By now, you’ve undoubtedly seen the video linked above, though you may not have watched the entire thing through. We’ve spent the past few days here at Daily Surge wondering why it is that Bob Beckel was so comfortable threatening CRAPITALISM author Jason Mattera on live television, yet became strangely mute after Mattera accepted the challenge to meet this liberal blowhard “anytime, anyplace.”

The answer seems simple: the guy was full of crap.

But Beckel wasn’t the only one casting aspersions on Jason’s reporting style. The (somewhat) substantive part of the criticism actually came from Greg Gutfeld himself, who really should have known better. Gutfeld referred to Mattera as a “Stuttering John version of Travis Bickle” — you know, the insane stalker Robert Deniro plays in Martin Scorcese’s Taxi Driver — for ambushing former I.R.S. head honcho Lois Lerner.

Gutfeld seemed to be concerned that Jason was making the disgraced bureaucrat look “sympathetic” by chasing after her. He then proceeded to play a completely unrelated video clip from a political ad starring so-called millennials, and claimed that it was far more effective than Mattera’s work as a journalist. It was a complete apples-to-oranges comparison that made absolutely no sense whatsoever, except to say that Greg was going out of his way to lambaste Jason for something he probably wished he would have thought of first.

The fact of the matter is that so-called “ambush” journalism — a label that I’m not overly fond of in the first place — has a storied tradition in the news media. Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes was one of the most famous examples of this type of work for decades, and he was praised for his tactics.

Is Gutfeld trying to say that this shouldn’t exist?

That’s former Texas Tech coach Billy Gillespie, who later resigned for bullying players and staffers, as well as forcing injured players to practice. And that’s not even to mention his DUI and other personal foibles that interfered with his ability to be a respected public figure and role model.

But using the Greg Gutfeld standard for journalistic integrity, the ambush you’re watching above should never have happened.

Heck, the liberal media does this kind of stuff all the time. Here’s CNN’s Dana Bash attempting to ambush Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN):

As you can see, this tactic is nothing new. Both Gutfeld and Beckel characterized Mattera as a young person, implying that he’s somehow immature in his technique. But the fourth estate has actually been engaging in these types of exchanges for as long as most people can remember.

Does Gutfeld think it was wrong for this reporter to “ambush” a pilot facing drug charges?

And does Beckel think it was wrong for this reporter to stake out Rep. Michael Grimm, who was indicted on 20 counts of fraud?

For crying out loud, The O’Reilly Factor‘s Jesse Watters ambushes both public and private figures ALL THE TIME, and he does it right there on Fox News!

You’re looking at a judge who let a man get off on probation after sexually abusing a young girl for 8 years. Does Greg Gutfeld think it was inappropriate for a Fox News reporter/producer to call him out in an unscheduled/non-traditional setting like a fast food restaurant? I sure hope not.

Or when Watters chased another derelict judge through the guy’s own garage and tried to barge into his house unannounced? Apparently that’s cool.

Look; I could share hundreds of links with you, but I think the point has been made. When you’re a reporter dealing with scum, you’re not going to get someone on record by trying to schedule a sit-down interview. Often, these so-called “ambushes” are the only way to capture jerks on tape at all. Besides, the CNN clip of Michele Bachmann and Dana Bash illustrates that the liberal media considers this a perfectly acceptable maneuver to use with sitting members of Congress who haven’t even done anything wrong. In Jason’s case, he actually targets politicians and public figures who HAVE committed heinous acts. Yet Bob Beckel and Greg Gutfeld believe that our lovable anti-crapitalist should have that tool taken away from him. And then what happens? We’re left with right-wingers getting pummeled with ambushes from left-wingers…and no method of retaliation, all because certain critics think conservatives should be “above the fray.”

Whatever, guys. I don’t see anyone out there informing Greg Gutfeld on how best to make masturbation jokes on TV or the best way to deliver one-liners on Japanese fetishes. That’s Gutfeld’s fortay. So I don’t think he has much business informing Mattera how to do his job…which seems to be working out quite well for Jason at present.

For a guy like Greg who has written several books about intolerance by the Left, he certainly seems to be falling into the same trap.