He seems compelled by a force so vindictive it may be misinterpreted as either fiction or corporate policy. Weeknights in the USA The O’Reilly Factor is full of anger and energy. Sadly, O’Reilly’s book The No Spin Zone falls far from the tree.
As a liberal nutjob, I was disappointed, bemused, at the very most I was confused.
Who defanged this cobra? Who devenomed this rattlesnake? More importantly, why?
O’Reilly goes so far as to express moderate opinions on people as far fetched as Jesse Jackson and J-Lo. He disagrees with an anti-gay and comes across as an overall okay guy.
But what of his legions of rabid fans? What would go through their mind as they saw their mighty leader strewn about like the mistress of a Columbian drug cartel? How would they face this disaster?
Why does this exist? Perhaps given the space to write out his thoughts with a cool head and some time to edit, O’Reilly isn’t the madman he appears to be five nights a week on the Fox network.
But dig a little deeper and something more sinister than a mere character flaw lurks in this book. I’ve been told that the book has been toned down to increase sales. This is not the case. People sell books to their fans. You don’t need to be Dan Brown to know this. Toning down the book for the fans would weaken sales to his audience. There exists a paradox. It is estimated that 85% of O’Reilly fans don’t read—this isn’t to say they are illiterate merely to suggest that TV’s warm alluring glow has dulled their senses to the written word. Paper and ink pales in comparison to the shit storm of words, anger and spittle that O’Reilly can pitch forth across a TV set. Then why make a book at all? Elementary, my dear Watson, the ancient Chinese art of propaganda!
By bypassing his true audience via the medium of book, O’Reilly manages to reel in the detractors without embarrassing himself to his fans. Never before has a strike been so acutely targeted. Foolishly, I, a detractor, am left unarmed and disabled. You win this round O’Reilly. Oh really.
When someone like Michael Moore writes a book, it’s the perfect opportunity for his detractors to sit down with a Wikipedia and slowly break apart each argument while at the same time exposing another publishable book of lies. O’Reilly is invincible, his book places detractors in a limbo, of sorts. Unable to argue with the book they may simply give up the fight, or worse, start showing signs of support for old Bill. Good game old bean. Good game indeed.
The real beauty of this exercise is in the title The No Spin Zone. Brilliant once you consider that the title itself is spin on a book which is itself a finely executed spin piece from the O’Reilly workshop.