Some Mature Thoughts On The Bill O'Reilly Legal Battle (Towards A Column)

Though everything on my blog weeks prior points to the opposite, I really was skeptical about the information that was initially available about the accusations. It's a dicey issue when you ask yourself what the woman was doing going back to situations where she was subjected to O'Reilly. Then you realize, as some in the business world must, that the only way to present a credible case is to document experiences over a long period of time. But how long is to long? And should anyone suffer just being automatically accused (there are frivolous claims).

And the alleged O'Reilly quotes found at The Smoking Gun are too priceless (and disturbing, if you've tried to imagine him saying his sex lines with his usual commentator-style delivery). The ranting he supposedly made about Al Franken regarding the failed lawsuit, if never proven false, will only help confirm what most of us suspected all along. We just don't get proof of a man's hatred, paranoia and hubris like this delivered to our doorstep every day. Even with the jillion pages in the Starr Report, we never got evocations of Clinton ranting about his enemies or playing with a globe like Charlie Chaplin in his Hitler films. Whatever you think about him, at least he was enough of a human being with enough natural charisma and intelligence to not waste time talking about overblown war stories to impress someone.

Still. Still, it was too good to be true. I did suspect sabotage via the Democrats. They would be stupid enough to try something else that would sabotage another election.

Then Fox had to do was commit a serious unethical move (gasp) and attack the accuser, seeking her unemployment. Yeah, that clinched it for me in a second.

It's been a domino effect, really. Just as Bush begins to fall, the rest of the media has to now look more objective (Fox grudgingly admitted that Kerry won the first debate through the gnashed teeth of that blonde host that smiles like a stroke victim. Don't underestimate how amazing that is). It's only natural that even their most prized mouthpieces lose their protection. O'Reilly has begun his slow trek down the road becoming a pundit joke, alongside Gingrich and scores of others, affecting only the converted. He's gaining behind Rush Limbaugh, who recently had the humiliation of his legal situation being defended by the famous Republican target, the ACLU. Instead of O'Reilly turning on The Smoking Gun or Limbaugh denouncing the defenders of everything he despises (or says he despises for ratings), all they can do is sit and wait things out (or in O'Reilly's case, try to settle out of court) and watch their credibility dwindle to nothing.

Finally, an enjoyable car wreck.