Bernie's Time Machine: Offending Everybody

Honesty may be the best policy, but a lot of people don't like that policy.

“What I say will please nobody.”

The late Charles Krauthammer famously said, “You're betraying your whole life if you don't say what you think - and you don't say it honestly and bluntly.”

That’s how I’ve long viewed my role (and value) as a commentator. It’s also something I think is grossly lacking from today’s political commentary (whether it’s cable news, radio, or online). Too many “analysts” are afraid to offend their base audience, and many make a very good living off of telling viewers, listeners, and readers exactly what they want to hear.

In May of 2015, I went on The O’Reilly Factor to talk to Bill about a “gotcha” question a news-reporter threw at Republican Senator Ted Cruz. I thought Cruz handled it well, but a broader fear among Republican politicians back then kept the senator from answering it cleanly. So, I called it out… which I knew would offend a lot of Fox News viewers.

By the way, that Republican fear, which I describe toward the end of the clip, has since been replaced by something else — more specifically someone else. I bet you can all guess who.