Did his parents raise him wrong or does he work for a company that encourages boorish behavior? Baier was unconscionably rude to the President of the United States. I don’t care if you like or hate the President, no one addresses the President like that. Why didn’t Baier just tell the President to shut up, throw a shoe at him or call him Bub? It would have been no more rude.
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Fox News should be ashamed and put Baier on administrative leave. Interrupting has become a part of politics and it is very much a sign of disrespect and ill breeding.
Is there ever an excuse for rudeness like this to any President of the United States?
UPDATE:
Cargosquid left parts 1 & 2 of the entire interview. The video that is posted is an encapsulation. It is important to me to give honest information.
That’s par for the course. That’s the way political discussions are held. In fact, Baier was less rude than most interviewers. I think it’s unreasonable to expect a more civil discussion in the political realm right now.
Part one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFWHlry2pNA
Part two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MUc2TAe9Og
He was interrupted every time he attempted double talk. He never answered a question directly. He keeps talking about “his” bill. He has no bill. The Senate bill is the only only one out there. He talks about the 72 hours. There won’t be 72 hours available to look at anything. The “reconciliation” bill is not written yet. And they are voting on in by Sunday.
Of course, what you are using is a clip from Fox’s competitor. Watch the whole thing and Bret apologizes for interrupting the President’s long winded spins so that he could get as much as he could into the interview in the time allowed.
The Presidents spin about not caring about Congressional “procedures” is tantamount to admitting that the “ends justifies the means” and he doesn’t care if the Slaughter Rule is constitutional or not, as long as he can sign a bill. He did not answer the question as to why Congress needs to intimidate or bribe members for votes if this is such a good deal. He returns to his spin of “a NO vote is a vote for the status quo and a YES vote, no matter how its conducted, is a vote for “reform.” He NEVER answered the questions directly. He always talked about HIS package. And he continues with the falsehoods about premium reduction, deficit reduction, no changes to existing health care, etc. He talks about strengthening medicare while they are going to gut its funding.
As to the Slaughter Rule process to “pass the bill” by voting to pass the Amendments so that the House won’t have to be on record, how does one amend a bill if that bill has not been made law? Can I DEEM my taxes to have been paid? The House can believe in anything is wants. Apparently they believe that the Constitution doe not apply to them. The DEEM that “health care reform” is more important than upholding their oath of office.
DEEM: transitive verb : to come to think or judge : consider ed it wise to go slow>intransitive verb : to have an opinion : believe
PASS: 9 a : to become approved by a legislature or body empowered to sanction or reject ed>
Also, what’s up with that Hawaii earthquake statement? His office says he “misspoke.” But what was he thinking about at that time?
I just watched the whole clip that you have. Its not accurate. They make it much worse than it was. Of course, the other channels, as admitted, “defer” to the office of the President (unless its Bush). They defer to Obama so much that no interview is necessary. They spout the talking points on cue.
I will actually give President Obama his due for appearing on a hostile network. Good for him.
In Bret’s defense..
“I apologize for interrupting you, sir. I tried to get the most for our buck here,” Baier said as the interview wrapped up.
Speaking later on his Fox program, the anchor said he was reluctant to be confrontational with Obama and wasn’t sure the back-and-forth had delved into enough detail. “I didn’t want to interrupt him as much as I did,” Baier said. “Trying to nail him down on a number of specifics was tough.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/34599_Page2.html#ixzz0jEPuFtBF
Also, this is tame in terms of political discussion when you have fired school teachers hanging an effigy of President Obama in a classroom.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/18/AR2010031802140.html
It’s BRETT Baier,not Britt.
We are both wrong. It is BRET. Only one T.
Fixed now. He is a very very rude little man and should be shunned. I am as shocked as I was when that young pig threw the shoe at Geroge Bush. Same type of disrespect.
Cargo, I am going to post the links you left to into the original post. The one I put up is somewhat misrepresentative as it does not give the entire interview.
Regardless, Baier was still incredibly rude. In my world you don’t do that to anyone. Not a husband, a wife, kid, neighbor, clerk in a store….. You especially do not to that to the President of the United States. He should have never talked over him or interrupted him.
Had Baier been dissatisfied with his answers he should have done a follow up and pointed out the questions that were not answered. In my world, Baier was as disrespectful as the guy who threw the shoe.
I never heard President Obama say ‘my bill.’ I heard him say ‘my proposal.’ That’s fair since he sends down his wishes to congress.
Finally, I am very much a fence sitter on the entire issue of health care. I am not a fence sitter on the subject of having decent manners when meeting with Presidents.
You know, I’ve been doing one interview (and occasionally two) a day for the past week or so. I had always heard stories about Fox and its methods; however, I discounted them as partisan complaining… until now. Some interviews are more fun than others.
I was invited to do a ten minute Q&A with 97.1 talk radio in Atlanta at 6:20 yesterday. When they called me, they asked if I minded staying longer… and if they could have a guest? I agreed to both. It turned out to be a Fox station looking for a bit of “red meat” (which ……would be me). I ended up debating coffee party vs tea party for forty minutes with Dana Loesch, a Glenn Beck style radio personality and Coffee Party leader. Had I known whom I was going to be “up against” and that it was going to be a “debate”, I would have prepared differently. It didn’t quite work out as they planned. While they edited the forty minutes down to ten leaving most of my best stuff on the “floor” , They cut my “surprise” at being ambushed by Dana Loesch, the fact that I’m a Veteran, and most of my substantive comments while publishing Dana’s long diatribes. I think I still did OK. If you want to listen to the 9.5 minutes that they published, click on the link=>
http://www.971talk.com/glover/index.aspx
Go to audio=>3:16 Tea Party vs Coffee Party=> enjoy! And if Fox calls… hang up quickly. They are NOT fair and balanced; however, they really do know how to edit things to their favor.
I was on CBS Washington Unplugged (down town) the next day=>
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6308014n&tag=contentMain;contentBody
It was night and day. I ran into Bob Schieffer standing at his office door. We chatted a bit. He’s a really great guy. John Dickerson was our host. The other guests, Mark Meckler and Jenny Beth Martin, the co-founders of the Tea Party Patriots, were great company in the green room… and really nice people. Talk about a dramatic difference in styles.
Guess which news show I’ll be watching tonight?
Not sure why this post isn’t going through. I’ll try again.
In Bret’s defense..
“I apologize for interrupting you, sir. I tried to get the most for our buck here,” Baier said as the interview wrapped up.
Speaking later on his Fox program, the anchor said he was reluctant to be confrontational with Obama and wasn’t sure the back-and-forth had delved into enough detail. “I didn’t want to interrupt him as much as I did,” Baier said. “Trying to nail him down on a number of specifics was tough.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/34599_Page2.html#ixzz0jEPuFtBF
Also, this is tame in terms of political discussion when you have fired school teachers hanging an effigy of President Obama in a classroom.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/18/AR2010031802140.html
It’s good to get the rest of the story here. Thanks for posting that.
I am tired of people excusing rudeness. Apologizing for being rude means you know you were. Baier knew exactly what he was doing. He simply refuses to take personal responsiblity for his own behavior. There is just too damn much of that going around.
I don’t like the president, or this bill, or that bill, or this congress person so I can be a rude just doesn’t cut it. We need to return to having some manners.
Far more impressive members of the media have interviewed presidents. Those who went on to be American greats took what they got and commented graciously. Actually, no president owes Bret Baier anything. Look at the deference FDR was given. Baier would have probably kicked his crutches out from under him if he didn’t answer the way Bret thought he should be responded to.
Marin, in my world, there is no defense for any reporter talking to a president that way. It simply isn’t done. Bad manners. Bad decorum. Bad American.
So, our press should just allow a President to drone, on and on, repeating his talking points, using up finite time?
Since when did the President, over any other politician, become sacred and untouchable? What you saw as bad manners, I saw as a reporter trying to do a difficult job of balancing deference to the office and still get a straight answer out of a spinning politician.
Bret had a short time to cover a lot of ground. Obama loves to hear himself and takes 10 words to say one. And that’s when he’s not trying to spin an issue.
Sorry you were offended. I’m just glad that at least ONE reporter is willing to ask President Obama some tough questions and try to get him to answer them. Presidents always OWE the public a straight answer. What would you consider a media great? I know of none. FDR owed the public a lot of straight answers that we never got. Maybe he needed a Brett Baier to ask them.
They were rude to you also Al. I wish I had a dime for every time you were interrupted.
I have never thought Fox to be Fair and Balanced. I have studied it for year. It is very skewed in the conservative direction.
This is not really any different than the way Sam Donaldson used to behave when he asked questions of presidents. He did not suffer evasiveness quietly or politely.
I applaud this rudeness by Baird in particular but also journalists in general, because it is often a necessary tactic to get to the bottom of an issue. The key is to make sure that both parties are treated equally rudely. The mainstream media was very pushy with Bush, but has become pushovers with Obama. When a politician including the president tries to avoid answering questions about important issues, then the media should get in his face (figuratively).
In part, I would argue that the Tea Parties are a reaction to the failure of the media to get to the bottom of important issues. With the media showing such deference to Obama, people are extremely upset that his questionable assertions are not being challenged. The frustration at the failure of investigative journalists to present stories evenly has contributed to the chaos at town hall meetings.
I applaud Baier and hope that the rest of the media follows his lead.
President Obama is President, not King. He should not be shown “deference.” We don’t bow to kings in America. And when he is dissembling, he should be called out on it. We pay his salary, he owes us accountability. I’ve had enough of the media fawning and softballing him and parroting his party lines; it’s about time someone made him a little uncomfortable.
He’s lying about the special deals being excluded from “his” bill. He was caught off guard about the Connecticut deal because he wasn’t even aware of it. And despite what he says, process does matter, otherwise the Constitution is just an interesting old scrap of paper.
We deserve answers, not spin. President Obama is OUR servant, not the other way around.
The press will get very little cooperation if they are rude.
I am sorry you all feel that way. I see more and more civility going by the wayside. Actually, I believe the President owes the voters not the press. The press is really only in it for themselves, whether we are speaking print press, TV press etc. The sooner people learn that, the better off they will be.
Sam Donaldson was rude also. He was Emily Post compared to what I have been seeing lately.
Actually I eas extremely offended. However, I offend easily. For instance, I found Code Pink disrupting hearings on the Hill inexcusably rude. I considered Cindy Sheehan invading the president’s privacy inexcusable.
Regardless of who fills the office, there is a certain protocol that goes with that office. Until President Nixon got on that helicopter that transported him into civilianhood, he was due the respect of the office he held.
You all must see the president as a bud or something.
MH, in my world a politician would give an open, honest, direct answer to a question. In my world I also want journalists (not reporters) that dig into a story and look for the truth.
If that happens to rile the lilly white manners of a Republican or Democrat…? Too bad. It’s called being respectful and firm and while it’s a juggle to get right I’d rather have that than any politician mearly echoing unchallanged soundbites to the media and using them as a propeganda engine.
Would not Ms. Sarah Palin be challanged in the same way by any other journalist? I would hope so!
He appeared to be answering the questions.
I was taught to respect the office and the person serving in that office at a very young age by my parents. Apparently that is a value that no longer exists in America today. I can remember as a little kid my parents explaining that one to me. Even though they hadn’t voted for someone, I was to always be respectful of the person holding that office.
Actually, I wouldn’t talk to anyone the way that ill-mannered man talked to the President.
I have not heard an interview where Ms. Palin was interrupted like that. I certainly spoke out over attacks on her children. I would not care for her being treated that way either…however for an entirely different reason. Ms. Palin isn’t the president of the United States.
‘Lilly white manners?” I am not real comfortable with that expression actually. Perhaps you might want to rethink using that expression. I am going to suck air and pretend that wasn’t said. A couple of decades ago that would have been code for calling me a racist.
Emma, I never heard him call it ‘his bill.’ Can you reference how far that is in to the video? I heard ‘my proposal.’
Since I don’t have direct access to the President as a voter, I want the press to ask the tough questions I don’t get to ask directly. And when the President conducts a 1-man filibuster rather than answer a direct question with a direct and relevant answer, he should be interrupted. This was an interview, not a campaign speech. Pausing for breath once in a while might have been a nice courtesy on the President’s part as well.
Emma, if you go through the press, then no wonder you have killer political rage. I don’t trust the press. I learned that a long time ago. They all have an agenda and are self serving.
Once again, I found myself wanting to be able to hear the answer without interruption. Health care is a complex issue, not a sound bite. I felt exactly like how I felt when I tried to make heads or tails out of the subject during down hall meetings. I want to hear, out of the president’s mouth, what’s going on. If he takes longer than Bret B thinks is necessary, tough crap. Then don’t intervew him.
Part of my feeling about this entire interview starts with how enraged I get over interruption like this; not letting a person finish. I have studied it over the years and I have often seen men do it to women/. Its simply a form of bullying. Bosses do it to employees. Anyone who wants to impress upon the other that they are of importance.
I will never accept that kind of bad manners as the order of the day. There is decorum and protocol attached to addressing the president. Even if that is how Bret Baier talks to his wife, he should not be addressing the holder of the highest office in the land in that manner. It USED to be an America tradition.
“Killer political rage”? Really?
Hyperbole. You know, getting pissed off over politics?
Of course, who can forget some of Dan Rather’s interviews? For example, remember the one with Bush Sr. when he was VP? Dan Rather wouldn’t let Bush Sr. get a word in edgewise, and then finally Bush Sr. got back at him by referring to the time when Rather didn’t come on the air on time when some tennis match ended in overtime – and left some long period of dead air on CBS.
Or, who can forget Dan Rather’s crazy investigation of Bush Jr. when he was up for reelection?
Of course, I know what everyone’s going to say about my first paragraph, Bush Sr. was only VP so it was OK for Rather to interrupt him endlessly.
And I would have been all ears to hear the President Obama’s answers, too, if that was what the President was offering. But instead he was giving spin and dissembling, under the apparent assumption that we are too stupid to notice the difference.
And Rather always showed his liberal bias – just as much as any newscaster on Fox shows his/her conservative bias. Of course, Rather is retired now, so I guess that isn’t a present day thing. Just the same, if you wanted to watch a liberal newscaster who made no effort to hide his bias – for the many years he was CBS news anchor – all you had to do was tune into Dan Rather.
Now that’s a statement I can agree with.
I thought Rather was an idiot and thought that for many years. But let’s not compare. Rather got his. You either don’t like what Baier did or you do like it. It doesn’t matter what others do. Baier did something rude about 6 months ago. I can’t even remember now. Maybe it is just his way.
Rather WAS retired. I don’t think he went gracefully. I first saw what an ass he was during the Democratic Convention of 1968. He was a drama queen. I don’t want a liberal or a conservative. I just want the news.
Actually, you are quite correct. Rather didn’t go gracefully, and he didn’t go out on his own terms.
OK, I never heard of Baier until tonight in this thread actually – so I really am pretty clueless about him.
But fair enough on Rather – I can’t argue with your first sentence there about him. He was indeed an idiot.
Off topic but related: Lilly white is not a racist statement. Lilly white is a phrase denoting purity and modesty, so used in that context, it means very refined manners. That’s all.
If the press is not whom you trust, and the Tea Party demanding answers dissatisfy you, then who is going to ask those hard questions of the politicians, especially the President? It is the high regard of the OFFICE of the President that I hold that demands that the free press in this country asks hard questions and DEMAND straight answers from him. The individual man is our servant. He represents us. He is not our ruler. Do we defer to him because of his office and responsibility? Yes. But to allow a politician, including the President, to hide behind loquaciousness and spin is to do a disservice to the office, to the country, to the voters, and to the Constitution. I believe Baier was as polite as possible and even the President accepted the apology.
Cargo, Not sure of your age, but when I was coming along it most surely was not quite a racist term but a term used for white people who didn’t “sully themselves outside their own race.” Call it what you want, that’s what it meant. As in: That is a” lilly white school” (not integrated)
The President accepted the apology because he is a gracious person and clearly has more manners than Baier, who wasn’t sorry at all or he would not have done it.
Listen to people’s words and watch their actions. If you are interviewing someone, for God’s sake shut up and listen to what they say, rather than trying to twist and tun what they are saying.
Baier could have just gone and made up what he said. I don’t consider that even a serious, bona fide interview. The more I see, the more disgusted I become.
I think it is quite interesting that Obama has made himself more available to media than Bush ever did! I believe his only interviews were with Fox news, I could be wrong, but I don’t believe he went on any other station and if he did, I imagine it was very limited. In fact, one of the complaints I recall is that Bush was so inaccessible to media. When President Bush had a shoe thrown at him I was appalled. He is the President, no not king, but as the President, or honestly anyone, you should go back to those lessons your mommy should have taught you. Interrupting is rude, just plain rude, furthermore, his smirk was absolutely unacceptable. This was not an honest exchange, Brits behavior exemplifies my point about real debate and dialogue. All he did was wait, well, and didn’t even do that well, for the President to stop talking so he could just get his own silly points in…e.i. “filabaster” blah blah blah. Being civil isn’t just about how loud you talk, its about being honest in your interest to hear the other person.
Did you all see the video of the man with Parkinson’s being riduculed by anti healthcare protestors. It was disgusting! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/
I’ve also heard that video is a fake.
Baier didn’t twist and turn what he said. He tried to nail down the President to a straight answer to his questions instead of talking points. That was the first interview that the President had in which he was asked hard questions.
Of course President Obama has been on TV more often. They are cheerleaders for him. I don’t want shoes thrown at President Obama. But, I also don’t want obsequious deference either.
I know that we won’t agree on this. And I can’t add anymore to it.
About the parkinson’s link. Its bad. MSNBC dropped it or something. Here’s another:
http://ken_ashford.typepad.com/blog/2010/03/stay-classy-antihealth-care-reform-people.html
One: Yes, it was rude to attack the “victim”. Best to ignore him. He wanted a reaction.
Two: The “victim” was there for political purposes in opposition to the TEA party.
Three: he was using his condition as a political point.
Four: He does not have a right to health care on anyone else’s dime. My daughter is diabetic. She does not have a right to health care on anyone else’s dime.
Five: If, as a nation, we decide to provide some sort of safety net for needful people, then we should amend the Constitution and allow it. As should have been done for all the OTHER social programs like SS, Medicare, and Medicaid.
But all of this is irrelevant to THIS thread.
The notion that I’m racist is amusing. But, whatever. I guess the idea of a white glove inspection is racist and taboo too. Please.
The comment only takes away from the debate point as it ignores how testy Mr. Obama was because he was being challanged by a journalist and his word wasn’t being taken as gospel. That someone would question the emperor and point out that he might not have the best and brightest and richest clothes suddenly makes the journalist an evil and disrespectful person.
I also linked the most neutral resource (Politico) I could find to show that they didn’t even see anything disrespectful about the interview. But, I’m sure I may not convince everyone but to those that are willing to listen to a moderate voice on the subject… Take a look at the Politico article it’s very even handled.
Anyways, I report – you decide. 8)
I think it’s absolutely SICKENING the way Chris Matthews keeps interrupting and lecturing Tim Phillips. Where are his manners?
Who is Chris Matthews? Is he a journalist?
M-h, warning – I’m going to be rude despite how my mother brought me up.
YAWN….. such righteous indignation that the President didn’t defer to the “press”. Where were you guys during the Bush administration’s start of the Iraq war? Asking the tough questions about WMDs? Demanding that the press badger Bush until they got an answer? How about demanding that the local press call out Corey Stewart on some of his whoppers? Oh…they weren’t Democrats and you hadn’t yet lost an election. But, but…health care is an important issue and we demand answers right now, decorum be damned!!! Health care is important and that’s why average people don’t want the screamers at townhall meetings drowning out the discussion. But, but…they’re screaming at Democrats so that’s okay. (You’ve got to realize that we all didn’t just drop off the turnip truck – we know Republicans had eight years to introduce an alternative plan and didn’t do it. Now they’ve lost an election and can’t get over themselves.)
I’m an Independent and I don’t like the tactics. And, yes, they are political tactics. Baier’s rudeness is just another rightwing tactic to limit discussion and try to intimidate the President for his (Baier’s) fawning audience. I don’t care if Dan Rather was rude too – it’s not an excuse for more rudeness.
I think Faux News should be thankful for the Prez’s time. Had he held a regular news conference, they would probably have been held to one or two questions. Without the interruptions and with follow-ups maybe Baier would have gotten a couple fewer questions answered. Instead of being thankful for the time he did get from the Prez, he acted like a pig. Obama doesn’t owe Faux News anything. Did I miss the interview that President Bush gave to MSNBC?
If the most powerful man on this planet can be intimidated by a journalist asking hard hitting questions… We need a new guy. Hell, I’d almost take Biden.
…forgive me Father for I have sinned.
Wow, I am truly shocked by the response to the video of the man with Parkinson’s. If that person were your relative, would be more interested in Chris Mathews or the disgusting treatment that man recieived. Are you so blinded by your ideology that you have forgotten your humanity? Chris asked him a question, “what would you say to this man who has no healthcare?” He never answered the question, not ever. Do you know why, because he doesn’t have an answer.
Oh, and Marin, President Obama did not seem intimidated one bit, what are you talking about?
Elena,
“I’m an Independent and I don’t like the tactics. And, yes, they are political tactics. Baier’s rudeness is just another rightwing tactic to limit discussion and try to intimidate the President for his (Baier’s) fawning audience. I don’t care if Dan Rather was rude too – it’s not an excuse for more rudeness. ”
Quoting #40
Cargosquid,
So what if your daughter were to lose her health insurance, or be dropped due to her diabetes, is it just tough luck for her? If she were suffering and in pain, you would respond with “not on my dime”? I doubt that, I seriously doubt that!
Mirim,
“try” is the key word, not DID.
Elena,
Would you like to define the word IS to me as well?
Please re-read Censored’s post to understand what I wrote.
Marin, I didn’t say you were a racist. I don’t think you are one. I said that can be considered a racist comment. It used to have racial overtones. I would not say outright racist, just implications.
The Pres was testy because he kept being interrupted. Had I been interrupted like that, I probably would have gotten up and punched the dude in the nose.
Back to racism….I almost never call someone a racist. However, that expression was used back before your time to speak of people who kept themselves sheltered from any mixing of the races. It wasn’t very flattering. I realized since you had stated your age that you didn’t mean what I would have assumed you meant if you were my age. I hope that explains it.
I don’t see why Politico didn’t see that interview as disrespectful. I would be seeing a lawyer if MY husband talked to me like Bairer talked to Obama with that damn interrupting. It was just unexcusable. No president HAS to grant interviews to the press. It is not owed to anyone. Baier should have been appreciative that he got an exclusive. This sets a new low in my mind.
Elena,
I don’t consider health care a right. Is my housing a right? My food? Or her housing and food?
If this country wishes to have single payer health care, so be it. But lets do it as the Constitution demands. If public education is constitutional, I’m sure that we can make “public” health care constitutional. Heck, we already have it. There are many publicly run, non profits that provide health care. The difference is that while I may avail myself of something which my tax dollars have already purchased, I do not expect our assorted ailment to be described as a right. I and my family have no right to any other’s money. We all have a collective duty to pay for what we as a community have decided to have as a public option.
The current process to initiate “health care reform” is corrupt and should be ended. Would I favor a more free market approach? Heck yeah! I think over regulation is part of the problem.
I don’t expect you to pay for her diabetes treatment. Would I ask for help? Perhaps, if I had too. But I would not expect the government to take money from you and give it to me. And I sure as heck would not expect the government to mandate that insurance companies ignore all rules of risk management and fiduciary responsibilities and accept all pre-existing maladies without raising prices.
Would single payer health care benefit her? Don’t know. What’s to prevent the government from not taking care of her treatment in the name of savings? In countries all over the world with socialized medicine, treatments are not allowed. Except, when the government disallows something, there is no where else to go. And if we go to socialized medicine, those people will have no where to go.
There is no perfect system. And I don’t trust the government to run a cafeteria competently, much less health care. Nor is it constitutional.
So, until they amend the Constitution, they are abrogating their oaths every time they propose something like this. And that includes many existing programs.