It's All About "Punishment..."

I rarely offer critique or evaluation of the work of other media personalities, whether it be good or bad. But I've got to offer big kudos to Bill O'Rielly of the Fox News Channel for his extraordinary interview with Hillary Rodham Clinton. O'Rielly created a sense of chemistry with Hillary like I've never seen any other media host do, and while providing appropriate and enjoyable moments of fun and levity (and yes, Hillary even seemed to have a sense of humor, too), he still managed to get at some profoundly substantive content.

Perhaps most telling was his line of questioning - - and her answers - - regarding America's energy policy, and her plans to change it. O'Rielly noted that Hillary is fond of criticising the "oil men" who are currently in the White House (Bush and Cheney); that during 8 years as President, the other half of "Team Clinton" (Bill) did nothing to move America towards energy independence; that Mrs. Clinton herself has repeatedly voted in the U.S. Senate to oppose nuclear power; that she has opposed drilling for oil domestically; and asserted that her recent plans to suspend the federal gasoline tax is hypocrisy, and "just politics."

Hillary insisted that "there's plenty of blame to go around..." but avoided discussion about governmental failures. O'Rielly nearly begged her to talk about nuclear power, drilling our own nation's oil, adn the like, yet she had essentially NOTHING to say about expanding energy supplies...For her, it was all about 'taking profits away' from oil companies, allowing Americans to sue OPEC (as if this is going to improve anything), and "changing American consumers' behavior" with gasoline consumption (translation: government should punish you for driving too much, owning a "big" car, etc...). In short, it's not about growing markets and expanding opportunities for Hillary; it's about using governmental power to "punish."

Get to the homepage, www.Foxnews.Com, and view this extraordinary interview for yourself.

Nice work, Bill (and hey, can I fill-in for you sometime? I fill-in everywhere...)