Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
SOME JOURNALISTS ASK TOUGH QUESTIONS THAT MAKE THEIR INTERVIEW SUBJECTS SQUIRM
MSNBC host Martin Bashir stunned ex-GOP Congressman Tom Tancredo on Tuesday when he used one of Tancredo's columns to ask if he wanted President Obama killed.
In a July 2010 Washington Times op-ed, Tancredo wrote, "Mr. Obama is a more serious threat to America than al Qaeda. We you know that Osama bin Laden and followers want to kill us but at least they are an outside force against whom we can offer our best defense."
"Wasn't that a ludicrous thing to accuse the President of?" Bashir asked Tancredo on Tuesday. Tancredo said he "certainly" did not think it was ludicrous to make the analogy, and said that he was "very pleased" about bin Laden's killing. The two argued about whether or not President Bush would have been praised as much as Obama has been had bin Laden died during his administration. Then, Bashir asked, "to follow your logic, would you have preferred then the death of the President as opposed to bin Laden?"
"No. Of course not," Tancredo said. "My God. And that is not a logical assumption anybody can make."
"You said the president was a greater threat than Osama bin Laden," Bashir pointed out. Tancredo insisted that he didn't want any violence or harm to come to Obama, "except political harm."
In a July 2010 Washington Times op-ed, Tancredo wrote, "Mr. Obama is a more serious threat to America than al Qaeda. We you know that Osama bin Laden and followers want to kill us but at least they are an outside force against whom we can offer our best defense."
"Wasn't that a ludicrous thing to accuse the President of?" Bashir asked Tancredo on Tuesday. Tancredo said he "certainly" did not think it was ludicrous to make the analogy, and said that he was "very pleased" about bin Laden's killing. The two argued about whether or not President Bush would have been praised as much as Obama has been had bin Laden died during his administration. Then, Bashir asked, "to follow your logic, would you have preferred then the death of the President as opposed to bin Laden?"
"No. Of course not," Tancredo said. "My God. And that is not a logical assumption anybody can make."
"You said the president was a greater threat than Osama bin Laden," Bashir pointed out. Tancredo insisted that he didn't want any violence or harm to come to Obama, "except political harm."
There some quality journalists around who see their job as asking really tough and thoughtful questions of individuals who try to spin positions and make assertions that are absurd.