Projection, thy name is O'Reilly
Reported by Chrish - October 6, 2007 -
Warning: swallow any liquids before reading further.
The Top Story on the O'Reilly Factor tonight 10/05/07 was the ongoing bashing by O'Reilly of the other news media. He leaned into the camera and confided to the audience
"For the first time ever a political party may have a network news organization in its pocket!"
With video.
Apparently someone at a private NBC party last night 10/4 overheard remarks by Chris Matthews, who allegedly said that the Bush administration is a "criminal enterprise." O'Reilly rumored that there was a tape, but NBC won't release it to him. He non-sequitured to the "dust-up," the "book interview from hell" by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show Tuesday night and showed clips (which have been taken down from YouTube by parent company Viacom - go to Comedy Central's website.) O'Reilly then showed clips of correspondent David Shuster (on MSNBC's "Tucker"), who demanded of Republican Congresswoman Blackburn from TN the name of the last serviceperson from her district killed in Iraq. He hounded her for not knowing that, yet could recite "chapter and verse" what was going on with the NYTimes and MoveOn.org. After the interview, O'Reilly said, Shuster apologized.
The key concern for O'Reilly is, how will NBC's bias affect the Democratic Party?
Some of O'Reilly's fair and balanced comments:
Matthews is "one of the few people at that network with decency.""Nobody watches Scarborough; it's like a test pattern. I'm not being disrespectful, I see the overnight numbers. He's not a player. Matthews is a player. Scarborough is like someone who's cleaning up."
Guest Patrick Gavin of the Washington Examiner was at the NBC party and related some things Matthews allegedly said, and then bemoaned that NBC wouldn't give him access to video or a transcript. He attempted to conflate these records with public records, saying that NBC wants sunlight and transparency from the federal government but won't give him the tapes, holding themselves to a different standard. (Comment: good thing he's a journalist and not a lawyer.)
The other guest, Democratic Strategist Julie Roginsky, deftly fielded O'Reilly's spin. At one point he said the Shuster question was an ambush and as Roginsky said that a Congressperson who supports the war should be aware of the effect it is having on her district; from there O'Reilly sneered that "so if you support the war you gotta know everybody who's dead." (Not a bad exercise, actually.) Roginsky reminded him that Chris Matthews, already known for his views, is only one person at MSNBC and Carlson and Scarborough have influence too. Oddly, NO mention was made of Keith Olbermann. Very odd. Was Ms. Roginsky forbidden to mention him?
O'Reilly turned to Gavin and said now that NBC has thrown down the gauntlet and is going to support the Democrats in ways subtle and overt, is that a big advantage for the Democrats? Yes and no, said Gavin - if they're preaching to the choir, no effect.
O'Reilly worried that it's a big cannon, and ended the interview.
I love a good sitcom on a Friday night!
