The World of Bill: O'Reilly's alternate reality
I'm convinced Bill O'Reilly lives in an alternate reality, one where everyone agrees with him and watches Fox News 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Most of that time is spent waiting with bated breath for The O'Reilly Factor to come on because he is the only important thing that exists in the World of Bill.
O'Reilly is still a bit pissed at Al Franken, it appears, and he's also upset that there are some people out there who would dare to say bad things about O'Reilly and his beloved Fox News.
It makes me sick to see intellectually dishonest individuals hide behind the First Amendment to spread propaganda, libel and slander. But this is a growing trend in America, where the exchange of ideas often degenerates into verbal mud wrestling with intent to injure.
See, if you read that quote out of context of O'Reilly's opinion article, you just might think he was talking about the Princess of Darkness herself, Ann Coulter and not Al Franken.
I think you all know what side of the imaginary political ideology line I stand on. But I am not blind, nor am I deaf and I certainly don't see the world through Fox-colored glasses.
O'Reilly sees the world in terms of what he believes to be right, true and just. Unfortunately, not everyone sees it the same way as him and rather than let others have their say, O'Reilly does nothing but condemn them for not living in his little slice of reality. For a man who spends a good portion of his career interviewing people, he does an awful lot of foaming at the mouth while his interview subjects are basically gagged and tied.
O'Reilly continues:
This country is a better place because Fox News has succeeded. Now there is a wider range of thought and expression available 2-4/7. But the country is worse off because of the brutal repercussions of that success. A nation that prides itself on diversity of opinion and acceptance of differing political points of view is being subjected to an orgy of media defamation and sometimes outright hatred.
O'Reilly is suffering from delusions of grandeur. While I am a viewer of Fox News, I cannot come up with one single way in which this country is a better place because Fox exists. That is such a grandiose statement so full of hot air that it could fan the flame wars of Democratic Undeground forever.
Yes, the media is biased. Some of it is liberal bias and some of it (Sean Hannity and O'Reilly himself come to mind) is conservative bias, filled with blind loyalty to an administration that does not always deserve it. But that's America. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press and all that. O'Reilly should know that. We can turn on any channel at any time and see or hear a variety of views on a variety of subject and sometimes you won't even get the same views twice. Some views will be liberal and some will be conservative and that's why there's 300 channels on my television. And I'm ok with that because I like choice.
I'm no fan of Al Franken; I've always found him more droll and boring than funny. But O'Reilly has taken this war of words to histrionic proportions.
Using liberal-leaning newspapers and publishing houses, the critics of Fox have unleashed defamatory personal attacks on me and other Fox news analysts and have attempted to denigrate the entire network. If Fox News crashed and burned tomorrow, these people would toast marshmallows in the flames.
So what? We're talking about a news channel here. I laugh at MSNBC's ratings and I bet O'Reilly does too, which makes him a bit of a marshmallow toaster himself. And Bill is hardly clean in the personal attack category. In fact, every interview he does with a liberal is nothing but a personal attack. Even when I abhor the person O'Reilly is interviewing, I still cringe at his tactics because it makes everyone who agrees with O'Reilly look bad. He comes off as an arrogant, pompous, overbearing ass most of the time.
Why does O'Reilly not complain about Coulter using right-leaning newspapers and publishing houses to denigrate her opponents? Because Coulter's opponents are O'Reilly's opponents and I guess what's good for the goose is not good for the gander in the World of Bill.
If O'Reilly was as smart and astute as he claims to be, he would shut up now before his alternate world comes crashing down around him as even the most ultra conservatives who live and breathe Fox News will be forced to admit that O'Reilly is nothing but an egotistical bore who probably kisses himself to sleep at night.
Comments
I'm a Fox viewer myself, but I turn it off starting at 5 (8 PM ET), because I can't stand the opinion shows. Before 5, the shows are simply covering the news, with the occasional discussion about that day's events. After 5, here comes the spin.
Sometimes, as it happens, O'Reilly and I will share similar views on an issue, but I still feel like I have to turn him off! I don't expect him to heed advice like yours, Michele, but he'll have to face the music sooner or later.
Posted by: ScottC | August 18, 2003 07:16 PM
I cringe every time I see that bloviating asshole on television. "No Spin Zone," my ass.
At the risk of sounding like a fawning sycophant, I agree with every word you say. Oh and what ScottC said, too.
Posted by: margi | August 18, 2003 07:19 PM
I'm with Scott.
I turn it off after 5 and most especially before 6 because Hannity tends to make me feel physically ill.
Posted by: bsti | August 18, 2003 07:26 PM
Posted by: bsti | August 18, 2003 07:28 PM
O'Reilly is an arrogant twat.
That said, the bias in American media is overwhelmingly left/liberal. The Coulters and Fox News's of this world are of recent vintage, while the NYT/WashPost/CBS/NBC/ABC hegemony of "serious" news and commentary (where the two can be separated) goes back decades.
Example: the Clinton health care plan was presented by the major media as a sensible, middle-of-the-road plan that all right-minded citizens should favor. Rather than what it was, a muddle-headed socialist power-grab that would have created a bureaucracy bigger than the EU Hive in Brussels. Go look up the editorials, if you think I exaggerate. Am I saying American health care is perfect? Hell, no -- but why do so many Canadians flee their Clintonesque health care system to cross the border and pay hard cash for medical services?
No time for O'Reilly -- but that doesn't mean I don't agree with him about media bias.
Posted by: Ted Seay | August 18, 2003 07:55 PM
Brit Hume and Neil Cavuto. That's all I watch for in the late afternoon, early evening.
Posted by: Steve of Norway | August 18, 2003 07:58 PM
I doubt O'Reilly's self-love is so Platonic he merely kisses himself to sleep.
Posted by: Robert Crawford | August 18, 2003 08:01 PM
Michele, let me add one other reason to hate O'Reilly: He makes it that much harder for honest, fair journalists -- of whom there are at least a few almost everywhere, including Fox -- to do their jobs.
Posted by: Lex | August 18, 2003 09:03 PM
I really disliked O'Reilly when I first saw him. He seemed like an old fart trying to be cool in interviewing some rapper.
Then came the 2000 election, and Fox had the better coverage, and O'Reilly was doing a good job covering the issues I cared about most. Afterwards, I hung a little while, mildly interested by his (rightful) hounding of Jesse Jackson, and then it just got old. He's like that old significant other that just hasn't realized they've been replaced and just don't matter anymore.
Posted by: nathan | August 18, 2003 09:14 PM
Count me in your fawning sycophant cavalcade on this one, Mistress.
Posted by: Solonor | August 18, 2003 09:20 PM
Oh come on, there's liberal media and there's conservative media, but it's not the mainstream. The mainstream media is corporate. They'll agree with whatever their a) pollsters tell them people agree with or b) their advertisers want them to agree with. It's pretty easy to see. When Clinton's approval ratings were high, he got a pass on a lot of stuff (unless it was about sex... sex sales). GW's ratings were way up there, and he's been getting a pass on all kinds of stuff. Now that his numbers are down a little, the media is following the polls and giving people what it thinks they want.
Posted by: Kevin | August 18, 2003 09:52 PM
I don`t watch it much but I agree with O`Reilly
much more often than not.I don`t really care for his pompousness or arrogance,but he has gotten the occasional scoop and results when all other news orginizations were turning blind eyes to stories that I personally thought were more important than what particular linguistic blunder the President made that day.The mainstream news media IS liberally biased and it has been for some time.Fox news is,as far as I have found,my only alternative to news channels that are most things that I am against and against most things I am for.I get tired of hearing about the poor downtrodden Palastinians,and the evil Jews,and of course the evil USA.No matter what the story MOST news channels have,they always seem to put a political spin to it.Fox at least tries to keep it balanced.O`Reilly spins,but regardless of his arrogance he spins MY way,and I say it`s about damned time too.
Posted by: joatmoaf | August 18, 2003 09:53 PM
Oh ,I like Ann Coulter too.Don`t hate me `cause I`m beautiful.
Posted by: joatmoaf | August 18, 2003 10:06 PM
O'Reilly is pompous. Franken is an idiot. But O'Reilly was the lead on exposing the scams of the non-profits regarding the WTC. So I give him some slack even though I don't watch him.
Posted by: JG | August 18, 2003 10:52 PM
I watch O'Reilly regularly. While I agree he isn't exactly balanced personally, he always has someone on to tell the other side to every story, and he always lets them speak. He's one of the fairer columnists out there.
Posted by: Geoffrey | August 19, 2003 12:03 AM
O'Reilly is such an ass monkey. Me, I can't stand to watch Fox News -- I'd rather watch something with a slight liberal bias like CNN than blatant conservative propaganda like Fox News (though really, I'd rather just read the AP wire directly or look at their Web site).
Posted by: M | August 19, 2003 12:36 AM
You guys think you have it bad because Bill Oh I'mrighty is on Fox News...he was an anchor for one of the local news stations (katu-tv) when I was growing up in Portland
I was young, but I was old enough to know when I didn't like a guy who came across as an ass when reporting the news.
Posted by: Greg | August 19, 2003 01:41 AM
I'd love it if you were Bill's guest one night.
You'd tear him a new asshole and probably wind up a media heroine for ripping that pompous gasbag a hole that he can't recover from.
Of course, he an his crew can edit.... which is not good... but record the exact transcripts :P
Posted by: mike | August 19, 2003 03:24 AM
I agree with O"'Reilly about 3/4 of the time...but his insufferable "I'm just a regular, blue-collar joe" whining is both wrong and annoying.
Posted by: david | August 19, 2003 08:02 AM
I agree with Steve of Norway. I would add Tony Snow. And, oh yeah, Catherine Herridge because she's smart (hehheh) and beautiful
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,1194,00.html
Posted by: Frank DiSalle | August 19, 2003 08:04 AM
I forgot to mention: kudos for using "bated" instead of "baited".
Posted by: Frank DiSalle | August 19, 2003 08:11 AM
I have a sneaking suspicion that O'Reilly and Franken are drinking buddies, and they sit at some dive on the Lower East Side and snicker at how everyone thinks they hate each other's guts.
Even if I'm wrong, that's how much it matters to me so it might as well be true.
Posted by: McGehee | August 19, 2003 09:17 AM
'bloviating ass' works very well for ol'Bill.
But political stripe? He's a contrarian--that's how he maintains his trite claim to be independant. What side are you on? Well, Bill'll take the other, if it'll get ratings. Contrarian pundits get old after a while--Bill's on the down curve, if not yet in ratings, in ideas. This Franken thing is a grab for attention.
But conservative bias in the news? Where? Not Hannity--or Bill--they're nothing more than opinion shows, not news.
And what appears as Fox' 'conservative' or 'right-wing' bias is nothing more than a lessening of the lefty trumpet that floods all the airwaves 24/7.
And it has made things better--news programs cannot easily tilt to the left anymore without someone noticing. Further, some people whose bias was completely unconscious are starting to evaluate their ideas and are trying to report without the ideas coloring the facts. That's a definate improvement.
Posted by: jack | August 19, 2003 09:18 AM
That moron is the worst thing on Fox. His columns in the Boston Herald ain't much either. I think its good to have Fox around because like it or not, it is a different voice in the media. One that is right-of-centre and vaguely good. Fox coverage of the war was great, a good antedote to the likes of BBC and CNN.
Posted by: Andrew Ian Dodge | August 19, 2003 12:42 PM
"O'Reilly sees the world in terms of what he believes to be right, true and just. Unfortunately, not everyone sees it the same way as him and rather than let others have their say, O'Reilly does nothing but condemn them for not living in his little slice of reality. "
Could just as easily read
"Michelle sees the world in terms of what she believes to be right, true and just. Unfortunately, not everyone sees it the same way as her and rather than let others have their say, Michelle does nothing but condemn them for not living in his little slice of reality. "
I found it pretty funny that your entire post was nothing but you doing exactly what you dislike O'Rielly for. You also do it at greater length, so who's the "blow hard"?
Posted by: Tom | August 19, 2003 02:34 PM
I want you all to sit down in front of the mirror and say to yourself "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and gosh darnit, people like me." Bill must have taken that advice a little to much to heart.
Posted by: nastybastard | August 19, 2003 04:21 PM
Yo, Tom: Not that Michele needs any help defending herself, but at least one significant difference between Michele and O'Reilly is that Michele does not benefit from a massive marketing campaign calling her blog "fair and balanced" and does not claim to be running a "no-spin zone" while then cutting off the mike (or editing the comments) of her guests.
Or is that distinction too subtle?
Posted by: Lex | August 19, 2003 04:35 PM
You know, I used to like O'Reilly. He actually used to be somewhat fair and balanced. I still agree with SOMe of the things he says, but, he has let success go to his head, much like every human being does when they become popular. He started out,I think, honest in his views, but as his ratings grew, so did his ego.
He does tend to rip apart his opponents while not letting them half-ass defend themselves, which is blatantly unfair (and unbalanced), and then feels like he has the moral upper hand for doing so.
When I had finally decided I was a middle of the road conservative, I had found O'reilly's show, several years ago, and he seemed like someone in the media I could actually agree with. But, now I see that when you put someone on a pedistal, They're going to act like God every chance they get. Someone needs to knock O'Rielly down a few notches, and maybe he might go back to being more fair and ballanced and LESS spin (because really, did anyone really think his show had no spin to start with?).
Anyway, that's my 2 cents. :)
Posted by: Xavier Gold | August 20, 2003 07:35 AM
Anyone who likes both Bill O'Reilly and Ann Coulter has no intellectual credibility. Ann Coulter's presentations have about as much legitimate journalistic content as those low-comedy interludes in Renaissance theatre where the zanies would come out on stage and beat each other over the head with inflated pig bladders. Any doubt about the media's right-wing bias can be dispelled by the reflection that it has repeatedly presented Ann Coulter as though she were a respectable public figure.
The whole business about Al Franken's book is ludicrous. That's not a legal case; it's a vendetta. Bill O'Reilly's in a towering snit because Franken quite accurately pointed out that O'Reilly was never given the Peabody Award he'd repeatedly claimed to have received. That's all. O'Reilly, who's retailed so many falsehoods about so many people, is outraged that Franken reported the truth about him. The man's an idiot.
Another argument for O'Reilly's idiocy: The list of unchallenged book titles already in print that make use of trademarked words or phrases would be several times longer than this entire comment. And a third: The idea that Penguin would want to associate itself with the Fox News Network, or that doing so would help Penguin sell more books, is so bizarre that thinking about it makes me want to beat my head gently against the nearest wall.
There's no case here. O'Reilly's just in such a snit that he's lost his judgement. The unconfirmed story I heard today from another person who works in the industry is that he first went to his own publisher, Random House, and demanded that they bring suit against Franken. If this turns out to be true, I'll be forced to consider the possibility that O'Reilly is actually dumber than Ann Coulter.
Posted by: Teresa Nielsen Hayden | August 21, 2003 12:37 AM
Teresa, there's a difference between pointing out a man's shortcomings and attaching him personally, and, just like every other liberal, you don't seem to be able to make that distinction. Whatever else you may be able to say about him, O'Reilly is NOT an idiot, neither is Ann Coulter for that matter. Propagandists, maybe, Idiots? Far from it. And, no not everyone who views Fox News or watches O'Reilly is an idiot either. Have you ever thought some people may watch him for a laugh?
Posted by: Xavier Gold | August 21, 2003 11:51 AM
And, I also think that yes, the media IS libreally biased for the most part. You can just about count the people in the public eye who are conservatives on one hand, it would take hundreds of hands to point out the leftys. Come on, what kind of bizarro world are you living in Teresa?
Posted by: Xavier Gold | August 21, 2003 11:54 AM
I pray to God every night that Bill O'reilly and his entire family die a horrible, painful, nightmarish death and that they burn in hell forever-more.
That little boy is pure trash and so is every last conservative on the planet. To all republicans, even the gay ones, PLEASE KILL YOURSELVES.
Posted by: Johnson | August 26, 2003 09:48 PM
Hey everyone, its me Bill O'reilly! I suck horse penis! Offscreen, I'm much different! I just love to suck cock and gamble! Yeah fuck everybody!
Posted by: Bill O'Reilly | August 26, 2003 09:57 PM
LIBERAL BIAS??????????
Anyone who believes this bullshit is pure trash and should be killed for the safety of the world. The hatred from conservatives is far worse than anything any liberal has every done.
DOWN WITH CONSERVATISM!!!
DOWN WITH CONSERVATISM!!!
DOWN WITH CONSERVATISM!!!
CONSERVATIVES DESERVE TO BURN IN HELL FOREVER!!!!!!
FUCK ALL REPUBLICANS AND THEIR HATRED!
YOU THINK THIS IS BAD???? JUST WATCH THE OREILLY FACTOR!!!!! FUCK YOU OREILLY!!!! FUCK YOU TOO SEAN HANNITY!!!! FUCK YOU ASHCROFT, FUCK YOU CHENEY, AND ESPECIALLY FUCK YOU BUSH!!!!!!!!!!
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GO TO HELL AND BURN FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: FUCK FOX NEWS | August 26, 2003 10:08 PM
Sounds like you have anger management issues. I pitty your children!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Wow | September 24, 2003 12:09 AM
O Reilly is nothing but a creep. He is a disgrace to all decent americans and journalists. FOX News is trash as well. How dare O Reilly and people of his ilk when they say that criticizing him and conservatives are anti-american?
I support the troops and love this country but O'Reilly, Limbaugh, Coulter, and others have hijacked this country and we, the american people need to take it back. Enough of the Reagan Revolution part 2. Its time to be in the 21st century.
Posted by: Gregory | October 10, 2003 10:42 AM
I am appalled at Bill O'Reilly's unaccountable tantrum toward the end of Terry Gross's interview with him on Fresh Air. Also his vitriolic abuse of NPR itself. Compared to FOX, NPR is such a profoundly superior organization and O'Reilly's criticism of it is innacurate and so dreadfully stupid. His claim that he is Number One in almost everything shows he is a Right Man of the first order. Psychologically, he believes he can do NOTHING wrong! Apart from that absurdity, he was so rude to Ms. Gross herself. He is actually first in idiocy, ignorance, misguidedness and ungentlemanly behaviour. If you give me his e-mail I will personally challenge him to a duel.
Yours sincerely,
John Gander
Posted by: John Gander | October 11, 2003 12:22 PM
I was watching Jay Leno Show (Oct 15, 2003) and Bill O'Reilly was up there, up there acting like he's trying to be "cool" and not show his "cranky" reality.
Then when Leno asked about Al Franken, O'Reilly OBVIOUSLY avoided to talk about his rude feud towards Franken. O'Reilly AVOIDED to talk about his "I'LL DUEL WITH YOU [Franken] IF I HAVE A GUN!..." immature and lack-of-conduct behavior just because he couldn't bear Franken's criticism in Franken's book. Instead he switched subject and talked about Rush Limbaugh... O'Reilly said something like Franken is "celebrating the downfall of an American[Rush, in this case]" and "building happiness out of Limbaugh's pain," something like that. First, Limbaugh ain't in a "downfall," in fact, I just saw his advertisement about his radio show couple days ago; Limbaugh ain't "falling", he's still alive and well and still "farting" on the air. Second, Limbaugh's racist comment on McNabb was his own fault. So, if Limbaugh is "building happiness" by slandering McNabb (McNabb felt offended, of course), doesn't McNabb feel "pain"(emotionally) as well? Why didn't O'Reilly take McNabb's feelings into account??
Limbaugh's case is similar to Trent Lott's case.
Back to O'Reilly, he should really "Think Before He Acts(or Speaks)" because if O'Reilly want to stay on air but his emotions has gone too high, he one day might get himself kicked off the air...(which I don't care)
btw, I wonder what's Bill O'Reilly's EQ?
one more thing, is Limbaugh really on crack and might go to rehab?
Posted by: Jared O'Brien | October 16, 2003 05:37 AM
I love how the liberal readers just pass over these comments saying down with america. These comments are obviously sarcastic but the liberal readers are prone to selective reading so they don't notice that they feel the same way about free thought. Go figure.
Posted by: Haha | December 17, 2003 01:36 AM
http://www.lyingliar.com
Posted by: Al Franken | January 14, 2004 02:23 AM
It would be a better world if Bill O'Reilly were not in it. Period.
Posted by: David | May 20, 2004 05:45 AM
I think there are some very angry and depressed people on this site. I have been surfing the web for a few days now to see which end of the spectrum is more hateful. I must say the left- wing of this country has some very serious issues to deal with. Hate Hate Hate. Thats all they know how to do. The far right has some issues, but not even close to that of the left. The left needs to take some lessons from Bill Press on how to articulate thier descent about issues. God Bless America
Posted by: John | June 23, 2004 04:45 PM
First time reading this blog, just wanted to say hi.
Posted by: horse dick | August 6, 2004 10:22 AM