Bill O’Reilly thinks Americans are “dumb” according to his blithe and arrogant echo chamber “discussion” on the October 28 edition of Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor. Just to be clear, O’Reilly doesn’t make any apologizes about his grandiose and unsubstantiated stance that the conservative right in America remains always blameless for any fault, while at the same time struggling valiantly against the scary and terrible liberal party to bring our country back to some golden age ideal of capitalism and moral fiber.
His show is a farce; a thinly veiled “infotainment” talking head theater designed to stir up controversy where there is none while spreading a pro-big business conservative agenda. When he says “Many American citizens are simply dumb. They don’t know anything. And when you don’t know anything, you’ll buy anything and propaganda rules,” he is hoping to garner attention and spread his message beyond his elderly white audience. Look at some of his other recent headlines, and decide for yourself is they sound like reasonable opinions:
- 50% Of Voters Will Support Obama Because They “Feel That They Are Entitled To Things”
- Obama, Dems Want An “Entitlement State,” While GOP Wants A “Lean, Mean Economic Machine”
The basic message is always the same: Democrats are lazy and stupid and will ruin this country, while Republicans will save us all from disaster and deliver us from evil. It makes no sense to give Mr. O’Reilly any more press or attention than he already has.
In a complicated and diverse world, boiling issues down to the lowest possible denominator in order to argue endlessly while making unnecessarily loud face noises is not only irritating to most, it serves to pull our country’s consciousness down into negativity and destruction. Picture a red-faced three year old screaming for a candy bar in the middle of the store. The best path is not to engage in a shouting match with an unreasonable toddler, but to change the subject, or the channel, and move on.