Bush's Media Cherry Picking

Williams was obviously quite taken with the president. On the topic of education, Williams said, "we need to do a better job of educating every child, no matter where that child might be" -- and "President Bush . . . in that interview yesterday, he was so sincere and passionate about this topic."

O'Reilly's Foil

Williams not only served as O'Reilly's foil during the Fox host's initial comments about visiting a black restaurant, but went on O'Reilly's show last night to defend him against charges that those comments were offensive.

Here's what O'Reilly said on his radio show last week, during a segment in which Williams regularly chimed in agreeably: "I couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia's restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City. I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it's run by blacks, primarily black patronship . . . There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming, 'M-Fer, I want more iced tea.'"

CNN's Mary Snow reported O'Reilly's comments on CNN yesterday, and the uproar they caused.

O'Reilly fired back last night on his Fox News show -- with Williams at his side. Here's a video clip. Williams to O'Reilly: "They want to shut you up. They want to shut up anybody that has an honest discussion about race. . . . They want to marginalize you, Bill, they want to shut you up. . . .

"I'm glad you said that. You should repeat that so they hear it again. You said stereotypes are not true. I say you should go up there more often, it shouldn't be a foreign trip. But it had nothing to do with racist ranting by anybody except these idiots at CNN."

'Is Our Children Learning?'

Peter Baker writes today for washingtonpost.com: "As a candidate, George W. Bush once asked, 'Is our children learning?'

"On Wednesday, he had an answer.

"'Childrens do learn,' he said.

"The setting was, yes, an education event where the president was taking credit for rising test scores and promoting congressional renewal of his signature education law. To create the right visual image, he summoned the local school chancellor, a principal, some teachers and 20 eager students from P.S. 76.

"The visual worked fine. The oral? Not so much."

Here's the (cleaned-up) White House transcript.