Lanny the Lap Dog
Reported by Marie Therese - July 8, 2004 -
The O'Reilly Factor. Tuesday, July 6, 2004. 8:11 to 8:17 PM EDT.
Guests: Lanny Davis, former White House Counsel, FOX News Political Analyst
Mary Anne Marsh, Democrat, FOX Political Analyst
Picture this. Two males and a female. Forget that we're supposed to be dealing with civilized discourse here. Oh. no. Not on The O'Reilly Factor. It's all about territory and dominance.
FOX News Channel has just hired Lanny Davis as its newest liberal analyst.
However, on "The Factor", Mr. O is the big kahuna, the top dog. And he let Lanny Davis know it quickly and in no uncertain terms. Cringing low and accepting his subservient position, Davis capitulated to overwhelming force.
And, then, as a sign of his utter contempt for his co-worker, O'Reilly interrupted Davis or cut him off early every time the poor man tried to say something. Having established himself as "El Primo", O'Reilly then graciously permitted Mary Anne Marsh to finish her comments, some of which were quite telling. But, it didn't matter. What mattered was the subtext. In the battle being fought on the animal level, Davis lost bigtime. And, that, after all, is just fine with Roger Ailes and FOX News. It makes their conservative viewers happy to see the big, bad Mr. O lord it over sob-sister liberals.
And, like any good lap dog, Davis didn't seem to get it. Playing the part of the soft-headed liberal, he tried to be "fair and balanced" making nice comments about George Bush (he's someone "who I have a soft spot for, you know, as an old friend" - 8:15 PM).
It was Popeye and Bluto.
Except this time Bluto won.
It seems Popeye left his spinach at home.
