Obama vs O'Reilly

I had the chance recently to re-watch the February 2011 interview President Obama did with the Fox network's Bill O'Reilly. Whether you voted for Barack Obama or not, you have to admire his agreeing to be interviewed by Bill O’Reilly on Fox News in the first place. O’Reilly was his usual arrogant, classless, and disrespectful self, while Obama displayed elegance and enormous dignity and succeeded in making it look like he didn’t notice O'Reilly's — um — shortcomings. Personally, I wouldn’t have had the patience to sit politely by while Bill O’Reilly attempted to publicly insult my intelligence, knowing that in less than 5 words, I could make the guy look like the clown that he is.

By far, my favorite moment was when O’Reilly asked the President if it bothered him that so many people hate him (although he should have added "simply because you’re black”). The President’s reply was priceless:

"The people who dislike you don't know you. The folks who hate you, they don't know you." He also added, "What they hate is whatever funhouse mirror image of you that's out there. They don't know you. And so, you don't take it personally."

How many of us were taught the same thing by our parents while growing up? (And I can see the President and First Lady saying the same thing to their kids). That’s one of the reasons I admire our President so much; he’s REAL and not afraid to show it. Yes, there are many things I’m upset with him about at the moment, but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s pretty much unflappable, a genuine person to the core.

And, perhaps, for the first time ever, Bill O’Reilly told the truth about something when he went on to say that extreme rhetoric would continue to thrive, because "there's a lot of money to be made if you can polarize people." So that means that he (and Beck & Limbaugh & Coulter & Hannity) know exactly what they are doing. Not surprisingly, there lies the big problem: I's always been about money, not what's necessarily best for the country — or what the real truth is, for that matter. It's about lining your pockets. I think it was Frank Zappa who said the US would be destroyed by Americans only too happy to sell their country down the road for a profit.

In the end, O'Reilly wasn't trying to get knowledge to share with his audience. He was trying to "get" the President, and the President refused to play the game. To say the President was the better man doesn't even begin to cover it.