Nashua Was Not the First O'Reilly-Obama Ambush Attempt

You may already know about falafel enthusiast Bill O'Reilly's recent dust-up with Sen. Barack Obama's security detail in Nashua, NH, as diaried here:

http://www.dailykos.com/...

and Lynn Sweet's (Chicago Sun-Times) original story:

http://blogs.suntimes.com/...

As a side note, I find this little tidbit interesting:

O'Reilly grabbed Nicholson's arm, said "move" and shoved him, another eyewitness said. Nicholson, who is 6'8 said O"Reilly called him "low class."

Funny how a big bully like Bill O'Reilly thinks of a taller guy doing his job as "low class."

To the point: Obama refuses to play O'Reilly's rigged game, and the animosity dates back over a year.

Bill O'Reilly loves to deride Democrats as cowards for not coming on his show and validating his charade of impartial journalism. While I admire Chris Dodd for taking it directly to the windbag, I think it's great that Obama won't even give O'Reilly a "taste."

From Newshounds, let's go back to December 2006:

On (Monday the 11th) O'Reilly showed a very embarrassing clip of his obnoxious producer ambushing Obama at a book signing. He stood at the foot of the signing table badgering him in a loud accusatory voice as if Obama had done something wrong. Obama was gracious and said he liked Bill and agreed to come on The Factor. O'Reilly couldn't find fault with his reaction so he complained that Obama had not returned his calls.

Obama handled O'Reilly stunt like a celebrity fending off a guy who could either be your biggest fan or your biggest stalker/potential assailant: placate him/her in public and take steps to ensure he/she never gets access. It's not a perfect analogy because O'Reilly is a media figure, but he is no less of a stalker or, more benignly, a nuisance (albeit a race-baiter who has publicly questioned how much Obama has done for Black America).

Kudos to Barack Obama for treating Fox News like the National Enquirer of political journalism.

UPDATE: Slate's John Dickerson has more:

"You're blocking our shot," yelled O'Reilly.

"Oh, am I?" asked the Obama staffer, not entirely sincerely and not moving.

This is not a new trick. When staffers block you because you're being too aggressive, the standard thing to do is give them a little business and then move to another spot. O'Reilly didn't do this. He shoved the Obama aide. There was an exchange and a little more shoving. I didn't fully capture because as I looked at O'Reilly in his black leather Fox jacket, which resembled the kind we wore during football season in high school, I swore I could hear him challenge the staffer to a rumble out by the drive-in.