Posted on 10/18/2005 2:09:30 PM PDT by churchillbuff
I enjoy O'Reilly's broadcasts. I don't share the negative opinions about him but I do think he's showing signs of stress lately.
The security precautions are a part of contemporary celebrity, unfortunately. Imagine the randy average troll most on the internet have encountered from time to time and then multiply it by millions on a weekly basis and you can begin to maybe understand what many public figures who make their opinions known experience from the general public.
People start searching for your home address, your children's photos, your home numbers and then showing up, loitering at your door, sitting in your parking areas, following you when you leave, return, and the worst are when you "ignore" them (refuse any interaction, prevent access to your family and private life), become aggressive. There are a lot of those last type, unfortunately.
The public has become far more destructive about public figures. And a high level of security is necessary to maintain your work in the public if you're an entertainer and/or someone who opines for a living (as does O'Reilly).
The alternative is to move to a very private place, have someone else in another location conduct all your business (personal included) and never use your actual identity outside family and employees...along with a number of other measures.
But, the point is here, that I still enjoy O'Reilly's broadcasts but think he needs to deal with a higher degree of stress and perhaps, threat, than he is presently able to process personally. And accept these risks because the world is getting rougher with every passing week.
And, at least the state of California now has the anti-stalking laws, so the worst who harass and threaten can be processed. And are.
I didn't get that from what O'Reilly said about the Toledo issue.
And having that guy on from the Black Panthers was an informative move (and display) because it allows the viewers to evaluate that guy and the movement he says he represents...entirely anarchist, terrorist, opposed to the very country itself, suggesting they're forming their own government and don't recognize "the United States" and it's government as something they are to relate to, respect, be a part of, all of it.
Without seeing and hearing all that that B.P. guy said (as same with the various Farrakhan people who appear lately), it'd be a case of most reasonable people saying that no one would actually be THAT extreme, that they were being misrepresented, etc., while seeing/hearing them provides the opportunity for others to see that, yes, they actually ARE that extreme, are not being misrepresented.
O'Reilly takes positions about things and I don't always agree with him but who does with anyone else? But he makes for interesting broadcasts and guests and he does stand up for most that is honorable and reasonable and right, on average.
Yes, he's showing signs of stress. Best to allow him to do so, as you would yourself under similar circumstances.
I share the mystery, being a viewer who generally values what O'Reilly has to say and his broadcasts, mostly.
I THINK it's because (and I don't agree with O'Reilly on this issue), O'Reilly is continuing to say that the "doesn't blame the illegals...I'd do the same thing if I was in their shoes...I blame the politicians" as to the issue of illegal aliens in the country and continuing to enter illegally.
I THINK O'Reilly makes these statements to deflect criticism because he's big on personal responsibility and yet indulges "illegals" about this by "not blam(ing) them" and saying he'd do the same thing (immigrate illegally, defy immigration laws). It ruins his credibility...
He does defend the MinuteMen and does not speak out in criticism of/about them, but then he takes this grey-area position about personal responsibility where the issue of illegal aliens is concerned.
So, that may be the burr under the saddle of those who are now turning on him. Which I think is too bad because it's an extreme-type rejection of his total worth and contributions.
Bill O'Reilly strikes me as the kind of guy who if you did not recognize him would make sure you knew he was.
I don't have a lot of sympathy for him paying the price of fame that he so avidly sought.
"O'Reilly takes positions about things and I don't always agree with him but who does with anyone else? But he makes for interesting broadcasts and guests and he does stand up for most that is honorable and reasonable and right, on average."
I agree completely. It's just the Toledo thing is one of the things I disagree with him on. The "they should have known better" arguement is lacking, IMO. I belive when people can't exercise their 1st amendment rights for fear of black riots, something is terribly wrong.
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