Baier & Balanced

Wingnutstan has a new hero—Fox News correspondent Bret Baier, who possibly set a record for most interruptions by a reporter during an interview with President Obama that was broadcast last night. NRO’s Seth Liebsohn’s description of the interview captures the general rapture on the right:

Bret Baier just concluded the single best interview of President Obama in a year, by any reporter…  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.

Now, I don’t believe reporters are required to be deferential to presidents and other powerful leaders; they should ask hard-hitting questions. However, it is a good idea to let interviewees, you know, answer the fooking questions they’re asked. Baier fails that test spectacularly, interrupting and talking over his interviewee like Tweety Matthews on crack and gushing GOP talking points like a demented Gipper geyser.

But, hey, maybe that’s just Baier’s style: Maybe when he interviewed former president Bush, Baier approached the conversation from the perspective of Nancy Pelosi and talked over Bush to insert Democratic Party perspectives at every opportunity. Let’s compare the two interviews, shall we?

Inquisition vs. tongue bath. Yep, that’s fair and balanced alright. 

Posted by Betty Cracker on 03/18/10 at 08:15 AM • Permalink

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