# Bill O'Reilly: why doesn't anyone tell him to shut up? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 11, 2004, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-why-doesnt-anyone-tell-him-to-shut-up/259337 "2004-08-11T10:44:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-why-doesnt-anyone-tell-him-to-shut-up/259337/1 "2004-08-11T10:44:13Z")
I’ve never seen his TV show, so the most I’ve seen of him is clips on the web. That said, in the clips I’ve seen it seems like any time he’s interviewing someone, being interviewed with someone, or even in the same room as someone else he consistently interrupts whoever has an opposing opinion to him and doesn’t ever let them finish a sentence. Why do the other people let him do it? How come no one’s just clammed up and refused to continue until he stops interrupting 2 words in to their answers? The longest clip I’ve seen of him is from someone else’s TV show so it can’t be respect for him being the host. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-why-doesnt-anyone-tell-him-to-shut-up/259337/2 "2004-08-11T10:57:00Z")
Watch **Outfoxed**. The man is a slimeball. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-why-doesnt-anyone-tell-him-to-shut-up/259337/3 "2004-08-11T13:47:42Z")
Or look at his behavior in his ‘debate’ with Paul Krugman [on Russert’s show](http://www.pkarchive.org/economy/TimRussert080704.html) last Saturday. Almost right off the bat: > [@](#): > > Mr. O’REILLY: Well, I don’t buy that all. And, you know, Mr. Krugman is a smart guy, but Mr. Krugman was absolutely dead 100 percent wrong in his columns two years ago when he predicted the Bush tax cuts would lead to a deeper recession. You can read his book and see how wrong he was. > > Prof. KRUGMAN: Actually, you can read it. I never said that. > > Mr. O’REILLY: Sure you did… > > Prof. KRUGMAN: I said that it would lead to a lousy job creation… > > Mr. O’REILLY: …column after column after column. You made the point, in your book, OK, that these tax cuts were going to be disastrous for the economy. > > Prof. KRUGMAN: No. > > Mr. O’REILLY: They haven’t been. > > Prof. KRUGMAN: I’m sorry, that’s a lie. > > Mr. O’REILLY: It’s not a lie. > > Prof. KRUGMAN: Let me just say it’s a lie. I said they were ineffective at job creation. And if you look at the Bush administration… > > Mr. O’REILLY: Hold on, hold on. Hold it. Now ‘ineffective at job creation,’ what is that? Semantics now? > > Prof. KRUGMAN: No, it means that… > > Mr. O’REILLY: The economy is based on job creation, and you’re saying it’s ineffective. Don’t call me a liar, pal. That’s what you do all the time, and I’m not going to sit here and take it. > > Prof. KRUGMAN: Well–no. I’m sorry. You just did. > > Mr. O’REILLY: ‘Ineffective’? You can–that’s the biggest bunch of spin in the world. > > Prof. KRUGMAN: Find a place where I said that they were going to cause a recession. Or towards the end: > [@](#): > > Prof. KRUGMAN: Yeah. Actually I just want to say a word about “Fahrenheit 9/11,” just to talk a little bit about Bill O’Reilly’s credibility on this. Bill has said on air that Michael Moore believes that we are an evil country, and if you saw the film, you know that’s not true, and actually you denied in the same program that you’d said what you just said. But anyways, I think that’s a little bit of something to look out for with credibility. > > Mr. O’REILLY: You want to quote me and give me the date of the program? > > Prof. KRUGMAN: Oh, sure. June 28th on “The Radio Factor.” > > \ > > Mr. O’REILLY: And where did you get that little evil quote, by the way? You don’t listen to “The Radio Factor.” > > Prof. KRUGMAN: Oh, no, but I get–but they have video clips. They have–they have a clip. > > Mr. O’REILLY: Oh, who–well, who gave it to you? > > Prof. KRUGMAN: Yeah, it is mediamatters. > > Mr. O’REILLY: Mediamatters. Oh, I see. A real objective Web site. > > Prof. KRUGMAN: Hey, wait a second… > > Mr. O’REILLY: Hey, Mr. Propaganda, you ought to take and do your own research, pal, and stop taking the left-wing garbage and throwing it out there for the folks. > > Prof. KRUGMAN: What have I said that’s false? > > Mr. O’REILLY: Do your own research. > > Prof. KRUGMAN: Come on. > > Mr. O’REILLY: That’s out of context, and you know it. > > Prof. KRUGMAN: It helps me. It is not. > > Mr. O’REILLY: It helps you, baloney. > > Prof. KRUGMAN: They’ve got the clip. You guys can listen to it. > > Mr. O’REILLY: You are about the most unobjective person on the face of the–mediamatters… > > Prof. KRUGMAN: Oh, come on. > > Mr. O’REILLY: Why don’t you just call Fidel? Call him up and have at it. He’ll tell you what’s going on. > > Prof. KRUGMAN: Oh, wonderful. Now that we got the great …(unintelligible) ends up being a Communist. > > RUSSERT: Wait, wait… > > Mr. O’REILLY: Mediamatters. Oh, my–that’s like me calling some Klan operation. > > Prof. KRUGMAN: Hey. > > Mr. O’REILLY: Why don’t I call the Ku Klux Klan? > > Prof. KRUGMAN: Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. > > RUSSERT: Read the quote. Read the quote and… > > Mr. O’REILLY: What a bunch of garbage, mediamatters. > > Prof. KRUGMAN: Yeah, the quote is, ‘So this is the United States, who has freed the world from communism, freed the world from fascism, from the axis powers, freed the Pacific from Japanese, OK? All of this, but according to Moore we bring sadness and misery to places all around the globe.’ > > Mr. O’REILLY: That’s right. He said that. > > Prof. KRUGMAN: ‘This says Michael Moore. He believes this. He believes that we are an evil country.’ Now I saw a film, a flawed film, a lot of things that were overstated… > > Mr. O’REILLY: OK. Read… > > Prof. KRUGMAN: …but I think that there were a lot of things in that film that showed that this is a guy who really does love his country. > > Mr. O’REILLY: All right. You want to think he loves his country, you go (unintelligible). > > Prof. KRUGMAN: And he loves the working pow–people of America, and if you could watch that… > > Mr. O’REILLY: Hezbollah feels the same way that you do. > > Prof. KRUGMAN: Oh, come on. Guilt by association. > > Mr. O’REILLY: Come on what? > > Prof. KRUGMAN: Somebody picks it up, somebody picks up, you know, there are–there are–there are actual–there are right-wing hate groups who like to quote you. Do you think that makes you guilty of everything that they do? > > Mr. O’REILLY: You know what? I never call those right-wing hate groups up to get my quotes. > > Prof. KRUGMAN: That’s… > > Mr. O’REILLY: You call the left-wing hate groups up to get your propaganda. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Do your own research. What a thug. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-why-doesnt-anyone-tell-him-to-shut-up/259337/4 "2004-08-11T13:52:17Z")
That’s actually the debate I watched (can see it [here](http://www.jimgilliam.com/video/krugman_vs_oreilly_200.mov) if interested). Why didn’t Krugman just tell O’Reilly to shut up or force him to by refusing to talk until he did? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-why-doesnt-anyone-tell-him-to-shut-up/259337/5 "2004-08-11T13:54:47Z")
WRT copyright/fair use issues: the preceding really is just a small excerpt of the entire transcript. Wouldn’t want to get y’all in trouble. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-why-doesnt-anyone-tell-him-to-shut-up/259337/6 "2004-08-11T13:57:29Z")
> [@Silentgoldfish](#): > > That’s actually the debate I watched (can see it [here](http://www.jimgilliam.com/video/krugman_vs_oreilly_200.mov) if interested). Why didn’t Krugman just tell O’Reilly to shut up or force him to by refusing to talk until he did? Maybe Krugman didn’t want to descend to O’Reilly’s level. Besides, it’s really the moderator’s job to require proper conduct of his guests. Russert wimped out, big time. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-why-doesnt-anyone-tell-him-to-shut-up/259337/7 "2004-08-11T15:40:09Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Besides, it’s really the moderator’s job to require proper conduct of his guests. **Russert wimped out, big time.** Well, color me not very surprised. I don’t call Russert “Mr. Softball” for nothing. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-why-doesnt-anyone-tell-him-to-shut-up/259337/8 "2004-08-11T16:28:16Z")
It makes O’Reilly happy to be told to shut up, or to have someone refuse to talk to him. He gloats about it, he considers it a victory. I didn’t see the interview, but I’d say it’s the moderator’s job to curb him; otherwise he’ll just say he won. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-why-doesnt-anyone-tell-him-to-shut-up/259337/9 "2004-08-11T16:39:20Z")
I never watch that show but for some reason I was flipping through and there was Bill O’Reilly. Acting like an asshole. I watched almost to the point of nausea (and yes, I was telling Bill O’Reilly to shut the fuck up, but apparently I didn’t buy a tv with a microphone). Especially on the last part where he was cornered and completely changed the subject to utter and blatant bullshit. It’s not like it’s not expected of him tho’. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-why-doesnt-anyone-tell-him-to-shut-up/259337/10 "2004-08-11T16:39:28Z")
**RTFirefly** , that transcript you quoted is _ridiculous_. Since we’re pitting O’Reilly, can I also pit **Michael Savage** while we’re at it? I know he’s been pitted before, but only in the last few weeks have I heard his radio program while driving home from work. Both he and O’Reilly are intellectually dishonest egomaniacal toad molesters. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-why-doesnt-anyone-tell-him-to-shut-up/259337/11 "2004-08-11T16:55:13Z")
> [@Silentgoldfish](#): > > I’ve never seen his TV show… And yet you Pit him anyway… I saw the Krugman/O’Reilly debate. It was awful. Bill was at his blustery best, and I thought Krugman was a nervous wreck. Did anyone else notice how much PK’s hands were shaking, his voice was quivering, and his eyes were shifting? Maybe he thought Bill was going to hit him… I usually like Russert, but he did an abysmal job as a moderator. Or maybe he got exactly what he was looking for-- Jerry Springer does political talk show host. Look. O’Reilly is as much an enterntainer as anything else. I bet his rating go up when he rants and raves. And he has become more self absorbed over time, so his show can sometimes be more about him than any issue he is discussing. He did act like a spoiled schoolyard bully in the interview in question, but most of the time (the vast majoity of the time) he’s a civil host and has fairly intelligent interviews with his guests. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-why-doesnt-anyone-tell-him-to-shut-up/259337/12 "2004-08-11T16:57:18Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > . . . O’Reilly is as much an enterntainer as anything else. . . . It’s always nice to see a conservative Doper being consistent; I notice you made this same point about Michael Moore. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-why-doesnt-anyone-tell-him-to-shut-up/259337/13 "2004-08-11T17:25:39Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > It’s always nice to see a \*\*conservative \*\* Doper being consistent; I notice you made this same point about Michael Moore. My bolding. No need to insult me like that… 🙂 Actually, I’d argue that Moore, by his chosen medium, is much more on the entertainer side of the news analysis/entertainer continuum and O’Reilly is more on the news analysis side. Wouldn’t you agree? I don’t care much for O’Reilly, specifically because he’s such a blow hard, but anyone who thinks he’s not a smart guy just hasn’t done his homework or seen him enough. It’s easy to catch footage of mistakes on ANYONE who has had as much air time as O’Reilly. And his political views are closer to libertarian than conservative. Are you aware, for instance, that he has stated on his program that he’s OK with gay marriage? On this issue, his public statements are closer to yours than Kerry’s are. n.b.: I’m definitely NOT saying O’Reilly is a libertarian. Just that his views tend to be more libertarianish than conservative. ---
**Author:** ![jebert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ec9cab/32.png) [@jebert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jebert)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-why-doesnt-anyone-tell-him-to-shut-up/259337/14 "2004-08-11T18:13:26Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > … but most of the time (the vast majoity of the time) he’s a civil host and has fairly intelligent interviews with his guests. I’ve never seen him on TV but have heard him for a few minutes at a time on radio, and I’d have to disagree, at least as it pertains to his callers. He’s civil with callers who agree with him, and if they suck up enough, he’ll send them a book or something. If a caller doesn’t agree, the transcript would read just like the Krugman piece. Extrapolating, I would expect the same behaviour with guests on the show, depending on the degree of agreement with his views. In general, these guys (O’Reilly, Savage, and others) draw their core audience from the same kind of people who attend hockey games for the fights or car races for the wrecks. The local station that carries them in my area promotes their shows by using clips of them, not at their civil rational best, but at their vile extreme worst. That tells you what sells and explains whatever appeal they have. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-why-doesnt-anyone-tell-him-to-shut-up/259337/15 "2004-08-11T18:33:13Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > I don’t care much for O’Reilly, specifically because he’s such a blow hard, but anyone who thinks he’s not a smart guy just hasn’t done his homework or seen him enough. It’s easy to catch footage of mistakes on ANYONE who has had as much air time as O’Reilly. I don’t doubt that he’s a smart guy. Which makes his bluster and his offensiveness even more difficult to excuse. If he were just a dope who was out of his depth, maybe i’d give him more of a pass on his attitude, but anyone as smart as he is who acts like that is not really deserving of any respect. And i’m not sure “mistakes” is the right word to use when describing O’Reilly’s gross misrepresentations and deliberate distortions. Krugman said it better: “It’s a lie.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-why-doesnt-anyone-tell-him-to-shut-up/259337/16 "2004-08-11T18:43:44Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] I don’t doubt that he’s a smart guy. Which makes his bluster and his offensiveness even more difficult to excuse…QUOTE] My thoughts exactly. I often feel embarassed for him when he talks about “pin heads” and “idiots”. He’s smart enough to stick to facts, and it’s to his own detriment that he doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-why-doesnt-anyone-tell-him-to-shut-up/259337/17 "2004-08-11T18:44:52Z")
> [@Silentgoldfish](#): > > Bill O’Reilly: why doesn’t anyone tell him to shut up? Show some sympathy, man. It’s hard to hear with your head up your ass. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-why-doesnt-anyone-tell-him-to-shut-up/259337/18 "2004-08-11T22:06:19Z")
Every time I see any of these blowhards…O’Reilly, Limbaugh, Coulter, Lott, anybody…my response is always the same. “Boy, nice work if you can get it.” Seiriously. Everyone knows that if the words “shut up” ever pass your lips in an argument, it means one thing: **YOU LOSE.** Not only that, but you got run over, trampled, jumped all over like a trampoline, thrown through a meatgrinder, burned to ashes, and then _run over again_. The first time O’Reilly uttered those two horrible words, he should’ve been sent home and not be allowed on the air again until he can actually _come up with a frickin’ argument_. Instead, he’s allowed to go on night after night, babble a bunch of moronic BS, tell everybody to shut up, and get paid for it. Dammit, I had to learn an encyclopedia’s worth of hard facts to earn my accounting degree, and I’ve never earned a tenth as much as him! All I’m saying is that O’Reilly better be saving up his money, 'cause there aren’t that many jobs available for someone with the logical capacity of a first-grader. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-why-doesnt-anyone-tell-him-to-shut-up/259337/19 "2004-08-11T23:19:29Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > And yet you Pit him anyway… It’s more of a GQ but threads about him tend to end up in the pit anyway. I still don’t get why just saying something like “Can I finish?” or “I’m not going to continue until you stop interupting me” is considered losing face or and argument. If anything I would think it would give the interviewee the moral upper hand. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-why-doesnt-anyone-tell-him-to-shut-up/259337/20 "2004-08-12T00:00:58Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > It makes O’Reilly happy to be told to shut up, or to have someone refuse to talk to him. He gloats about it, he considers it a victory. > > I didn’t see the interview, but I’d say it’s the moderator’s job to curb him; otherwise he’ll just say he won. A fairly obvious bully tactic of enjoying flustering the weaker person. His ‘triumph’ when he pulls this bullshit is no different than the schoolyard bully who makes a kid say something like ‘I suck dick.’ to make everyone laugh. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-why-doesnt-anyone-tell-him-to-shut-up/259337.md?page=2)