O’Reilly’s subliminal message? During the O’Reilly Factor introductory previews,* a strange thing occurred. First, former Clinton advisor and ABC’s This Week host George Stephanopoulos was shown in color opining favorably about President Obama’s speech in a segment named “Critical Mass.” Offering her contrary view, conservative author and columnist appeared similarly in color but over a chyron entitled, “Conservative Commentary”: However, after she said, “I did expect Americans to turn against the socialist program of Obama,” the screen above the colored Factor banner turned ominously black and white and the camera zoomed in close as if to signal her scary essence.
Was O’Reilly sending a subtle signal to his more liberal viewers?
*O’Reilly Factor – 09/10/09 (@8:00 p.m. ET)
Tags: ABC, Ann Coulter, barack obama, Bill Clinton, Bill O'Reilly, FNC, Fox News, George Stephanopoulos, O'Reilly Factor, The O'Reilly Factor, This Week, This Week with George Stephanopoulos
September 11, 2009 at 12:55 am
I assumed when first reading this that your imagination had once again gotten away from you. The DVR is an amazing tool, however, and I have to agree that “ominous” and “scary” correctly describe the formatting of Ms. Coulter’s preview at the start of the show.
I can’t know precisely what Mr. O’Reilly or his director intended with the use of that creative license, but more than once during the actual segment he was dismissive of the point she was making.
I don’t dislike Bill O’Reilly and I’m also not always in agreement with Ann Coulter. But, lately, I’ve often found myself thinking that he doesn’t quite grasp some of the subtleties of what she is saying. It might be wise for Mr. Bold Fresh to remember that Ann Coulter is smarter than he is. That doesn’t make her always right, but he needs to be able to keep up with her in order to decide whether she is or not.
September 11, 2009 at 1:13 am
As an afterthought, it occurred to me that Mr. O’Reilly does not appear to be arrogant about his views. Contrast the Ann Coulter segment with the one with Megyn Kelly. During the latter he said something he thought made sense but then paid attention to Ms. Kelly’s response and readily deferred to her opinion.
Both women hold a Doctorate of Jurisprudence and are accomplished in their non-legal careers. So I have to assume he simply doesn’t like Ann Coulter’s stye.
September 11, 2009 at 1:50 am
You may well be generally right–this time–as to Bill and Ann, Al. :-) Perhaps, Bill likes Ann for the ratings but deems her somewhat radioactive. As to your statement that “Mr. O’Reilly does not appear to be arrogant about his views,” I’m not sure that even O’Reilly would subscribe to that assessment.
September 11, 2009 at 11:03 pm
Used in the context of Bill O’Reilly, arrogance is relative.