# Bill O'Reilly really is losing it. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 18, 2003, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-really-is-losing-it/219850 "2003-12-18T21:09:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-really-is-losing-it/219850/1 "2003-12-18T21:09:24Z")
[Drudge Report](http://www.drudgereport.com/mattbc1.htm) O’Reilly really seems like he’s becoming more and more unbalanced lately. His paranoid rants about “secular forces” are getting more absurd (He recently accused _The Cat in the Hat_ of being an "“attack on Christmas.” TCITH is not a Christmas movie). His cheerleading for Bush and his demonization of anyone who dares to dissent is getting more overt, etc. Yesterday, though, he seems to have really gone off the deep end. Matt Drudge outed [O’Reilly’s book sales](http://www.drudgereport.com/mattbc.htm) on his site yesterday. O’Reilly has been trying to insinuate that his book sales have been comparable to Hillary’s. He also claimed to have been outselling Al Franken. Both claims are false. O’Reilly then went ballistic on his show and accused Drudge of being a “threat to democracy.” > [@](#): > > I mean you can’t believe a word Matt Drudge says," O’Reilly told the cameras. “Now you’ve got the Matt Drudges of the world and these other people, Michael Moore and all of these crazies, all right, no responsibility… that is a threat to democracy, I think.” O’Reilly warned: “They’ll just spin it and twist it and take it out of proportion every which way.” So how exactly is exposing O’Reilly’s book sales a threat to democracy? And what the hell does Michael Moore have to do with anything? O’Reilly apparently also had this brilliant observation on Don Imus’ radio show: > [@](#): > > “There is no other cure than to kill Matt Drudge,” O’Reilly charged on the IMUS in the MORNING radio show. Isn’t it time to put O’Reilly on meds? How can anybody take this guy seriously any more. I’m not really kidding when I say that he may really have some mental health issues. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-really-is-losing-it/219850/2 "2003-12-18T21:18:58Z")
I see him on a balcony, singing “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina…” ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-really-is-losing-it/219850/3 "2003-12-18T21:20:30Z")
My quibble with your post is that you used the wrong tense, writing “is losing” instead of “lost it a loooong time ago.” ---
**Author:** ![JustPlainBryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/57b2e6/32.png) [@JustPlainBryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustPlainBryan)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-really-is-losing-it/219850/4 "2003-12-18T21:21:17Z")
All we need now is for a reality TV spin-off of him and his family. _The O’Reillys! Starring Bill O’Reilly as “The Dad”_ Crazy! Hey, but that’s how it goooees… ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-really-is-losing-it/219850/5 "2003-12-18T21:22:10Z")
Perhaps since Rush Limbaugh isn’t able to get a message out with as much believability, O’Reilly has taken over the wingnuttiness for the time being. And later on, of course, we’ll get “Well, I was just in such a fanatic, patriotic fervor because we captured Saddam … I had gone to a victory celebration and I had to put down a few slack-jawed liberals who still don’t believe this war was never about WMDs…” ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-really-is-losing-it/219850/6 "2003-12-18T21:28:46Z")
I thought Drudge was also conservative… Bah. Limbaugh, at least, keeps his fights primarily political. Book sales? That’s just idiotically egotistical, to be so concerned about that. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-really-is-losing-it/219850/7 "2003-12-18T21:29:55Z")
this public fantasy of killing his opponents is pretty creepy in my professional opinion. \* (\* professional in the sense of really knowing ‘creepy’ behavior) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-really-is-losing-it/219850/8 "2003-12-18T21:32:38Z")
Jeez, if only I had known that “creepy” was a career choice! ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-really-is-losing-it/219850/9 "2003-12-18T21:34:02Z")
He really said that on Imus’ show? Isn’t that an illegal death threat? ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-really-is-losing-it/219850/10 "2003-12-18T21:48:50Z")
He said he was outselling Franken “All over the place”. Now, that could be taken several different ways. He chose the definition “At right wing bookstores, the Fox News Center gift shop, and fine establishments where Franken is not sold”. So technically, he’s right. He also claimed the book was “running against Hillary for most copies of nonfiction books sold this year”. In fact, _Our Savior Gifts_ in Alabama has had a run on the O’Reilly tome, resulting in A’Reilly’s commanding lead of three books sold when compared to Hillary’s zero. Again. Technically correct. Just use the logic he uses. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-really-is-losing-it/219850/11 "2003-12-18T22:07:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elucidator \* > \*\*Jeez, if only I had known that “creepy” was a career choice! \*\* with careful planning, sure; but the retirement plan is a bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-really-is-losing-it/219850/12 "2003-12-18T22:14:43Z")
I think it’s cute that we’ve finally found something that can bring **Diogenes** and Drudge together. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-really-is-losing-it/219850/13 "2003-12-18T22:17:02Z")
I think I’ve posted before that I’m an avid Drudge reader even though I think he demagogues some stories. I don’t think he’s afraid to go after conservatives, though, and embarrassing Bill O’Reilly makes him ok in my book. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-really-is-losing-it/219850/14 "2003-12-18T22:18:35Z")
…and God bless us, everyone! ---
**Author:** ![presidebt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c37758/32.png) [@presidebt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/presidebt)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-really-is-losing-it/219850/15 "2003-12-18T22:24:21Z")
More than just a death threat… > [@](#): > > “There is no other cure than to kill Matt Drudge,” O’Reilly charged on the IMUS in the MORNING radio show. > > “I just want to tell everybody that Matt Drudge is smoking crack - right now, in South Miami Beach on Washington Avenue… And the authorities should know it.” A _crack_ accusation. Teehee. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-really-is-losing-it/219850/16 "2003-12-18T22:29:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NurseCarmen \* > \*\*Again. Technically correct. Just use the logic he uses. \*\* I tried using the logic Bill O’Reilly uses, but I ended up in a white jacket with overlong sleeves that tied in the back. At least the room I had had some nice soft walls. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-really-is-losing-it/219850/17 "2003-12-18T22:30:47Z")
[http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2002/05/14/limbaugh/index\_np.html](http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2002/05/14/limbaugh/index_np.html) it appears the tiff is due to Drudge saying O’reillys radio show is so poor that Fox has to pay stations to pick it up. O’reilly also said “I just want to tell everybody that Matt Drudge is smoking crack – right now, in South Miami Beach on Washington Avenue … And the authorities should know it.” ---
**Author:** ![\_possum\_stalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/b77776/32.png) [@\_possum\_stalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_possum_stalker)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-really-is-losing-it/219850/18 "2003-12-18T22:53:01Z")
It all makes perfect sense. O’Reilly has to decapitate Drudge to gain his power! _“There can be only one right wing demagogue!”_ Let’s get Rutger Hauer a call-in show. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-really-is-losing-it/219850/19 "2003-12-18T23:19:07Z")
I think you mean Christopher Lambert, **'possum stalker**. In any event, this is one steel cage death match where no matter who wins, We all do! ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-really-is-losing-it/219850/20 "2003-12-19T00:07:04Z")
It looks like O’Reilly wants to make sure Franken’s next book is twice as thick as the last! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-really-is-losing-it/219850.md?page=2)