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Is Bill O'Rielly losing his mind?


GernBlansten

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I used to really enjoy Bill O'Rielly. I liked his in your face, no spin zone shtick. But this is really disturbing. I know BO and Oberman have not liked each other for a long time but I have to say, Oberman is spot on with is comments. I know there are plenty of BO supporters on this forum. What say ye?

 

http://movies.crooksandliars.com/Countdown-OReilly-Malmedy.wmv

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I hate to admit it, but I was duped for some time. I eventually realized that all of the political pundits, TV talking heads and radio talk show hosts are entertainers. I now see talk radio and TV for what it is, just another version of "professional" wrestling. To a degree, some of these guys DO believe what they spout. To a larger degree, their vitriol and delivery is straight out of the circus to attract you, pull you in and make a buck. Ann Coulter is probably the "best" at it with how ugly she can get and still draw an audience. Being conservative, it is beyond me how so many "conservatives" can listen to these guys and are willing to claim them as spokesmen for their views.

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"To a larger degree, their vitriol and delivery is straight out of the circus to attract you, pull you in and make a buck. Ann Coulter is probably the "best" at it with how ugly she can get and still draw an audience."

 

True so true.

 

I didn't know nor did I care that Ms. Coulter was on a book tour promoting her new publication until I saw her on the major news outlets talking about how widows of 9/11 enjoy their husbands deaths. Now as much as I try not to care about her comments, I fully believe her comments were made coldly calculating the amount of publicity she would recieve and to what extent that would translate into added book sales and TV appearances.

 

SA

 

 

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I previoulsy posted this, but this may be more apporiate a thread then the original:

 

I have commented in the past, I travel quite a bit and have had occasion to listen to Sports Talk Radio all over the country. The basic format of Sports Talk Radio is actually quite simple, unless the team of the moment, whether its Football, Baseball, Basketball etc is utterly dominating and/or destroying all opponents then the Radio Host is leading a withering attack on the stars, coach, and owner. When you think about it, its a great formula because at anyone time only one team can be in first place so odds are the teams in your market always provide fodder for critiques. Its called "knowing your Demographics", if the Yankees arent destroying the Sawks, then there is heck to pay on the radio. And when the Yankees win, well heck they should have scored twice as many runs. You appeal to what people want to hear, that your team is either the model of perfection or its not and lets spend all day discussing what needs to be done. A fans dream...

 

And oh yeah, are the sports radio hosts really true fans? Of course they are as long as the ratings hold...

 

Then there is Political Talk Radio. What a format, the hosts talks to a select demographic telling them what they want to hear. Its a great formula, you can pick on anything you want as long as you are saying what people want to hear. That the way they think is correct and good and wholesome and the only "real" way to think.

 

The business of Talk Radio is to make money, its not to diseminate ideas or spur intelligient debate and dialogue. Its more about monologues and how what I say is the way it is (or should be). A talk show host is a shill for the station, not a crusading agent of change.

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SR540Beaver has broken the code on these guys. They are for the most part entertainers, O'Reilly included.

 

But I really don't see what the big deal is - he got his history facts wrong or misspoke. It is a historical fact that there were prisoners shot on both sides.

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Yellow,

 

The only big deal is that O'Reilly is extremely arrogant and considers himself right on everything. After all, he is "looking out for you". Olberman likes to poke the proverbial sharp stick in his eye every once in a while to expose what a boob he can be. Of course, Bill always has to shoot back because his ego won't let him overlook it. It is great theater.

 

Not too long ago, a caller to O'reilly's radio show mentioned Olberman's name and Bill threatened the guy telling him they had his number, they could track him down and FOX security would be paying him a visit. He was as serious as he could be. FOX News will send a security guard to the guys house to tell him not to harrass O'Reilly?!!! Give me a break. It is because of the way O'Reilly acts that Olberman taunts him. That and they are on competting channels at the same time slot.

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Yellow and the Beav both echo my sentiments: "All Media is Entertainment".

 

The wrestling analogy is excellent. Its not unlike some of the posters on these forums, they post not to promote change or improvement, but mostly to poke serious Scouters in the eye to watch the fallout.

 

 

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I remember hearing about that whole O'Reilly - Olberman - Fox Security thing - I heard the clips of it - and I remember thinking that this is the moment that O'Reilly jumped the shark (though there were earlier contender moments - like the time O'Reilly tried to tell a family member of a 911 WTC victim how he should think). O'Reilly heard the name Olberman and snapped - amazing the power that one name had over the man - and as far as we know, the caller could have been about to say how much he disliked Olberman and his ideas - but now we'll never really know. Is O'Reilly losing his mind? My opinion is he's already lost it.

 

CalicoPenn

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In my alternative life, I am out in the public space alot. I was approached by a gent in a shirt emblazoned by a pro football team logo. He asked me "Hey, you like football? How 'bout them (insert pro team name here)!!??" I smiled and said yeah, I like to play FB in my back yard and watch a good game on occasion. I then said I had no real interest in watching someone play FB who is payed more in an hour than I'm payed in a year. He hesitated at that comment, then asked if I played in school. I said no, I marched in the band. He then proceeds to regale me with a list of his HS football record. I said yeah, keep those memories bright.

Entertainment is right. For info, I listen to Limbaugh and Amy Goodman on "Democracy Now" . Get all sides and don't limit yourself to only one version of "good news".

 

"its for the kids" Bob the Tomato said that.

"follow the money" Deep Throat said that.

"find and watch the movie 'Z' " I said that.

 

YiS

 

(This message has been edited by SSScout)

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The line between politics and show biz is becoming increasing blurred.

 

Back in the mid-90s, I predicted that within 20 years, we'd elect a president who was an ex-sports jock. This was before Jesse (not to mention Arnold), and we still have three election cycles to go...

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