Bill Maher Calls Bill O'Reilly 'Unpatriotic' for Obama Interview
On the February 8 edition of MSNBC's "Last Word," left-wing comedian Bill Maher disparaged Bill O'Reilly as "unpatriotic" for the way in which the veteran Fox News anchor conducted his interview with President Barack Obama on Super Bowl Sunday.
"And Bill O'Reilly, who claims he's such a patriot, how unpatriotic in my view to treat a president that way," railed Maher. "How does that look to other countries when you're interrupting and belittling? I just find it astounding."
[Video embedded after the page break.]
Moments earlier, anchor Lawrence O'Donnell praised Maher for being "a man who reaches across the political divide every week on his show." In O'Donnell's world, questioning another American's patriotism constitutes "reaching across the political divide."
While Maher slammed O'Reilly for "belittling" Obama, the host of HBO's "Real Time" had no qualms during the previous administration about smearing former President George W. Bush and others who disagree with him. Some highlights include:
"I think science has decided: Yes, George Bush is an idiot." [September 20, 2006]
"Failing to warn the citizens of a looming weapon of mass destruction – and that's what global warming is – in order to protect oil company profits, well that fits for me the definition of treason." [March 5, 2006]
“Sarah Palin screaming about death panels? You know what, Sarah, if we were killing off useless people, you'd be the first to know.” [April 1, 2010]
"Usually [Republicans are] doughy white men and I think they look on Michele Bachmann and, and Sarah Palin, as you know, M.I.L.Fs and I agree, they're Morons I'd Like to Forget." [April 14, 2010]
To answer Maher's question, yes, it is highly inappropriate for a late-night talk show host, or any American citizen, to call the President of the United States an "idiot" and a traitor for disagreeing with your worldview.
A transcript of the relevant portions of the segment can be found below:
MSNBC
Last Word
February 8, 2011
8:03 p.m. EST
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL: Joining me now, a man who reaches across the political divide every week on his show, "Real Time with Bill Maher." Bill, thank you very much for joining us tonight.
BILL MAHER, host of "Real Time": Thanks, Lawrence, I try.
O'DONNELL: Bill, you talk to Republicans more than Barack Obama does, every week on your show. Any advice for him on how to handle these guys tomorrow?
MAHER: Well, actually he tries so hard. I mean, this man, I saw him with Bill O`Reilly as I'm sure a lot of people did in this country before the Super Bowl. And all I could think of is – I would never be that way. I just do not have it in me to take that much. Really, that much guff, shall we call it, since I'm not on HBO.
O'DONNELL: Right.
MAHER: I just feel like the most difficult part of his job must be to quelch the rage that somewhere must be inside him to say, "I'm the president of the United States. You don't talk to me like this. I'm not some left – I'm not Al Sharpton, you know? I won this job." And Bill O'Reilly, who claims he's such a patriot, how unpatriotic in my view to treat a president that way. How does that look to other countries when you're interrupting and belittling? I saw what you did on your show last night, counting the number of times he was interrupted. I just find it astounding.
(CROSSTALK)
O'DONNELL: Well, you know, over 40, 42 interruptions in 15 minutes. I mean, you don't have to be the President of the United States to say, "hey, maybe you only interrupt me 15 times in 15 minutes. How about that? How about one a minute?"
MAHER: And John Boehner not attending any of these places that he's invited to by the president. I don`t remember this ever happening before with other presidents.
O'DONNELL: But they have decided to show up tomorrow. Boehner is going to show up there tomorrow. They're going to have lunch, pretend there's some way for them to go forward governing together, right after, you know, less than 24 hours after the president says we should do infrastructure spending in this country, try to catch up with the rest of the world on this sort of thing, and get some real rail service going in different places around the country. Republicans immediately say, "no, we`re not going to do that."
--Alex Fitzsimmons is a News Analysis intern at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
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Comments
→ Yeah, Maher
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 1:27pm.
But it's somehow patriotic when you call American Servicemen "cowards"?
Swallow your own puke, Maher. We don't want any of it on our plates.
The interview, the interview!
Submitted by StarAZ on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 1:52pm.
OMG, can we move on? O'Reilly is off the hook on this...it will never end. My take: Bill was crass and self-centered ("I am very concerned about this") and Obama was his usual supercilious self, complete with unfunny remarks and the phony grin. Not very newsworthy.
Off the hook OReilly
Submitted by Texndoc on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 2:37pm.
I did not watch the interview on Sunday or watch OReilly Monday or Tuesday. On purpose. But accidentaly flipped to The Factor to see him play a clip on Wednesday night and hear it is "the interview the entire country is talking about!". What torture this guy has become.→ Yes, the interview
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 4:21pm.
Only question more sycophantic than "What can we (FOX) do to help you, Mr. President?" goes all the way back to "What has enchanted you about the office, Mr. President?"
And no, Bill O, we don't hate him, but Like Marvin K. Mooney, could he please go NOW!
He can go on a Zike Bike or a Zumble-Zay.
Maher
Submitted by east tennessee john on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 1:28pm.
Maher is ging to comment on someone else's respect for the sitting President? That's like Whora ODonnell talking about unbiased news sources and trying to sound serious. Notice she didn't mention msdnc?
"How does that look to other
Submitted by rwesley2.0 on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 1:32pm.
"How does that look to other countries when you're interrupting and belittling?
It probably looks like a Bill Maher special, where anyone who holds conservative views or religious beliefs gets skewered with vitriol that he deems to be "humor".
Maher is irrelevant
Submitted by Galvanic on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 1:39pm.
A conversation between Maher and Lawrence O'Donnell in socialist masturbation. They criticize Obama for not being Left enough, then criticize the conservative critics for daring to criticize Obama.
In their case ...
Submitted by Newsbubba on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 1:42pm.
... more like socialist 69.
Uhhhh, bubba.............I'm
Submitted by killa37 on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 11:59pm.
Uhhhh, bubba.............I'm not a real 'street smart' guy................it that the sum total of their combined IQ's?????
What a hypocrite...
Submitted by PrairieSky on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 1:42pm.
Bill Maher spent 8 years (and in fact he's still doing it) mercilessly trashing and outright lying about President Bush, and he has the gaul to call O'Reilly "unpatriotic" over what I thought was a pretty soft interview of Obama? Did O'Reilly interrupt Obama when he began to blather on and not answer a question? Yes, and I don't have a problem with that. Did he ever "belittle" Obama? No...I have no idea what Maher is referring to with that. I never thought that O'Reilly was ever disrespectful to Obama. Maybe Maher took issue with the question about whether it bothered "O" that people hated him...Big fat hairy deal! People hated President Bush, and made it clear every day with their continuous streams of disrespect, hate and vitriol that they directed at him virtually every single day of his presidency.
Maher's a big, stupid, liberal baby and I wish he'd stop his infantile whining and shut up already.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction...It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them (our children) to do the same." ~President Ronald Reagan
Oh, it's just the Playboy Mansion grotto water
Submitted by StarAZ on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 1:54pm.
The poor guy has swallowed too much of the fake fountain of youth.
Not Wanting To Dwell On The Point...
Submitted by stratman on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 4:10pm.
That ain't just water in the Playboy mansion grotto water.
→ You're right, it's not
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 4:13pm.
It's primordial ooze.
Geez, guys...
Submitted by PrairieSky on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 6:12pm.
That's more info than I need, or want, to know...Ick!
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction...It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them (our children) to do the same." ~President Ronald Reagan
You're right, PrairieSky. In
Submitted by ant on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 5:39pm.
You're right, PrairieSky. In fact, I think just doing an interview with Obama when you're considered part of the hated "right-wing conspiracy" is itself a sign of respect (ratings,aside). Personally, I wouldn't be able to stomach the sight of him, my respect is way low on the scale.
ant...To be honest, given the way that Obama has treated Fox...
Submitted by PrairieSky on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 6:38pm.
News, I wouldn't have given him the time of day, let alone 15 minutes of free, worldwide publicity. Several of the questions were pretty lame, imho, and overall, I thought the interview could have been and should have been tougher and much more pointed. There were a number of areas that O'Reilly didn't even touch upon.
That said, Bill Maher is a total imbecile, and is completely wrong in calling O'Reilly unpatriotic...O'Reilly would have had to kiss Obama on the lips and bow at his feet to make Maher happy, jacka$$ that he is.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction...It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them (our children) to do the same." ~President Ronald Reagan
Look at it this way
Submitted by jon_torlin on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 7:49pm.
Look at it this way, Fox News has more viewers than the others combined, so even though it was a "live event," it showed the masses that DuhOne hasn't changed a thing, and even cemented that by his statement of non-answers, lies, and how he won't re-litigate the last two years, whatever the hell that meant.(to him, not to us, I know what he meant, but it doesn't mean what he thinks it means)
So when the people see that, they'll be that much hardened against anything he tosses out of his purple lips and dyed hair that Moochelle says it's not.
It just shines a bright light on one of the biggest posers/usurpers/charlatans of all time in this country. Even bigger than Clinton and Carter combined.
But I knew all that already and didn't watch it either. ;-)
-Jon
jon...I'm sure that many...
Submitted by PrairieSky on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 8:23pm.
you and I included, weren't impressed with Obama's performance during the O'Reilly interview . That said, from what I've heard, there were also many who unbelievably thought he came across just fine...I've heard him described as "relaxed", "comfortable", and "genial". Obama knows how to be "cool" like a fish knows how to be wet. Unfortunately, those same people didn't seem to notice that "O" did his level best to obfuscate, misrepresent, and just generally not answer a number of O'Reilly's rather tame questions. As you said, Obama is a champion poser and charlatan, and has mastered the game of smoke and mirrors, so I saw nothing to applaud in his handling of this interview.
The worst part of it I think was O'Reilly's question to Obama about what he or Fox News could do better...That just floored me...I cannot believe that O'Reilly actually asked this of the man who has basically declared war on Fox News...I thought that was just galactically stupid.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction...It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them (our children) to do the same." ~President Ronald Reagan
I agree, overall. The
Submitted by Martin2717 on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 8:50pm.
I agree, overall. The interview was awful and the fact that O'Reilly continues to praise the interview and have most of his regular guests (especially Bernie Goldberg.... a little disappointed in him) say the same thing, makes me think his show has "jumped the shark". I don't care that O'Reilly has the highest ratings. Look at the alternatives he goes up against on a nightly basis. It's nothing. I was hoping the interview would be the same as the one Bret Baier conducted with Obama, last March, but that didn't happen. To this day, that's the best interview anyone has done of this President since he came into office.
Agreed...Bret Baier's interview with Obama was...
Submitted by PrairieSky on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 10:28pm.
definitely the best conducted one I've seen yet, hands down.
O'Reilly can be tiresome with his near constant blowing of his own horn...Is he #1 in the ratings? Yes, as is well known by just about everyone on the planet, since he never misses a chance to tell us. That said, I think O'Reilly's heart is generally in the right place most of the time...He does try to do good with his show, and often has and does. But Bill does have, as he readily admits, a pretty big ego, which is part of his charm, I think...He's bigger than life, and I've been okay with that until recently. The last year or so however, O'Reilly seems to be taking himself, his fame and the power that comes with it, a little too seriously and appears at times to be quite full of himself and his position in the ratings. I did not like the way he conducted his interview with Obama...I think he blew a great chance to ask some really tough questions, and as I said already, his 'Is there anything that we can do better' question was beyond dumb and syncophantic...Why he asked that question, I'll never understand.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction...It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them (our children) to do the same." ~President Ronald Reagan
I thnk O'Reilly is tedious
Submitted by killa37 on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 12:08am.
I thnk O'Reilly is tedious and not nearly as heavy as he thinks he is. The same goes for Boy Blunder - times 10!!! They're both 'all about ME"!!!! But I think that you can bet your hard earned dollar that there was some kind of pre-interview conditions that had to be met here. Do you think Boy Barry would submit to ANYTHING that he wouldn't be able to slick talk and weasel his way through with one of his patented no-answer answers???
I've caught some of the replays on O'Reilly this week - Jeez, this guy really thinks that he just changed the world or something. As far as I am concerned, it was two self-important blowhards jerking each other off, while thinking that the whole world just stopped to listen to them.
Oh, as for Donkeyface - a tedious and not-so-heavy (times 1000) self-important blowhard jerking himself off in front of a mirror......................
I did wonder about that...
Submitted by PrairieSky on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 1:28am.
whether O'Reilly had to agree to honoring any parameters concerning the questions...I do know that in the past O'Reilly has made a point of never agreeing to "conditions" about interview questions...This time, who knows? I don't recall him mentioning anything about it.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction...It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them (our children) to do the same." ~President Ronald Reagan
O'Reilly is a major league
Submitted by killa37 on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 1:50am.
O'Reilly is a major league egomaniac, and he'll do anything to keep himself on top. I think it's a safe bet that these guys discussed a variety of subjects before anything happened. And, if not on O'Reilly's side (which is doubtful - since I've seen Michale Moron run the big bad Billy O in circles, and wear his kneepads during his last interview with Boy Barry), then from Boy Blunder's side - because those guys KNOW what a total klutz Soetoro is when he is put on the spot and has to try and answer any kind of precient question................
Could be...I suppose there's no way...
Submitted by PrairieSky on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 3:19am.
to know for sure. I do hope though, if O'Reilly does get the opportunity to interview Obama again, probably during the election I'm guessing, he brings his "A" game...O'Reilly can be a tough interviewer when he wants to be...Maybe he doesn't get tough with Obama because he's afraid he'll never give him another interview...Who knows, but that makes sense to me. I'd rather see O'Reilly do a tough, honest interview with Obama, even if it meant that he wouldn't ever grant him another one.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction...It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them (our children) to do the same." ~President Ronald Reagan
You're a lot more optimistic
Submitted by killa37 on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 4:33am.
You're a lot more optimistic than I am, Prairiie!!! I don't see Billy Boy being a 'tough interview' with anybody that counts...............and even if he tries to be, he injects so much of his own towering self-appointed ego that it's hard to stomach. I mean - the guy brags about having gone to Hahvahd!!! Hell, didn't Boy Blunder go to Hahvahd also??? I KNOW people here that went to Hahvahd.............and they sure as hell might be 'smart'.................but I also sure as hell woudn't want to have to carry them through any kind of tough situation!!!
I've watched O'Reilly a lot over the years...............I'm pretty much sick of his whole schtick. He's NOT conservative.............he's an elitist with a major league ego and , as I stated before, doesn't have the 'heavyness' to back up his own self-appointed status. The only time I'll watch his show all the way through is when Laura Ingraham is hosting it - now there is someone who can lay down the law, and have the believeability to do it. And she WON'T say 'what say you'......or 'I'll give you the last word'!!! She IS the last word!!! O'Reilly is a sheep in wolf's clothing...............
I'm sure he'd LOVE to have another Boy Barry 'interview' (code for jerk-off session), because his ego needs it..................
And anything that I've said or thought about BOR.................multiply it by 10 or 100, and that's what I think about Boy Barry Soetoro Barack Hussein Barama!!!!
I do agree that BOR does seem...
Submitted by PrairieSky on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 1:35pm.
to pull his punches when he interviews, and even sometimes when he covers, Obama. I'm not sure why...Maybe he's afraid he'll be accused of being a racist, as so many have been who have the temerity to criticize "The One". I also agree that O'Reilly does tend to mention the fact that he attended Harvard far too often...I've seen him criticize the elitists that go there, and then he'll turn around and remind us all, again, that he went there. It does get tiresome.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction...It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them (our children) to do the same." ~President Ronald Reagan
I'd like to see Megyn Kelly
Submitted by killa37 on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 2:26pm.
I'd like to see Megyn Kelly interview Boy Barry - straight-up, with no pre-conditions. I'm just wondering if the Supreme Stammerer would agree to it, or - more importantly - Mrs. Boy Barry would let him go near her!!! Kelly would, no doubt, get to the heart of the matter with a lot more class and style than Big Bad Billy, and probably be more 'respectful' of the way the interview is conducted - she usually lets the other person say what they have to say, before she tears them a new one.
You're right about Boy Blunder having gotten the 'kid glove' treatment his whole life - for whatever reason. If people are afraid of being called 'racist' when they are dealing with an agenda and a philosophy that is much larger than that, then they shouldn't even be in the arena............and if somebody calls them a 'racist', they shouldn't even respond to it. Are we talking about black, or white, or RED here when discussing the Kenyan Kreep???
Megyn would be great, but...
Submitted by PrairieSky on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 3:04pm.
it'll never happen...She's a lawyer and when she interviews a difficult subject, she often goes into her "cross examination" mode, and woe to the person who is in her crosshairs...Megyn's tough as nails...She'd make mincemeat out of Obama, and he knows it. He cannot stand up to tough questioning (or scrutiny), probably because he's never had to. Obama's never had to really be accountable for anything in his life...I get the feeling that he's pretty much coasted along while people have greased the skids for him, probably since he was a kid, or at least a teenager.
The race issue has become, unfortunately, a weapon that the left uses to insulate and protect Obama...Everytime he really comes under fire for something, the first thing those on the left scream is "racism," and too often this tactic works. Those who have legitimate questions or criticisms often tend to back down rather than continue to press for answers for fear of being labeled, falsely, that they are racists. So much for Obama being "trans-racial"...What a crock that is.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction...It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them (our children) to do the same." ~President Ronald Reagan
But..........but.............
Submitted by killa37 on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 3:54pm.
But..........but...............but.............isn't Barry a lawyer too??? We HAVE been told that before, haven't we?? So he outta be able to handle any kind of questions or cross-examination himself, shouldn't he???
Hah!!! No chance!!! The guy IS, WAS, and always WILL BE.................a lightweight!!!
As for the 'race' thing - I'll paraphrase an age-old joke: What's black and white and RED all over??? Is the answer Obama or the MSM...............or both???
Yeah, he's a lawyer too, more or less...
Submitted by PrairieSky on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 4:50pm.
Obama's got a law degree, but he actually worked as a lawyer for a brief amount of time...only 4 years. His tenure working as a lawyer was intended to be nothing more than a launching pad for his political career. Megyn Kelly, on the other hand, has an extensive career as a litigator, and would take Obama apart in an interview.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction...It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them (our children) to do the same." ~President Ronald Reagan
Is that true?? Did Barry
Submitted by killa37 on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 5:15pm.
Is that true?? Did Barry actually 'work' somewhere for 4 years??? In the private sector?? I mean, I've heard that he had some kind of a job..........but I thought that he was 'uncomfortable' with it, or something. 'Some say' that he was the head of the Hahvahd Law Review, although there doesn't seem to be much beyond that. And we also hear that he was some kind of Constitutional 'scholar'. or 'teacher', or something..........although there doesn't seem to be too much more beyond that either!!!
I'm amazed if he DID work somewhere for 4 years - I wonder where and when that happened.
On another note.........I'd love to have Megyn Kelly tear me apart!!! I'll take Boy Barry's place!!!!
Amazing, yet true...
Submitted by PrairieSky on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 5:41pm.
Obama did actually work, briefly, as a junior associate at a law firm in Chicago, and then later as a senior lecturer at the Univ. of Chicago. The leftist media wants us all to believe that he was a "constitutional law professor" but that's a load of bs...The truth is he was a non-tenure track senior lecturer, not a professor...A very low level, minor position within the university.
Here's a link to an article about his time as a lawyer...Beware-This article comes from the LA Times, so take it with a grain of salt.
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/06/nation/na-obamalegal6
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction...It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them (our children) to do the same." ~President Ronald Reagan
OK Prairie,
Submitted by killa37 on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 7:19pm.
OK Prairie, mahalo...................but I'd have to say - as an uneducated opinion - that neither one of those employments sounds like a 'real job', if you know what I mean. And I think that the one at the law firm was where he was unhappy. I'm sure the college job fit him a lot better........and they were both in Chicago, where things seem to operate a little differently than most other places.
Agreed...
Submitted by PrairieSky on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 9:06pm.
I also think that Obama's time at the law firm was short for a reason...He either was not very good at actually practicing law, and/or he wasn't happy doing that. I'd be willing to bet that if Obama wasn't in politics, he'd likely be teaching/lecturing and writing books. He loves to lecture and pontificate, as we all have found out, unfortunately.
With any luck, two years from right now, he'll be back in Chicago, no doubt working on a book about his presidency, as a result of all the free time he'll have after having lost the 2012 election.
633 days till election day 2012.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction...It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them (our children) to do the same." ~President Ronald Reagan
So is he gonna get Bill Ayers
Submitted by killa37 on Sat, 02/12/2011 - 12:09am.
So is he gonna get Bill Ayers to ghost-write it??? And, by the way, why are we writing in this teeny little cramped space, with all of this open space to the right of us??? I'm no techno guy, but this seems like a real waste of space.........
Ayers or maybe Rev. Wright...
Submitted by PrairieSky on Sat, 02/12/2011 - 2:45pm.
What a page turner that would be, huh? lol!
I'm no techie geek either, but this teeny tiny space is a huge waste of space...I've never understood why it does this.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction...It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them (our children) to do the same." ~President Ronald Reagan
Hey Prarie - I'm
Submitted by killa37 on Sat, 02/12/2011 - 3:08pm.
Hey Prarie - I'm claustrophobic!!! I have to get out of here!!!
killa...One or two more posts...
Submitted by PrairieSky on Sat, 02/12/2011 - 5:20pm.
and I'll think we'll run right off the screen!!!
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction...It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them (our children) to do the same." ~President Ronald Reagan
H E L P !
Submitted by killa37 on Sat, 02/12/2011 - 6:30pm.
H
E
L
P
!
Here's a lifeline!
Submitted by PrairieSky on Sat, 02/12/2011 - 10:58pm.
Hang on!!
We're having way too much fun with this! lol!
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction...It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them (our children) to do the same." ~President Ronald Reagan
NB, please, PLEASE, in the future, if you're going to
Submitted by no tingly legs on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 1:40pm.
include an actual picture of the Donkey-faced ahole Maher, make it so you have to actaully click on the pic to view it. Perhaps with a label stating "viewing this picture may be hazardous to your appetite"
Pr Obama
Submitted by dmaley1714 on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 1:47pm.
Would take the whole 20 minutesw to answer a question with saying anythin. He is the President not the King.
Beware the fools avalanche of words that say nothing.
Hypocrits*
Submitted by cajun2 on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 1:55pm.
It always depends on who is doing the criticizing. As suggested, careful when you open this
link. Now Bill, explain to us again the definition of "patriotic".
cajun2 , And folks complain about Sarah Palins voice, sheesh.
Submitted by upcountrywater on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 2:05pm.
.
You Didn't Build That.
Well, obviously!
Submitted by Morganfrost on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 2:00pm.
It's only unpatriotic to do that to presidents Maher likes. I've seen this sort of thing often enough to think that it must have its own chapter in the leftists' playbook.
Patriotic, Maher?
Submitted by jon_torlin on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 2:59pm.
As the wise Inigo Montoya says to Maher when saying the word "Patriotic:"
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
-Jon
The interview was far kinder
Submitted by rbosque on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 3:19pm.
The interview was far kinder than Maher's threatment of Bush. Maher is an ass#0le.
Boehner?
Submitted by MCLIJazz on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 4:03pm.
What does Speaker Boehner have to do with Bill O'Reilly or his interview with President Obama? Don't try to make sense of it. It's MaherLogic.
Maher's comment's aside, can
Submitted by Reflect on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 3:42pm.
Maher's comment's aside, can anyone link to an interview where a Republican president is interrupted multiple times by an American talk show host? In a liberal media system I bet you could find that everywhere, should be easy.
I watched Bill O interview
Submitted by Smartypants on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 4:26pm.
I watched Bill O interview President GW Bush, and BO was his old self, which means he interrupted Bush incessantly, pushing his own points over and above whatever the president had to say. It was as if the point of the interview was for O'Reilly to get his view across. So, yes, I've seen this happen to a Republican president. Also, I watched GW Bush be openly disparaged on all of the major television networks on a regular basis, not just criticized mind you, but charged with outrageous things, called vicious names and accused of crimes with not a hint of evidence. I've heard many of these things from Mr. Maher himself.
It seems there is confusion
Submitted by Reflect on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 5:36pm.
It seems there is confusion here between rudeness and freedom of speech. I don't think it's fair to compare an interviewer's conduct in a president's presence to what they say about him when he's not there. Maher's point was that O'Reilly was being disrespectful to Obama right to his face. I don't think Maher would ever for a second argue that it's unfair to be critical of a president when he's not there. That's just freedom of speech, and yes he does it all the time. Wouldn't you agree there's a difference?
Like, for example, when the congressman yelled "hell no" during a speech, it's different than saying "hell no" in a news article or on a TV show. Whether or not you think it's justified, those situations are categorically different and should be judged in different ways. Doing it in their presence is rude. Even when hosting an evil dictator, certain basic codes of conduct should be followed by interviewers, like not interrupting, wouldn't you agree?
Anyway I just watched an
Submitted by Reflect on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 5:41pm.
Anyway I just watched an older O'Reilly interview of Bush and I will concede that yes he interrupts Bush at lot as well. And Maher calling him unpatriotic isn't really the most accurate word either, I'd say "disrespectful" is a better word.
→ Mirror
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 5:47pm.
You'd prefer Obama were allowed to run out the clock on one question?
The problem with politicians is that they get so caught up in the "nuance" and "complexity" of such trivia as "paper or plastic" that they tend never to answer the first question, let alone, leaving time for a second.
You think Baghdad Bob Gibbs is bad, just leave Obama in front of a mic without his teleprompter for a while.
Good point.
Submitted by mvfreeman on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 6:01pm.
I don't know why Fox had O'Reilly doing the interview.
Was Chris Wallace on vacation?
http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerlsimon/2011/02/06/shut-up-and-get-to-the-sp...
The MSM prefers to not
Submitted by ant on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 5:44pm.
The MSM prefers to not actually invite Republicans or Independents on for interviews. It makes it harder to tell lies about them. They'll stick with Megan McCain as some half-assed 'representative'.
The point of an interview is to ask questions and---
Submitted by matthewdean on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 9:37pm.
get answers. Obama dodges when he isn't droning, and drones when he isn't dodging. If he won't spring with an answer, and the interviewer won't rein in his attempts to slide and hide, what then, is the point of the interview for a non-liberal questioner? I know for liberal interviewers of Obama the whole point is kissy-kissy smooch-smooch; their lips to his butt.Neither Bill
Submitted by NoMoreChange on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 4:11pm.
Neither Bill has any impact. I don't know anyone who actually watched the O'Rielly interview. It was such a flop that Maher commenting on it is actually funny.
Bill Maher accusing anyone of
Submitted by Smartypants on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 4:29pm.
Bill Maher accusing anyone of being disrespectful to the President is equivalent to Rosie O'Donnell accusing someone of eating too much. Maher appears to be motivated purely by politics. It is wrong to treat a Democrat president too harshly because of the "D" after his name. Either that, or it has something to do with the white guilt that drives much of the left.
Maher, BOR did something
Submitted by LAM SON 719 on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 4:42pm.
Maher,
BOR did something that can't be done in your islamist subservant utopia, he confronted the president and asked for answers. Try that with your homeboys in Iran or North Korea.
While Maher slammed O'Reilly
Submitted by balboa on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 5:09pm.
While Maher slammed O'Reilly for "belittling" Obama, the host of HBO's "Real Time" had no qualms during the previous administration about smearing former President George W. Bush and others who disagree with him.
Of course, none of those quotes provided were from interviews with Bush, were they? (Can't imagine Maher ever got to interview Bush.)
What do you think terrorist
Submitted by ant on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 5:54pm.
What do you think terrorist organizations in other countries saw more of, this O'Reilly interview or 8 years of protests, death wishes, and defeatist criticism from the D's in DC against the President that had to deal with the worst terrorist attack our country has suffered?
BTW, I don't think unfunny jackass "comedians" should be granted interviews with the President. Seriously, what would we have learned from an interview between Bush and Bill Mahrer?
That doesn't really have
Submitted by balboa on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 4:54pm.
That doesn't really have anything to do with my post. I never said comedians should be granted interviews with the President.
"Can't imagine Mahrer ever
Submitted by ant on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 5:18pm.
"Can't imagine Mahrer ever got to interview Bush.". Yeah, and this article isn't really about Bush interviews either. Here we have a dufus calling someone 'unpatriotic' towards a President, while said dufus has amnesia concerning his own past rants.
The point was that while the
Submitted by balboa on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 5:50pm.
The point was that while the examples of BOR being "disrespectful" were during an interview with the president, the quotes disparaging Bush, were NOT by people interviewing the president.
What is this definition of
Submitted by ant on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 6:08pm.
What is this definition of "disrespectful"? Keeping an interview moving instead of letting Soros' puppet blather on and on? or asking a man who is hated by many about that hate? People on the left have no business talking about respect for others. I could take up yards of this thread listing the accusations against the American people alone, not counting political pundits.
ant
Submitted by balboa on Sat, 02/12/2011 - 4:45pm.
I'm not talking about whether or not BOR was actually disrespectful. It's the SOURCE of the quotes in this article used to show how people were disrespectful to Bush.
BOR was in an interview with Obama. The quotes bashing Bush are not. They're two different things.
world to balboa, news flash,
Submitted by fromsuncity on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 10:34pm.
world to balboa, news flash, maher is a comedian, ( a cra p p y one,) but not a jouranlist, fool.
now listen closely, i will just say it one time, BILL MAHER IS NOT NEWS, NOT TRUTH, JUST OPINIONS, VERY LEFTIST ONES, BUT OPINION NONE THE LESS. presidents dont sit with comedians, only the ones that their sleeping with.
Yeah, I never said he was.
Submitted by balboa on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 4:53pm.
Yeah, I never said he was. Thanks for missing the point of my post.
Conversation
Submitted by MCLIJazz on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 6:27pm.
A Bill O'Reilly interview is more of a timed conversation than an interview. "O'Reilly Factor" segments range from five to seven minutes. He had only 15 minutes with President Obama live and another 10 minutes recorded for Monday night. In any case, if the interviewee starts spinning or going off topic, Bill has to get them back on topic. That usually requires interrupting. With Mr. Obama, as an e-mailer put it on Tuesday, Bill "was tough but respectful" and "that's not soft."
Those that wanted Bill to embarrass the President need to remember a couple of things: you can't tear into a sitting president, and "The O'Reilly Factor" is not an ideological show.
The O'Reilly Factor not ideological???...
Submitted by Jer on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 5:13pm.
The it's changed dramatically from its first nine years on the air when I watched it regularly. It was one of the most ideologically-slanted shows on any network. The politically neutral claim was a laughable charade.
Jer
I intentionally did not watch
Submitted by marpel on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 6:51pm.
I intentionally did not watch the interview because I knew Bill O'Reilly would go soft on the POTUS, and yes, he would interrupt him constantly because he can't help himself (he has to hear himself talk more than he wants answers). I purposely did not watch O'Reilly this week because all he will do is pat himself on the back and balk at any criticism of his interview questions or techniques (which suck). But, nonetheless, Maher and Larry are not authorities on anything but being a-holes. So, why should we care what their opinions are. What matters is what I think...that's it.
"Deep within my heart lies a memory. A song of ol' San Antone..."
Thanks For The Compliment, Maher!
Submitted by hoodad500 on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 7:59pm.
O'Reilly should thank Maher for the compliment. For Bill Maher to call anyone unpatriotic is a true compliment because if his personal behavior is the liberal model of patriotism, we should all be pleased and complimented not to measure down to Maher's standards, or total lack thereof.
Asking Obama questions was
Submitted by Cowboy on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 8:38pm.
Asking Obama questions was unpatriotic?
That would make Maher's treatment of President Bush treason at the very least...
When that little creep said O'Reilly should have been more...
Submitted by jawebster1 on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 8:42pm.
respectful of the president, I couldn't believe my ears. This is the same guy who made a living disrespecting George Bush and other Republicans. I am happy to say that I never contributed to that living, because I don't watch his program and never did anything to put a dime in his pocket.
Maher is THE reason why we...
Submitted by PrairieSky on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 10:36pm.
don't take HBO, and never will, as long as he has anything to do with it.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction...It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them (our children) to do the same." ~President Ronald Reagan
the left is so freaking
Submitted by fromsuncity on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 10:29pm.
the left is so freaking hypocritical, how about how unpatriotic maher was about bush during his presidency, i just wish these fools would dry up and go away.
Maher takes himself far too seriously for such a hypocrite
Submitted by Nightfly on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 11:15pm.
Maher must have forgotten how many times he showed disrespect for the last president. He was rude and downright hateful. What a hypocrite! He must need attention because he has a mere fraction of the viewers that O'Reilly has. It obvious who's more relevant Maher takes himself far too seriously,
rude is rude - and o'reilly was exactly that
Submitted by abeautifulperson on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 12:51am.
o'reilly tried his hardest with the gotcha questions - which is cool by me... but o'reilly illustrated a few things that are plain as day:
1. o'reilly can be as rude and disrespectful as any bully.
2. obama can handle himself even when someone is attempting to publicly humiliate him.
but you know what? it's all good, cuz if obama can't handle o'reilly then he shouldn't be prez.
if that had been palin or beck across from o'reilly and o'reilly had been full-on, he would have ripped both of them from limb-to-limb (not that o'reilly would ever inflict on either, in such a manner).
and yes, maher can be as rude as the best of them. no excuses. pot meet kettle. it still doesn't dimish the fact that o'reilly embarrassed himself.
no doubt there were plenty of knuckles that drug themselves off the ground long enough to applaud him.
Beautiful
Submitted by ant on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 2:06am.
What is it with liberals and Palin and Beck, Palin and Beck,blah, blah, blah? Last time I checked they did not control the purse strings in this country, or write legislation, or pass executive orders, or write tax laws, or create oppressive regulations. Give it a rest, Palin and Beck are not trying to force you to buy goods and services, raise your taxes, or tell you what to eat and where to set your thermostat. Talk about knuckle-dragging. Wake up!
Conservatives existed long before those two came along, and despite the left's usual projections turned accusations, we don't get marching orders from 'activists central planning', it's an idealogy springing from common sense and a working knowledge of what America represents. Live with it.
a measure
Submitted by A pen on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 9:27am.
John F. Kennedy held a dinner in the white House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at that time. He made this statement: "This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."
Compare it to Obama and his dissembling.