Kudos to Fox's Bret Baier for His Great Interview of Barack Obama
I was out-of-pocket for Bret Baier's interview with President Obama last night and just viewed it.
As usual, my physical reaction to having to watch Obama was a set jaw, pounding heart, and increased blood pressure. Ironic, considering the topic at hand, that Obama is bad for my health.
But thank goodness for Baier, who finally won me over after months of my pining for Brit Hume at 5p every night, who Baier replaced as anchor of Fox News Special Report after the November election....
Big Journalism is right. What a contrast between O'Reilly's milk toast interview with Obama and Baier's, who tried to force Obama to just answer the questions and not spew talking points.
What a great laugh line, Baier speaking: "Sir, I know you don't like to filibuster, but - " Haha. Here was a another good one:
Baier: Monday in Ohio, you called for courage in the health care debate. At the same time, House Speaker Pelosi was saying this to reporters about the deem and pass rule: "I like it, this scenario, because people don't have to vote on the Senate bill." Is that the kind of courage that you're talking about?
An Obama untruth: "What I'm saying is whatever they end up voting on - and I hope it's going to be sometime this week - that it is going to be a vote for or against my health care proposal."
No, it's going to be a vote on the Senate healthcare proposal, vastly different than Obama's. Whether it could be fixed to resemble Obama's... or there is even a desire to... or how complicated that would be since Dems have determined to pass this via the reconciliation route... is anyone's guess. And Mitch McConnell just made a great point in a press conference. If a fix ever makes it to the House, it would merely mean its members voted for the various kickback schemes before voting against them.
One final point. Baier kept asking Obama about the "ugly process," reading a reader letter capsulizing it: "If the bill is so good for all of us, why all the intimidation, arm twisting, seedy deals, and parliamentary trickery necessary to pass a bill, when you have an overwhelming majority in both houses and the presidency?"
Obama's response in various forms, "So the issue that I'm concerned about is whether not we're fixing a broken system."
In other words, the ends justify the means.
I thought Baier did a great job except for the apology at the end, which was unnecessary.
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baier's obviously a hack. Creepy watching him interview Pres Bush and others in the past, kissing their rings and feet. Pres Obama wasn't on the defensive here. This is an old trick and one expected by Fox News, interrupting to make it seem someone's not answering, then asking a different, side question and re-interrupting.
Debate 101.
Pres Obama won due to baier being unprofessional on his side of the 50-50 deal.
Did you not hear all of Mr OBama's stammering? When people make up stories as they go, they stammer and he has been doing this for an entire year. BBBBbut, aahhhh, ahhhh, ummmm, ummm, uh, uh, and and and. That all I hear, he can say a sentence of five words and it will become 20.
I learned more from this interview then others that Obama has done regarding this issue.
Many times I have seen interviews by others of Obama and they have lopped softball questions or questions that are not related to the issue being discussed.
for actually giving an interview to someone who wasn't hand -picked and vetted as an apologist. It's a nice change of pace after the GWB years.
did a great job . That was a REAL interview . I seem to recall Obama getting upset at the health care summit about people spewing talking points....
I say Kudos to Bret to. Believe me that if you go and watch all the other interviews with this man, he was interrupted somewhere in the midst of all the interviews he has had, they just were not pointed out as interruptions like this one, Bret was being scrutinized the minute he sat down! Moving his leg or making any noise at all during the pretty much one-sided conversation, his way or the highway, would have been an interruption. A clearing of his throat, an expression that could have thrown the President off, all of this would have been misconstrued as an interruption.