The 'conciliatory' Barack Obama?

By Ed Lasky

NYT media "critic" Alessandra Stanley writes about the Bill O'Reilly Obama interview:

It was billed as the ultimate smackdown, and it certainly promised to be a wonk vs. wacko match: the cerebral, conciliatory Senator Barack Obama versus Bill O'Reilly, Fox News Channel's most irascible, combative anchor: a commentator who calls liberals "loons" and "pinheads" and on Thursday's show described reporters scrutinizing Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as "sniveling, left-wing, wine-drinking, brie-eating."

The topic was national security, and their tone was civil, but thankfully not too civil: Mr. O'Reilly, as is his wont, spoke brusquely, interrupted, argued and didn't let his guest off the hook. He told Mr. Obama he had "bloviated" in parts of his convention speech, but congratulated him on his early opposition to the war, saying he had been "perspicacious.

Conciliatory? Did she hear his speech in Denver? His put-downs of John McCain? His railing towards Republicans and George Bush and Dick Cheney? She fictionalizes history.

And of course Bill O'Reilly comes in for some barbs from Ms. Stanley, who is clearly not a very conciliatory person.

How can a "journalist" write that "Barack Obama has talked to Fox News reporters quite a few times since the primaries began"? It became a running joke that Barack Obama refused to appear on Fox News for many months. Senator Obama even made it a point to note how he refused to appear on Fox News.

Once again, we see agenda-driven journalism.