Officially removed from reality, media critic Jon Friedman takes a moment from away from repeating what everybody else already said about Sarah Plain to suggest something approaching absolute idiocy: Have Bill O'Reilly moderate one of these presidential debates.

Yes, O'Reilly, the guy who tells his guests to shut up, bullies them into a corner, SCREAMS INTO MICROPHONES, and refuses to acknowledge the sound logical arguments of people he disagrees with? Yes, that guy.

It's because these presidential debates are so boring, and lacking viewership (only 52 million tuned in, a drop from previous debates), that Friedman wants to install Fox News' brand of sensibility into the public forum. Nevermind that O'Reilly sits at the top of partisan hack pundits, spews vitriol for a living, and would jerk off John McCain so given the chance. But sure, handing over the debate questions to a crazy person sounds like a wise decision.

O'Reilly's say the reason for his popularity is his ability to galvanize conservative viewers. I don't see it exactly that way. I'd counter by saying that the keys to his success are his show's freshness and originality.

O'Reilly is the host of Fox News Channel's long-running "The O'Reilly Factor," the perennially top-rated show in cable news. (Fox, like MarketWatch, the publisher of this column, is a unit of News Corp. "I'd love to host the debates," O'Reilly said Wednesday afternoon at the Fox News headquarters. "A lot of people would watch."

O'Reilly respects the journalists who have served as moderators, but carps (as I do) that they "are too nice." He grinned and said with characteristic bluster, "I'd be, 'What do you mean?!'"
Whether you love O'Reilly's brand of in-your-face interviewing or think he's way over the top, he has an undeniable presence on TV. O'Reilly insists on doing it his way. He said he'd stress "close-quarter questioning" and wouldn't let the candidates "give rehearsed answers."

It's an intriguing scenario: O'Reilly pushing the circumspect candidates to speak their minds.
"I think you'd double the audience," he said.

Heh. And everybody had a problem with Gwen Ifill's supposed partisanship because she's writing a book about Obama.

[Marketwatch]