O'Reilly Has Officially Lost It

When I say "Lost It," I don't mean to say that O'Reilly ever had "It" to begin with, whatever that "It" may be, such as intelligence, charisma, a quality program. No, no, no. When I say, "Lost It," I'm talking about the guy's sanity.

I have to admit, I've never been a fan of Bill O'Reilly's show. He, Chris Matthews, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, they're all alike to me. They all remind me of Adam Sandler in "The Waterboy," when Sandler finds something to get angry about, and then levels the player holding on to the football. O'Reilly seems to be in that state of mind. The only difference is, O'Reilly is in this state on a constant basis, whereas Sandler's character was only like this on the football field. The guy likes to yell, scream, cut off "guests'" microphones if they say anything he doesn't agree with. He'll insult "guests" on shows. He'll cut off telephone callers if they say anything that he doesn't agree with. Yes, Bill O'Reilly is a good, wholesome, honest, dependable, loving family man. Well, he might be loving, but in a different way, so says the $6 million dollar settlement he had to pay his phone sex buddy. But, that's another story for another time.

The story right here has to do with a phone call Bill O'Reilly received on his show just a week ago. Here's how that conversation went. For those that are unfamiliar with the show (keep it that way, trust me), the name "Hill" will be displayed a couple times. She's O'Reilly's yes-person.

O'Reilly: "Orlando, Florida, Mike, go."

Caller: "Hey Bill, I appreciate you taking my call."

O'Reilly: "Sure."

Caller: "I like to listen to you during the day, I think Keith Olberman's show--" (cut off)

O'Reilly: "There ya go, Mike is -- he's a gone guy. You know, we have his -- we have your phone numbers, by the way. So, if you're listening Mike, we have your phone number, and we're going to turn it over to Fox security, and you'll be getting a little visit."

Hill: "Maybe Mike is from the mothership."

O'Reilly: "No, Maybe Mike is going to get into big trouble, because we're not going to play around. When you call us, ladies and gentlemen, just so you know, we do have your phone number, and if you say anything untoward, obscene, or anything like that, Fox security then will contact your local authorities, and you will be held accountable. Fair?"

Hill: "That's fair."

O'Reilly: "So, just -- all you guys who do this kind of a thing, you know, I know some shock jocks. Whatever. You will be held accountable. Believe it."

The Fox security team did in fact call Mike, among others who had made similar phone calls. Here's what one had to say:

"I got the call on the phone I used to call him from the head of Fox News security. He said that harassing phone calls were coming from my phone. I asked him how many? He did not know. I asked him what was said that was harassing? He said that he did not know but that it did not have to be what was said, but how many calls were being made. He tried to make like I made 20 phone calls instead of one, and that I cursed O'Reilly out. All I said was that I was grateful to O'Reilly for turning me on to Olberman. Then he hung up."

O'Reilly has gotten himself into these feuds before. The most notable feud was with Air America host Al Franken. O'Reilly and MSNBC's Keith Olberman are the latest feud. On Olberman's nightly news show, "The Countdown," he lists the three worst people of the day, and has listed O'Reilly on more than a few occasions. Not long ago, O'Reilly sent a letter to Bob Wright, NBC chairman, and said this:

"Therefore, in an effort to rescue MSNBC from the ratings basement and to restore the honor and dignity of Mr. Donahue, who was ignobly removed as host three years ago, we ask that you immediately bring Phil Donahue's show back at 8:00 PM EST before any more damage is done."

A petition was then posted on O'Reilly's website in attempt to get Donahue to replace Olberman. In response to this, Olberman and his colleagues signed the petition during "The Countdown."

For the record, Olberman and the 8:00 spot on MSNBC has much higher ratings than Donahue did. "The Countdown"'s ratings have increased 55% in the past couple months and "The O'Reilly Factor" has been going in the opposite direction. O'Reilly still holds more viewers on a nightly basis, but the gap is closing. "The Countdown" also just celebrated their 3-year anniversary on air and their ratings are stronger than ever.

Keith Olberman had former Connecticut state prosecutor on the show with him in the past week to talk about the O'Reilly incident. Here's what the former attorney, Susan Filan, had to say:

"The only person that's going to get in trouble here is Bill O'Reilly. He's lost the plot entirely. To think that you can commandeer local law enforcement to be your personal henchman because you don't like something a caller said on the air is absolutely outrageous and absurd. It's an abuse of the media, it's an abuse of law enforcement, and he's now the one engaging in threatening behavior. You can't do that. He crossed the line. What did the caller say that's obscene, 'Keith Olberman'? I don't think so."

She also had this to say:

"Well, I think that this has to be investigated. I think if Bill O'Reilly, in fact, made that threat on the air and, in fact, followed it up with someone from Fox security and, in fact, local law enforcement was called, I think that has to be investigated. Because that is an abuse of Bill O'Reilly's power."

O'Reilly is the anti-"liberal." He wants to lecture and tell people what they should think and believe. He doesn't want people to think for themselves. If anyone disagrees with him in any respect, he'd rather not hear it. He's not subtle about this either. The words "Shut up" have got to be his favorite in the English language. He's not coy about hanging up the phone on a caller or cutting off the mic on a guest either. He even insulted a guest for what seemed like five consecutive minutes. The guest's father was killed during 9/11 and like the guest's father would've done (so claims the son), the guest questioned the motives of the war and did not believe that the decision to invade Afghanistan and Iraq was the smart one. O'Reilly went off about how the guest's father would be ashamed and how he should go move somewhere else, if he doesn't like it in the United States. The guest had studied O'Reilly's rants at other guests, so he knew when Bill was going to pause, and that's when he'd speak out. When he did this, O'Reilly yelled out, "Cut off his mic! Cut it!"

How can one feel justified in hanging up on a caller or cutting off a guests' microphone if the person is not saying anything obscene, vulgar, or threatening? Then, on top of that, threatening people who call in, if they so much as say something O'Reilly doesn't agree with? Calling the local authorities? Having Fox security call their home? That is just downright ridiculous and frightening!

O'Reilly liked to label those who were against the war as Anti-American. But, he should really look in the mirror sometime. O'Reilly is obviously against any kind of Republic or Democracy. He doesn't believe in first amendment rights. He'll talk about how the troops and wars are what put our freedoms here in the first place, and yet, through his words and actions, he's basically showing that he doesn't care for the freedoms of others, so long as he has his.

Bill O'Reilly is an egotistical, narcissistic, phone sex-operating, narrow-minded, fascist. Those that believe in the base and foundation of what makes America America, yet disagree with decisions made by politicians (including war) are American in every sense of the word. Edward Murrow stated it best when he said, "There is a difference between dissent and disloyalty." O'Reilly doesn't believe in the base and foundation of this country. Through his words and actions, he believes in totalitarianism. To the Founding Fathers, Lincoln, King, Murrow, and others, O'Reilly and those like him are the true Anti-Americans.

Links:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20060305/cm_huffpost/016772

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11698322/

Other fun O'Reilly Links:
http://www.cosmosleft.com/pages/3/index.htm

http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/billoreilly/index.htm