The O'Reilly Factor: The Good, the Bad, and the Completely Ridiculous in American Life - Softcover

O'Reilly, Bill

 
9780767905299: The O'Reilly Factor: The Good, the Bad, and the Completely Ridiculous in American Life
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0767905296 ISBN 13: 9780767905299
Verlag: Crown, 2002

Inhaltsangabe

The million-copy New York Times bestseller from the Fox News anchor who’s brought new excitement–and massive amounts of populist common sense and rock-solid honesty–to television news.

Now four seasons strong, Bill O’Reilly’s nightly cable news program, “The O’Reilly Factor,” is one of the hottest shows on the air. In book form, The O’Reilly Factor has sold over a million copies and spent fourteen weeks at the top of the New York Times bestseller list. Obviously, Bill O'Reilly has made his mark. His blunt, ironic, no-holds-barred style has earned him a devoted audience–friends and foes alike–who send him five thousand letters every week. And with the wit and intelligence that have made him one of the most talked-about stars in both television and publishing, O’Reilly continues to identify what’s right, what’s wrong, and what’s absurd in the political, social, economic, and cultural life of America.

Die Inhaltsangabe kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor


A twenty-year veteran of the television industry, Bill O’Reilly has won two Emmy awards for excellence in reporting. He served as national correspondent for ABC News and as anchor of the nationally syndicated Inside Edition. A graduate of Marist College, he holds two master’s degrees, one in public administration from Harvard and another in broadcast journalism from Boston University. He lives on Long Island with his wife and their daughter.

Von der hinteren Coverseite

The million-copy" New York Times bestseller from the Fox News anchor who's brought new excitement-and massive amounts of populist common sense and rock-solid honesty-to television news.
Now four seasons strong, Bill O'Reilly's nightly cable news program, "The O'Reilly Factor," is one of the hottest shows on the air. In book form, "The O'Reilly Factor has sold over a million copies and spent fourteen weeks at the top of the "New York Times bestseller list. Obviously, Bill O'Reilly has made his mark. His blunt, ironic, no-holds-barred style has earned him a devoted audience-friends and foes alike-who send him five thousand letters every week. And with the wit and intelligence that have made him one of the most talked-about stars in both television and publishing, O'Reilly continues to identify what's right, what's wrong, and what's absurd in the political, social, economic, and cultural life of America.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Introduction

If you know who I am, you know why I get letters like this one from a certain Linden S., who lives in Rochester, New York:

O'Reilly, dislike and contempt dominate your thoughts. So highly charged is your bias that it is a constant astonishment to realize that you are unaware of the effect of your own thinking. A thoughtful, deliberative person doesn't stand a chance with you.

That's only one letter, selected at random. They come in bushels every day. Something about me and my nightly news analysis program, The O'Reilly Factor, drives some people up the wall.

But, hey, I'm used to it. I didn't even have to have the top-rated cable news program to get the same response from my first-grade teacher. I was controversial in the first grade, Linden! I come by it honestly!

It took Sister Mary Claudia only to the second day of first grade at St. Brigid's School in Westbury, New York, to get my number. When she ordered our class of sixty six-year-olds to open our Think and Do books, I slumped in my seat and let loose a deep sigh. See, I have always had a thing about lies, lying, and liars--and this book was pure propaganda. The illustrations of kids smiling while doing math problems was a major lie. I knew that at six years old.

But Sister Mary Claudia didn't care and leapt on me like a mongoose.

"William," she shouted. "You are a bold, fresh piece of humanity! You will open your book and close your mouth. You are bold!"

Thus was laid down the course of my life and career, as writers of another age might put it. Ever since, I have starred in a series of confrontations with overreaching authority figures. Sometimes I was just being a pain in the rear. (Hey, you have to practice these things!) But a lot of the time I was challenging the prevailing wisdom because my sense of justice or truth was outraged. That outrage became my passion . . . and my vocation. Today I get paid a healthy sum for pursuing that passion on national television in prime time. The O'Reilly Factor has been on the air for four years, and they say the ratings are steadily rising while the overall prime-time ratings for cable news networks are sinking. Sister Mary Claudia, can you hear me over the harps?

Doesn't matter. If the good sister's not in touch, there are always people like the Reverend and Mrs. Dennis N. of Georgia:

Mr. O'Reilly, you have lost us as viewers. We are sure your lies are born of ignorance. Repent while you still can.

Thanks for the concern, but it's too late, Reverend.


If you've tuned in to The O'Reilly Factor, you know that I usually have five guests on my hour-long program. You might see me interviewing George W. Bush about the latest wrinkle in his campaign. Or bugging former special prosecutor Kenneth Starr about his refusal to go public with all he suspects about the Clintons and their sleazy shenanigans. Or getting former White House chief of staff Leon Panetta to admit that the Clinton administration doesn't know what happened to some $1 billion it sent to Haiti. Some people think I’m a tough interviewer, but I think I’m fair. And I'm appreciative of my guests. It takes guts for some of these people to come on the Factor, because they don't know which way I'm gonna go.

Sometimes I bring on my paid on-air consultants, like Newt Gingrich, Geraldine Ferraro, and Dick Morris. They don't usually agree with each other, as you might expect, and they don't usually agree with me. And I always begin each program with a "Talking Point." You'll see what I mean as you read this book, because I use a few here. And I always give the floor at the end of the program to viewer reactions, which are by far the liveliest in all of broadcasting. Some of those comments are scattered throughout these pages.

If you haven't seen The O'Reilly Factor, you might be wondering whether I'm conservative, liberal, libertarian, or exactly what. I hope you're still wondering when you do catch my program and also after you've read this book, my first attempt to put my thoughts in print.

See, I don't want to fit any of those labels, because I believe that the truth doesn't have labels. When I see corruption, I try to expose it. When I see exploitation, I try to fight it. That's my political position.

And in this book, just as on the Factor, I will not waste your time. Count on it. I will get to the pith quickly and undiplomatically--even if the pith pithes you off. Sorry, but that's not my problem. I tell it. You hear it. The truth is often annoying. It's always easier to look the other way. But it is essential that we all look at American life the way it really is today. If we don't do that job, we're gonna lose the battles to the frauds, fools, and thieves--the kind of people you are going to be hearing about in this book.

I love doing the Factor. I'm proud of my work. But television can be frustrating because there are so many subjects every day, and so little time every night. So I decided to write a book that would have no commercial interruptions and no director signaling me that a segment's got to end. I took my time writing this book, and I hope you will take your time reading it and thinking about my ideas. What I've tried to do here is give a blunt look at our times, which are very complicated. America in the twenty-first century can be a savage place, full of ridiculous situations and idiotic people. Life in the U.S.A. can also be fun and rewarding. But to make that happen, you have to separate the good from the bad from the ridiculous. I'm trying to help you do that . . . in a none-too-gentle way.

The O'Reilly Factor, the book, is divided into three sections. The first part of the book deals with what you as an individual are up against in your life as an American: That means things like your status in soci- ety, money, sex, and the ever-present media. Then we focus on personal relationships--the important ties that bind you to family, friends, and bosses. The final chapters concern America itself and what is happening to the country today.

I won't spoon over any Chicken Soup advice here. We're not gonna get "in the zone" or use New Age claptrap or find answers in any Mars-Venus conflict. This is just the straight story as I've lived it and you've lived it. You'll see.

1. THE CLASS factor

Note to Rev. Jesse Jackson: Sorry, Jesse. You're wrong. Racism gets all the ink, but the heart of America's somewhat unfair social setup is class, not race. This fact might cut into your power base, but it's true.

The question for this age in America is: What class are you?

Never thought about it? You should. Each one of us is born into a very specific economic and social class, regardless of color. Most of us remain in that class, for better or worse, until the day we die. The more observant among us can usually sum up a complete stranger's class background within minutes.

Politicians don't usually talk about class. It might open a dangerous door. Advertisers want us to believe we're all one class: the consuming class, equal as long as we keep spending. The rich want us to believe that anyone can make the quantum leap from bowling league to country club by just working a little harder. That's supposed to keep us motivated and quiet.

But does class really matter? Would every blue-collar family be happier and more productive if a long-lost relative died and a trust fund flew in the window overnight?

No, but class is not just about money. It is about opportunity for your kids or dashed hopes, about education or minds that close down for good, about enduring values or materialism that comes out as greed or self- indulgence or complete disregard for others. It is the bottom line, in a way, for every problem I talk about in this...

„Über diesen Titel“ kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.

Verlag
Crown
Erscheinungsdatum
2002
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0767905296
ISBN 13 
9780767905299
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
224
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Nicht verfügbar
Verantwortliche Person
Nicht verfügbar