News & politics: Drinking & drugging behind the scenes

(I apologize if this has been touched on before, but I didn't see it in a search.)

Would you trust someone who was tipsy from alcohol and indulging on drugs to give you important information?
Any rational person would say 'No'.

I'm not sure what year this clip is from, but you'll see a young Diane Sawyer during a film segment caught during a commercial break between news broadcasts. You will see her sipping what appears to be wine. Strangely, the view is sometimes obstructed by a blocker.


Here is some background on Diane Sawyer's career. From the information, I'd guess this clip was between 1967 and 1978.
www.museum.tv...

After graduating from Wellesley College in 1967, Sawyer began her career as a weather reporter on a Louisville, Kentucky television station. In 1970, she took a job at the White House on the staff of Presidential Press Secretary Ron Ziegler. She continued her career as a press aide during the Nixon administration until 1974 and then assisted the former president with the preparation of his memoirs. The transition to broadcast journalism was made in 1978 when she joined CBS News as a reporter in the Washington bureau. When Sawyer accepted the job of State Department correspondent for CBS News (1978-81) she began an unstoppable career as a popular figure in television journalism: She was the co-anchor of CBS Morning News (from 1981), the co-anchor of Early Morning News (1982-84), and the first woman on the network's flagship public affairs program, 60 Minutes CBS (1984-89). Sawyer left this successful position at CBS to sign a multi-year contract to co-anchor PrimeTime Live on ABC News with Sam Donaldson in 1989.

en.wikipedia.org...

The term "War on Drugs" was first used by President Richard Nixon in 1971.

Diane Sawyer has been a trusted and respected household name when it came to good and solid news reporting. She has been a role model to many young women with dreams of becoming journalists and news anchors. Now, I'm wondering if embibing and rubbing elbows with those we now detest is how she got ahead. She spent many years inside the White House and I'm left wondering if this is exactly what goes on behind the scenes. I tried to find video clips of Diane Sawyer reporting on the War on Drugs, but I was unable to locate one. If I could locate one, it would really make her look like a hypocrite seeing as she has been doing exactly what presidential administrations have been pushing for years while treating themselves to these substances.
"Do as I say and not as I do" comes to mind.

If they can't be responsible and take things seriously, why should they expect us to take them seriously?
We can't. It's all one huge facade and it's coming down.

Well, thanks to social networking and Twitter, we're seeing that this kind of behavior is still happening.
"Congressional aides fired for Tweeting about on-job drinking and more"
www.npr.org...
So, what I can surmise from this is it's OK to do as long as you don't blab about it.

Maybe this is why everything is so screwed up. There's a time for work and a time for play and those we are trusting to do the mature and responsible thing have decided to screw around for decades.

Who can we trust?
I might as well go to the neighborhood bar to get my news. At least it's happy hour at 5 o'clock.

I love it! You should post that vid all over any social networking site you belong to. I will

TV news numbs your mind. Maybe you have to be numb to deliver it as well.

reply to post by kimish


Go for it!
I would, but I'm not on any social networking sites.

Makes you really wonder about good ol' Rick Perry, huh?


Then, there's this video:

Maybe this is truly an epidemic?

reply to post by dr treg


Thanks for adding those!

We could fill this thread up with hard evidence as to why and how our "leaders" shouldn't be trusted to do the right thing. I just hope an ATS Mod doesn't move it to the Joke Forum because all of this is making them look like one huge joke.

making hand gestures most would know to be signals for drinking and snorting coc aine

Actually it was quite clear she was referring to someone else, saying "too bad she's crazy" when making those gestures, saying something to the effect of the "crazy lady" does it all.

reply to post by angeldoll


I apologize for that. I watch most videos without the sound on unless it is necessary. I didn't think it was in this case. Thanks for pointing out my error.
I'll edit it so it doesn't seem skewed.

reply to post by Afterthought


She was reffering to someone being crazy and made the gesture that the person she said is crazy does coke.

I have no idea what she was drinking could be coke tea coffee anythig I doubt it was wine. Geez.

reply to post by Grimpachi


That's why I stated in my Op that it APPEARS to be wine.

reply to post by Grimpachi


why would you drink coffee or tea out of a wine glass hahaha?

She clearly drank wine and downed some pills with her wine.
second line

reply to post by InfoRobinHood


No kidding.
If I were the type of person to drink wine at work, wouldn't you put it in a coffee cup so nobody knew?
It's disturbing that the studio has wine glasses available for use anyways. I've worked in a lot of different environments some of which had fully stocked kitchens just like you'd see at home, but nowhere did I ever see wine glasses in the cupboards.

Man, she is toasted. I love how they use the blocker to hide her popping pills. Just classic.

Originally posted by InfoRobinHood
She clearly drank wine and downed some pills with her wine.
second line

Well it didn't look like wine to me, it could have been any dark liquid. Hey could it have been juice? It would take an expert to say positively that it was wine however I am not an expert so I guess I should take your word for it. It is a non-issue to me so this will be my last post on this thread I just figured I would put a reasonable opinion out there first.

Oh yeah I'm sure she took some pills I wonder what they could possibly be. Sarcasm. I have a headache right now so I think I might go get some Tylenol.

Have fun with your witchhunt.

I don't really know why people are surprised that rich and successful people have destructive and narcissistic tendencies.

In the minds of these people, I imagine it goes something like this:

Of course I'm going to drink on the job, I own the place. I'll get away with it, they'd never fire me, I'm under contract. I also know a bunch of dirty secrets I would not mind divulging in my drunken state.

I'm sure Walter Cronkite had a shot of whiskey on air between commercials every now and then. I'm sure a lot of folk who work in TV and in Politics are on something, every now and then for longer periods of time.

That sort of behavior comes with that sort of lifestyle.

~Keeper

reply to post by tothetenthpower


Thanks for adding in the psychological aspect behind this sort of behavior. It certainly has to do with an inflated ego as well as having a sense of entitlement. Feeling untouchable tends to override your better judgement.

I'm happy people have watched the video of Diane Sawyer, but I'm disappointed that nobody has commented about the aides who got fired for their actions prior to this past Thanksgiving. This is really a close look behind the scenes that reinforces the fact that this is happening a lot more than we think. Do you think if they hadn't been stupid enough to Tweet about it that they'd still have their prestigeous positions? Sure they would.

I would like everyone to know that I don't see anything wrong with indulging in your own time, but doing this kind of stuff when you should have a clear head is unexceptable. Would you still have your job if blatantly indulging on the job? It seems as though the powerful are quite accustomed to mixing business and pleasure. Now, we're just seeing how it's hurting us as well as them. I'm just getting really tired of the double standard we're seeing in today's society where those who hold "special" positions get to do whatever they want while the "little guy" never ever gets a slap on the wrist. It's pathetic and needs to be exposed for what it is.