Bloviating With Bill Contest : Contestant 2
Reported by Deborah - February 10, 2006
Jeff Cagle, a young writer for the Burnett County Sentinel in Wisconsin, had a chance to debate Bill O'Reilly on the topic of Media Ethics on Tuesday night , 2/8/06. He was the second challenger in this contest and was preceded by Caroline Goldman-Cassognal. Jeff Cagle wanted to challenge O'Reilly on his habit of invading people's privacy by confronting them at home for comments.
Cagel wrote an article for the Burnett County Sentinel before the debate about the points he planned to cover with O'Reilly. However it seems like O'Reilly didn't give Cagle adequate opportunity to express his arguments. At times, O'Reilly didn't let Cagle complete a sentence. Despite O'Reilly's mild bullying, Cagle rallied and was insistant about getting his points across towards the end of the debate. Here's a transcript of the exchange.
Cagle's debate topic was not political but it allowed O'Reilly to showcase his percieved role of American Crusader. It also presented an opportunity to once again villify Judge Cashman while elevating himself. Also any opportunity to bash Michael Moore is always welcome on FNC.
In the end, the edited version of the debate was more about O'Reilly than Cagle who exhibited admirable composure and courage.
