Monday, January 28, 2013

The Steve Kroft Swoon: Was Obama/Hillary interview on ‘60 Minutes’ or ‘60 Shades of Gray’?



◼ 60 Minutes: Obama Versus Cantor - Ed Driscoll/PJM

◼ Obama and Clinton Get the 60 Minutes Treatment - Eliana Johnson/National Review

Because so much of an audience’s reaction hinges on these intangibles, it’s useful to compare last night’s interview with another, the one the broadcast conducted last year with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. I’ve put a number of clips from the two interviews side by side above.

The warmth Steve Kroft displayed toward Obama and Clinton was, to me, unmistakable; the three laughed together like old friends. Leslie Stahl, on the other hand, brought no such levity to her interview with Cantor, which aired on January 1, 2012. At times, Stahl seemed downright hostile, at one point narrowing her eyes and asking “What?”

Kroft asked questions like, “Why did you want to do this together, a joint interview?” and “Why were you so insistent about wanting her to be secretary of state?” Kroft asked not a single follow-up question, even when the president made implausible assertions such as, “[W]hen it comes to Egypt, I think, had it not been for the leadership we showed, you might have seen a different outcome there.” This, by the way, as Muslim Brotherhood snipers gunned down protestors from the rooftops in Cairo.



◼ The Steve Kroft Swoon: Was Obama/Hillary interview on ‘60 Minutes’ or ‘60 Shades of Gray’? - Twitchy



◼ Appearing on Fox’s Happening Now this morning, Fox contributors Kirsten Powers and Tucker Carlson trashed the President Obama/Secretary Clinton joint 60 Minutes interview as “propaganda” befitting of a state-run media organization, not CBS. - Andrew Kirell/Mediaite



◼ Bam! Kirsten Powers blasts Obama’s Fox-bashing and likens ‘60 Minutes’ interview to ‘state-run media’ - Twitchy

◼ 60 Minutes Viewers Blast Swoon Journalist Kroft for Lovefest Interview of Obama and Hillary - P.J. Gladnick/Newsbusters

If you watched this interview it was a half hour of powder puff wasted time that you will never get back. The fringe benefit, however, was ◼ the often hilarious viewer comments on the interview. Here are several examples:
Steve Kroft surrenders his role as a journalist and has become a paparazzi fawning over Beiber.

Next time, do not have a liberal interview two other liberals. It makes for boring TV. For example, before ever broaching Benghazi, they decided to get the more important stuff out of the way first, i.e. their feelings and Hilary's state of health.

What an Obama and Clinton love fest. Thanks Steve for nothing.....What a let down. So many important things going on in this world, and this is what we got?????..

This was not an interview, it was an ad for the Hillary for President campaign.

Tonight's show was DULL, now it seems the president can just call up and get a free political commercial.

This is pathetic, why don't you just put them in the backseat of a 57' chevy and let them steam up the windows

I had no idea that Steve Kroft is part of the obama administration. Who wrote these questions, axelrod?

An oyster on a half-shell could have done better than Steve Kroft. Journalistic FAIL. The mainstream media has failed the American people.

This interview was a love-fest. These were not softballs - these were marshmallows.

Did Steve's arm get tired from all of the softballs he threw!!??

The mutual licking was so loud it could be heard around the world. In a word, discusting!!!!! Soundeded like the interviews Putin gets in Russia.
◼ DERELICTION: 60 MINUTES IGNORES BENGHAZI FOR OBAMA/CLINTON LOVE-FEST - Larry O'Connor/Breitbart

Only a few days after CBS News' intrepid investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson detailed a comprehensive list of questions the White House has refused to answer regarding the terrorist attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, the network had the opportunity to finally get some of those answers from Secretary of State Clinton and President Obama as they both sat with Steve Kroft for an exclusive interview on 60 Minutes.
We imagine Ms. Attkisson might have thrown a handful of popcorn at her television as she watched the segment Sunday night when her colleague gently broached the Benghazi subject: (emphasis added)
Steve Kroft: You said during the hearings, I mean, you've accepted responsibility. You've accepted the very critical findings of Admiral Mullen and Ambassador Pickering. As the New York Times put it, you accepted responsibility, but not blame. Do you feel guilty in any way, in-- at a personal level? Do you blame yourself that you didn't know or that you should have known?
That's it. That was the entire line of questioning over the Benghazi attacks. Steve Kroft asked Clinton the journalistic equivalent of "If you were a Libyan tree, what kind of tree would you be?"

◼ OBAMA CRACKS JOKE WHEN ASKED ABOUT FOUR DEAD AMERICANS IN BENGHAZI - Larry O'Connor/Breitbart

When Steve Kroft of CBS News finally got around to asking President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton about the terrorist attacks in Benghazi resulting in the death of four brave Americans, President Obama decided it would be a good time to go for laughs.
You know, I remember Bob Gates, you know, first thing he said to me, I think maybe first week or two that I was there and we were meeting in the Oval Office and he, obviously, been through seven presidents or something. And he says, "Mr. President, one thing I can guarantee you is that at this moment, somewhere, somehow, somebody in the federal government is screwing up." (Laughter)


◼ Goldberg, Krauthammer address ‘grotesque’ recent media coverage of Obama [VIDEO] - Jeff Poor/Daily Caller

“It was a grotesque embarrassment for CBS News,” Goldberg said. “I think that this is the People magazine-ification of ‘60 Minutes,’ which historically was the news program that politicians were supposed to be most scared of..."



◼ ’60 Minutes’ correspondent Kroft defends Obama-Hillary interview - Jeff Poor/Daily Caller

CBS’ News Steve Kroft appeared on Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight” to defend what some critics have described as a fawning interview with President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday’s “60 Minutes,” and pushed back on allegations that he is the president’s “favorite interviewer.”
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