# Rachel Maddow vs. Bill O'Reilly **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 23, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-maddow-vs-bill-oreilly/547745 "2010-07-23T18:12:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-maddow-vs-bill-oreilly/547745/1 "2010-07-23T18:12:29Z")
They are having a back-and-forth - - Maddow was one of the first to dig into the Sherrod video and expose how it was edited by a right-wing blogger to imply a point that was 180degrees the opposite of Sherrod’s intent. - Maddow also made it clear that FOX is centrally responsible for giving the blogger a forum to be heard - Bill O’Reilly came back and tried to dis Maddow and used the fact that FOX has higher rating his his arguement - Maddow [fired back](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/23/rachel-maddow-responds-to_n_656910.html) - link to HuffPo article on this, which has the following quote: > [@](#): > > They are more watched than “The O’Reilly Factor,” my lord – which is totally immaterial to the discussion at hand, because when you got all kicked your network’s butt, and madam on me, you weren’t really trying to tout your network’s ratings. You were trying to take the attention off me saying that your network, FOX News, continually crusades on flagrantly bogus stories designed to make white Americans fear black Americans, which FOX News most certainly does for a political purpose even if it upends the lives of individuals like Shirley Sherrod, even as it frays the fabric of the nation, and even as it makes the American Dream more of a dream and less of a promise. > > You can insult us all you want about television ratings, Mr. O’Reilly, and you’ll be right that yours are bigger for now and maybe forever. You are the undisputed champion. But even if no one watches us at all, except for my mom and my girlfriend and people who forgot to turn off the TV after Keith, you are still wrong on what really matters and that would be the facts, your highness. This is why I love Rachel Maddow. Go get 'im, Madam. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-maddow-vs-bill-oreilly/547745/2 "2010-07-23T18:25:03Z")
Read that this morning and watched the video. I really like Rachel because of a sense of integrity and concern for the truth in an increasingly cynical world and mdeia marketplace. I loved how she handled his comments about ratings , even to the extent of showing the numbers. She’s my 2nd favorite lesbian named Rachel. {which is irrelevant to the story I know} ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-maddow-vs-bill-oreilly/547745/3 "2010-07-23T18:29:19Z")
Watched it last night and loved it. Rachel is my favorite person on television. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-maddow-vs-bill-oreilly/547745/4 "2010-07-23T18:44:35Z")
No contest. O’Reilly is to Maddow as Forest Gump is to Stephen Hawking. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-maddow-vs-bill-oreilly/547745/5 "2010-07-23T19:21:14Z")
I wonder if O’Reilly would have the courage to appear on Maddow’s show. She would very politely eviscerate him. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-maddow-vs-bill-oreilly/547745/6 "2010-07-23T19:24:09Z")
Okay, after giving up TV for the last year, Rachel will be why I go back. I love her (and would marry her if she were even slightly inclined back my way and would have me)! ---
**Author:** ![Cinebar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Cinebar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinebar)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-maddow-vs-bill-oreilly/547745/7 "2010-07-23T19:49:25Z")
I guess if this were a poll, it would be unanimous because I, too, love Rachel. Not in a romantic way but for all the reasons everyone else has said they love her. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-maddow-vs-bill-oreilly/547745/8 "2010-07-23T20:04:03Z")
Not only is she smart, [she also mixes a mean drink.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sebfwBVEVKE) A woman after my own heart, she is. [Compare to Bill early in his career.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tJjNVVwRCY) You’ve probably seen this already. Boy is he dumb. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-maddow-vs-bill-oreilly/547745/9 "2010-07-23T20:43:22Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > [Compare to Bill early in his career.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tJjNVVwRCY) You’ve probably seen this already. Boy is he dumb. Hey, that wasn’t Bill’s fault. [He was being provoked](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEszZBS7Oig). ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-maddow-vs-bill-oreilly/547745/10 "2010-07-23T20:47:21Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > I wonder if O’Reilly would have the courage to appear on Maddow’s show. She would very politely eviscerate him. Nah, she would probably laugh at him. Much more effective way to handle him. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-maddow-vs-bill-oreilly/547745/11 "2010-07-23T21:36:32Z")
That video almost makes Jon Stewart’s two week hiatus tolerable. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-maddow-vs-bill-oreilly/547745/12 "2010-07-23T21:38:17Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > That video almost makes Jon Stewart’s two week hiatus tolerable. Yeah, of all the weeks he had to take off, right? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-maddow-vs-bill-oreilly/547745/13 "2010-07-23T21:38:32Z")
Wait, “I don’t know what those words mean in that context” = “I can’t read the teleprompter, there are no words there”? And that’s worth throwing a tantrum over? ---
**Author:** ![Cinebar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Cinebar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinebar)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-maddow-vs-bill-oreilly/547745/14 "2010-07-23T21:42:12Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And that’s worth throwing a tantrum over? It is if you’re Bill O’Reilly, I guess. I think a lot of it has to do with his massive ego. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-maddow-vs-bill-oreilly/547745/15 "2010-07-23T22:03:52Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > I wonder if O’Reilly would have the courage to appear on Maddow’s show. She would very politely eviscerate him. He has appeared on _The View_, so I assume he would go on Rachel’s show if she invited him. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-maddow-vs-bill-oreilly/547745/16 "2010-07-23T22:14:36Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > He has appeared on _The View_, so I assume he would go on Rachel’s show if she invited him. That’s like saying he’d compete in the Olympics because he kicked ass in the Special Olympics. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-maddow-vs-bill-oreilly/547745/17 "2010-07-23T22:17:10Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > That’s like saying he’d compete in the Olympics because he kicked ass in the Special Olympics. No, it’s more like saying he’s handled four rabid estrogen-fueled liberal pinheads at once, so why would he have any trouble handling one? ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-maddow-vs-bill-oreilly/547745/18 "2010-07-23T22:20:24Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > No, it’s more like saying he’s handled four rabid estrogen-fueled liberal pinheads at once, so why would he have any trouble handling one? Stop for a moment and reflect on this. Rachel Maddow is smarter than O’Reily. She’s also more honest and less ignorant. So maybe pinhead is a little harsh to describe her. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-maddow-vs-bill-oreilly/547745/19 "2010-07-23T22:42:39Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > He has appeared on _The View_, so I assume he would go on Rachel’s show if she invited him. You assumption is wrong as she has invited him on air in the past. He never responded. I have no idea if the invitation is still open it’s been a while. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-maddow-vs-bill-oreilly/547745/20 "2010-07-23T22:54:30Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > No, it’s more like saying he’s handled four rabid estrogen-fueled liberal pinheads at once, so why would he have any trouble handling one? Uh-oh. No one breathe \*a word \*of this to Elizabeth Hasselbeck! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-maddow-vs-bill-oreilly/547745.md?page=2)