OUTFOXED AGAIN

Over at The Corner, Seth Leibsohn has some well-deserved praise for Bret Baier and his interview with President Obama:

Bret Baier just concluded the single best interview of President Obama in a year, by any reporter. He was resilient in the face of the president’s obvious attempts to run down the clock by stonewalling; Bret continually hammered a series of questions the president did not want, and yet he was polite in explaining to the president the meaning of the questions just in case they were not what the president was familiar with (see the question about Connecticut for example). It was a model of how not to be cowed by a strong and charismatic leader and a model of a truly independent anchor/reporter. President Obama knew he didn’t have Bret at the very end when his last effort at victimhood was to sarcastically hang his head to the side in response to Bret’s saying he didn’t mean to interrupt, as if Bret were being insincere—which he wasn’t. Anyone who watches the interview can see who was stalling, who was running the clock, who was refusing to answer the questions, and why polite interruption was exactly what was needed. It was a model. If any of the MSM can watch it and conclude anything it is that FNC deserves a) its ratings and b) kudos for being truly independent from the herd of faux independent minds, the likes of which Howell Raines seems to esteem. Bret showed the rest of the press how to do it from now on.

Actually, I was impressed at how defensive Obama was when confronted with Baier's probing questions; and how poorly the President came off in this hard-hitting--but very polite--interview, despite his highly acclaimed and revered rhetorical skills tricks. Most journalists have given Obama a free pass for most of his political career and it's obvious that the self-styled expert of hope and change doesn't care for it when they actually expect him to answer real, substantive questions. As Ace wryly noted, "I think it's fair to say Bret did not have a thrill up his leg during the interview."


I guess that when juxtaposed with reality, empty rhetoric begins to wear thin and sound pretty hollow after a while.

Judge for yourself.

Here is Part I of the interview:


And here is Part II:


I expect we'll soon see the White House find yet another flimsy excuse to come down hard on Fox News and self-righteously boycott it again (apparently they only go to Fox "when it suits their interests." ) Outfoxed again.