Bill O'Reilly

Giant Douche

Punditry is inherently annoying and shallow. Regardless of the political tilt, punditry reduces even the most complex and challenging political issues to the level of See Dick Run. In the struggle to create polarization, television talkshow hosts, radio personalities and internet amatuer political analysts create the information equivalent of recycled dog shit at the expense of political dialogue.

Last Tuesday, Bill O'Reilly demonstrated on his penchant for insensitivity and oversimplification of complex issues by stating that because San Francisco recently passed a law prohibiting military recruiting in local schools, that San Francisco should cease to receive the support of the military and should also be the target of terrorist attacks. If you want to draw your own conclusions about his comments, the transcripts and audio are available here.

O'Reilly's remarks were controversial and he has the right to say anything he would like. However, the reality about Bill O'Reilly is that his remarks have temporarily brought him back to the forefront, but due to a focus on shock and awe instead of quality and content, O'Reilly's popularity has been waning significantly. In a recent poll, The O'Reilly Factor on Fox was not included in a list of the Top 100 Talk Shows on TV based on ratings (some examples of shows that were included: Arsenio, Ricki Lake, ALF's Hit Talk Show).

The fact is that O'Reilly's popularity is decreasing among the general public because it's no longer edgy and shocking, but the same cranky bastard recycling the same antithetic viewpoints every night. O'Reilly's remarks about San Francisco were a little boy's cry for attention, and the media and even this website have obliged him. The O'Reilly Factor may hang around and O'Reilly may keep writing books, but that fact alone does not make him correct or worthy of our consideration.