MW2002

MEDIA WATCH SPECIAL: O’REILLY DOES 2002

Crazy things happen after a Saturday night of watching “Trading Spaces” and “Designing for the Sexes, “ just as the clock strikes midnight. Although the TV book didn’t list it, I brushed up against a repeat of The Factor as I did a final remote run through while I was brushing my teeth.

What drew me in was a glimpse of the cheery Ellis Henican, now an official FOX News Analyst.

Ellis would drop by FOX occasionally before 911, but my acquaintance with him goes back a number of years to when I listened to News Radio 88, WCBS New York. I don’t remember a thing about his commentaries, but I do remember his distinct, nasal twang.

Ellis is one of the “better” liberals that show up on FOX—he’s quick, bright, and has an elfin charm that counteracts his voice limitations. He would make a perfect foil for the bellicose Sean Hannity who runs roughshod over the rather meek and too-eager-to-please Alan Colmes (although you can’t really fault the guy for trying to hold onto his job, since the liberal WEVD in New York switched to sports and he lost his radio slot). I can see the hyperactive Ellis “dancing like a butterfly” and driving Hannity NUTS!

Anyway, what I had stumbled upon was a repeat of O’Reilly with an opening segment involving

a “wish list” for 2002. Joining The Ego along with Ellis was Monica Crowley, PhD. Monica has been around awhile, but has seemed to take a backseat to Anne Coulter and the late Barbara Olsen in the hierarchy of blonde conservative irritants. Whereas Coulter fancies herself a “constitutional lawyer” and Olsen’s anti-Clinton “literary” projects were funded by rightwing organizations (and BOTH are/were rabid and fact-challenged), Crowley has thus far never reached their level of viciousness. A quick Internet search didn’t turn up the subject of her Colgate PhD, but she helped Nixon write books and, according to a British book reviewer, “ex-President Nixon hired Monica Crowley, a clever, well-read woman who specialises in international affairs, to help him on the foreign policy front. She assisted him with two of his books, travelled with him all over the world, and was with him until his death in 1994.” Additionally, she has been an advocate for the voting rights of the mentally ill along with Bill Maher, which might explain why she turns up on Politically Incorrect with some frequency.

Not having studied O’Reilly’s mug since before 911, I was shocked to see his wan appearance. His skin looked like crepe, his hair was wispy, and the jowl line near his chin was noticeable. Murdoch’s New York Post is trying to drop some hints in its Page Six gossip column http://www.pagesix.com/seven/01052002/pagesix/pagesix.htm about how great an NRA head O’Reilly would be and it might not be a bad move—The Ego seems plum tuckered out from fighting the “war” these last four months. On the other hand, he might have been recovering from a too happy New Year’s celebration…

I dropped in as the trio was discussing oil, conservation, and Enron. O’Reilly was demanding conservation!!! “I don’t understand why Bush can’t do the conservation thing!” he exclaimed. The Ego did pronounce, “This (Enron) has to happen! I’m going to Ashcroft’s house, if it doesn’t!” Whoa!!! He went on to describe the “four weasels in Enron.” Henican tried to outline the “historical background” to Enron, energy, and Bush, but O’Reilly wasn’t interested in hearing the details. He said dismissively that Henican had a “conspiratorial picture” of what went on. Henican did manage to get in a comment about oil/energy being “deeply inside their brains.” O’Reilly said that if Ashcroft doesn’t investigate, “I’m with you.” Crowley opined that Enron wasn’t a “political scandal” but Henican interjected, “It’s close!!” At that, Crowley added that Bush should order the Justice Department to launch a “full investigation.” The Ego commented, “You know Cheney’s hiding these lists!!” He literally brushed aside Crowley’s lame comment that “Enron couldn’t have had ties to the Administration—if they had, they wouldn’t have failed!”

My head was spinning!! And it continued! The Ego started on conservation again exclaiming “We can hit a cave with a missile from 4,000 miles away and yet we can’t get a car to get 70 miles a gallon??” Crowley tried to make up for her earlier gaffe by proclaiming that although she wasn’t much of a “tax person,” she could see a sin tax on SUVs and “domestic drilling.” Henican offered the commet that if you wanted to drive something that got 10 mpg, then a sin tax could be a great idea.

The next wish for 2002 on the table was Henican’s hope that everyone should get a fair chance to VOTE! O’Reilly went into his speech about “morons” who didn’t know how to vote, but Henican kept at it about people who showed up to vote legally had a RIGHT to be able to vote. He was trying to get to all the Florida fraud but Crowley got the last word: “That issue is so OVER!!” I think Monica might be missing the boat on that one, since poll numbers reflect large percentages of people who feel Bush was either “installed” or won on a “technicality.”

Henican’s next wish for 2002 was an end to all the useless embargoes that the U.S. has in force. Monica could see ending the Cuba embargo, but not the one against Iraq. The Ego agreed that most embargoes don’t work and that Iraq could everything it needed from Germany. “I’m not an embargo guy, I’m more of an assassin guy,” he remarked cheerily.

Crowley got a shot at the next wish, naming “the absurd waste, fraud, and corruption” that exists. She failed to mention that under the Clinton team, the government was trimmed, whereas under Reagan it grew!! O’Reilly used the discussion to lob a comment about the “corrupt Justice Department” and how it’s been that way “for 10 years.” Obviously, The Ego was trying to throw a jab at Clinton, but according to my Inauguration First Day Cover folder, Clinton wasn’t inaugurated until January 1993, so O’Reilly was actually referring back to Bush 1’s administration, no??? And surely he doesn’t forget the 150 Reagan Administration officials that were caught up in all sorts of investigations. Henican caught The Ego when he said, “OK, you have new guys in, let’s see what THEY do!” to which O’Reilly offered a subdued, “That’s fair” and quickly moved on.

Henican, who is not shy about getting his voice heard, jumped in again with the last wish of the segment. This time he wished for the good health of Supreme Court Justices John Paul Stevens and Sandra Day O’Connor. He said we should buy them health drinks and gym memberships because they were “moderates” and if we lost these two people…. well, disaster was implied. I wouldn’t have called them “moderates” but rather “swing votes” but I knew what Henican was driving at. Frankly, with talk of Rhenquist's retiring having been around for awhile as well as the

Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s cancer surgery, for me there are more than two big “ifs” with regard to the Supreme Court. Heck, half the Court could find a reason to leave at any moment!! O’Reilly made some good-natured remark about Henican “pot-smoking,” I guess to help label him “liberal” but The Ego did concur that he didn’t want to see anyone on the Court leave for health reasons.

Well, I jumped into bed in a remarkably upbeat mood—Henican had really held his own, Crowley didn’t screech, and O’Reilly kept his stupidity in check. There was no overt bashing of Clinton, not a mention of Bush, and Jesse Jackson’s name didn’t come up once!!! However, I’m not one to be fooled…I’m sure since this show first aired, The Ego has returned to his usual self. After all,

it’s an election year, his nemesis Alan Greenspan is still around, and Tom Daschle is stirring….

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