After repeated whining, O'Reilly -- who won't have "loathsome" "secular-progressives" on his show -- to appear on Oprah
SUMMARY: On his radio and television programs, Bill O'Reilly repeatedly stated that Oprah Winfrey has hosted more "secular-progressives" and "liberals" than "conservatives" and "traditionalists" on her television show. He also complained that "Oprah has declined to interview me, even though I had four number-one best-selling books." After days of attention to the subject, O'Reilly announced on ABC's The View that he would be appearing on Winfrey's show.
On October 13, 16, and 17, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly featured segments or discussions on his television program and his nationally syndicated radio show about his allegation that talk-show host Oprah Winfrey has hosted more "secular-progressives" and "liberals" than "conservatives" and "traditionalists" on her television show, the King World-syndicated Oprah Winfrey Show. Moreover, for three consecutive shows, O'Reilly complained, as he did on the October 16 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, that "Oprah has declined to interview me, even though I had four number-one best-selling books." On the same program, O'Reilly asserted that while "Oprah Winfrey has the perfect right to book any guest she wants and on any topic she wants," it is a "legitimate story" that her show allegedly "is leaning left in a big way." On October 18, O'Reilly announced both on ABC's The View and The O'Reilly Factor that he had been invited to appear on Oprah on October 27.
Yet, despite his criticism of Winfrey, O'Reilly wrote on Page 64 of his book Culture Warrior that he refuses to host most "S-Ps" on his show because "it is hard to imagine a more loathsome group." Additionally, as Media Matters for America has noted, O'Reilly's own guest list on The O'Reilly Factor skews heavily to the right, with conservative guests significantly outnumbering progressives. A Media Matters study of The O'Reilly Factor for the first four months of 2006 found that Republican or conservative guests, especially public officials, greatly outnumbered Democratic or progressive guests. Eighty percent of public officials were Republicans, while only 20 percent were Democrats. Conservatives represented 37 percent of all journalists/pundits, while progressives represented only 11 percent. Republicans/conservatives represented 34 percent of all solo interviews, which was double the percentage of Democrats/progressives. And guest panels on The O'Reilly Factor tilted right more than four times as often as they tilted left.
While attacking Oprah's guest list, O'Reilly used the terms "liberals" and "secular-progressives" interchangeably to describe the purported ideology of her guests, despite asserting on the October 18 edition of The View that not all "liberal[s]" are "secular-progressives." As O'Reilly explained then, "You can be traditionalist and liberal," and he named Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (CT) as a "liberal" "traditionalist."
How O'Reilly "goaded Oprah into having" him on her show
- O'Reilly's fixation on Oprah appears to have begun when a caller to his October 13 radio show complained that author and New York Times columnist Frank Rich had appeared on Oprah on October 12. O'Reilly asked his caller if "what you're telling me" is that "Oprah Winfrey gave an hour of her program to a Bush-hater with no other guests," and promised to "find out what the hell's going on, because I can never get on her show, even though I've had four number-one New York Times best-sellers." O'Reilly concluded that he would "deal with it" on Monday, October 16.
- During the October 16 edition of Fox News' O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly announced that, while you have to "admire Oprah Winfrey ... an analysis of the program shows that liberal guests far outnumber conservatives and traditionalists in the arena." O'Reilly asserted that "[w]e can only find four traditional guests in the past few years -- four. President Bush, [former New York City Mayor] Rudy Giuliani [R], [Republican California Gov.] Arnold Schwarzenegger, and [actor] Mel Gibson." O'Reilly then declared: "On the other side, there are literally dozens of liberal people who have been given a forum on Oprah's program." O'Reilly provided some examples of "liberal people" who have appeared on Oprah, but offered no other insight into how he had categorized Oprah's guests or otherwise came to the conclusion that "liberal people" greatly outnumbered "traditional guests" on the show. O'Reilly again complained that "Oprah has declined to interview me, even though I've had four number-one best-selling books," and concluded: "Now, you can call it sour grapes if you want. I know I'm going to get those kind of letters, but facts are facts."
- On October 17, O'Reilly continued to attack Winfrey on his radio show for purportedly having a preference for liberal guests. O'Reilly asserted that Winfrey "should be upfront" about her liberal tendencies, saying that "if she believes that secular-progressive people are better for the United States, then she should say that." This time, O'Reilly complained that Winfrey's guest list was "10 to 1" liberals versus conservatives, and continued to harp on what he said was Winfrey's "personal animus," claiming that she refused to have him as a guest when his book The O'Reilly Factor for Kids: A Survival Guide for America's Families (HarperEntertainment, 2004) was released. O'Reilly concluded, "I'm not whining, I'm reporting, lady." Paraphrasing two lines in the movie A Few Good Men (Columbia Pictures, 1992), O'Reilly added, "[a]nd if you can't handle the truth, you can't handle the truth. You need me on that wall."
- On October 18, O'Reilly announced during his appearance on The View that he would be appearing on Oprah "next week." Later that
evening on The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly
elaborated:
O'REILLY: The good people at the Oprah Winfrey program have invited me on to talk with the most powerful woman in America.
After seeing my report earlier this week analyzing Oprah's guest list, where secularist-progressives far outnumber traditionalists, we received the invitation. And that is a good thing.
- On the October 19 broadcast of The Radio Factor, O'Reilly discussed his upcoming appearance on Oprah, stating that when he is a guest on someone else's program "they're allowed to take [the conversation] wherever they want, as long as they're respectful." "If they are disrespectful, then I'm gonna have to take some action," O'Reilly warned. When co-host Lis Wiehl chided O'Reilly for "kinda goad[ing] Oprah into having" O'Reilly on her program, O'Reilly retorted, "I did not. I reported accurately what happened. I didn't go to anybody to do anything." He then informed Wiehl that "as usual," she was "misinformed and misguided."
From the October 13 edition of Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly:
CALLER: Well, I appreciate that. It was an experience I'll remember forever. The main reason for my call -- besides to thank you -- is, yesterday, I'm home, I'm watching The Oprah Winfrey Show, and I get to catch Frank Ritz [sic: Rich] of The New York Times on promoting his book, and the title of the show was called "Truth in America," and he just bashed the whole hour.
A couple people from the audience, you know, stood up and made their point, but Oprah didn't have anybody on the show to rebut anything that he had to say or anything. I --
O'REILLY: Was it just him?
CALLER: He was -- he was there himself promoting his book. I forget the title. It was --
O'REILLY: Yeah, I know. I know. But were there any other guests?
CALLER: No other guests. He had the whole hour, and he just bashed --
O'REILLY: All right, so Winfrey let Rich just bash Bush for an hour.
CALLER: Yep. She -- she came on with a couple of things, just asking some questions, but she let the audience ask questions, but a lot of 'em were -- I could tell -- were S-Ps, and they were talking about the media and saying how the media's horrible --
O'REILLY: OK. So -- so Oprah Winfrey gave an hour of her program to a Bush-hater with no other guests. That's what you're telling me?
CALLER: No other guests. It was grossly irresponsible.
O'REILLY: All right, I'm gonna deal with that on Monday.
CALLER: I appreciate that.
O'REILLY: I'm gonna deal with it on Monday.
CALLER: I sent you an e-mail --
O'REILLY: All right. No, we'll deal with it. We'll deal with Miss Winfrey. We'll absolutely deal with her. For years, I've been wanting -- I've been, you know, back and forth on her. But I think the time has come to deal with her. So, we will do it on Monday.
I want the transcript of that show, please. Let's get the whole thing. We'll do it on television, and maybe radio on Monday. We'll find out what the hell's going on, because I can never get on her show, even though I've had four number one New York Times best-sellers. I can't get on the program. Why? You know, I'm gonna flat out ask for an explanation. So, Oprah becomes a big story for us on Monday. And we'll -- we'll do it fair. We'll give her her say; invite her on, and we'll see where it follows, all right. That'll be interesting.
From the October 16 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:
O'REILLY: Thanks for staying with us. I'm Bill O'Reilly.
In the "Personal Story" segment tonight, you have to admire Oprah Winfrey. She is the most powerful woman in the country and comes from a very humble background. The woman has succeeded on talent and energy.
Her daytime talk program is a launch pad for books, movies, TV shows, and records. Most who appear on Miss Winfrey's show benefit from the experience greatly. But an analysis of the programs shows that liberal guests far outnumber conservatives and traditionalists in the arena.
We can only find four traditional guests in the past few years -- four: President Bush, Rudy Giuliani, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Mel Gibson.
On the other side, there are literally dozens of liberal people who have been given a forum on Oprah's program. Just last week, Bush-hater Frank Rich was given an hour to pontificate -- one hour. I had no idea Mr. Rich was so popular among daytime viewers.
Also on Oprah's show, Michael Moore, Jane Fonda, Susan Sarandon, Al Gore, Barbra Streisand, Sean Penn, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Jon Stewart, George Clooney, Jim McGreevey, on and on and on. You got three weeks? I can keep listing them.
In the interest of full disclosure, Oprah has declined to interview me, even though I've had four number one best-selling books, including the current one, Culture Warrior.
But it was The O'Reilly Factor for Kids that really confused me. Here we have the best-selling children's non-fiction book in 2005. Oprah, as you know, is very interested in protecting the kids, so why then was there no interest in talking about the Factor for Kids?
Now, you can call it sour grapes if you want. I know I'm going to get those kind of letters, but facts are facts.
One more thing: Oprah Winfrey has a perfect right to book any guest she wants and on any topic she wants. Her program. Right now, looks like her show is leaning left in a big way, and that is a legitimate story.
From the October 17 Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly:
O'REILLY: So, I don't -- I don't think, you know, there's a clamor among women of America to see this guy [Frank Rich]. It were Brad Pitt I'd understand. OK? Not him. So there's a reason why he's on there. And, well, where's Pat Buchanan? He's got a best-selling book. OK, where's John Stossel? He's got a best-selling book. I asked Stossel. I said, "You ever try to get on Oprah?" He said, "No, they don't put me on."
And then, here I am. What am I? You know, I mean, I go on her show, we'd get a huge rating. So, it can't be ratings. She can use the numbers if she puts me on. I'm going on The View tomorrow with Rosie. They'll get a big number tomorrow, and we'll play you some of that on The Radio Factor. So, it can't be ratings. So, it's got to be that Ms. Winfrey just wants to have her point of view presented on the program.
Now, she's entitled to that. It's her show. I mean this is a woman that came from nothing to rise up to be the most powerful woman, I think, in the world. I think Oprah Winfrey is the most power woman in the world, not just in America. That's -- anybody who goes on her program immediately benefits through the roof. I mean, she has a loyal following; she has credibility; she has talent; and she's done it on her own to become fabulously wealthy and fabulously powerful. All right.
So, I have no problem with Oprah Winfrey at all. She has the perfect right to run whatever segment she wants with whatever guest she wants to put on her program. But I think she should be upfront. Am I wrong?
HILL: No. I think she should.
O'REILLY: She should be upfront. If she -- if she believes that secular-progressive people are better for the United States, then she should say that. She should say, she should say, "Look, I'm not gonna put O'Reilly or Stossel, Buchanan, or Laura Ingram, or any of the best-selling right-wing authors on" -- I'm not a right wing author but I'm sure she would feel that way -- "I'm not gonna put them on because I disagree with them and I'm only gonna use my show to promote my point of view."
HILL: But do you think that's necessarily what she's doing?
O'REILLY: Well, we did an analysis and we're gonna play you the clip in a minute. It's 10 to one. There have only, since 2005 --
HILL: So, it's a little lopsided.
O'REILLY: Oh! Since the year 2000, there have been only four Republicans on her program featured.
HILL: No!
O'REILLY: Giuliani, Schwarzenegger, President Bush, and Mel Gibson. And Gibson I don't even think he's a Republican, but he's traditionalist. OK? That's it. That's it. Stunning, isn't it.
HILL: It really is.
O'REILLY: OK. So, we do a segment last night and, you know, we asked for Oprah to come on -- of course, she's not gonna come on with me, I'm a barbarian. And then -- but what really -- what really got me interested in this topic, and I've held off for years doing it, was, you remember I had The O'Reilly Factor for Kids, and it's a best-selling book for kids of the year 2005, non-fiction. Huge, enormous success.
She's interested in the kids, right?
HILL: Hmm-mm. Yeah.
O'REILLY: So, my publisher, HarperCollins, went to her and said, "Gee, you know, you and O'Reilly are on the same page -- both want Jessica's Law, both looking out for the kids, here's a good book that helps kids. How about you guys kicking it around?"
HILL: Yeah.
O'REILLY: No.
HILL: Why?
O'REILLY: No reason.
HILL: That was a good kid -- that was a good kid's book.
O'REILLY: No reason. No reason. So I said, aha! Now, there's a personal animus. I do know her a little. I've never had a cross word with her, but I know her a little. Now I know -- but I didn't say anything because that would sound like sour grapes, right? That would sound like, "Oh, O'Reilly's whining." And I got the emails from -- "Oh you're whining." I'm not whining, I'm reporting, lady. And if you can't handle the truth, you can't handle the truth. You need me on that wall.
From the October 18 edition of ABC's The View:
O'REILLY: There's a big culture war in this country between traditionalists, like me, you, I believe [Barbara Walters], certainly Elisabeth. I think Rosie and Joy are S-Ps: secular-progressives. There's a struggle --
ELISABETH HASSELBECK (co-host): Wait a second, what are you talking about?
O'REILLY: That's not pejorative. That's not --
JOY BEHAR (co-host): Progressive: that's the key word here.
O'REILLY: That's -- Well, I'm the guest. That's -- that's not a pejorative.
ROSIE O'DONNELL (co-host): Define the two things. Define them.
HASSELBECK: Yes.
O'REILLY: All right. Traditionalists believe the country is noble and makes mistakes, but the Judeo Christian philosophy on which the country was founded is good, and that we have freed billions of people; that we provide opportunity for 300 million people plus anyone else who can sneak in here. That it is a good country. Secular-progressives believe --
O'DONNELL: Just so you know, we believe it's a good country, too. Joy and I --
O'REILLY: All right. OK.
O'DONNELL: -- we believe it's a great country.
BEHAR: And also --
O'REILLY: Secular-progressives --
BEHAR: Now, wait a minute, the other thing you said that I object to is that -- as if we don't believe in the Judeo Christian --
O'REILLY: No, no, no. Just -- just --
BEHAR: -- ethics. We're both Catholic girls.
O'REILLY: Just listen to me for a minute. I'm glad you're all on my side. It will make the interview a lot better.
BEHAR: OK.
O'REILLY: I can say you all agree with me.
O'DONNELL: Well, that actually is the first time we don't all agree with you on everything. But, go ahead. Go ahead.
O'REILLY: Secular-progressives, if you read the book, are people who feel the country is fundamentally flawed and needs big changes, socially, economically, foreign policy wise -- in almost every area. That's secular-progressives.
WALTERS: OK, you name -- you name certain people, some of whom are secular-progressives, some of whom are liberal that you're not too crazy about. Tom Brokaw, you say is ultra-liberal.
BEHAR: Al Franken
WALTERS: Jon Stewart. Oprah, you've picked on Oprah, you've said that she only has secular-progressives on her show.
O'REILLY: Hmm-mm.
WALTERS: So, if you're liberal, you're a secular-progressive?
O'REILLY: No, no. You can be --
WALTERS: Well, there's a fine line --
O'REILLY: You can be a traditionalist and liberal. Let me name a few people: Lieberman, up in Connecticut, the Senator.
WALTERS: What is he?
O'REILLY: He is a traditionalist, but he's a liberal.
O'DONNELL: I think he's going to lose to [Democratic Senate candidate] Ned Lamont.
O'REILLY: But he's a liberal.
[...]
WALTERS: Can I just stick with Oprah? What about Oprah? What's her [inaudible]?
O'REILLY: Oprah's -- Oprah's -- I'm going on her program next week.
WALTERS: But you picked on her already.
From the October 18 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:
O'REILLY: Time now for "The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day." The good people at the Oprah Winfrey program have invited me on to talk with the most powerful woman in America.
After seeing my report earlier this week, analyzing Oprah's guest list where secularist-progressives far outnumber traditionalists, we received the invitation. And that is a good thing.
So, I'll fly out to Chicago and tape the program next week. It's set to run a week from this Friday, October 27, just before Halloween.
Ridiculous? It shouldn't be, but you always make the call about that. So, we appreciate that. That's a good thing.
From the October 19 edition of Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly:
O'REILLY: So, we got Oprah in the afternoon, Letterman at night, and everybody's taking bets on what'll happen. And I'm gonna predict Oprah'd be nice to me, and Letterman will be a little contentious, but I think it'll be funny if it is; and if it's tragic, then we'll roll with it, you know.
WIEHL: Tragic.
O'REILLY: When I go on these shows, you know, my strategy is I roll with it. You know, I don't go on with an agenda. I mean, he's the -- he's the host, she's the hostess, and they're allowed to take it wherever they want, as long as they're respectful. If they're disrespectful, then I'm gonna have to take some action.
WIEHL: I don't see Oprah being disrespectful. I'm sorry.
O'REILLY: I don't either. I don't think so. I think Oprah will be fair and balanced. But, you know, last time I was a little restrained with Dave [Letterman] and this time I told his guys, "Look, I'm going in to be nice. But if it isn't -- not nice, I'm not gonna be as restrained as I was last time."
WIEHL: How did they respond to that?
O'REILLY: Nothing.
WIEHL: Nothing? Zero. Phone went dead.
O'REILLY: No. No. Nothing. So, anyway, it's a TiVo moment, obviously, you know, and I appreciate both Oprah and Letterman, both of them, inviting me on the program. I really do. I mean, I'm not one of these arrogant guys -- "Oh, you need me on your show." They don't need me.
WIEHL: You kinda goaded Oprah into having you on.
O'REILLY: I did not. I reported accurately what happened. I didn't go to anybody to do anything. And you are as usual misinformed and misguided. OK?
WIEHL: I see. I see.
The Bill of Rights is a secular, progressive document, written by secular progressives after a revolution led by secular progressives. O'Lie-ly is whining about people with the same ideology as Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.
If this was 1776, Bill would be kissing up to King George III and calling those liberal American revolutionaries traitors...but he's doing that now, isn't he?
Funny thing...most founding fathers were Freemasons. O'Reilly just threw a temper tantrum like a 5-year old who didn't get his candy until his parents gave in. He repeated his boring drivel until Oprah's execs caved. Personally, I don't see why she would let him on so he spread his filth. It isn't going to hurt her and even if the bad press was actually having an effect, Oprah could calmly go on her show and explain why she made the decision. With her immense standing (far greater than that of Bill) her cool demeanor would win out and everything would go back to normal with the added side effect of Bill taking shots at her everytime he can mention it.
which is this:
He distorts the Democratic or liberal position on any issue in a very authoritative and believable fashion.
His distortions often contain outright lies, particularly when citing statistics. He completely exaggerates any statistics used to support his distortions.
The beauty of his approach is that he doesn't lie and distort in support of his own position, rather he lies and distorts to make his opponents position seem radical and dangerous.
And of course no one is allowed to rebut him, not ever, and if anyone does have the temerity to call him on his distortions, they are told to "Shut Up" in just those words.
I wonder if he will disrespect Oprah that way, somehow, I don't think he will have the courage to do that, because beyond anything else, Bill O'Reilly is a coward, a bully certainly, but first a coward.
Your word "authoritative" is particularly accurate. That's why sheep like my father in law bite into o'leilly's vitriol.
Authoritative lies. They're what made the Third Reich thrive.
All across the spectrum of Right Wing Pundits. Hannity, Limbaugh, Coulter...etc. all use the same basic formula. They lie vociferously about what Liberals think or do, and then only tell the good parts about what Conservatives stand for, conveniently omitting anything negative. Now, this may be a coincidence, but I find it interesting that all major Conservative bloviators use the same approach, and it just happens to be the approach favored by the RNC in its campaign ads, and seems to be typical of Karl Rove. Personally, I believe this is Hillary's "Vast Right Wing Conspiracy" in action.
Bill O'Reilly is good at making false enemies to boost the illusion of his importance to the world.
Seriously, Bill O, Oprah is not political. She's just a talk show host for crying out loud, not some political pundit who pretends to be fair but puts more guests on the show who agree with him/her and tries to claim that foreign countries want to influence the November elections and creates false, imaginary wars.
That Oprah isn't political. My understanding is that she is fairly liberal, and while I respect her choice to remain out of it, she could make a HUGE difference if she spoke her mind.
I suggest Bill should be himself and just let his inner nazi lead the way. Who knows he may even announce he's running for president.
...than blithely using made up terms like secular progressive is the dollars an appearance on the so-called S/P show like Oprah's will rake in for his greedy soul.
why MMFA is upset. Oprah has been a haven for liberals for a long time. Heck - she gave Frank Rich a full hour recently, and she's hosted MMFA-friendly guests like Susan Sarandon and Michael Moore.
If people are honestly for fairness and balance in the media, they should view Oprah's booking as a good thing. Oprah's guest list has been waaaaaay unbalanced.
For those looking for some balance: MMFA's "study" about O'Reilly's guest list has been analyzed and debunked here.
All you have to do is watch his show to see that he leans heavily to the right.
All they did was disagree with who was labelled in what way without giving any backup for their opinions. Hennican for instance IS a moderate he calls himself a moderate on the webpage about him being in the radio hall of fame they label him a moderate because he is critical of Bush they decide he is a liberal. They dispute Kirk Cameron as a conservative as he was talking about his faith since that wasnt enough but another who was considered not partisan was supposed to be partisan because his beliefs about Jesus, therefore THEY use the same criteria for the second example they deny in the heve the last 5 minutes of my life back?
...Oprah's show isn't a news show. She has absolutely no obligation to be "fair and balanced."
Oprah Winfrey is a daytime talk show! She's not part of "THE MEDIA"!
Oprah AND Bill O'Reilly... ugh. Let's be honest here. The only reason Bill is on Oprah is because she is uber-rich. Also, Bill may just be able to tap into Oprah's well-intended, but painfully dumb audience. I'm sure Randi will talk about it.
...why the fact that Oprah is uber-rich would have any bearing on O'Reilly wanting to be on the show. The real reason he wants to be on the show is pretty transparent--Oprah can move books like no one else. O'Reilly knows that even if Oprah won't endorse his book (which she obviously won't) his appearance is still going to give his book one last big sales push.
To feed his enormous ego through more national exposure.
To hawk his book.
If history is any guide, O'Reilly will go on and try to appear like the regular everyday bipartisan Joe who just happens to have a TV and radio show. He'll try to pepper all his comments with humor and quickly divert any semblance of a question or comment which paints him as the Neocon that he is. He'll also only appear with stipulations as to what not to ask him questions on, such as his lawsuit with a former female employee, or maybe even the Paris Business Review.
What a whiner. Maybe Oprah hasn't has O'Reilly or Stoessel on her show because she doesn't book guests who promote hatred of women. O'Reilly has been accused of sexual harassment of an employee and has taken many stands against womens rights. Stoessel tries to convince people that women in the workplace earn pay equal to men doing the same type of work. Anyone who has a working wife, sister or mother knows that Stoessel is dead wrong.
If it's Fox News right to allow 90 percent of the people appearing on news and political shows to be conservatives, then Oprah, whose show is not a news show has just as much right to allow mostly progressives who appeal to her audience.
And somehow, I don't think that Oprah is going to put O'Reilly's book in her book club list alongside the works of John Steinbeck, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Toni Morrison and Harper Lee. But, I could be wrong.
Naw, billy didn't goad Oprah into having him on. Whining ad nauseum about those who dare feel different from billy boy--the whiney, spineless victim.
But I don't think she should have given in! Most of us here agree that billy is just a self-promoting pile of dung. He's ill-informed, a pathological liar. But he has a following that'll tune into Oprah--and/or appear on her show that day defending anything billy says.
I've been saying publicly for a couple of years that people should refuse to appear on his "shows." That includes "Catholic girls" who disagree with him. C'mon, ladies. If you'd say, "I'm not going to be on with that useless thug," he'd be history in a week. But you keep showing up, appearing to disagree with him. But BY APPEARING with him, you give him the aura of authority.
Refuse to show up, and have the whore locked up for sexual harassment, etc.
And Oprah, announce to your audience that you won't have this thug on your show, any more than you'd like a mass murderer to appear because of, say, ratings.
Get the untermensch off the air and the US will be a safer and more sensible place to live in, and to love and respect!
MMFA artfully dodges O'Reillys claim regarding Winfreys guest list. Perhaps he finally got something right. Damn.
...but so what? It's not a news program, so she has no obligation to be "fair and balanced," particularly since she doesn't disengenuously present her program as politically balanced. Unlike some people we know.
But I'm sure MMFA still burned the midnight oil trying to debunk BO's claim. Oh well, at least he didn't claim he got better ratings than she did!
I mean, what's the point? Oprah obviously leans left and makes no bones about it. O'Reilly turned that into a negative mark, but it's not, so there's no sense in trying to defend it. There's nothing to defend or debunk. Oprah hosts more progressives and liberals than conservatives. So what? I mean, if somebody told me that Maury Povich had more conservatives than liberals on his show, I'd say, So what?
he trys so very, very hard to make up things to be falsley 'outraged' at, and then when he writes them down their internal contradictions and his inability to think logically are there for the whole world to see, and to see how desperate and silly he is :)
She gets celebrities on. OF COURSE that list would lean left. How could it NOT.
[link to www.oprah.com]
Here is the email text I sent:
"I am a frequent reader of the website Media Matters for America, a watchdog of conservative misinformation and distortion in U.S. media. I was unpleasantly surprised to read that you are going to host Bill O'Reilly on your show. I realize that you do not offer your platform to racists and such so I hope you will research the subject of Bill O'Reilly before he uses your show to promote his ridiculous book and tv personality. Take a look at his lies: [link to mediamatters.org] There are 603 entries that document his willful distortions. I am disappointed that you would give this known liar more media exposure. If you think you must grant equal time to him (in response to Frank Rich), he has successfully conned you into it. Conservative misinformers have enough media power as it is, please deny this man your endorsement or at least expose him for the charlatan that he is. Thank you."
I wrote one also to her asking her to possibly have some of O'Reilly's biggest critics to counter him. One of any of the many critics O'Reilly has artfully dodged (hiding under the table) throughout the years, beginning with David Brock and ending with George Clooney. :)
[link to www.oprah.com]
I sent a duplicate of my email text to this address as well to perhaps insure that the email will be read by Oprah's staff before O'Reilly's supposed appearance.
I believe Oprah to be a great fan of Jesse Jackson if I'm not mistaken. Maybe one of her staff should do a little research on just how "fair and balanced" the bottomfeeder O'Reilly's history has been to Jackson. If there is or has been an African-American who has been against Jackson for one reason or another, he would find a sympathetic ear and airtime on the O'Reilly Factor. There was a period there for a time where it seemed Jackson was the bane of all evil in O'Reilly's eyes, with every other show of his slamming the reverend. ...I hope her staff does expose him for the fraud and Neocon that he is.
...of Oprah Winfrey's. But I just may turn it on when Billy Boy is going to be on. I think it would be absolutely hilarious if someone who has 100 times the viewership and 100 times the influence tears this small excuse of a man apart.
I might enjoy watching that more than the World Series.
She's no dummy. She might just clean his clock for him. She's got a lot more balls than he does, and she's informed, and I bet she doesn't take any crap.
If Oprah can hold James Frey's feet to the fire for fictionalizing portions of his memoir than she can certainly expose O'Reilly for routinely lying about things that actually matter. Over on Newshounds.us there was an item that said that Oprah's producers were seeking out some expert progressive voices to appear during O'Reilly's segment. This could actually turn out to be the roasting that he deserves.
Two of the most self-important people in America. Do you think they'll be able to fit both egos in one studio?
Bill - nice way to whine yourself on to the show. Make sure you get your cheese.
Oprah - nice cave!
Oprah's book club doesn't have a section for children's books, or at least books that read like they were written BY children.
"MMfA artfully dodges O'Reilly's claim regearding Winfrey's guest list. Perhaps he finally got something right. Damn." - Bruce1Ace
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Can I ask one simple question?
Just what the fu*k say do you, Shoes, or O'Really have over Winfrey's show?
And before your usual comeback of "You libs always complain about B'OR's guests always being cons", please keep in mind Bull O'Really is always CLAIMING to be "the no-spin zone" on the "Fair and Balanced" NEWS network . . . Oprah, to my knowledge, has never claimed for her show to be anything other than what it is - a daytime talkshow aimed at women.
Personally, I don't care if Bull wants to whine and female canine about "S-P's" and then bully his way onto a show HOSTED by an alledged S-P . . . I used to watch Oprah a few years ago; these days, not so much . . .
I have a feeling, though . . . remember when O'Reilly appeared on the Letterman show and Dave told him "I think about sixty percent of what you say is crap"? I'll bet that when Oprah has Bill on and she listens to him after two minutes, she may arrive at the same conclusion {though the percentage may be higher}
O'Reilly simply doesn't know the extent of the secular-progressive movement he so derides. The S-P's are simply an off-branch of the more sinister Evil Atheist Conspiracy (EAC) which is affiliated Agenda Driven Homosexual Mafia (ADHM). It goes deep, and Oprah Winfrey is one of our most decorated agents.
So Bill, watch out. We ARE out to get you. Even your cat is on our side.