Video: O’Reilly rips Frank
posted at 8:28 am on October 3, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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Before we started watching the debate at Trocadero’s, the crowd watched the O’Reilly Factor on Fox to get warmed up, and Bill O’Reilly certainly did that with Barney Frank. O’Reilly and Frank raged at each other last night in an interview that generated much more heat than light on the collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac:
I walked into Trocadero’s in the middle of this interview, and so I missed the pretentious page-flipping of Frank when the interview started. What was he looking at, the bailout plan that he made necessary by defending Fannie and Freddie while the two went bankrupt?
I’m surprised that Frank appeared on Fox at all, and certainly surprised that he appeared on the Factor. I’d expect Frank to be in hiding, doing regional TV in Massachusetts at most. Even with that said, I’m disappointed (but hardly surprised) that O’Reilly turned this into a shouting match. It might feel good to yell at Barney Frank — and it did, according to the crowd reaction — but that interview called for a prosecuting attorney, one prepared to dispassionately slice Frank to pieces with facts, quotes, and figures. A shouting match lets Frank off the hook, and it buries whatever good points O’Reilly makes in this exchange.
Let’s get Hugh Hewitt to interview Frank, and see the difference. That would force Frank to actually defend his record, and in doing so, expose the collapse as a Democratic failure in social engineering that will cost all of us a fortune in the coming years.
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I second the nomination of Hewitt to interview Frank, and Dodd, about Freddie’s Fannie. Rudy would be even better, but Frank wouldn’t get anywhere near Rudy.
james23 on October 3, 2008 at 11:31 AM
Hands down, the best O’Reilly segment evah…
The fact is that Barney tried to do the politician shuffle and Bill handed him his ass. Bill went aggro on him because, like most Americans, he was pissed off that you can never get these A$$-hats to give a straight answer. BTW, just because Frank’s mouth was moving doesn’t mean that he was answering the question. Bill did the right thing by combating Frank’s arrogance, not letting him shift total blame and getting mad-as-hell at a weak man that wouldn’t admit that he F’d-up.
And BTW, anyone notice how Frank looked like almost the cliche’ snooty Frenchman when the interview began. This undoubtedly pissed off Bill from the start.
Bill is an Alpha dog and that’s what the US needs when dealing with arrogant politicians that have aided in a catastrophic financial meltdown.
Claypigeon on October 3, 2008 at 11:35 AM
WE’LL DO IT LIVE!!!
aengus on October 3, 2008 at 11:39 AM
BO’s rant, while easy to dismiss, provided a certain catharsis. Now that that’s out of our system, time for the prosecutorial stuff.
I’d pay to see Megyn Kelly v. Barney Frank.
either orr on October 3, 2008 at 11:41 AM
This was not just stupidity. Frank & co. knew very well what they were doing and intentionally put this government at the risk of collapse, as they were warned many times. Frank said this with: “I do think I do not want the same kind of focus on safety and soundness that we have in OCC [Office of the Comptroller of the Currency] and OTS [Office of Thrift Supervision]. I want to roll the dice a little bit more in this situation towards subsidized housing.”
As to intention, people who expose state secrets because of recklessness or stupidity are still (supposed) to be held accountable for the consequences – though our government has not been holding anyone accountable for anything, even those actions that were clearly intentional – as with your examples of the New York Times and others.
Frank wanted to roll the dice with the stability of our government and we all lost. He must suffer the consequences of his decisions more than anyone else.
The Constitution does talk about domestic enemies, which Frank certainly is. Or do you think that he doesn’t fall under that category, either? So, if you don’t like the ‘treason’ charge, then he falls under the ‘domestic enemies’ group, or do you think that Frank was not working to destroy our government?
I have little doubt what the Founders would have done with Frank.
progressoverpeace on October 3, 2008 at 11:44 AM
Barney Frank intended to show his disrespect to O’Reily and Bill gave him a ration for it.
Give’em hell Bill they deserve every bit of it.
Speakup on October 3, 2008 at 11:47 AM
There is a God!!!
JellyToast on October 3, 2008 at 11:47 AM
You can put lipstick on an attorney, and he is still Barney Frank…
right2bright on October 3, 2008 at 11:50 AM
Segments like this are the only reason I keep watching O’Reilly. I love it when he covers issues the MSM ignores, and I get ecstatic when he screams at and beats up Democrat Liars.
Unfortunately, McCain and Palin are letting the election get away from them because they’re way too soft on the likes of Frank, Dodd, Pelosi, etc. IMO most Americans have no clue about who Frank is and what role he and his party played in America’s financial meltdown.
chipandcharge on October 3, 2008 at 11:52 AM
I agree. Most of America still has no clue how we got to this point. The Democrats’ insistence on forcing “affirmative action” lending practices on banks, combined with their idiotic open borders policies, has brought our entire economy to the brink of disaster. We and our children and grandchildren will be paying for their stupid attempts to engineer “fairness” (i.e., every black and illegal alien hispanic is entitled to a mortgage, whether they can afford one or not) for many years.
AZCoyote on October 3, 2008 at 12:01 PM
O’Reilly looked like an ass in this. Bill started yelling first, he insulted first, he constantly interrupted. This could have been an outstanding interview but O’Reilly’s ego ruined the chance.
I think Frank is a jerk, but I think he handled himself far better than O’Reilly did.
cannonball on October 3, 2008 at 12:09 PM
I don’t blame O’Reilly one bit. Especially after O’Reilly was sandbagged so disgracefully by Barney Frank’s partner in crime Chris Dodd several months ago.
O’Reilly dealt with Barney Frank in the only manner appropriate for such a pile af garbage.
jay12 on October 3, 2008 at 12:10 PM
I think all Bill wanted from him was to admit he was wrong and as responsible as anyone else. Barn will never admit he was wrong.
Was listening to the House hearings theis morning and Barn kept yeilding two minutes to his buds who would then tell him what a great job he was doing. I think they call that foreplay.
Mr_Magoo on October 3, 2008 at 12:26 PM
I do wish someone would get all those idiots who are on that 2004 vid in one room and make them watch the playback. Palin missed a chance to mention it last night. McCain has yet to mention it. Even O’Reilly didn’t mention it.
Mr_Magoo on October 3, 2008 at 12:29 PM
Wouldn’t you LOVE to see McCain in the next debate tell everyone to go to YouTube and watch the “Burning Down The House” video? Would YouTube crash? Imagine if 20 million voters could see it before Nov. 4.
rockmom on October 3, 2008 at 1:05 PM
That’s not the way Barney likes to be spanked.
hawkdriver on October 3, 2008 at 1:19 PM
I agree. Hugh is masterful. I became a fan when I heard him lead that idiot Joel Stein from the LAT down the garden path and over the cliff.
Stein was clueless and Hugh was triumphant.
Domino on October 3, 2008 at 1:26 PM
What a disgrace
Baphomet on October 3, 2008 at 1:28 PM
…quite true, but Frank lives in his own coccoon, a congressional Neverneverland, in a condo down the hall from Peter Pan (don’t get me started), and even the most skillful prosecutor would have trouble getting anything out of him…it would be an endless circle of boilerplate legislative fantasy and word parsing….
His starting off the interview with a slap at O’Reilly (looking down, playing with his papers or himself), O’Reilly’s short fuse (he’d obviously intended for this to be an auto-da-fe of his accusing Frank for “the folks”) and their mutual dislike erupting into what could only be compared to a drag-queen slap fight was good current events theater…it’s harmless, ultimately, and probably the only consequence Frank will ever have to eat. Nobody’s gonna hold him responsible, or Dodd, either at the polls or at the bar. There might be some junior clerk get creamed, but there’ll be no Enron-esque rolling-of-the-tumbrels…Raines, Johnson, Dodd, Frank, Cox, nobody’s gonna go down…well, except Frank, of course…again, don’t get me started….
O’Reilly is a populist blowhard who thinks that he’s “looking out for the folks”, and Frank is an ideological blowhard holding white-knuckled onto the fringes of the Left because failing to do so would invalidate not only is “lifestyle choices” but his very existence…such as it is.
That said, O’Reilly has one thing over Frank…O’Reilly is self-sufficient. He can muddy up the issues, shout, posture and preen all he wants…the taxpayers aren’t footing the bill…so to speak….
Puritan1648 on October 3, 2008 at 1:33 PM
hawkdriver, hilarious! LMAO.
La Mano on October 3, 2008 at 1:34 PM
I’d like to hand Frank over to Mark Levin for a few minutes. O’Reilly wasn’t bad but Levin would do a much, much better job on Frank. After Levin is done with him, Barney Frank deserves to be horse whipped and thrown in jail for his actions. The man is a complete disgrace.
UnEasyRider on October 3, 2008 at 3:05 PM
Frank always sounds like he is slobbering on someone’s yohoo!
PappaMac on October 3, 2008 at 3:29 PM
Idiot vs. Idiot
nottakingsides on October 3, 2008 at 4:38 PM
I wonder if Barney was arroused by Bill’s “alpha” talk?
Yes, it was a cheap shot, but we’re talking about “Boy Brothel Barney”.
Black Adam on October 3, 2008 at 4:58 PM
LOL I have to admit,, I have never heard someone talk like that before.
JellyToast on October 3, 2008 at 8:40 PM
Ed,
Probably the one point of content I have about your observation is that the medium (TV) is what led to this “dust-up,” if you will.
O’Reilly knows he is dealing with roughly a 6-minute window. He knows he must not only keep the segment moving along if there is going to be any significant amount of discussion and information exchange.
He knows that points can get lost if they are not addressed at the moment they are first brought up and, thus, he often “interrupts” his guests to question (challenge?) an individual point. He also knows that guests may try to “overwhelm” him and viewers by “rattling off” a “laundry list” of bullet points with the idea of not being challenged about the specifics of individual points raised.
Compare this with Hugh Hewitt. I assume you are referring to Hewitt’s radio program. He would probably devote a minimum of a half hour and more likely a full hour of showtime to interviewing Frank. He would have the luxury of time, something that O’Reilly did not have.
Hewitt could replay the sound byte of Frank that O’Reilly led his segment off with so that he could demonstrate to Frank what O’Reilly could only shout back at the addled congressman.
That being said, I do agree with you on the prosecuting attorney analogy. The facts are available. We know the MSM won’t compile and present them to the public. Perhaps the political opponents of those running for office will use them against their opponents where applicable.
Wildcatter1980 on October 5, 2008 at 1:04 PM
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