Last Sunday I was on Howard Kurtz’s “Reliable Sources” program, and one of the late additions to the agenda was Scott McClellan’s appearance on MSNBC discussing the distribution of talking points to those “helpful to the White House.” It’s not a topic I was particularly gung-ho about, and I didn’t see it as particularly scandalous or noteworthy:
KURTZ: So, Jim Geraghty, has McClellan kind of ripped the lid off a seamy situation here, where the Bush White House was funneling its message, its talking points, to the likes of Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity?
GERAGHTY: I guess the question is, do you see a talking point as an instruction, as ‘this is what you’re supposed to say’, or do you see it as, ‘this is our argument, this is how we see the issue, this is our perspective, if you want to make that argument, go ahead’? I mean, it’s not like, you know, Bush or McClellan or anyone else can push a button or pull a string and get Bill O’Reilly to say what he wants to say.
Bill O’Reilly, sooner or later, will make the issue about Bill O’Reilly. It’s a given.
And later:
KURTZ: OK. Is this a little embarrassing for Fox, or no?
GERAGHTY: Not really. I mean, if it was going to Brit Hume or one of the news reporters, and they were seen parroting the same arguments, that would be one thing. But look, I get talking points and stuff from campaigns all the time. Some days I’m saying, ‘hmm, that’s a good argument.’ Some days I’m like, ‘I can’t believe they bothered to send me this.’
I presume the “Bill O’Reilly, sooner or later, will make the issue about Bill O’Reilly,” comment irked the host, as the Campaign Spot Hilton Head Deputy Bureau Chief (a.k.a., “Mom”) was listening to O’Reilly’s radio program, where he reportedly called me an “idiot.” Ironically, around this time one of O’Reilly’s producers contacted me to appear on the Factor for Tuesday evening, an invitation that was rescinded late last evening. (O’Reilly showed my CNN comments on yesterday’s program, and presumably deemed them sufficient.)
For all of my gripes with O’Reilly, he had McClellan on his radio program today, and the host absolutely ripped his guest apart. McClellan completely retracted what he said on MSNBC. It turns out the White House never sent any talking points to O’Reilly, which was the crux of the story.
So while O’Reilly may always make every issue eventually about him (Remember, gas prices came down because oil companies are afraid of him!), in this case… he was right!