CBS anchor Harry Smith and Bill O’Reilly traded light blows with each other on Tuesday’s Early Show, as the Fox News Channel host marked his 100th consecutive month at the top of cable news ratings. Smith jabbed his guest about his 12 years on the same network: “Couldn’t hold a job at any other place?...Is this the longest continuous employment you have ever had?” O’Reilly didn’t take it lying down, however, and got in his own hits at Smith, such as joking about how the CBS anchor apparently hangs out with President Obama.
After beginning with his employment jab at O’Reilly, Smith asked the Fox News anchor about the piracy off the coast of Somalia. O’Reilly replied by recommending the arming of merchant ships and the posting of security guards onboard. He also got his first ribbing in at Smith: “A few security guards? Look, you got more security around you, Smith...here than they have in the boats.” The CBS anchor quipped back, “I need it....We’ve got guys like you coming in and I never know what’s going to happen.” O’Reilly further recommended that a blockade be initiated off the Somali coast.
Smith then brought up the reported proposal by the Obama administration of naming Caroline Kennedy ambassador to the Holy See. He twice asked, “Do you believe it’s true?” When O’Reilly replied affirmatively, the Early Show host responded in disbelief, “That sounds crazy.” The Fox News Channel star responded by getting in another jab at Smith:
O’REILLY: ...Here’s what disturbs me about Barack Obama. He’s a brilliant man. I know that. You’ve interviewed him, right? Okay.SMITH: A couple dozen times.
O’REILLY: Oh, well, I’m sorry. That’s right, you guys vacationed together. That’s right.
SMITH: He sings Happy Birthday.
O’REILLY: I’m sorry, how stupid of me.
SMITH: You’re out of the loop. (laughs)
O’REILLY: He’s a brilliant man, right?
SMITH: Yeah.
O’REILLY: But he makes these mistakes like bowing to the king of Saudi Arabia.
SMITH: Well, George Bush kissed him.
O’REILLY: That’s right.
(Smith laughs.)
O’REILLY: And look, if they want to date the guy, that’s fine, but let’s -- let’s have a little decorum.
Later, the CBS anchor shifted to a related issue -- the upcoming commencement address by President Obama at the University of Notre Dame. O’Reilly thought the Democrat should speak at the Catholic institution: “You know, look, he’s the president of the United States. I didn’t like it when George Bush was disrespected by people, saying he was a killer, and this, that and the other thing....Barack Obama is the president. He should go and he should speak.”
Near the end of the segment, after Smith brought up the new dog at the White, O’Reilly returned to hitting Smith over his “vacation” with the President:
SMITH: How about the White House dog? Is that the right choice?O’REILLY: The White House dog?
SMITH: The White House dog, yeah.
O’REILLY: But you know him better than I do. You hang with Barack.
SMITH: Oh, no, no -- not about the dog. Your pal Brit Hume said this is --
O’REILLY: Are you serious about a dog? Come on, you hang with him. You just blew me off because I didn’t know that you went on vacation with him --
SMITH: No, no.
O’REILLY: Tell me about the dog.
SMITH: I haven’t interviewed him since he was elected.
O’REILLY: He looks like a cute dog. But is a dog a left winger? I don’t know.
—Matthew Balan is a news analyst at the Media Research Center.
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"SMITH: Well, George Bush
Tue, 04/14/2009 - 15:17 ET by ckc1227"SMITH: Well, George Bush kissed him."
Yes, he did, but, as distasteful as that was, a kiss is not the same as a bow, unless we're talking about the typical media a** kissing of Obama that's so common these days.
What's next, Harry, equating a handshake, or maybe a pat on the back with a bow?
they don't get it
Tue, 04/14/2009 - 16:11 ET by i was just thinkingIn many parts of the world, including here in the Middle East (I'm in Lebanon; just moved here from Saudi Arabia), the kiss on each cheek - between men or between women - is a sign of friendship. It's a greeting between equals.
A bow is not the same thing. I have many male friends who I kiss in the same way as Bush and the King, but I certainly don't bow in deference to them. That implies an unequal relationship, as did Obama's bow.
And while we're at it, the press made fun of Bush holding the King's hand when they were in Crawford. That, too, is very common in the Middle East. Men often hold hands and it means nothing more than friendship.
To Mr. Bush's credit, he understood those little subtleties and was able to handle them appropriately.
But let's not forget... Obama understands foreign affairs and relations, right? Didn't he live in Indonesia when he was four years old? Some rubbish like that, I think it was. Oh, wait... that's what Biden is for... HE'S the one that was supposed to bring foreign affairs expertise to this administration.
nice commentary
Wed, 04/15/2009 - 09:49 ET by lotrThanks for the insight. Even without this cultural knowledge, however, it should already be self-evident that a one-sided bow is an act of submission.
More like a 'South Paw' Bill....
Tue, 04/14/2009 - 16:07 ET by Lord Erond:-D
"To sin by silence when we should protest, makes cowards of men" -Ella Wheeler Wilcox
I wanted to thank you the other day my friend. My deepest
Wed, 04/15/2009 - 20:38 ET by pahuberappreciation for your vigilance against PT the other day. Thank you for your stand against those who are cruel.
God bless you and yours!
pahuber
At least there was one good take away.
Tue, 04/14/2009 - 18:12 ET by CTThe fact that the dweeb Harry Smith feels the need for security.
O’REILLY: But he makes
Tue, 04/14/2009 - 18:47 ET by GregEO’REILLY: But he makes these mistakes like bowing to the king of Saudi Arabia.
SMITH: Well, George Bush kissed him.
Typical response. Instead of addressing what O'Reilly said, simply go with the theme of "well someone else did it too" as if it's relevant to the proceeding statement or question. I have liberals do it all the time and I don't let it just pass by.
O'Reilly should have simply come back with "Correct, now back to what I said, do you think it was a mistake to bow to the king?"
I agree - too many times lately, O'Reilly has let a good
Tue, 04/14/2009 - 19:01 ET by Cape Conservativeopportunity for a DIRECT comeback pass! I'm wondering if his 'goodwill tour' on the other networks demands softball responses. Your suggestion was much better than his lack thereof!
It is no dishonor to be in a minority in the cause of liberty and virtue. ~ Sam Adams
I agree; it's a weak form
Tue, 04/14/2009 - 21:00 ET by SmartypantsI agree; it's a weak form of debate. The left does the same thing about government spending. You point out how much Obama has spent in his brief time in office and the response is, invariably, that Bush started it--as if that makes it right. How does the fact that GWB, a man who the left continuously villified to no end, did something serve as proper support for Barack Obama doing even more of that same thing? It's absurd logic.
The most successful war America has ever waged is quickly becoming President Obama's war on capitalism.
You're dead on about the
Wed, 04/15/2009 - 09:31 ET by TheConservativeChemistYou're dead on about the "typical response"...typical of the left (as well as petulant teenagers!)...if you can't answer the question, be bratty in your answer and try to justify it with another example of bad/questionable behavior.
What do you expect? I'm surprised Smith didn't call O'Reilly a "poopy head"...such is the level of intellectual discourse and discussion on the left...
The World Is Round
Wed, 04/15/2009 - 15:16 ET by mulerider24So true, GregE. There are just too many angles to this response to warrant anything other than laughter. This "Bush did it too!" auto-reply seems to undermine all the work they've done branding Bush as the spawn of Lucifer the past 8 years.
The left covers for Obama's economic malfeasance by implying that Bush was only wrong because his debt-laiden policies weren't big enough.
They cover for his domestic surveillance policies by abandoning their previous assertion of principle while suggesting Bush's policy is actually legitimate with a "virtuous" person in control.
And now liberals are covering for Obama's growing list of foreign policy gaffes by saying Bush did it too.
At this point, wouldn't an adult pull them aside and ask "If President Bush jumped off a cliff, would Obama do it too?" For a group of people so focused on mapping an inverse course from George W. Bush, they sure do rely on him a lot to justify their vision of change.
"The problem with burning bridges is that the world is round."
100 months and counting
Tue, 04/14/2009 - 18:56 ET by CobraManBill O’Reilly has been Number One for 100 months and counting. Can Harry Smith say the same? No? I didn't think so.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus.
The US Supreme Court
Smitty!
Tue, 04/14/2009 - 20:00 ET by blazermaniacAt least Bill O'Reilly has an audience. And he has been destroying all comers for 100 months. Harry Smith has no clue what an audience is, because no one in their mind would watch the garbage that CBS News puts on in the morning. Or any other time of the day, for that matter.
BLAZE...
Wed, 04/15/2009 - 07:28 ET by danybhoyYou must understand that it is the viewer/reader that is the problem in the world of the MSM, not the with the content being provided. It's not Harry's fault the America is too dumb to "get it".
As for Smith taking shots at O'Reilly about working for someone other then Fox, that was funny. For guys like Smith, Fox is that "little cable network" that is sitting at the card table away from the main table at Thanksgiving dinner, but the fact that the MSM & the Dems need to take potshots all the time suggests otherwise. Blaze, you are spot on that Smith does'nt understand how to get & maintain an audience, & he will never get it.
"The Fairness Doctrine = Jim Crow laws for Conservatives". Jim Quinn from "Quinn & Rose"
Bill v. Hack
Tue, 04/14/2009 - 23:47 ET by AgentAmericanNo contest. O'Reilly would stick that finger up his a**.
2010: A GOP Hill
Softballs Away
Wed, 04/15/2009 - 11:55 ET by UtherpendI think Bill went easy on him to keep Harry from crying like a little girl on national television.
"For a people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed militia is their best security."