Obama on Fox - more that the lefties don't get

Barack Obama went on Fox News today to talk with Chris Matthews, and of course the leftie blogosphere was all in a tiswas. First because he gave in and let them have their interview. This, of course, was both a political blunder and a moral failure. Second, when he didn't use his time on the show to rip Matthews and Fox a new asshole, they then said how he failed to challenge Fox.

Part of Obama's purpose in running this campaign is to get away from the need to do things like rip opponents' a new asshole. That's the Rove way to do thing, and for lefties to suggest Obama should do unto Fox as Fox has done unto himself and others is to give Rove the ultimate victory.

I did not watch the interview or any clips of it. I can just imagine how bad it must have been. I don't think there's much you can do with Chris Matthews except try your best. And then, as numerous writers pointed out before the interview (and rightly), they own the video and can manipulate it anyway they want. Bill Clinton tried to take Matthews to task over his administration's attempts to get bin Laden, and the only result was that Bill got red in the face and Chris couldn't understand why Bill just didn't admit he failed to protect America.

But the one thing I would not expect Barack Obama to do is get on the show and start being confrontational. Maybe Fox deserves little respect as a news agency (ok, they deserve no respect), but Obama has a flaw few in politics suffer from: He genuinely respects other people. To go on Matthews show and attack him for the network's propaganda might feel good, but it would violate his own standards of behavior. He treated the show like he would any other, as if it were a serious attempt by fair newspeople to cover the issues. He knew, of course, they would try to abuse his decency, but that decency left him no option but to play it straight.

And isn't that the heart of any ethics? You stick to it because you know it's right, no matter how others behave. It may make for difficult politics, but at least we can see that our next president will be a man of honor and decency. For the first time since Jimmy Carter left the office. I'm sure ready for it.