O'Really Whining Again!

Tuesday, October 18, 2005 at 06:10 PM

Check out this article about Billy O'Really in Newsday called What's hate got to do with it? By Verne Gay. Ironic isn't it, that he'd be interviewed by Mr. Gay? I can see the headlines now, "O'Reilly Grilled By Gay!" Man, I have to Laugh Out Loud! The letter I sent to the editor and forwarded to MR. BILL is in the body.

[Link to story]

[Link to Verne Gay bio]

Martyr - one who makes great sacrifices or suffers much in order to further a belief, cause, or principle

"O'Reilly calls the ongoing battles 'tremendously wearing and debilitating,' adding, 'I don't need the approval of the press, but I just wish they'd stop the viciousness. It's reached a level of almost comical proportions and it does affect people around me and they do get upset. I keep it from them as much as possible, but there are some very, very bad people out there and we're dealing with those people.'"

Please! This guy loves to complain about all those bad people that make his life a living hell. Not as if he's done anything himself to "bring on the pain." His favorite whipping post is Media Matters (http://www.mediamatters.org), but has he even read the web site? If you go there you'll find that all they do is point out where Mr. O'Reilly has lied to the public and distorted the facts to push his, and Fox News', agenda. In his ranting about those who disagree with him, it's always the other guy who's wrong, never "Billy." The prime example of this is watching him with Phil Donahue. The segment was great, but O'Reilly's distortions about what occurred that day are even better, and Media Matters has them duly documented for all to see, hear, and read. The fact is that this guy may be "feared" by the left and the right (a distortion in my opinion. Loathed may be a better word), but he's really just a bully and, true to form, goes crying to mommy when people stand up to him; he can dish it out, he just can't take it. And what about Media Matters? In all the time they have been pointing out Billy's campaign of misinformation, he has never once had David Brock on to debate the issues, and Mr. Brock has asked to come on his show many times to discuss them. Why is that? Well, true to form, he knows he'd look like a schmuck, that's why. Better to yell down from the battlements than to lower the drawbridge and face your foes. Typical behavior from somebody who knows they can't afford to have the truth exposed. If that happened, he may not need to retire, his ratings would probably dictate his next career move. Bill O'Reilly is no Howard Stearn. Nobody wants to hang around just to see what he'll say next. Him calling his critics vicious is like Tom DeLay complaining about Ronnie Earle. I ask you Mr. Gay, or any reader of this, to go to the Media Matters web site and see for yourselves how they present their disagreements with Bill O'Reilly, and then to call on Mr. O'Reilly to have David Brock on his program for a little tête-à-tête. The day that happens, I'm going out to buy a Lottery ticket!

Megalomaniac - a pathological egotist

"Indeed, three weeks before newsman Peter Jennings' death in August, he offered to step in the ring for his old friend. In an e-mail to Jennings, he made an offer, he says: 'If you want me to take care of anybody for you ...' I was serious. If he felt there was someone who he felt had done him or his family or the nation wrong, I would have done that for him.'"

Who does this guy think he is, Don Corleone? He claims to be the king of "No Spin" but is going to "take care" of anybody that has done wrong to Peter Jennings, Mr. Jennings' family, or "the nation," and at Mr. Jennings' request? From everything I've read or heard about Mr. Jennings, especially since his death, he's probably rolling over in his grave right now. I bet after he would have solved that little problem for old buddy Pete, he'd have gone to lunch with Walter Cronkite to discuss ethics. Bill O'Reilly is so full of his own self-importance that there is no space left for anybody else. Truth be told, I predict he will be but a footnote in journalistic history, and mainly known for his erroneously spun statements that point out the hypocrisy of his "No Spin Zone" blather, rather than his journalistic talents or, as I'm sure he would like to be remembered, the purveyor of all that is true and just; mister "No Spin!" The best thing Bill O'Reilly can do for his country is to shut his pie hole, retire, and let his name drift off into obscurity. His temerity is only matched by his arrogance and his cruelty. Yes, Mr. O'Reilly is not always wrong, and yes, he does take a stand on some things where I agree with him. The problem is that his ends do not justify his means and, in the long run we, as a nation, stand to lose more in terms of our dignity, than we will ever gain as a result of Bill O'Reilly's tenure as a Talking Head and self-proclaimed defender of our way of life.