Boy I really got bent out of shape yesterday, listening to Bill O’Reilly (The O’Reilly Factor) on FoxNews, when he made his commentary on the ACLU, calling it “the most dangerous organization in America”.
Lots of years ago, I was taking a car trip and tuned the radio to find something to listen to. I ran across this fellow who said outrageous things and treated the people who called in to his show like dirt. I figured that it was a comedy act, akin to Don Rickles. The host was named Rush Limbaugh and later I learned that the show was supposed to be serious.
Since then I’ve tried to decide whether Limbaugh is serious or just putting folks on. I still lean towards thinking he’s a comedian.
Now there’s Bill O’Reilly. The man isn’t stupid, that’s clear. So that excuse can’t be used. If it’s just an act, it’s a malevolent act because what he’s “teaching” is that rational discourse is not how to arrive at conclusions, but rather that the way to win is to bully your opposition or just cut them off. It’s easy to win an argument if the other side never gets to finish a sentence, and this is what Bill O’Reilly relies on. So, is it an act, or is he really evil?
Luther’s Small Catechism teaches that we should view our neighbor in the best possible light–so I’ll say that Bill’s just pretending to be a nasty SOB, but underneath he’s really the pleasant fellow we used to see on Entertainment Tonight.
I’ve been debating whether to boycott FoxNews or not. It would be an empty gesture, though, because I probably watch them less than 5 minutes a week anyway because the programming is so bad.