There is no question that CNN and MSNBC generally support President Obama, especially in the health care arena. So it was quite surprising when Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said this to Matt Lauer:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, I think we all have something to lose, Matt, if we let cable television come to town hall meetings and kill health care reform for another year and put the special interests back in charge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Obviously, Mr. Gibbs is criticizing FOX News, and it sounds like he's spoiling for a fight, does it not?
So the question becomes: Is that smart? Let's look at the facts.
Click here to watch Bill's "Talking Points"!
A new Rasmussen Poll says 53 percent of Americans now oppose ObamaCare; 42 percent support the president. In the latest Gallup poll, 49 percent disapprove of the way the president is handling the health care situation; 43 percent support him.
Those numbers tell the story, and even though FOX News has big ratings, FOX News has nothing to do with the negative numbers.
Now, we invited Robert Gibbs on the program, but once again he declined. That is foolish. He and his cohorts should be all over FNC trying to convince you that ObamaCare is a good thing, a major benefit for the country. Instead, Gibbs is living in cheap-shot alley, and the president's strategy is falling apart.
On Tuesday, Mr. Obama told the country this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Another myth that we've been hearing about is this notion that somehow we're going to be cutting your Medicare benefits. We are not. The AARP would not be endorsing a bill if it was undermining Medicare.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
But the night before the president said that, the AARP said this on "The Factor":
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CERTNER, AARP POLICY DIRECTOR: We have not endorsed any specific piece of legislation right now, but we really are intent on trying to fix the health care system and the pieces that concern our members.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
So the president misstated the AARP position. Obviously, that does not help his credibility, which the press challenged Wednesday:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJOR GARRETT, FOX NEWS REPORTER: Yesterday, the president said the AARP endorsed the plan. As you are aware, yesterday the AARP said it hasn't endorsed a plan. Where on the information or the disinformation scale would the president's remark fall?
GIBBS: Well, the president said well, AARP has said they are certainly supportive and have been for years on comprehensive health reform. I don't think the president meant to imply anything untoward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
The issue is not untoward; it is untrue.
And then there was this exposition:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: What's your name?
JULIA HALL, KID AT OBAMA'S NEW HAMPSHIRE TOWN HALL: Julia Hall from Malden, Massachusetts.
OBAMA: Nice to meet you, Julia.
JULIA: I saw — as I was walking in, I saw a lot of signs outside saying mean things about reforming health care. How do kids know what is true? And why do people want a new system that can help — that help more of us?
OBAMA: Well, I've seen some of those signs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Cute little girl, but the question was a set-up. Julia's mother is Kathleen Manning Hall, the coordinator of the Massachusetts Women for Obama organization during the election. In my opinion, Julia was fed the question.
By the way, the Boston Globe uncovered the contrivance.
Did President Obama know about the set-up? Did Robert Gibbs? I mean, that kind of stuff is incredibly dumb and again damages the president's credibility. You may recall Mr. Obama challenging the legitimacy of those speaking against him at the town hall meetings, and then they use a child in that way? Hard to believe.
There is no question that many Americans are furious with the way the health care debate is being carried out. Wednesday, yet another town hall meeting was held in Maryland:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This government is out of control. We are in debt up to our eyeballs, and you all are doing nothing but putting more debt on us and our children, and it's got to stop. What are you going to do about it?
SEN. BEN CARDIN, D-MD.: We're going to have — there's going to be some disagreement in this room, and I understand that. I think that the Obama administration has already started to restore trust in health care by the…
(SHOUTING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
That was on the heels of about 1,500 people showing up in Hillsboro, Missouri, some of them hammering Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CLAIRE MCCASKILL, D-MO.: I don't understand this rudeness. What is this? I don't get it. I honestly don't get it. Do you all think that you're persuading people when you shout out like that?
(SHOUTING)
MCCASKILL: I beg your pardon? You don't trust me?
CROWD: No!
MCCASKILL: You know, I don't know what else I can do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Now, we understand the senator's frustration, but the anger is not contrived. Millions of Americans are now skeptical of President Obama's leadership on health care because he has not been able to persuade them that his trillion-dollar vision will make their lives better.
One way to do that is to appear on the nation's highest-rated prime-time news program, "The Factor," and FOX News in general. Again, the Democrats should be all over this network. Most of us here want robust debate, but they don't show up. And now it looks like the Obama administration wants a war with FOX News.
Let me ask you: Who will that help? Us, that's who. Our ratings are already soaring because we do not denigrate the protesters like many other TV news organizations do. They are dying. We are on fire. If the Obama administration wants a war with FNC, they are dunderheads.
If you watch "The Factor" you know that I have been fair to the president, but there comes a time when the benefit of the doubt shifts. Misstating the AARP position, using a young girl as a set-up, attacking a news organization that actually covers the news honestly does not speak well, Mr. President. You guys need to take a deep breath and smell the angst. Your health care vision is not playing in Peoria, or most other places. You want to turn things around, stop the nonsense and present your case on a news network that really matters.
And that's "The Memo."
Pinheads & Patriots
As you may know, machines are taking over the world, with millions of people addicted to BlackBerries, iPods and whatever else they have in their pocket. And now, watch out for the robots.
Toyota has released video of its new running humanoid robot, which is four feet tall, weighs 110 pounds and can run an average of 4.3 miles per hour. Sounds like Neil Cavuto.
Anyway, running robots could be patriots, if they're doing errands for us. But if they turn and kill us, that would be another story.
On the pinhead front, last week we showed you this web sensation:
Click here to watch the web sensation and "Pinheads & Patriots"!
As we reported, the video looked kind of fake, and now we know it is, courtesy of Microsoft Office, which manufactured it. You cannot believe what you see these days.
Pinheads? You make the call.
— You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" and "Pinheads & Patriots" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the FOX News Channel and any time on foxnews.com/oreilly. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com
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