O’Reilly’s bait and switch

Bill O’Reilly, the nation’s pre-eminent bloviator, made the talk rounds Friday, venturing out his “no-spin” bubble into hostile territory.

Making stops on “Oprah” and “Late Night with David Letterman” to hawk his latest book, O’Reilly spewed his standard invective, blasting the vast left-wing conspiracy for ruining the nation with its amoral behavior and complete control of the power apparatus.

It is the standard argument that the right has been making for years, that the liberals — what he calls “secular-progressives” — are using their power and influence to destroy American values. It is an argument that builds off the obviously false notion that so-called SPs actually run things.

His rant on “Oprah” targeted people ike George Soros and organizations like MoveOn.org (those left-wing Web sites, as he said), the entertainment industry and, of all things, a left-wing media that disdains traditional values (does he actually ever read the paper or watch the news?
To which news organization are we to assume he refers?).

His arguments on Oprah made his Letterman appearance all the more significant, because Letterman of all people called the Grand Bloviator on his tenuous grasp on the facts (“I have no idea what I’m talking about,” Dave said, “but I don’t think you do either.”)

In the end, the O’Reilly argument — advanced by others on the right like Sean Hannity and even the vice president — is designed to do little more than promote the myth of a hidden power elite when the real power is pretty obviously in the hands of right-wing hatchet men like Bill O’Reilly (the right controls all three branches of government and corporate interests tend to be value-neutral, supporting those politicians who will do the most to help pad the bottom line).

There is an echo here of the argument used by the Nazis in German (no, I am not equating the American right with the Nazis; I’m only pointing out the rhetorical similarities) — that a hidden elite (then it was Jewish bankers; today, it is secular-progressives and the media elite) has taken over and is eroding what has made the nation great.

It is, to be kind, a bunch of hooey. But their argument also poses some danger because fascism has its seeds in a culture of blame. What makes it all the more disgusting, though, is that O’Reilly and his minions know the argument is the proverbial red herring, something to get the plot rolling and to distract us from the real stakes. They have dressed their naked thirst for power in patriotic and traditionalist garb.

As Keith Olbermann might say, “have you no shame, sir?”

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet