Syndicated columnist and PBS regular Mark Shields on Friday apologized for saying "Christmas season."
Such occurred on the most recent installment of PBS's "Inside Washington" broadcast in many parts of the country on Christmas Eve (video follows with transcript and commentary):
GORDON PETERSON, HOST: The people who are opposed to [the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell] in the military are saying they’re hearing from the combat arms, the troops on the ground, that this might have an impact on unit cohesion. What are you hearing, Mark?
Readers are reminded that during last week's "Inside Washington," NPR's Nina Totenberg apologized for saying "Christmas party."
As NewsBusters reported Thursday, Totenberg later claimed she was actually defending Christmas because the Department of Defense called the event she was referring to a "holiday party."
As such, given the chuckling present off-camera, Shields was quite likely referring to last week's incident, and possibly making light of it. At least, we have to hope that was the case.
However, for those not familiar with what transpired on the previous installment - and even for some that are - this could have been quite offensive especially airing on Christmas Eve.
