When we last checked in Brian Williams, he had decided to “leave the anchor’s desk” but only for a few days. NBC has decided to do an internal investigation into the swirling claims that Williams has openly lied and “misremembered” several stories involving being hit by RPGs in Iraq, witnessing dead bodies floating down the street in New Orleans and rescuing several puppies. At worst, Williams is a liar and a fantasist who needs to be fired. At best…??? I don’t have an “at best”. At best, he’s got a terrible memory and/or he co-opts other people’s stories to make himself sound cooler.

So, what’s new today? Page Six is Truth Squading yet another Williams’ story, this time about how he was riding in a heliocopter in Israel and Katyusha rockets passed under the chopper.

Another of Brian Williams’ wild reporting tales is being called into question – this time it’s an account of his trip to Israel in 2006. In a 2007 interview, Williams recalled riding on an Israeli military helicopter that was flying just above rockets fired by Hezbollah as they were passing over northern Israel, according to The Washington Post.

“There were Katyusha rockets passing just underneath the helicopter I was riding in,” he told Fairfield University student reporter Emily Fitzmaurice. But he never disclosed that close brush with Hezbollah fire in an NBC News blog post he penned in July 2006. In that account, he was riding along with a “a high-ranking general in the Israeli Defense Forces” at 1,500 feet, and the rocket fire was happening on the ground below.

“They’re having some shelling right now,” the pilot tells me. “They landed about 30 seconds ago.” Williams wrote that he looked out his window and saw “smoke and dust” where the rockets landed.

“Then,” he said, “I noticed something out the window. From a distance of six miles, I witnessed a rocket launch. A rising trail of smoke, then a second rocket launch, an orange flash and more smoke — as a rocket heads off toward Israel.”

Williams never claims the weapons were “just beneath” his aircraft, as he did in the later interview. A month after penning the NBC News blog post on his trip to Israel, Williams told the story again on “The Daily Show,” saying the rockets passed “1,500 feet beneath us.”

“And we’ve got the gunner doors on this thing, and I’m saying to the general, some four-star: ‘It wouldn’t take much for them to adjust the aim and try to do a ring toss right through our open doors, would it?’” he tells Jon Stewart. At the end of the interview, Williams boasts, “Anytime you want to cross over to the other side, baby, travel with me.”

[From Page Six]

Well… I don’t know. Out of all the Truth Squading on Williams’ various stories, I think this one is one of the weaker “he’s lying!!” stories. Then again, there seems to be a pattern emerging, right? Williams tells endless stories about his bravery and heroics in facing down danger at every turn, just to do his job. There’s a narcissism there and it disturbs me.

So, obviously, NBC is finally putting together a list of people who could possibly take over the NBC anchor desk if (and when) they need to fire Williams. According to Page Six (not the most reliable, granted), the shortlist involves Willie Geist, Carl Quintanilla and Lester Holt. NBC is also considering Matt Lauer, which… I mean, that would be the end of NBC Nightly News, if people had to see Lauer’s smug mug in the evening. For the love of God, just give it to Lester Holt!!! Holt is amazing. Holt should be running NBC News anyway. He’s a quality journalist, he has gravitas, he has a great voice and he has on-screen presence. I like Willie Geist, but he’s not anchor material. I feel like Quintanilla is too young too.

Photos courtesy of WENN.