Stoned Slackers Redux
Reported by Marie Therese - September 30, 2004 -
On September 29th, at 8:43 PM EDT, during a discussion about the media "echo chamber" and its deleterious effects on reporters' abilities to get high-level interviews, Bill O'Reilly briefly revisited the question of the "stoned slackers" who watch "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."
O'REILLY: "And the internet. Yeah. If you tell a joke - you know, I told a joke about Jon Stewart's audience. I said they were stoned slackers. And it was obviously a joke. Wha-ho! Now they're doin' research that shows how smart Stewart's audience is. I'm goin' on Stewart next week and - ya' know - to talk to the 'stoned slackers' but - it was a joke! - but it wasn't quoted that way in the press."
Comment
Whew! Guess we "News Hounds" dodged that bullet.
You see, Bill, on this site we posted a complete transcript of the interview, using your very own words.
Although I've seen excerpts of our posting on several other sights, including Wonkette, our astute readers were able to make their decisions based on exactly what you said, uncut and unedited.
The great majority of them didn't take what you said as a joke....especially when you quoted research making the claim that 87% of Stewart's viewers are intoxicated when viewing the show. Since this is a favorite FOX News tactic - quoting polls to justify an opinion - we did not know that you were kidding! Was the poll bogus, also?
Your delivery was so convincingly deadpan, Bill, that you really ought to consider a career as an actor. Perhaps you can be the first 6'5" Irish Catholic Conservative shoot-em-up movie star since John Wayne!
