Barack Obama To Negotiate With 'Tyrants' Without Pre-conditions: The Bill O'Reilly Interview

Finally, or so Bill O'Reilly declares, Barack Obama is going to sit with the Fox News celebrity journalist for an interview (the interview will air Sept 4). That this should have been done long ago is solely my opinion; had Mr. Obama appeared less fearful (the Democratic presidential wannabes refused a Fox-sponsored debate, fearing they'd not shine in the face of such harsh diplomacy), he would not have looked, in my opinion, quite so unattractive. You have heard it before: if you can't face the 'tyrannical' Bill O'Reilly, then you really can't face much.

My observation is that when it comes to the so-called "tough" interviews, Bill O'Reilly suddenly goes rather soft. I don't mean that he goes detumescent; I am not doubting his stature as a man. I just find that he is more bark than bite: I have not been that impressed with his putative tenacity. His Hillary Clinton interview, fine on the merits, was still not the sort of hard-hitting interview we had all come to expect. Mr. O'Reilly surely is a victim of his own braggadocio; the only hard-hitting interview I can recall where he played hardball involved a shouting match with Phil Donahue. (Oh, but how could I forget his vein-popping argument with Geraldo Rivera, his colleague?)

Mr. Obama has done himself a favor by at least appearing on "The Factor." I doubt he will make a fool of himself; I doubt Mr. O'Reilly will attempt to make a fool of him. I expect a rather calm and civil interview; Mr. O'Reilly will come across as something of a journalist statesman. But the whole thing will have a calamitous effect on the left-wing idiocy about Fox News; the left will settle in to watch the interview by the thousands, nay, the tens of thousands, proving, once again, that Fox News is not some vapid chatter channel.

Anyhow, just some thoughts.

Peace.

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