The Real Super Bowl: President Obama vs. Bill O'Reilly

By Jacob Coate on February 4, 2014

So the Super Bowl wasn’t all that interesting. Aside from some spectacular commercials (if you haven’t seen the Budweiser commercial starring an adorable golden lab and Clydesdale yet, you’re missing out) and an amazing performance by Mr. Bruno Mars, the game was an almost embarrassing blowout, proving once again that defense wins championships. However, before the game a far more interesting and lively confrontation was occurring as Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly interviewed the leader of the free world.

As his administration comes to an end, Mr. Obama has some serious questions to answer: Why was the ACA roll out bungled so horribly? Why has the median income dropped 17% in the past year? Why hasn’t anyone been brought to justice for the murders in Benghazi? Why were conservative groups targeted by the IRS? The list goes on and on. This is not to say that his presidency has been a failure; certainly a number of landmark achievements have occurred either under his watch or by his hand. However, Mr. O’Reilly (as a conservative talking head) was quick to compile the list of his shortcomings, and to the viewer, they certainly seem to stack up. As a reporter, it’s Bill O’Reilly’s job to dig in for answers, but considering his interviewee was the most powerful person in the world, he was understandably in a difficult position. To his credit, the man, who at times has been compared to both a raving lunatic and a ravenous pit bull, struck the perfect balance between respect for the office and fidelity to discovery. Now, while it was Mr. O’Reilly’s role to seek answers, it was Mr. Obama’s to give them. And how did he do?

In response to the bungled roll out of the Affordable Care Act, his flagship legislation, the President had no new answers. He admitted there were more problems than initially expected, but seemed to think that the “glitches,” which have prevented millions from enrolling in the health insurance they had been promised, were within the margin for error. Yet, respectfully, his administration had years to create and implement this program, not to mention the fact that the timeline he was working under was entirely self-imposed. As the President of the United States, it’s not his responsibility to create legislation so the actual Affordable Care Act could arguably be laid at someone else’s feet. But the execution of that law, well, that’s all him. I mean, he is the head of the executive branch for goodness’ sake.

The other glaring questions left by his five years in office were left equally unanswered. Instead, the commander-in-chief spent more time accusing Fox News of having it out for him and building their ratings on a foundation of falsehoods at his expense. Unfortunately during this time, he seemed much less like the leader, holding the same office as legends like Lincoln and Washington, and more like a petulant politician, battling it out with an obviously biased news network. Fox News is quite clearly partisan, and that’s all right. Fox News, in this beautiful free market, is balanced by equally partisan networks on the Left, and so the American people are done no real disservice. However, President Obama is the spokesperson of the nation, and there’s only one of him. This interview was an excellent opportunity for him to answer the questions the American people have been asking. But ultimately, it was a missed opportunity, as he seemed partisan, combative, and more than a little evasive.

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