HOST UNHINGED AFTER SALES FIGURES REVEALED; CALLS DRUDGE 'THREAT TO DEMOCRACY'

(c)DRUDGE REPORT 2003 ^ | THU DEC 18, 2003 09:25:08 ET | Drudge

[.cnI redruM]

TalkerAuthor Bill O'Reilly lashed out against this space during his popular FOXNEWS O'REILLY FACTOR Wednesday night -- just hours after closely guarded book sales figures were splashed over the internet.

Sales figures show how, contrary to his claims, O'Reilly lags far behind rivals Al Franken and Sen. Hillary Clinton for nonfiction props!

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Responding to an exclusive yearender DRUDGE dispatch, which presented NIELSEN's Top 20 BOOKSCAN list of 2003 sales, O'Reilly called the DRUDGE REPORT 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."

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Last year, the host of Cable TVs most-watched newscast became unbuckled and turned unstable after this space first revealed how O'Reilly was plotting a new radio program to air opposite Rush Limbaugh [who had just lost his hearing] and how WOR-AM in New York would receive cash compensation from VIACOM to carry the program. [The broadcast launched several months later.]

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"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."

[.cnI redruM]

The book hang-up is hurting him. It takes away from his job performance.

[hadaclueonce]

amen brother

[claudiustg]

---"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."---

Like one of those car salesman that will do anything to sell you a car, O'Reilly will try any silly WWC stunt to sell his book.

I do think we can do without him pimping for the torture of prisoners. He's always going on about what he would do, when he's got no real idea what he would do if he were really there. Typical drugstore cowboy.

[Bluntpoint]

Everytime I try to give Bill another chance, I turn on his show only to leave feeling embarrassed for him. Sad.

[Hank Rearden]

You've got a great tagline!

You do Howie. I'll do Dick.

Maybe I should rephrase that . . . . .

[litany_of_lies]

I can tell you from listening to Drudge's show that:
- O'Reilly (BOR) spoke with Drudge on his show shortly after Drudge ran his piece about BOR about to embark into the talk-radio biz. BOR stated (paraphrasing) that such discussions were not being pursued and that he had no plans to get into talk radio, and chided Drudge about being irresponsible. Drudge stuck to his guns and stood by the story. Drudge was right at the time, because...
- Not many months later, BOR DID get into talk radio, and in what I understand is VERY unusual in the business, paid or comped certain major-market stations to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars each to carry the program. The paying and comping may not be unusual, but the dollar amounts were and are unprecedented. Drudge's exposure of this brought on the Imus phone appearance.
- On Imus, BOR did indeed make the crack cocaine and "kill" comments. Drudge replayed them on his show. Imus also took the opportunity to ridicule Matt and (paraphrasing) his "pitiful little web site and obscure radio program." Both men came off to me looking real small. Imus in the morning isn't anywhere near a Top 10 program nationally, even though he has the morning drive and is simulcast on TV on MSNBC every weekday morning. Drudge, OTOH, has a remarkable 2 million listeners on Sunday nights and 7+ million hits to his web site daily.

I'm with Drudge on this, and extremely disappointed that BOR has stayed on the low road with him for so long.

Matt has also said that he hasn't revealed specifics about what he alleges is very shoddy treatment of staff and associates by BOR.

Don't get me wrong, I have my issues with Drudge too, especially his dissing of those supporting Terri Schiavo. Until that point, he seemed prolife without exception. Now I would call him anti-abortion but not prolife.

[Bluntpoint]

Those who watch "The Factor" today watch it with for same reason people watched the "Anna Nicole Smith" show. It makes them feel so much smarter after watching airheads make complete fools of themselves.

[.cnI redruM]

LMAO! I thought I STILL needed coffee the first time I read that!

[sarasota]

The only interest I now have in BOR is in hearing about the train wreck of this shock jock. Thanks for the post.

[Bluntpoint]

Here's Bill:

[sarasota]

You got a LOL from me on that one!

[litany_of_lies]

Slight amendment: Imus is about #8 from what I can tell, even though as I said before he has the morning drive (and for that matter, has it to himself, unless you consider Howard Stern a talk show and not a freak show).

[Bluntpoint]

[Porterville]

I thought O'Reilly was screwed on tighter than that, but I guess not.

As he always reminds us, hew went to Harvard.... not a very good school for journalism.... they produce pscyzophrenics.

[zx2dragon]

If BOR were to drop off the TV and MD off the internet I wouldn't shed a tear. Put em both in the ring and sell it on PPV, that's the American Way.

[William Tell]

ampat said: "Yeah, he said he was kidding or being facetious about the bazooka thing."

Can you supply more details about his response. I have received no acknowlegement of my email. For him to backtrack on "bazookas" and not "machine guns" is turning a lie into a half-lie. It continues to serve the anti-gunners.

If he did respond to what I hope is thousands of emails, then this "retraction" deserves yet another slap.

[flashbunny]

Good pic. I can't believe I was the only one who saw it coming - the first time I tuned in to him he seemed like a pompous populist blowhard who knows very little about what he talks about. Others are saying they don't know what happened to him lately. It's not lately, he's been building towards this for years.

[paul51]

Sounds like BO'R in a dem like meltdown...If it's true

[.cnI redruM]

We should leave stupidity like this to Dean, McDermott and Notbrite. This doesn't help advance conservatism in any way, shape or form.