Check out the expression on Brian Williams’ face, and if you have time, view the video.  You can almost hear him thinking “yeah, that’s what I’m talking about!  Me and The Man in the presidential limo!”

There was plenty of time on Today this morning for Barack and Brian’s Excellent Adventure, as they went out for a burger and discussed the constraints of presidential life–he can’t take the girls for ice cream on a whim, etc.

But when it came to reporting on the murder of one US soldier and the wounding of another, time was suddenly short at Today.  So short, in fact, that Ann Curry couldn’t spare the precious seconds that would have been required to name the suspect, inform us that he was a Muslim convert, and that he had . . . previously travelled to Yemen.

Here was the whole of Curry’s report during the 7 AM EDT hour.

ANN CURRY: A suspect is in custody for allegedly opening fire Monday on a military recruiting center in Arkansas.  One soldier was killed, another was wounded.  Police say the suspect was upset with the military and will be charged with first-degree murder and committing an act of terrorism.

In contrast, the Early Show on CBS had a fuller report, mentioning that Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad was a Muslim who had been to Yemen.  On ABC, Good Morning America devoted an entire segment to the shooting, also reporting the Muslim/Yemen angles.

But NBC decided that what people really needed to know about was Barack’s burger run–and thank goodness Brian was there to report it!