Amazing. I never knew so many people disliked Bill O’Reilly until in Tuesday’s paper.
I stopped counting because every few seconds a new e-mail was popping into my inbox, but it was more than 300, most of them agreeing with me that O’Reilly is a bully.
The subject lines included “Great O’Reilly Article,” “O’Reilly the bully,” “Thank you Cindy,” “O’Reilly is a jerk!” and “You go, girl.”
Of course, after O’Reilly’s staff posted my column on his website at midafternoon Tuesday, I started getting e-mails that read “Clueless!” and “You are wrong!”
After his taped show aired Tuesday night, during which he lambasted me, I got dozens more. With a straight face, he told the audience that he never interrupts guests. Then he said that I had labeled him a bigot, something I’ve never done.
He segued into the issue of illegal immigration and made me out to be a supporter of open borders, which I am not. As he spoke, the phrase “border panic” flashed on the side of the screen.
He also said I made up his radio remarks in which he tied illegal immigrants to the death of 3,000 Americans when the proof, in the form of an audio clip, can be found on mediamatters.org.
By the end of the segment, all that spinning made me nauseated.
No wonder viewers come away confused. If I didn’t know myself better I would have believed the distortions he told about me.
That explains e-mails like this one:
“Problem is America is becoming way too brown. Step one? Sealed (sic) border, mass deportation, sniper towers … PS – O’Reilly rules! Your paper is a liberal rag. I’ve lived here for 30 years, and this city has gone right down the crapper. Give us your poor? (Expletive) that. Stay where you are, Mexican!”
I got lots of those kinds of e-mails from all over the country. A majority of them were laced with profanity.
That’s the problem I have with O’Reilly fans. You wouldn’t get an e-mail like that from someone who watches “The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer.”
O’Reilly would have a much better show if he stuck to issues and allowed people from all sides to talk intelligently. Tuesday night he asked NPR senior correspondent Juan Williams if he believed that I was trying to intimidate him. All I could wonder was why Williams would subject himself to this.
Our country needs to address illegal immigration, the war in Iraq, the education gap in our schools, and outsourcing. O’Reilly could take the high road and use his show to foster understanding and further the discussion.
Henry Noerdlinger of Denver summed it up very well in an e-mail: “(O’Reilly) is only serving to divide this country on an already unnecessarily contentious issue. I’d be more supportive of his show if he promoted intellectual debate on important issues. He doesn’t. He is a self-promoting entertainer capitalizing on the average Americans’ unfounded fears. And in doing so, he is responsible for moving this country backwards.”
Susan Jensen of Longmont wrote that O’Reilly “owes an apology to every parent who does their best to raise thoughtful and insightful children in a world filled with hate, e-mail and irresponsible behavior from people in powerful and visible positions such as his.”
There’s been a lot of talk about polarization in the country, which we saw during the last presidential election. Shows like “The O’Reilly Factor” serve to keep people arguing with each other and feeling angry.
It’s not healthy for America or for democracy.
Cindy Rodriguez’s column appears Tuesdays and Thursdays in Scene.
Contact her at e-mail3-820-1211 or crodriguez@denverpost.com.
