What's So Bad About Bill O'Reilly?

[Ladewig]

Let's not forget that this is the man who claims to have single-handedly saved America from "The War on Christmas" ®

 

[senorpogo]

Let's not forget that this is the man who claims to have single-handedly saved America from "The War on Christmas" ®

To be fair, he did command the tank battalion that secured the Christmas tree south of the White House.

 

[Ohmer]

[...]I really can't see why a lot of the people on this forum deride him so much.[..]

I have seem him imply that most of this country's moral failing is caused by "secularist". I think it's safe to say there are a lot of "secularist" on this forum.

I find such accusations personally offensive.

 

[Rob Lister]

I take any opportunity to post this but of UK political nostalgia, enjoy.

Well worth the watch.

 

[Beerina]

Sure there's a Paris Business Review

Wikipedia even has an article about the Bill O'Reilly thing, and apparently he's never issued a clarification nor a source for his info.

 

[Elizabeth I]

I don't hate the guy. I used to watch him a lot, too. About four or five years ago every night. Then I just suddenly burned out on him.

Me too. I watched just about every night, and, to be honest, I think he has changed. For example, his "most ridiculous item of the day" used to actually be about some ridiculous/weird/funny news item. Now it's mostly just another excuse to talk about himself.

I got SICK of his promoting his books and merchandise at every opportunity (and just going ahead and making an opportunity when there wasn't one.) And I think he has turned into a parody of himself - when I started watching him, his interrupting and challenging guests actually seemed like challenging. Now he just seems like he's walking through it - "People expect me to do this so - ho, hum - it's time for me to yell at the guest."

And the whole sexual harassment thing just finished him as far as I was concerned.

 

[SlippyToad]

I've been listening to his radio show for a couple of months now, and I really can't see why a lot of the people on this forum deride him so much. Have I just not been listening long enough? Is there some view he holds that is so objectionable? I find myself agreeing with him most of the time, so am I nuts, or what?

He's a liar. He cuts people off when they disagree with him, and he's a coward when he's wrong. He threatens to sic Fox Security on people who call him up and mention Keith Olbermann's name to him. He's a shrill propagandist. His journalism skills are miserable and his show has no redeeming qualities.

If you're getting information or analysis from him, it's wrong. Period. Go somewhere else.

 

[mrfreeze]

He didn't just threaten. That poor bastard actually did get a call from Fox Security about it. And if you listen to the call, it didn't even seem to be a prank. He just said that he also watches the other show.

 

[hgc]

That is similar to another one. I have seen it called the "some say" tactic. He uses it to make outrageous claims without having to cop to them. As in, "some say that Bill'O is a lying sack of s#1t". See, I never called Bill'O a "sack of s#1t", but he is.

Daredelvis

You can turn on Fox News any hour of the day and hear the "some say" refrain. It's as if it's the first thing they teach you in Fox School of Propogandizing. Even Chris Wallace slipped it in on Bill Clinton, with his some viewers have sent in email questions, like why did you let Osama get away.

 

[peptoabysmal]

If you had a transcript of his show, any show, I could show you exactly what I mean about holes in his logic and strawman constructing.

It's been a while since I listened to him, so I can't recall a specific example.

No need to:

The defense attorneys buy politicians off, especially in small states like Vermont where they give a lot of money, and the liberal media working against Jessica's Law for ideological, crazy, nutty, far-left, insane reasons. And the folks have gotta know who the forces of darkness are.
Bill O'Reilly controversies

 

[mgidm86]

...trying to fill three hours of radio time, and an hour of TV time, every single day has got to be a Herculean task. I know I wouldn't be up to it.

<looks at Luke T's post count>

Methinks you could wing it.

 

[steve s]

...so am I nuts, or what?

I think Al Franken summed it up best by calling O'Reilly a pathological liar. Bill seems to forget that his show is taped. He'll say something stupid, then when someone calls him on it he'll say "I didn't say that!"

There was the entire Malmedy fiasco in which he claimed that American soldiers murdered 84 German soldiers during the Battle of the Bulge. When it was pointed out to him that it was the Germans who did the killing he claimed he was misunderstood and that the Americans did the killing in reprisal. In reality there was no such retaliation by the Americans, yet he still refuses to admit his msitake.

Franken recently pointed out an incident where BO claimed that the blog Daily Kos made anti-semitic comments. Bill made it appear that it was Markos Moulitsas who was making the comment, but it was actually just someone in the open forum. And the comment was obviously done in sarcasm, but BO selectively quote-mined the comment to make it appear more sinister. [Still looking for a cite.]

This type of thing is par for the course for Bill. All spin, all the time.

Steve S.

 

[pgwenthold]

Jerry Springer already had a political bent

I'm not sure which Jerry Springer we are talking about here. Springer on the radio certainly has a political bent, and that reflects Springer's politics. Of course, no one pays too much attention to Springer on the radio.

Springer on TV, however, was completely a character he plays, and he makes no pretense about it. His comment is "I didn't invent my TV show, they just asked me to host it." If you listen to him talk about it, you realize that he doesn't consider it seriously at all, and knows it is just about entertainment.

OReilly, OTOH, likes to think he is doing something important.

 

[bozothedeathmachine]

He didn't just threaten. That poor bastard actually did get a call from Fox Security about it. And if you listen to the call, it didn't even seem to be a prank. He just said that he also watches the other show.

Is there a link to this? I'm curious as to what Fox security could actually do to someone who calls in. If they were in the studio (does BOR's show have an audience?)they could throw them out, or be particularly underdanded and have them arrested for trespassing, but I would think a private security's jurisdiction would end at the property line.

 

[zakur]

Here's a site dedicated to instances of O'Reilly's lies and craziness -- which seems to be on the rise. There's also Media Matters. These are the outlets often referred to by B O'R as "left-wing smear merchants." But, I swear, you get a liberal dose of direct quotes, and it's hard to refute that he's a very bad person.

Linky:

http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/people/billoreilly

 

[Polaris]

Yes, the facade of objectivity. His show is actually a great example of non-skeptical thought. It's a video dictionary for fallacious arguments. Ad homs, strawmen, appeals to emotion! They're all here!

You...you...you secular progressive!!!!

 

[senorpogo]

You...you...you secular progressive!!!!

I was nearly insulted... until I remembered what those words mean.

 

[Luke T.]

<looks at Luke T's post count>

Methinks you could wing it.

BWAHAHAHA!

Got me!

 

[hammegk]

.... I find myself agreeing with him most of the time, so am I nuts, or what?

No, you're just not one of our left-wing blame-America nutjobs who take NBCCBSCNNNYT as gospel and believe Bush etal to represent pure evil (well, not evil, since that concept is accepted by them as meaningless).

 

[Ladewig]

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/19/oreilly-blogosphere-grenade/

SABATO: It’s very personal. And you’ve mentioned the blogs earlier.

O’REILLY: Oh, it was off the chart.

LARRY SABATO: Well, we both have experienced this. The blogs on left and right, and I mean way left and way right, the things they come up with daily, the vitriol, the vile nature of the comments. And then they have hundreds and hundreds of people e-mailing.

O’REILLY: I know for a fact that President Bush doesn’t know what’s going on in the Internet. I know that for a fact because I did ask around.

SABATO: Well, he’s lucky.

O’REILLY: But.

SABATO: He’s lucky.

O’REILLY: He is lucky, because these are hired guns. These are people hired — being paid very well to smear and try to destroy people. And that’s the difference, Dr. Schiller. That had never happened before. I’ll give you the last word.

BROWN POLITICAL SCIENTIST WENDY SCHILLER: Well, I think that one thing is for sure. The millions of voters that go to the polls in 2006 aren’t spending most of their working hours during the day reading blogs on the Internet. They’re working for a living. They’re taking those kids to school. They’re going on with their lives. So yes, there’s a lot of vitriol out there. It’s a marketplace of ideas. It’s a free country last time we all checked. And it still is. It’s a great country.

O’REILLY: All right.

SABATO: It’s free for that reason.

O’REILLY: I think - I have to say President Bush has a much healthier attitude toward this than I do. Because if I can get away with it, boy, I’d go in with a hand grenade.

I disagree with what you have to say but will fight to the death to protect your right to say it. and if I could get away with killing you, I would.