Lots of speculation yesterday on whether or not Bill O'Reilly was going to make Barack Obama cry when he finally got him into the No Spin Zone. Seeing that O'Reilly went easy on Hillary Clinton once he got face time with her was a mark in the "pro" column; that Obama agreed to be on a show that was basically a ratings lead-in to John McCain's nomination speech was a mark in the "con" column.
So how did the deathmatch between Nas-hating O'Reilly and Lil Wayne-loving Obama turn out? So good:
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Barack Obama acquiesced and agreed to appear on The O'Reilly Factor, after much taunting and mashing of teeth from Billbo himself — and a little intervention with Roger Ailes.
Trap? Perhaps. But Obama's visit to the Fox newsroom for the first time will happen tonight, as O'Reilly teased during much of last night's show.
That's tonight, as in the final night of the RNC, when John McCain will be making his nomination speech. Watching beady-eyed Bill lob cheap shots at Obama is definitely preferable to watching beady-eyed McCain make some lame jokes at the podium.
Though viewers tuning in to the loaded question segment may be disappointed: O'Reilly has this tendency to go all sincere once he's finally finagled candidates onto the program and has to deal with them face-to-face. (See: Hillary Clinton.) Cutting off Barack's microphone, however, is remains an option.
Remember when Dennis Hopper used to be edgy? When every word out of his mouth was an eff-bomb, but it was hard to notice because he was always so tweaked out? From Easy Rider to Apocalypse Now to his epic failure The Last Movie, Hopper was a counter-culture icon in the 60s and 70s, and has come to represent a whole generation of bad-assery since then. Then he teamed up with Kelsey Grammer to ruin movies about America. CONTINUED »
Is East Coast Avengers' track "Kill Bill O'Reilly." [Listen at Wired]
Bill O’Reilly’s a bully and a hypocrite — this much we all have known for quite a while. Nevertheless, it’s interesting to watch the children to whom O’Reilly had decided to dispense advice for money come to this conclusion on their own.
CBS News SVP Paul Friedman says he didn't report on the John Edwards scandal because the network "saw no reason to make his life or the life of his family any worse, until it became well-documented or he admitted it, which is what happened today." Uh huh. The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz says he " came to believe that we should publish a story. But I don't get paid to make those decisions." Riiight. And Politico's Michael Calderone insisted there was no coverage in his space because "it was decided that writing on the rumors — without confirming them — simply validates the Enquirer," which, it's been shown, got much (if not all) of the story right.
But you know who also claims to have had the story about Edwards' affair but opted out of reporting on it? A one Bill O'Reilly, who, like Friedman, was doing the kind thing and not making Elizabeth Edwards' life miserable! Instead, O'Reilly just smeared Edwards as a shitty senator. "And that is the true story," he said last night. "The Factor painted an accurate picture of John Edwards without harming his family." Now, is that "accurate" with one "in-" or two?
Bill O’Reilly likes calling people pinheads. He called 50 Cent one a while ago, and, now, after joining Color of Change and MoveOn.org in a Fox News protest, Nas has joined the pinhead ranks. O’Reilly wasted a lot of breath last week deriding Nas, saying, among other things, that “new album is a bomb, a disaster, a catastrophe … Two years ago, his last album sold 355,000 copies in its first week, and this one has sold 187,000 copies. Not good. I hope I’m not a ‘racist’ for pointing that out.” Not racist, but completely wrong:
Know what you get when you spot isolated instances of various television personalities wearing a tie of a certain color? A Times trend story! Eric Wilson spotted folks like Brian Williams, Keith Olbermann, and Bill O'Reilly all wearing ties of a purplish hue in recent weeks, which is apparently their way of announcing they're staying neutral in this heated political climate, where, duh!, wearing a red tie is an obvious sign you're in McCain's camp and wearing a blue tie is the equivalent of licking Obama's feet.
So certain of this trend, Wilson even hooked semi-respectable people into his charade, getting GQ creative director Jim Moore to declare, "Purple is the new neutral," and Bergdorf Goodman's men's fashion director Tommy Fazio to insist, "There are other ways of not being partisan.”
We've seen pure coincidences manufactured into trends before, but OMG, this is ridiculous. Here's why: CONTINUED »
Outside News Corp.'s offices yesterday afternoon, Nas hosted an album release party-slash-protest. With his single "Sly Fox," it's clear where the rapper stands on the current state of Fox News: "Watch what you watchin’ / Fox keeps feeding us toxins / Stop sleepin’ / Start thinkin’ outside of the box / And unplug from the matrix doctrine." What a perfect anthem, then, for the rally he led outside Murdoch's HQ, where some 50 protesters gathered as black political activist organization Color of Change and MoveOn.org tried to drop off petitions with 620,000 signatures asking the network to "stop its racist smears against the Obamas and other Black Americans," like that terrorist fist jab remark and, basically, Bill O'Reilly's entire shtick. As you might expect, the boxes of petitions were not welcomed inside the building, nor was Nas' challenge for Bill O'Reilly to debate him, mostly because there'd be no opportunity for the anchor to make use of his ambush cameras.
Below, Fox News host John Gibson on his radio show very carefully not calling black people idiots. CONTINUED »
Furious of the Associated Press' Tony Snow obit, O'Reilly writes: "The recent death of Tony Snow brought sadness to millions of Americans who admired the man's public service and optimism about his country. But not everybody felt the need to honor Mr. Snow. Just hours after he died from cancer, the Associated Press released an obituary that has shocked some people and badly damaged the AP's image, at least in the conservative community. [...] Now, remember, that was written just hours after the man passed away at age 53. To accuse Mr. Snow of factual inaccuracies without citing evidence is itself irresponsible, but to do it in an obit is outrageously inappropriate and an insult to the Snow family. If the Associated Press wants to do an opinion piece about Tony Snow's public service, fine. But at least wait until after the funeral." So, now would be OK? [BOR]
On last night's The O'Reilly Factor, viewers were not treated to the director's cut of Jesse Jackson's statements about Barack Obama, as some expected might happen in a ratings stunt. Rather, Bill O'Reilly's told his audience, "You got the entire story concerning Jackson and Obama," and then proceeded to explain why Fox News chose to air the statements — and how the liberals at MSNBC and CNN would never do something so bold! CONTINUED »
And so, after hours of anticipation, the Rev. Jesse Jackson's vicious words aimed at Barack Obama were broadcast to the world on last night's The O'Reilly Factor. Supposedly, parts of Jackson's hot mic'd conversation was just too controversial to air, but the parts that did make the broadcast show the black community's self-anointed mouthpiece "privately" voicing his frustrations with Obama's policies about faith-based initiatives, and also how he "talks down" to blacks, what with his preaching about black fathers failing their families and community. If it weren't for the highly charged political atmosphere where every off-handed comment can become a Youtube-able soundbite replayed, in and out of context, for millions, this wouldn't be such a big deal — it's well known that Obama's message to black families has put some on the fence. But this is the Rev. Jackson, who should be more media savvy than this. And if what O'Reilly is saying about the other parts of the recording — which is "more damaging that what you heard" but supposedly not material, and would make Jackson look very, very bad — then it's clear Jackson is even more out of touch with how Politics 2.0 operates. Video below. CONTINUED »
VanityFair.com, the website of the magazine that's gone from bad to unreadable in just a few short years, is usually best at reposting content from Graydon Carter's print pages that is sometimes worth blockquoting. Today, it is every left-y's homepage, with the posting of a whole gallery of Photoshopped Fox News figures. This photo spread arrives, of course, after FNC manipulated two pics, of New York Times media reporter Jacques Steinberg and television editor Steven Reddicliffe, and later had Bill O'Reilly say they were merely caricatures, not intended to be passed off as the real thing to audiences. Well, then it's appropriate O'Reilly himself kicks off the inanity, followed by some of his friends. Alas, because Fox News head Roger Ailes is not an on-air personality, there is no Bar Mitzvah caricaturist rendition to bring out his neck rolls.
So what if the Rev. Jesse Jackson said he wants to "cut [Obama's] nuts off"? Oh … they caught it on tape? Hmmm … that could be damaging. And he made some other, potentially racist comments? So … that can't be good. And you say The O'Reilly Factor is going to air the comments on tonight's broadcast? Huh … well, that could be quite terrible really.
Jackson only has himself to blame — not only because he made the comments, but because he made them while he was mic'd up, about to give an interview to Fox News on Sunday morning.
Of course, Jackson didn't know the mic was hot, but given how media savvy somebody like Jackson should be, and how we're living in a post-Katie Couric world, that this recording made it's way to the surface is all his fault. So, too, will be the fall out, which will certainly include Barack's camp downplaying the significance of the comments (and saying he still welcomes Jackson's support), and endless apologies from the reverend himself, which he already got a jump on with CNN.
Is this really "the most hypocritical situation" Bill O'Reilly has "ever seen"? According to his overreacting last night, maybe! Upset that Fox News was criticized for Photoshopping pics of New York Times reporter Jacques Steinberg and editor Steven Reddicliffe to attack their article about CNN and MSNBC creeping up on FNC's ratings, O'Reilly calls out the Times for its own brand of Photoshop exaggerations. Except, um, the Times used a clearly identifiable photo illustration in its January 2007 book review of O'Reilly, while Fox News passed off their photos of Steinberg and Reddicliffe as legit. CONTINUED »
Editorial Director
