If only the Obama campaign would talk this tough about the Mahmoud Ahmadinejads of the world . . .
Appearing on today's Morning Joe, Robert Gibbs, the communications director of the Obama campaign, called Bill O'Reilly a "bully," and vowed the campaign would "go directly at him."
View video here.
DAVID SHUSTER: I've got a question. I want to help out Willie [Geist] here. And that is, you've seen this Bill O'Reilly meltdown thing [bad language alert], right? I mean, what did you think about it, and has that made the Obama campaign more or less likely to accept O'Reilly's invitation to go on his show?
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Shuster, I'm gonna [inaudible, perhaps "freak"].
ROBERT GIBBS: Well, I—obviously—
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Health care. Just talk health care. It's OK
GIBBS: You want me to weave health care into this?
BRZEZINSKI: Robert Gibbs, just do it live [echoing O'Reilly from his meltdown]. Okay, just do it live. Alright, go ahead. Give the answer.
GIBBS: Look, I think—look, I think at some point we will go on Bill O'Reilly's show, despite the fact that—I think you saw video earlier this year of Bill trying to get into a fight with Marvin Nicholson, a staffer that travels with Senator Obama on the road. Look, I think the best way to go about a bully is to go directly at him, and I think that's something that we'll clearly do.
BRZEZINSKI: Well, and he did -- you know, just for the record, guys, he did a great job interviewing Hillary Clinton and he went there. I mean, we had fun with this tape but --
Pat Buchanan showed a keen sense for the story here.
PAT BUCHANAN: Does Barack Obama share your view that Bill O'Reilly is a bully?
BRZEZINSKI: Wow. Poor Robert Gibbs. Just talk health care. Health care. Health care.
GIBBS: Right. Health care is the good answer right now, right?
Almost as noteworthy as Gibbs' calling O'Reilly a bully and vowing that the Obama campaign would go after him was Mika Brzezinski's intervention. I thought the role of a show host [Mika is subbing for Joe Scarborough this week] is to get guests—certainly senior operatives of presidential campaigns—to answer the tough questions. Instead, Mika jumped in to discourage Gibbs from responding, even offering him a subject-changer on a silver platter. Now why would that be?
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
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Oh boy, are they going to be
May 15, 2008 - 11:59 ET by BDOh boy, are they going to be meat on the table....
Several PSIs just went into
May 15, 2008 - 12:14 ET by Chris NormanSeveral PSIs just went into O'Reilly's ego.
Beware what you promise
May 15, 2008 - 12:14 ET by okiehawk44Gibbs: "I think the best way to go about a bully is to go directly at him, and I think that's something that we'll clearly do."
So, I guess we can rest assured that BHO will, shortly after taking office, face off with the world's bullies like Ahmadinejad and Kim Jong Il and Putin?
BHO doesn't have the cojones to stand up to his pastor much less these REAL bullies.
How can anyone call O'Reilly
May 15, 2008 - 12:18 ET by BruzillaHow can anyone call O'Reilly a bully after that Clinton interview? Brown noser, kiss-up, suck-up, yeah... but bully... no way.
O'Reilly's just a maverick.
May 15, 2008 - 12:21 ET by Jack BauerO'Reilly's just a maverick. Like John McCain.
"There Ought To Be A Law"
May 15, 2008 - 12:35 ET by Chris Norman"There Ought To Be A Law" O'Reilly has been bending over backwards lately to distance Obama from the some of the the racist American-hating whack jobs who support him - to the point of scolding people who try to link them. He's either angling for an interview or trying to re-establish his self-image as an "independent" populist curmudgeon.
Maverick = Selfish
May 15, 2008 - 13:24 ET by River CityRush said today that we should equate the word Maverick with the word Selfish. He said that is what McCain means when he says it. So each time we hear McCain use the word to describe himself just substitute selfish and you will get the true meaning of what he is saying.
"We are going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." Hillary Clinton, 6-28-04 San Francisco
I agree Bruzilla
May 15, 2008 - 12:22 ET by Dee BunkI think that the left hates him so much because he's really the old
kind of Democrat, like Kennedy. Tough on Defense and still proud of
their religion but still very much a dem when it comes to Unions, and social programs. He is their biggest danger because his criticisms are
the type that the old conservative democrats identify with.
O'Reilly is first and
May 15, 2008 - 12:35 ET by BruzillaO'Reilly is first and foremost about O'Reilly. It steams him that Obama hasn't come on his show, despite his being number one in the ratings. I think that's why he went so easy on Hillary... he was hoping Obama would see that and reconsider coming on his show. It's typical O'Reilly... the guy who rails against someone engaged in some sexual antics or another, and then pants like a lapdog when Jenna Jameson comes on his show.
I wish they would give him the boot and give Brit Hume his own show.
Run-on thought
May 15, 2008 - 12:21 ET by Mica the MagnificentI hope O'Reilly has another meltdown while interviewing Obama and Obama gets so upset he starts to cry and Michelle runs over and yells and wags her finger in Bill's face and Bill bites her finger and Obama wets his pants and Michelle and Barack flee out the back door of Fox News screaming and crying and as they run for the waiting limosine they trip on the sidewalk and Barack bumps his head on the limosine door and it's all caught on tape.
YouTube will love it.
Oh for Pete's sake! How
May 15, 2008 - 12:38 ET by motherbeltOh for Pete's sake! How old IS that tape of O'Reilly on "Inside Edition" anyway?
Give me a break.
This is just another pre-emptive shot across the bow by the Obama campaign. O'Reilly had better not get any ideas about tough questions!
What the heck is this? Obama is camgaigning against Bill O'Reilly now???
MB, You Beat Me To It
May 15, 2008 - 12:56 ET by geoff.galeAlso, given that most of the people in the media are driven in part by the same prima donna ego that drives Bill O'Reilly, how many of them have a tape like O'Reilly's in their past that they've suppressed? That O'Reilly clip is old, and the behaviour it portrays is old hat for most of the glitteratti on the various news shows - like there's not tape of Chris Matthews or Keith Olberman hitting ceiling somewhere out there. Sure, I believe that!
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
- Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797)
www.conservativeboot...
geoff, here's gawker.com's
May 15, 2008 - 13:19 ET by motherbeltgeoff, here's gawker.com's video of Top Ten On-Camera Meltdowns. They don't all contain profanity, but it shows that O'Reilly is far from alone.
Ego
May 15, 2008 - 13:28 ET by River CityGawker also discussed the fact that the folks in anchor positions are full of ego and self-importance. The way they talked about it I think they made it easy for everyone to understand. O'Reilly is NOT alone in the ego and paranoia departments.
"We are going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." Hillary Clinton, 6-28-04 San Francisco
He is far from alone. I saw
May 15, 2008 - 14:24 ET by mjgHe is far from alone. I saw Matthews and Donaldson and a few others.
I think its' about 20 years
May 15, 2008 - 14:20 ET by mjgI think its' about 20 years or more old. O'Reilly has dark hair than and looked younger. This tape is what they are using to call O'Reilly a bully? That's a stretch.
THE FACTOR...
May 16, 2008 - 00:52 ET by danybhoymotherbelt,
O'Reilly was at Inside Edition from 89-95, so that tape IS old. But hey, why go back that far? Just look at last year's blowout with Geraldo Rivera, just as insane as the old Inside Edition video.
As for Obama taking on O'Reilly head on, I think that's BS. Obama does'nt go where he can get hit hard, he's like a receiver who won't go over the middle.
He can't make a decision, he voted "present" 130 times in the IL legislature, take a stand man. Plus he sucks when he's speaking off the top without a script. None of that bodes well for him if he goes into "the no spin zone".
"Some of us are wise, some of us are otherwise" Mark Levin
Who are these people trying
May 15, 2008 - 15:22 ET by Gary P JacksonWho are these people trying to fool? Bill O'Reilly has all but ENDORSED Obama. Me thinks the kid's glove treatment will end tonight! How stupid can Obama's handlers be? You NEVER pick a fight someone who owns all of the ink, or his timeslot!
Stooopid!
That's it?
May 15, 2008 - 16:14 ET by NorthCoasterBill is a bit overbearing at times but when he is, the person he's dealing with needs it. The person writing the copy on the tele-prompter wanted Bill to ad-lib an ending for the show because they were too lazy to do it themselves or they were just jerking his chain to get a rise out of him. To use old archived footage like this is just a sorry excuse for digging up dirt.
Keep it up Bill you're batting .1000----best ratings on cable.
Mika Mouse
May 15, 2008 - 20:01 ET by harry flashmanPlease - I'm so tired of this syncophant poseur know-nothing - she couldn't find her own a$$ on a dark night with both hands and I'm supposed to give credence to any of her cadre mouthings?
O'Reilly? He and I would probably be rolling around in the sawdust if we found each other on adjoining barstools but - I do have respect for him in the sense that he's a good point man. He's out there in front and draws the enemy fire, thereby exposing their positions and weaknesses. He's no cupcake and he speaks his mind regardless of the conventional conservative wisdom. Yes, I agree, he's soft on Obambi but the position gives him a certain legitimacy to the "fair & balanced" claim.
I'm sure his crew is doing serious "oppo research" on the Magic Negro and will trumpet his findings at an opportune time.
Either way, in the end, O'bambi and on O'Reilly were made for each other in infotainment heaven.
As for Mika - she overloads my gag reflex on sight.
BO
May 15, 2008 - 20:28 ET by Emma GrumpI doubt that Obama possesses the testicular fortitude to appear on the Factor. Hard questions are just not his forte, and he knows it.
Bill is all about fair, but
May 16, 2008 - 01:10 ET by general companyBill is all about fair, but Obama is looking for a handout. He wants to be our leader, but he doesnt feel the need to convince us that he is qualified.
And on that same note, I would like to be the CEO of GE so I can restore their reputation and bring many good thing to us,,,,umm Americans.
I will be on Mt Ranier tomorrow so if I miss your call well.,.,.,.,.........
"Television is a freak show" Bernie Goldberg
I thought BOR's meltdown was funny as hell.
May 16, 2008 - 00:58 ET by R D HelmI am not a huge fan of his, except for his work to keep child predators behind bars, but hey, we all have days when we feel like lashing out.
God knows I have lost it on occasion, and Bill's little rant was pretty mild in comparison.
If you ask me, that clip suggests that Bill is, at least, human.
Legalize Freedom-Vote Libertarian
I got it.
May 16, 2008 - 01:34 ET by JWFPresident Truman dropped an atomic bomb on a Japanese city and when he did not get the right response, he did it again 3 days later.
President Lincoln says to the South, oh no, you will not secede and gets us into the bloodiest war in history.
President Kennedy looks Khrushchev in the eye and says those missles will not stay in Cuba.
President Roosevelt, only days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, says We are not going after Japan just yet, first we're gonna take care of that guy Hitler.
President Bush tells Saddam he has 48 hours to bug out of Iraq, and if he don't go, we'll do it for him.
President Obama refused to speak to Bill O'Reilly until he learned O'Reilly was a bully, and then he told O'Reilly, look pal, you don't say the f word no more, or so help me God, I will stomp my foot or glare at you or something. Just shape up mister!