Impeachment Discussed On Big Story
Reported by Deborah - April 7, 2006
It's hard to imagine but today on Big Story, Bob Beckel and Maryscott O'Connor , blogger from My Left Wing, were actually discussing the possibility of impeaching George W. Bush. As if that wasn't hard enough to digest, Gibson was not frantically trying to defend Bush or discredit O'Connor. Then the bizarro scene went to a whole new level when Beckel objected to Gibson characterizing him as a Centrist democrat instead of a Liberal. 4/07/06
Gibson opened the segment with the now infamous clip of Harry Taylor confronting Bush in West Virginia. Gibson wondered if this was a sign that there was a tip to the left ? Maryscott O'Connor was set up as the spokesperson for the Left and Beckel was the Centrist guy. If there was a debate imagined by the FOX producers, it never happened as planned.
Gibson asked O'Connor why she didn't like Hillary Clinton as a candidate for 2008. Without hesitation, O'Connor said she was "too centrist". Gibson wanted to know if the candidate O'Connor would support would have to back censure or impeachment. O'Connor came back with strength, " I would expect candidates from both parties to impeach Bush."
Her answer would normally be an invitation for rant and ridicule on FOX but not today. Beckel earlier in the segment let it be known that he has been a proud Liberal or the last 30 years. Annoyed that Gibson had characterized him as a centrist, Beckel talked about his civil rights involvement and how enraged he was in 1974 when nobody brought up impeachment for Nixon. So when Maryscott O'Connor made her stand on impeaching Bush clear, Beckel agreed that he would be glad if it happened but then he proceeded to discuss why it would be impossible to impeach Bush.
O'Connor responded beautifully without skipping a beat. "Sounds like a strategist talking. We're talking about a principle."
comment: This segment would have been unthinkable before on FOX. Maryscott O'Connor did an excellent job. She chose her words carefully and kept her comments short and powerful. No doubt the scene would have been different had she been dealing with Hannity or O'Reilly.It seemed like Gibson was getting out of the way and letting it happen.
