by: Someone Took In These Pants...

We now know that the quote that had been removed is accurate, since Cheney admitted today to having beer at the lunch before the hunt.  So MSNBC including it in their story in the first place was not a mistake, not some hacker or rogue element of MSNBC's staff putting it in there for fun.  But now the missing paragraph has been put back in.

In a recorded, on-the-record phone call with NBC News, Armstrong said that beer may have been available at lunch that day. "If someone wants to help themselves to a beer," she said, "they may, but I did not see anyone do that," Armstrong says. She says she was not sure if there were beers in the coolers but wasn't ready to rule it out: "There may be a beer or two in there, but remember not everyone in the party was shooting," she told NBC News.

But replacing the scrubbed paragraph raises even more questions.  Who gave the orders at MSNBC to censor the news?  Does MSNBC think that responsible journalists are supposed to censor the information they give to the public?  Is it a regular policy at MSNBC to filter out information that may be harmful to the Bush administration?  Why hasn't MSNBC issued a statement explaining their actions?  I sent an e-mail to MSNBC earlier today, to which they have so far refused to respond.

I demand answers.  You should, too.  If they have time to put the quote back in the story, they have time to respond to me.  They had all afternoon.

If you so desire, e-mail MSNBC yourself by clicking here.  Perhaps they need to be pestered by more of us before they give an explanation as to why they are filtering out news unfavorable to the Bush administration.  Please be polite but firm in your requests.