Olbermann & O'Reilly Shows

[oddsmaven]

Both of these guys pound away, shilling their viewpoints, and they can both be entertaining, but what galls me about O'Reilly is mainly one thing and he did it as usual last night.

He comes on hollering that someone tagged him as a right-winger and gets all bent out of shape while claiming how very much "fair & balanced" he is...out of curiousity, I decided to keep a little score...the next segments featured:
1) a raucous attack on Obama 2) a spirited defense of Palin 3) an outcry against democrats.
I had wasted a ½ hour waiting for the balance but had enough and tuned him out...Olbermann is extremely biased but at least he doesn't make the idiotic balanced claim.

I still prefer both of them to their succeeding shows...can't stomach Rachel Maddow and her smirking performance on MSNBC & as for Hannity, my question to him is: Hey Shawn, how long did you search to find the a complete milquetoast of a human being with this Colmes character? Are you afraid of hiring a co-host with opposing viewpoints who actually has a spine? Never mind. I know the answer.

[delayjf]

1) a raucous attack on Obama 2) a spirited defense of Palin 3) an outcry against democrats.

In his defense he probably had valid issues on all three points.

[cj]

I find Bill to be pretty fair. Keith, total joke. At least I don't have to see much of him on sports any more.

[DanG]

I find Bill to be pretty fair.
To each his own but…Wow. :eek: :faint:

[delayjf]

I'm not sure what issue OddsMaven is referring to with regards to Obama
But
If he defended Sarah Palin against the moronic attention her wardrobe is receiving or condemned the hanging effigy - he has a valid point in doing so.

Most of the time O'Reilly has lambasted the Dems for their media bias, specifically at the NY times and on MNBC - again his points are valid and he gives examples of the bias almost every day.

OddsMaven
If I haven't addressed the issues you are referring to, provide specifics and we can discuss as to if he's being fair.

[George Sands]

I find Bill to be pretty fair.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[cj]

Bill is hard on everyone and doesn't stand for the usual political rhetoric. Hard, but fair. He isn't nice to anyone.

[DanG]

Bill is hard on everyone and doesn't stand for the usual political rhetoric. Hard, but fair. He isn't nice to anyone.
It’s all perception and of course there is no ‘right answer. (Pardon the pun) The “fair” human has yet to be invented and Bill O’Reilly in prime time on Fox is not paid to walk the center line. He is paid to create the “illusion” of walking the center line…and he is undeniably brilliant at it as his ratings prove.

Wow…it’s obvious we are post Breeders Cup…All this typing and barely one racing post! :blush: Time to go racing!

[DeanT]

Bill's point was that his show has both libs and dems on in equal numbers as guests. He did not say he was fair and balanced. He is a right wing guy obviously. But he asks good questions. His Obama interview was awesome for example, imo, and he was fair.

Oblermann, is one of those guys that tried a talk show for a year claiming he was centrist. those guys bother me. Say who you are and don't pretend. I think that is why OR has the most popular show on cable. He's real and doesn't try to hide it.

[cj]

I understand the purpose of the show. I really don't need you to point it out to me. Without Fox, there would be no place for the "other" side to present a different point of view. Olbermann is a complete joke of a "journalist", while Bill is not, which is why he is such a lightening rod for many people. Notice how nobody ever talks about Keith? I think even the liberals are embarrassed by him.

That said, compared to the other shows on Fox, I find that Bill does stay pretty close to the center. He certainly isn't liberal, but he isn't ultra conservative either.

[ArlJim78]

O'Reilly and Olberman are both spectacles, of different kinds.

Olberman is a lunatic and unwatchable.

O'Reilly used to be a right wing attack guy, but now is obsessed with his own ego and being fair and balanced. I listen to him every night and he goes way out of his way to be fair to Obama. Overall his show has some entertaining elements, much more so than most of its kind. But people that think he is a right wing shill only are not listening very closely. I would say he doesn't run much of what you would call pro-Obama material, but with that said, he plays devils advocate on behalf of Obama on most issues and has truly pro-Obama supporters on nearly every segment as a counterpoint. You would never ever see anyone on MSNBC do the same on behalf of McCain.

[boxcar]

It’s all perception and of course there is no ‘right answer. (Pardon the pun) The “fair” human has yet to be invented...

So, fairness is what? An illusion? A fantasy? An unachievable goal? According to your statement, people brought before the courts cannot possibly receive a fair trial. If this is the case,then there is no such thing as justice either, is there?

Boxcar

[DeanT]

CJ,

I hope that was not addressed to me, as I was addressing the topic starter saying Bill was complaining about himself being called right of centre :)

I agree with much of your post. He has taken the populist mantra. I never watched him until a few years ago and thought I was going to watch Rush Limbaugh. He is nothing like that, imo. For gosh sakes he is against the death penalty, so he certainly does not drink the kool aid about everything. He has his own way. People seem to enjoy it. Studies by pew and others show that his show has a good base of viewership from everyone.

[cj]

CJ,

I hope that was not addressed to me, as I was addressing the topic starter saying Bill was complaining about himself being called right of centre :)

I agree with much of your post. He has taken the populist mantra. I never watched him until a few years ago and thought I was going to watch Rush Limbaugh. He is nothing like that, imo. For gosh sakes he is against the death penalty, so he certainly does not drink the kool aid about everything. He has his own way. People seem to enjoy it. Studies by pew and others show that his show has a good base of viewership from everyone.

Nope, we posted at pretty much the same time. :)

[DeanT]

Well replying to you, or not you, saved me a few bucks on the second at AQU. I hated the seven, so thanks :)

[prospector]

i find bill leaning too far to the left for me quite a few times, but i also have to admit he is fair in his coverage...the fact that we don't always agree does nothing to disprove he's fair and balanced..quite the opposite..
suprised people still watch msnbc..

[ddog]

yes, yes , yes and finally yes.

There may be "human" fairness, which in other cases you would and have called socialism and there may be "human" justice, but you should understand that's all it is, what we humans call/called "justice" has been shown to be not justice in the past many times.

Is/was that "justice" then? still? forever?


In the true sense , yes, there has not been a "fair and balanced" human on this earth for at least several thousand years.
Or a just one either.

But, we must go on , so we do what we can, but to assert that the outcome of "do what we can" is "justice" or "fair", well that's blindness.



As to the "pair" mentioned in this thread, I checked them out a couple of times a month or so ago, both of them gagged me, one is a blowhard and the other is a rude blowhard.

Not sure which is which, I know my time is much better spent on other things.
Maybe I just caught them on a bad day or two.

Nothing of lasting value could I find from either show.
Both of them just talked over or ignored any viewpoints they didn't seem to accept. Everything was 5 minute segments and then the obligatory dead baby or wifebeater type "story" . Trashy.

Nothing of positive tone, at least I never heard it.


Not much of substance on either from what I could tell.

'tainment minus the info.

[oddsmaven]

I'm not sure what issue OddsMaven is referring to with regards to Obama
But
If he defended Sarah Palin against the moronic attention her wardrobe is receiving or condemned the hanging effigy - he has a valid point in doing so.

Most of the time O'Reilly has lambasted the Dems for their media bias, specifically at the NY times and on MNBC - again his points are valid and he gives examples of the bias almost every day.

OddsMaven
If I haven't addressed the issues you are referring to, provide specifics and we can discuss as to if he's being fair.
delayjf-
You are correct that the Palin subject had been the effigy hanging...though I agreed with him on that one, my point is that almost all his beefs are against the left when he could find plenty on both sides if he tried...when he does fault someone like McCain, his comments are half-hearted and over in a flash.
There are outlets in the media slanted to either side..he just has no business saying he's fair & balanced...that's his main motto and it's a joke although he may actually believe it.

[oddsmaven]

Bill's point was that his show has both libs and dems on in equal numbers as guests. He did not say he was fair and balanced. He is a right wing guy obviously. But he asks good questions. His Obama interview was awesome for example, imo, and he was fair.

Oblermann, is one of those guys that tried a talk show for a year claiming he was centrist. those guys bother me. Say who you are and don't pretend. I think that is why OR has the most popular show on cable. He's real and doesn't try to hide it.
I was not aware that Keith tried to be a centrist which would be ludicrous...I haven't seen him make those claims these days.
Dean, I don't know about the guests...when I watch he regularly has Dennis Miller and this heavyset fool that went conservative after at one point having been a flack for Clinton...his name escapes me but he had a scandal involving wearing some sex slave collar and carrying on a few years back...Bill does not have regulars spout a liberal line, but plenty of the conservatives to take turns backing eachother up...the "guests" that do come on with other viewpoints are often treated shabbily and are not regulars like the other two I mentioned.

[DanG]

So, fairness is what? An illusion? A fantasy? An unachievable goal? According to your statement, people brought before the courts cannot possibly receive a fair trial. If this is the case,then there is no such thing as justice either, is there?
Boxcar

In absolute terms and taking the argument to its logical conclusion…correct.

Name one single person without an agenda…other then yourself of course. :D

[DanG]

To address some of the other posts directed at me I guess… I never for one second defended or endorsed Olberman. I pointed out that if you think you are getting some sort of unique “neutral / fair” broadcast from O’Reilly you are mistaken…in MY view. If you believe to the contrary…enjoy! :jump:

Heck; my passions are horseracing, baseball, instrumental jazz / rock and wine. Not exactly popular choices so who am I for social commentary. :D

[DeanT]

I was not aware that Keith tried to be a centrist which would be ludicrous...I haven't seen him make those claims these days.
Dean, I don't know about the guests...when I watch he regularly has Dennis Miller and this heavyset fool that went conservative after at one point having been a flack for Clinton...his name escapes me but he had a scandal involving wearing some sex slave collar and carrying on a few years back...Bill does not have regulars spout a liberal line, but plenty of the conservatives to take turns backing eachother up...the "guests" that do come on with other viewpoints are often treated shabbily and are not regulars like the other two I mentioned.
Hi OM,

I do not disagree in part. But he does balance his guests and has for years. There was a wesbite somewhere that tried to OR bash that kept track of guests and they stopped. He has about 12 guests each week and he has six of each.

Absolutely he expresses his opines, so the Barney Frank's of the world get treated harshly. But he is what he is and does not profess to be a NYC coffee house New York Times person (not that there is anything wrong with that).

It is my contention that it is worse for places like the Times to sit there on a high horse and contend that they are centrist. The ombusman at the Times recently did that. I have no problem that the Times is left of centre, I just wish that they would admit it. Bill O will tell anyone that listens he is not a left winger, and he doesnt try to hide that.

Anyway, thanks for the reply. Interesting topic on news and talk shows. They are two different things of course, but sometimes we muddle the line. OR is not a news program for sure.

[DeanT]

Heck; my passions are horseracing, baseball, instrumental jazz / rock and wine.

And good choices those are. If we bet, watched baseball, while listening to music with a glass of wine, the world would be a better place :)

[DanG]

And good choices those are. If we bet, watched baseball, while listening to music with a glass of wine, the world would be a better place :)
Absolutely Dean…In fact; all those pleasures can and will be experienced today! :jump: And I may even tape O’Reilly so I don’t come off as one dimensional. :)

BTW: Dean; you would make a terrific statesmen. You always have a way of grounding the subject matter and respecting opposing viewpoints. I have tremendous respect for the way you go about your business. :ThmbUp:

Sorry about the thread drift; that should have been a PM; but I’m in a rush…sorry again.

[Suff]

I find Bill to be pretty fair. Keith, total joke. At least I don't have to see much of him on sports any more.

Are you out of your cotton pickin mind?

O'reilly is about as fair as Olbermann. They are both outrage inducers and nothing more.

Like the other guy said..... WOW....:eek:

[cj]

Are you out of your cotton pickin mind?

O'reilly is about as fair as Olbermann. They are both outrage inducers and nothing more.

Like the other guy said..... WOW....:eek:

I am pretty much middle of the road...you, on the other hand, not even close.

[cj]

ps....good to see you around.

[DeanT]

BTW: Dean;
Sorry about the thread drift; that should have been a PM; but I’m in a rush…sorry again.
I only come to off topic in two week intervals. I want to make sure I still have friends at the end of the fortnight :)

Times almost up. Back to speaking solely about my losing betting strategies in regular topic soon.:ThmbUp:

Although I see Catalano won two today. I want him on O'Reilly asking him how he can run so hot and so cold as only Bill can. We'll all be Bill fans then :)

[DanG]

I only come to off topic in two week intervals. I want to make sure I still have friends at the end of the fortnight :)

LOL…

I know what you mean.

I promised myself I wouldn’t post off-topic when I saw this site, but I think it’s pent up hot air that I couldn’t use in all the restaurant years. Lenny told me our 1st day taking over…”never discuss religion or politics or you risk losing ½ you’re cliental.” I guess since I’m not selling anything it’s OK to explore the ‘dark side every once in a while. :blush:

Take care Dean.

[sandpit]

These guys are in the entertainment business and have found an avenue to use their talents to make themselves rich...I'll admit that I don't find them very enteraining, but I can see why people do.

btw, I was watching the Morning Joe show on msnbc (mainly to look at Mika), and they happened to have on one of Obama's campaign managers, a woman from Missouri. For the majority of the interview, they were grilling her pretty good about his "redistribute the wealth" statement. I don't know if this was msnbc's token attack on the Dems, but it is an example of them not brushing something under the rug.

[PaceAdvantage]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:I love replies that consist of nothing but emoticons so much, I think I'll delete them from now on...

[DeanT]

I love replies that consist of nothing but emoticons so much, I think I'll delete them from now on...

:ThmbUp:

:)

[PaceAdvantage]

:ThmbUp:

:)You're good! :lol:

[NJ Stinks]

Olberman deserves credit for being the first guy with a real platform to tell righties that they are full of crap. That said - he goes too far nowadays.

I think Keith was on a leash when he first got a show. When it was obvious O'Reilly was going to continue to slay Keith ratings-wise, MSNBC decided it had nothing to lose and let Keith loose. So whoever said Keith was 2 faced - I disagree.

Anyway, I watch Keith because I love it when he nails the righties. For the most part it bullseye broadside! :D But after awhile, I have to grab the remote and let O'Reilly try to convince me he is toughest guy on Long Island. FYI Bill cannot convince me he is fair and balanced. But he has convinced me that he has convinced himself. :rolleyes:

And just to show I can go off-topic, Hannity is the biggest moron out there. If you think Keith is biased at what he does, Sean is even worse. Any rightie not embarrassed by Sean's interviews of McCain and Palin is - well lets just say you are probably posting right here! :p

P.S. I like Colmes. He fights the good fight in a sea of Red.

[chickenhead]

there have been times where I've enjoyed Bill O....I have never been able to watch Olberman, he irritates the shit out of me. Olberman is not the liberal equivalent of O'Reilly, he's the liberal equivalent of Hannity.

Colmes is the equivalent of a block of wood.

[Tom]

Colmes had been offered a spot in the Obama government...as government cheese.

[Hank]

Colmes had been offered a spot in the Obama government...as government cheese.

:lol::lol: