Television shoutfests over ideology may be entertaining to watch, but they’re even more entertaining for the shouters. Just look at Bill O’Reilly admitting how much fun it was to harangue and condescend to the ladies of The View.
On his show last night, O’Reilly admitted to Democratic interlocutor Alicia Menendez that he had been condescending, but it wasn’t his fault because Joy Behar was “yapping.” He also said proudly, “I am often offensive.”
Unfortunately, on her own show, Behar wasn’t particularly articulate about why it’s fucked up to say that “Muslims killed us on 9/11.” This included asking Jesse Ventura (who cheerfully refers to himself as a 9/11 conspiracy theorist?) whether what O’Reilly said is “free speech or hate speech.” Joy, the government is not regulating it, and it can be both. And it’s offensive despite the fact that the 9/11 masterminds were Muslim, because the people interested in conflating terrorism and Muslims have a broader agenda to paint them all with the same brush.
In another part of the show, O’Reilly had no problem admitting that he had enjoyed the entire affair. Ratings bonanza for all!
Earlier: Hell Seriously Breaks Loose With Bill O’Reilly On The View.