Bill O'Reilly Has an Opinion

Bill O'Reilly wrote in his newspaper column recently that he was watching the TV broadcast of the Emmy awards. He wrote, "The TV Emmy Awards were broadcast a few days ago and it was the usual: a bunch of smug, self-satisfied show biz types cloyingly parading their liberal views in front of an adoring Los Angeles audience. I mean, come on, you show biz people are supposed to be creative-how about something new and exciting: Maybe demonstrating to the country you might have a clue about what's going on in the world."

So, the premise is pretty much this…Bill O'Reilly states his opinion. Which is his right. But these other people shouldn't express their opinions. Because he disagrees with them.

Bill O'Reilly is not a show biz type. He's just a regular guy. A regular guy with a television show. A regular guy with a radio show. A regular guy with a newspaper column. And he works for a living. Basically, he gets paid to have an opinion and have it often. Maybe this is what he resents; these show biz types giving their opinions away for free while he's forced to sell his for money. Who wants to work that hard to have an opinion just to watch other people give it away for nothing?

Something is bothering the boy because he has a long list of people with whom he disagrees - -George Clooney, Jon Stewart, the Dixie Chicks, Bill Maher - -and he spent quite a number of paragraphs in this column derogating their opinions (and after a while, it seemed, their existence). He's been jousting a long time with the "misguided showbiz people" (apparently, having a TV show and radio show doesn't make you a showbiz person).

Having an opinion is not that big a deal. A recent survey shows that everyone has an opinion:

Do you have an Opinion?
Yes - - - - - - 98%
No - - - - - - - 0%
No Opinion - -2%
(With a margin of error of +/- 2%)

The trick seems to be getting paid for it. And lots of people are making a lot of money for espousing their opinions. But when other people express an opinion, they get very upset.

Maybe Bill O'Reilly's opinion is better than other people's. After all, he did host "A Current Affair" for many years. It was that show that made shows like "Inside Edition" and "The Insider with Pat O'Brien" possible. Apparently these show biz type's opinions are not well-informed and we know this because Bill told us so. And we know Bill's opinions are well-informed because, well, he mocks the other person's opinions.

If it's your job to have an opinion and have it every day, what happens after you've expressed your opinion? Do you make up new ones? Do you just start to repeat yourself repeatedly? The Internet and cable TV seems to dictate the second path.

Maybe Mr. O'Reilly is upset because these people with whom he disagrees so strongly have a bigger audience than he? And you gotta figure that since it's an entertainer's job to know his audience, then they are going to say what's going to play. So, is O'Reilly upset because other people seem to agree with these other opinions? I think it is.

But that's just my opinion.