Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Sometimes I Wonder About This Guy
You have got to be kidding me. Bill Maher thinks Bill O'Reilly in his interview with President Obama on Super Bowl Sunday was "unpatriotic." And why would this be?
Because the overbearing O'Reilly asked Obama some tough questions and interrupted him a few times. Good grief! Would Maher have said the same thing about Dan Rather and his smart-alecky questioning of President Nixon ("No sir, Mr. President. Are you?")? Or Wolf Blitzer's embarrassing interview in 2007 with Vice President Cheney? That CNN piece was so bad that it succeeded in doing the impossible: making Darth Cheney into a sympathetic character.
Presidents (and would-be presidents) tend to be great bullshitters. That's how they got there in the first place. And sometimes they need to be interrupted, lest they avoid answering the question. I thought Bad Bill's interview was fine and you know what, Mr. Maher? Obama did just fine, too.
I used to like Maher back when he hosted Politically Incorrect and he routinely went after both sides. Now he's basically turned into a shill for the Democrats. That's his right if he wants to do it, but it doesn't make for very interesting television.
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I can understand disagreement about how O'Reilly conducted the interview. But, as Samuel Jackson correctly observed, "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel" -- be it from left or right.
ReplyDeleteToday I've heard from several progressive friends who are delighted with Maher's comment. I refrained from reminding them how much they hated it when some right-wingers questioned their patriotism for opposing the Iraq war, for example. But you can't talk sense to people when their passions are inflamed.
I like Mahar because he makes me laugh. And I am one tough room. I disagree with his opinion that O'Reilly was disrespectful. You're spot on re how hardnosed reporters should be when interviewing the powerful. But we have to remember, Mahar says things to get a reaction. If he went on record as saying O'Reilly did a great job, he'd be off base with his base. And we wouldn't be discussing Mahar now. You mention something about Mahar to which I say ditto. He used to go after all. Now he's predictable. Which is one of the worst things you can say about entertainers, whether they be comics, actors or singer/songwriters.
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