comment #1

rockne says ...

Ahhh...I love his face when she explains how bad the economy has been for most people. He is kind of looking at her with a disdain and a certain..."I can't get over her...how do I interrupt her?"
She handled herself very well.
And is this really one of the most-watched personalities in this country? He's not talking...he's talking over her and around her and trying to corner her into a certain response. This passes for actual news? What a joke.
Thanks for posting this...I could never bring myself to pay attention to his show. I think...oh, no...I feel kinda better about Hillary now, watching this...the poise...the responses...the understanding how to deal with a neanderthal...maybe she can handle the republicans...uh-oh...go Hillary? No, no, no,...Barack...Hillary? Damn, Mr. Wells...now I don't know.

comment #2

markj says ...

If Clinton wins the nomination for the Democrats i'll eat my (cool) hat.

comment #3

Edward says ...

O'Reilly is an unsufferable SOB, if he doesn't agree with someone he talks over them, berates them...Except Hillary. She did very well, I look forward to seeing the next part.

comment #4

nemo says ...

McCain should arrange to be interviewed by O'Reilly. McCain's self-admitted lack of knowledge about economics will seem like wisdom compared with O'Reilly's aggressively thundering ignorance.

The WSJ the other day ran a partial transcript of O'Reilly's interview with an economist who was an expert on the oil markets. For a right wing nut, O'Reilly did not seem to have the slightest grasp of how prices are set in markets. He kept pressing the economist for a bogey man who just doesn't exist.

O'Reilly kept saying things like, who's the guy who's deciding oil will be $125 a barrel? The Arabs? Some big guy in the oil industry? You kept wondering when O'Reilly was finaly going to say, the Jews? Thank god that's not PC among the far right anymore.

The poor economist had to keep explaining, no, it's not one person or one group of people. It's a supply and demand market. There's some speculators, but they're not the main factor. It's rising demand from China and India, inelastic supply from the producers, not just the Arabs, and inelastic demand from the rest of the world, especially Americans.

O'Reilly could not wrap his head around the simplest supply and demand concepts. All he wanted was a cartoon bad guy to rant about, while he clings to his gas-guzzling SUV like a crybaby. McCain would look like an MIT or University of Chicago economist next to O'Reilly.

It worries me that we'll end up with a president whose grasp of economics is so weak and whose willingness to pander to ignorance is so strong that he or she thinks a gas tax holiday is a good idea. That's both McCain and Clinton I'm talking about.

comment #5

scooterzz says ...

i'm still trying to get over her actually saying, 'ah, the rich...god bless us'......

comment #6

AH says ...

Watching O'Reilly is like watching a Uwe Boll movie. I just can't do it.

comment #7

rockne says ...

scooterzz says ...

i'm still trying to get over her actually saying, 'ah, the rich...god bless us'......

Yeah, but...she was being self-deprecating...right? Wasn't she? Mr. Wells...she was being self-deprecating, right?

From Wikipedia: (I know, I know...a nine year old may have written this, but here it is anyway)
The ability to laugh at oneself and the absurdities in one's own culture is often considered a good character trait.

comment #8

Laremy Legel says ...

I'd like to think that when I'm worth a few million I won't mind a tax increase... but perhaps that's why I'll never reach that level of wealth. Not ruthless enough! I remember the ABC debate moderator pulling this same thing - lots of pointed questions about how tax increases would effect him personally.

Sad.

comment #9

scooterzz says ...

no, rockne, she was sincere....she went on to say how the 'rich' goi on to give to future generations... there was no self-deprecation involved....

comment #10

cinefan says ...

I have no idea why anyone watches Bill O'Reilly on a consistent basis. He's the most sour and joyless personality on television and he has no charisma whatsoever. I love too how he leads a "discussion-based" program in which the only questions he asks are yes-no questions with only one right answer (his).

comment #11

chicbn872 says ...

You may not want to admit it folks...but O'Reilly is right about his observation regarding the election being a personality contest. People feel drawn to Obama because he's an elegant, charismatic speaker. They don't like Hillary because she is old hat & seems like a mean person.

Honestly, I challenge an Obama supporter to tell me why you support Obama. Give me something from his platform. The "Not Bush" argument is insane because technically, I am not Bush either but that doesn't make me qualified to be President. Kerry ran on the "Not Bush" platform & that one didn't work out so well did it? Don't give me the Obama "hopey-hope, changey-change" stuff either. What is he actually for? Does he really want universal healthcare? Is he really going to just pull every troop out of Iraq? Is he going to raise the payroll tax?

I don't really even have a horse in this race. The second that is was clear Giuliani was out of it, my ticket was a loser.

comment #12

chicbn872 says ...

Nemo - Also, did Barack Obama suddenly get a degree in Economics? He has a law degree, I know that. Can you explain, in detail, Obama's economic strategy for us if he becomes President?

rockne - I agree with you. I think she was being self-deprecating.

comment #13

rr3333 says ...

This O'Reilly is so freakin' insufferable.

comment #14

nemo says ...

"Nemo - Also, did Barack Obama suddenly get a degree in Economics? He has a law degree, I know that. Can you explain, in detail, Obama's economic strategy for us if he becomes President?"

I would take any candidate's promises with a huge rock of salt. But here's what Obama has to say:

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/economy/

And here's what McCain has to say:

http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/1a8640f0-b2e3-4edb-b2a9-236df79d2579.htm
http://www.johnmccain.com/taxcuts/

McCain's statements are pretty thin gruel next to Obama's. Obama is a hell of a lot more comprehensive, especially in areas that affect working families.

In fact, nearly all of McCain's economics platform comes down to that GOP old reliable: tax cuts, tax cuts, followed by, you guessed it, more tax cuts. In other words, pandering.

Just as Paul Volcker forced Reagan to raise taxes, and just as Alan Greenspan forced Bush Senior to raise taxes, I can guarantee you that if McCain really does make it to the White House, circumstances and the Federal Reserve will force him to raise taxes.

By the way, I've never been a big Obama fan, but he's the best one out there this time around. I also don't expect politicians to have a degree in economics, but I expect them to apply themselves to learning something about the subject. It's part of their freakin' job description to know something about economics. Most of them fail in that area.

I don't have a degree in economics, but I took it in college, I read the WSJ every day and the Financial Times a couple times a week, and I've read 3 or 4 books on economics and finance every year for the past 15 years. I regard it as a basic part of educating myself for personal financial planning. I expect the same from presidential candidates, although realistically I doubt that even the best of them know as much as I do, which scares me sometimes. But better to have a president who knows something about the subject than someone who publicly admits to knowing nothing, like McCain.

HRC seems knows a thing or two about economics, but she's far too willing to pander to voters who don't want to look past next week.

comment #15

K. Bowen says ...

I have to say that I don't like HIlary's shady land deals, FBI file collection, and socialism. I do like her toughness and her brains and her fight. She's improved dramatically as a candidate. I think she got webbed into a coronation strategy, a strategy that never seems to work, and even if it does, it makes you seem out of touch. I think her advisers tried to make her run as her husband, all slick answers, etc. Now she seems to have come to terms with her own essential Nixon-ness. For some reason that seems much more appealing.

comment #16

nemo says ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/business/23leonhardt.html

"Last week, Senator McCain laid out his economic vision in a speech in Pittsburgh. He talked about wasteful spending, but the newest, most detailed part of the speech dealt with a package of tax cuts that would cost about $300 billion a year. They would come on top of $350 billion a year in Bush tax cuts that Mr. McCain wants to make permanent. To put these numbers in perspective, the Iraq war has been costing roughly $200 billion a year. . . .

"It’s easy to imagine how Mr. McCain could be laying the groundwork to run as a true fiscal conservative, now that he has locked up the Republican nomination. He could present himself as the one candidate who believes that the nation can afford neither Mr. Bush’s endless tax cuts nor the Democrats’ big new government programs. He has the perfect adviser to help him make that case.

"But it’s not the case he’s making, at least not yet. Instead, when you add up the numbers that have been released so far, you’re left wondering if he is the least fiscally conservative candidate still in the race."

comment #17

Dave Polands Gut says ...

Damn that O'Reilly guy for being tough and asking real questions to candidates.

How dare he!

comment #18

Jay T. says ...

O'Reilly is such a windbag, it always amazes me.

While I voted for Obama, I do have to admit that Hillary Clinton's tax and economic plan is actually far superior and more in touch with reality (only taxing those who make over $250,000 and leaving the people in the $100,000 - $249,000 range alone... as they are not nearly as well off as Obama seems to think).

comment #19

D.Z. says ...

chich: "Honestly, I challenge an Obama supporter to tell me why you support Obama. Give me something from his platform. "

He didn't vote for the war, and he said it was wrong from the beginning. Oh, and he thinks nuclear war with Iran is a bad idea.

"Does he really want universal healthcare? Is he really going to just pull every troop out of Iraq? Is he going to raise the payroll tax?"

Even if he doesn't, he'll probably push us in that direction, and any future Republican candidate would have a hard time being able to convince us otherwise. [Kind of like how they tried to convince us to screw the elderly by cutting off their social security.]

"He has a law degree, I know that. Can you explain, in detail, Obama's economic strategy for us if he becomes President?"

Bush has a degree in business, and how has that helped *us* in '08?

Bowen: "I have to say that I don't like HIlary's shady land deals, FBI file collection, and socialism."

But Bush's corrupt contractors, DUI, and corporate welfare are fine and dandy.

Jay: "only taxing those who make over $250,000 and leaving the people in the $100,000 - $249,000 range alone... as they are not nearly as well off as Obama seems to think"

They can buy overpriced SUVs which kill the the rest of us off, so they seem fine to me...

comment #20

Spicer says ...

Bowen: I agree with you about Hillary's campaign. I think since they were all holdovers from Bill's campaigns that they tried to make her into Bill. She doesn't have his charm or charisma. That said, I really liked her in that O'Reilly interview. She comes off well because she seems so much more genuine. It reminds me of Dole's 96 campaign, where somebody must have thought it would work is Dole came off like the craggy old bastard that lives next door. Remember when he went on Letterman 3 days after the election was over. And he was FUNNY? Where the hell was that guy during the election? Hillary should just fucking relax and be herself. That fake smile and cackling laugh are awful!!

comment #21

MDOC says ...

O'Reilly is the best. He's a plain talker, no BS. Sure he's a conservative but it's no secret. He asked good questions. I learned a lot from this interview. Hillary can handle it, she came off well.

comment #22

Mgmax says ...

"Teddy Roosevelt was a great president"

You gotta give Hillary credit for taking bold stands on the issues.

comment #23

D.Z. says ...

Mgmax: Occupation of the Philippines aside, T.R. was one of the last Republicans to believe pollution is a bad thing, instead of arguing that "the science is still out on it".

comment #24

Mgmax says ...

Besides being humorless, this is of course wrong about Nixon and the EPA, which was founded during his term.

comment #25

D.Z. says ...

Mgmax: I said one of the last, not the last.

comment #26

alan says ...

There's nothing I hate worse than an interview where one person constantly interrupts and tries to talk over the other person by being extra-loud. O'Reilly may be the absolute worst I've ever seen for doing this. I kept waiting for Hillary to bitch-slap that douchebag and say "Will you let me fucking finish a sentence?" I might have changed my support from Obama to Clinton if she had done that.