The O'bama Factor

I used to love Bill O'Reilly. I watched his show every night; I read his first two books; and I did a book report for my political science class on his second book. I was a huge fan, and without going into the reasons why I no longer am, I was still very excited to see his interview with Barack Obama. Like a child running to the Christmas tree on Christmas morning, I have, since we recently down-graded our cable, been running to the computer every morning and checking O'Reilly's Fox News site to see the latest installment of this interview. And I've been pleased with what I've seen thus far. This has been a good interview for a few reasons: O'Reilly is hostile territory and if Obama does well with Bill, then he can do well with anyone; O'Reilly has been extremely tough and will argue his own opinion and analysis against Obama; and Obama has responded well and argued right back.

The third installment was what I was most eager and anxious to see, as it was to cover Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers and Father Pfleger. Obama, like the other installments, handled the questions masterfully and remained civil but firm with O'Reilly. He successfully argued that Ayers, Wright and Pfleger were doing work in the community when he was doing work in the community, and that was how the associations were formed. He argued that all of their views are not his views, and linking him to them is nothing but classic GBA, which it most certainly is.

What drove me crazy the most in this interview was O'Reilly's yelling when there was absolutely no reason to yell. O'Reilly is incapable of having a reasoned and calm discussion over hot-button issues. However, I must say that in the second installment Bill made a good point that I do not believe Obama successfully answered. He argued that poverty has increased because immigration has increased. Robert Samuelson, who has an excellent column, argues this as well.

So, overall, I've got to give it up for O'Reilly. He has conducted a, sometimes unnecessarily hostile, but good interview and put the heat on Obama. And Obama has performed well himself coming right back with reasoned and solid answers. O'Reilly's interview far outshines Keith Olbermann's which was a complete joke. I can only stomach so much ass-kissing whether or not I agree with said individuals. We'll see if Republican starlet Sarah Palin comes on the factor, and if Bill is just as intense. And hopefully this interview has some O'Reilly fans thinking twice about Obama.

Bias and Propaganda: MSNBC and Olbermann Do the Right Thing

While I love Harball, and I think that Chris Matthews-- despite it being obvious he supports the Democrats-- runs a fair show where issues are debated in a balanced and civilized way, I completely agree with MSNBC's decision to remove Matthews and Keith Olbermann from the election coverage. Olbermann, of course, is the liberal version of O'Reilly. And although I think he's much more articulate and intelligent than Bill, because he is so blatantly one-sided, I have hardly ever watched Countdown. Having those two cover the election would be like having O'Reilly and Sean Hannity cover the election on Fox News. There would be absolutely no objectivity. So MSNBC is right to remove them and put in Gregory.

That said, I think that the 9-11 video in question that Olbermann apologized for was exploitative and pure propaganda. What it did was to, once again, conjure up these primal, visceral emotions; emotions that one should never act, nor make decisions upon. It also, once again, painted America as the holy, sacred beacon of freedom, and the terrorists as the enemy of that freedom. These raw emotions that are elicited from the graphic footage from 9-11 that the video portrayed, coupled with manichean language, is a dangerous concoction that neoconservatives use time and time again to rally people in support of their militaristic and imperial foreign policy. We do not need more leaders who say "bring 'em on" in response to attacks on America. We cannot have another Yosemite Sam occupying the White house. That prospect scares me more than the possibility of another attack.

Olbermann was right to apologize, but he should have waited to do it on his own show.