O vs. O
by Ian Schuldt
Published: August 18, 2008
During the New Hampshire primaries, Bill O’Reilly and a camera crew showed up to get a firsthand look at all the candidates and to see if they could ask a few questions. In the most noteworthy of the various confrontations, an Obama security guard appeared to purposely stand in the way of O’Reilly’s cameraman.
O’Reilly contends this was done on purpose because it was a Fox News camera. While it’s debatable what the motive was, O’Reilly asked the man to step to the side so his cameraman could get a decent shot of Obama. The guard ignored him, leading O’Reilly to get angry and yell, “Don’t block the shot!”
Obama handled the situation fairly well once O’Reilly got his attention. He shook Bill’s hand, patted him on the back and said that he didn’t have time to talk right now, but would appear on the Factor after the primaries were over. Well, the primaries are over and there has been no sign of Obama. Needless to say O’Reilly is getting restless.
Love him or hate him, Bill O’Reilly is one of the most influential people in the United States. The O’Reilly factor has slaughtered the competition in every demographic for roughly seven years now with no sign of slowing down. With an average nightly audience of around 6 million people, he gets more viewers who are serious about politics then all the CNNs and MSNBCs combined.
After John Kerry lost the election in 2004 by the slimmest of margins, he appeared on the Factor and admitted that one of the bigger mistakes he made in his campaign was choosing not to appear on O’Reilly’s show. Kerry got a fair interview and has since worked with the show to promote a new GI bill.
There seems to be an unspoken rule on the left that you aren’t supposed to give a Fox News reporter the time of day, that even speaking to them lends credibility to a horrendously biased news organization. This is a very dangerous idea by the left. It allows people like O’Reilly to paint them as cowards. He can (and will) insinuate that if Barack Obama isn’t brave enough to come on his show and answer some tough questions, how can we expect him to deal with people like Ahmadinejad, Putin, Kim Jong Il or Chavez?
Worst of all about this accusation is that it is 100% correct. I try to watch the O’Reilly Factor as often as I can, not because I agree with the guy, but because I’ve found you learn a lot more when you listen to what your enemies are saying than you do listening to your friends. It’s only when you’ve heard your opponents best arguments firsthand that you can honestly expect to rebut them.
What I’ve found is that while I disagree with O’Reilly on almost everything, he is a lot more fair than anyone gives him credit for. When I tell most people I know that, they laugh like I’m some kind of moron, but the reality is they don’t watch the show. They listen to whatever their favorite blog says about him and form their opinion without even watching. It’s sad to say, but at times O’Reilly is about 100 times more fair and balanced than anyone at NBC.
If Obama does appear on the Factor, he will get some of the toughest questions he’s ever had to answer. Not unfair questions, but tough questions. Questions that if you’re going to be the leader of the free world, you should be able to answer. He may not convince O’Reilly to vote for him, or even much of his audience, but not appearing at all gives people like O’Reilly free reign to question his character all day long, unchallenged.
Probably the biggest knock I hear about Obama is that people just aren’t sure about him. They don’t think they know what he stands for. This is more of a pretend argument than anything. If they wanted to know what he stood for it’s not hard to find out, but people seem to think he’s only winning because he gets a free ride from the media.
There’s a simple way to shut those people up. If Barack Obama really does believe he is ready for the big chair, there’s no better place to prove it then standing up to Bill O’Reilly and putting him in his place.
—
(email this article or post to social network)
—
August 18th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
I agree, O’Reilly is a lot more fair than people give him credit for. Although, I must admit, I think he is pompous, arrogant and generally abrasive, but fair.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Correction: It is very easy for them to find out what his campaign platform is (at the present moment). However, when you have a guy who talks about the plight of the Palestinians, and then gives a gushing speech to AIPAC, who promises to renegotiate NAFTA, and then sends a surrogate to tell the Canadians he was just playing primary politics, who pledges to run on only public campaign funds, and then becomes the first candidate in modern history to run SOLELY on private donations, who claims to be a uniter of both right and left, while being the most radical pro-abort in the US Senate, it’s a lot harder to people to tell what he really believes in at the end of the day.
Or, to put it more nicely, when one runs as a post-partisan, change candidate, voters will be all the more anxious to find out exactly what lines you will not cross, what issues you will not compromise on. You are held to a much higher standard than a traditional conservative or liberal politician. Obama makes voters nervous because, as the self-annointed candidate for all peoples, they suspect that he will simply tell everyone exactly what they want to hear in order to get elected. After that, who knows what he’ll do?
Oh, and Bill O’Reilly is a blowhard, but Obama, the alleged orator and intellectual, is being suspiciously cowardly about his refusal to appear on his show.
August 22nd, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Comparing quality and reliability of new sources to ratings is not even a remotely fair comparison. Just because people watch something doesn’t make it credible. Millions of people watch American Idol, does that mean its a good show? No, no it just means its entertaining. Foxs News is more of an entertainment network than a credible news source. They have supposed “experts” Karl Rove and Newt Gingrich weigh in on topics that should be commented on from an objective point of view, I’ve got a feeling though that neither of them are objective.
Obama refuses to appear on Bill O’s show not because he’s afraid, but because of the many slanders that that O’Reilley has laid against him. The first reported “story” of Obama attending madarasaa was by Fox News, a story that was later completely and utterly torn apart by a simple little thing called truth. The network is not much more than a glorified National Enquirer with a few talking heads that drop quasi-headlines to envoke fear and conjure up ratings.
“Are your unborn babies targets of terrorist threats? Tune in to find out.”
Please, arguing that Obama lacks the courage to stand up to Bill O is absolutely ridiculous–O’Rielly couldn’t even handle Michael Moore. Obama has nothing to gain from appearing on his show, other than to provide the other fat talking head (Hannity) some more sound bytes and the ridiculous argument that Obama should now appear on his show.
Show me McCain on Keith Olbermann and we’ll talk.
August 22nd, 2008 at 3:21 pm
I consider myself to be conservative and fair minded. I can’t stand O’Reilly, Limbaugh or Hannity. They are so all arrogant I can hardly hear what they are trying to say.
I love politics, I love America, I love being right (except about Russia. Sorry I hit that nail on the head.) I’m just waiting for a person who can tell us the truth, be fair and even when they are right, be graceful in deliving the bad news to those who are misguided.
If you want people to hear the truth, you don’t start out by telling them how dumb they are. You start out by asking them real questions to better understand their point of view (or help your audience better understand it) and then offer the correct answer with clear explanations.
That is really fair. You also might just learn something in the process and come to an even better and clearer understanding of your own position.
Just my humble opinion.
August 22nd, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Well of course, but where’s the fun in that?
August 22nd, 2008 at 3:38 pm
I find great joy in knowing the truth. I don’t think it is fun watching people beat each other up for ratings.
We’d be a happier people if we worried a little more about joy (lasting happiness) instead of fun (momentary pleasure.)