Steve Earle vs. Bill O'Reilly

El Vez · Post by **El Vez** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 10:14 pm

Steve Earle will be a guest on The O'Reilly Factor on November 3rd. As Steve Earle himself put it, "The deal is he'll keep interrupting me and eventually tell me to shut up." The hardcore troubadour also stated that shows such as The O'Reilly Factor are to political debate what professional wrestling is to reality. I'd say that this is a VCR-worthy moment, but he's right about the content of the segment. O'Reilly will flip out for five minutes and then wrap it up and move on to the next segment. Nothing substantial but it will be good for some free publicity for Earle.

sulkygirl · Post by **sulkygirl** » Sat Nov 01, 2003 12:19 am

Monday Night???

May have to watch that (if I'm not too drunk...)

Misha · Post by **Misha** » Sat Nov 01, 2003 1:40 am

Oh, no Sulky, if you are going to watch Rantin Bill, I suggest you get drunk first, it will prevent you harming your television set...

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Sun Nov 02, 2003 3:43 pm

The worst thing about O'Reilly is that he claims to be putting out a responsible news shows and lies about stuff after it happens. (He claimed on that now-fabled NPR "Fresh Air" appearance that the Harper's column was cut so as not to include the more "offensive" statements by the guy he threw off the air -- which wasn't true. The Harper's article included that and appeared to be complete).

Then, of course, he goes ballistic if you call him a lier.

The good news, though, is that Fox is starting to come under more scrutiny and it's editorial policies are getting some much needed coverage (there was that ex employee who gave out info on the highly opinionated daily memos and the like).

In fact, right after the Al Franken flap, the TV's at my gym -- previously 50% of which were set permanently on Fox -- were switched to MSNBC! A small victory, perhaps. But still, significantly reduces my stress level while I'm there. (Though Joe Scarborough's a dickface, IMHO.)

Actually, the true political equivalent of wrestling was Wally George, who recently retired from local television out here. (After a while, I suspect he couldn't get real liberals to come on his show, so I think most of his guests were phonies.)

And here's a fun fact. Wally is Rebecca DeMorney's dad!

laughingcrow · Post by **laughingcrow** » Sun Nov 02, 2003 6:47 pm

Steve Martin vs Bill Cosby...

who'd win in a duel?

Post by **spooky girlfriend** » Sun Nov 02, 2003 6:49 pm

Steve Martin

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Sun Nov 02, 2003 7:30 pm

Don't they get along? Have they had a public disagreement that I missed, or are we just comparing? (Personally, my money is on Cosby. Tough old bird.)

noiseradio · Post by **noiseradio** » Sun Nov 02, 2003 11:02 pm

Scarborough is all that and then some, Bobster. But I still really like MSNBC best of all the cable news. And I think Chris Matthews is great.

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Mon Nov 03, 2003 3:00 am

noiseradio wrote:And I think Chris Matthews is great.

He's okay I guess, a bright guy -- it's just sad that a right leaning neoliberal like him is the closest thing you have to a progressive talk show host. He actually seems (and that's the key word) more liberal lately, probably in reaction to how extreme Bush is getting.

I do like Darrell Hammond's impression of him an awful lot....

noiseradio · Post by **noiseradio** » Mon Nov 03, 2003 9:39 am

My thinking he's great doesn't mean I agree with him. A lot of times I don't. But I love his show. He's really tough on guests, but not in the Bill O'Reilly shrill sort of way. He knows what he's talking about and he doesn't let people get away with very much. And he's equally hard on everyone. I saw him rip apart John Edwards one night, and then rip apart the head of the RNC the next. Just shot all their talking points to hell. But not ina disrespectful way. The effect was to force both guests to talk off script, which they proceeded to do with varrying levels of success. Edwards finally started talking about his ideas instead of throwing bumper sticker slogans out. And the chariman of the RNC, while less articulate, still sounded more like a person and less like a puppet. He's still a puppet, but it was a testament to Matthews' abilities that he came across as human at all.

A rope leash · Post by **A rope leash** » Mon Nov 03, 2003 11:41 am

Noise -

I've always thought that Chris Mathews was kept on a tight leash. Apparently, he gave a speech recently that proves it:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/artic ... E_ID=35378

noiseradio · Post by **noiseradio** » Mon Nov 03, 2003 2:10 pm

Is it because he doesn't say this on the show that he's on a short leash? I just want to be sure I understand. His personal opinions may well be kept to himself to some degree on the air. That doesn't bother me unless he's being two-faced about it (like Bill O'Reilly). In other words, if he praises Bush on the war on the air and skewers him off air. I have not heard him do that. The leash says more about the corporate media moguls who edit the program (Microsoft and NBC, both of which favor conservative administrations) than it does about Matthews himself.

But I thank you for bringing that article to my attention. I will watch Hardball next time with it in mind. We'll see how Matthews' statements in the speech match his on-air words.

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Mon Nov 03, 2003 4:18 pm

I had actually assumed that Matthew was a more of a Joe Lieberman "democrat in name only" type neoconservative until I saw part of another talk he gave at USC, I think. (It was on one of those local cable channels out here.)

Of course, that can be okay -- I just get pissed off that this is what passes for liberal these days.

Anyhow, in what I saw, Matthews said similar stuff and I was wondering where the hell this guy came from. (Though he did endorse Arnold for governor, though he said his wife wanted to kill him for that.)

I knew he was against Iraq, but the level of his criticism really surprised me. And he's for Dean! (Which, believe, doesn't make a liberal -- it just makes him smart!)

cosmos · Post by **cosmos** » Tue Nov 04, 2003 10:42 am

Anybody see what happened regarding Earle's appearance on O'Reilly's show? Just curious......

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Tue Nov 04, 2003 11:41 am

laughingcrow wrote:Steve Martin vs Bill Cosby...

who'd win in a duel?

As a fight or a battle of wits?

I'd go for Steve Martin for the former, Bill Cosby for the latter.

laughingcrow · Post by **laughingcrow** » Tue Nov 04, 2003 11:49 am

Steve Martin does have his sarcasm ray, but I'm not sure it'd be any match for Bill's colourful-sweater grip, and super fertile action!

plus...Bill was the Ghost dad remember...thank the lord Cosby doesn't use his power for evil!

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Steve Earle vs. Bill O'Reilly

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