The O'reilly Question

   The other day,  as I was channel surfing, I landed on the Fox News Channel.  I had never sat through an entire episode of the O'reilly factor, despite watching liberal shows on MSNBC and Comedy Central.  I figured that it seemed rather sensible to watch the whole episode if I wanted to truly consider my self politically independent.
   I like to think that I analyze social and political questions before making a decision about them.  Over this summer alone I have read two Al Franken books, an Ann Coulter book, two Novels by Ayn Raynd, a novel by Aldous Huxley and one by Kurt Vonnegut.  So I would like to believe, therefore, that I have informed myself rather well.  One thing that I had never really been able to stomach was a show by the big O (not Oprah, the other big O). 
   I figured if I could get through a book by Ann Coulter, surely I could get through an hour long program.  I watched the show and found myself pleasantly surprised.  Unlike Coulter's (or Franken's for that matter) book, this show seemed to be focused at people who were not extreme reactionists (or liberals). Of course Mr. O'reilly put his own spin on every story (making me question the verity of his tag-line of 'the no pin zone'). He set out quite logical arguments (of course this makes his show an editorial and not a news program but I was willing to let that go).  Despite what the sound bytes would have me and every other person who watches the daily show believe, he is rather sensible, though obviously not an independent as he very adamantly stated.
   He did something that seemed to make this day the perfect day for me to have chosen to watch the show.  He brought up the sound bytes on John Stewart's Show, which I had seen earlier in the week  (CNN discussing the clip below). O'reilly argued that the sound bytes were misquoted, but for the most part I think that Stewart got the gist of it.

   After that Bill began to question why anyone, the Obama adminstration, John Stewart or the democrats in general would tangle with the biggest 24 hour news cycle on the air.  All I could think was, "I want my America back."  No, the hour segment had not turned me against the public option.  The hour had turned me against the American People. What happened to the ideals that as citizens with the right to vote, we should question all aspects of a debate instead of getting caught up in an arbitrary debate based on two primary colors.  I wondered why so many people watched a show that was obviously biased, the clip that O'reilly had just played showed it. This wasn't like a Coulter book that appealed to only hardcore republicans, this appealed to a large audience.
   Surely Republicans who watch FNC and Democrats who watch MSNBC aren't just watching these channels to spite their differently opinionated neighbors.  I believe that all citizens want what is best for America, yet they go out of their way to avoid the unfiltered truth.  Glenn beck made a documentary that aired on CNN about health care in America and its low success rate.  A few years late, on the higher paying FNC, he rants about death panels and how America already has the best health-care system in the world.  Two percent of Canadians believe America's health-care system is better than theirs. A surveyor in America would be hard pressed to find anything that ninety-eight percent of Americans agreed on.  I think that most Americans have believed a set of rules for so long that they watch these shows because, for some reason, they're afraid to be proved wrong.  America is constantly becoming more liberal, but this new news of FNC's success makes me fear that we have hit a standstill, that America, originally a pioneer in human rights and free thought, is falling behind.

I am Sam and you are looking at the first post of this blog.