Bush on O'Reilly

I didn't watch O'Reilly on 60 Minutes, but I wouldn't be too surprised if O'Reilly gets a few good punches in when he interviews Bush. O'Reilly is flawed beyond description, but that ego of his isn't going to let him roll over. He's good with the suckerpunch, as well as leading his guests down a trail of illogic which tends to stun them into a confused stupor.

And, we shouldn't forget that he actually managed to tease one of the best Bush moments out during the '00 campaign. From 3/6/00:

O'REILLY: OK. Now in -- so far in this campaign, the thing that sticks in my mind with you is the Jesus Christ political philosopher remark. Everybody remembers that. It's been played many, many times. When I heard you say that, I -- I had no problem with it. I said, you know, that's a legitimate answer. Certainly, Jesus Christ was a philosopher. Certainly, he addressed politics. Render to Caesar. All of that. But somebody might say, "Gee," you know, "if Governor Bush has been so influenced by Jesus Christ, how can he support the death penalty"...

BUSH: Sure.

O'REILLY: ... "for example, so hard?" because Jesus Christ would not have. How do you answer?

BUSH: Well, first, let me say the question was really, you know, who influenced me the most, and I didn't -- this was not a calculated answer. It's one of those moments of time where somebody -- "Who influenced you most?" and...

O'REILLY: Off the top of your head.

BUSH: ... "Christ" came out of my mouth because Christ has influenced me, thanks to Billy Graham. It planted a seed in my heart, and it changed my life. It really did. I'm -- I'm -- I take great solace -- I recognize I'm a humble -- I'm a lowly sinner who sought redemption.

O'REILLY: But what about the death penalty?

BUSH: Let me...

O'REILLY: Texas leads the...

BUSH: Yeah, we can have a lot of issues that relate to Christianity. I -- you know, I don't want to put words in Jesus Christ's mouth. I believe that the death penalty when administered surely, swiftly, and justly saves people's lives. I believe it says -- sends a -- sends a chilling signal that if you kill somebody in my state in the commission of another crime, there's going to be a consequence and you're not going to like it.

O'REILLY: So you might disagree with Jesus on this one if he said...

BUSH: Well...

O'REILLY: ... "I don't believe in that."

BUSH: Well, I -- yeah, and I'm not so sure he addressed the death penalty itself in the New Testament. Maybe he did.

O'REILLY: No, he didn't, but I don't believe he would be for it if he were here today. But I could be wrong. I mean, I could be wrong. But he was one of those...

BUSH: This -- this -- we both can agree on this. Far be it from me and you to put our -- put words into the Savior.