Rating Worship At The Altar Of Beck

The sophomoric taunts and stereotypical "mine's bigger than yours" dribblings of Beck and crew have ceased to become just sad - they are just plain pathetic now.



While it would be far to easy to destroy the notion that because Beck has a larger audience that he must have all the facts, I think it's a far better approach to point out that childish nature of the conservative movement.

All too often, we hear conservatives speaking about their responsibilities, their mature approach to governance, or even that they are more "grown up" than their liberal/progressive counterparts. But when we see and hear people like Beck, Hannity, Limbaugh, and even elected conservative officials do nothing but belching out rhetoric that is sub-par when compared to "your ugly and your mother dresses you funny", one has to wonder what it is that draws so many people to them and accept what they are stating.

I've often stated that people, by nature, often want to feel like they are a part of something. It's that herd mentality that causes people to gravitate to the most popular kids in high school - to do and say and act as they do in the hopes that they will be seen as equals. For anyone to want to be seen as an equal to Glenn Beck should give anyone with higher brain functions pause.

Beck, on virtually a daily basis, is known to throw tantrums, scream and make silly noises to show his "passion" and "love" for America. And while it's sometimes fun to point and laugh at Beck's twitching machinations, there's always the response to his thesis of the moment when people like Olbermann, Maddow, or any non-conservative pundit, anchor, or commentator takes him on. The idea of debating issues on merit is sorely lacking within the conservative realm, as they prefer to act like the spoiled brat in grade school who taunts people to make up for their own inadequacies in life.

Such is the case with the clip above, as it's quite likely that Beck knows he would be on the losing end of the argument had he tried to put up a contradictory position to what Olbermann was stating. And it's funny, since this is allegedly the same position that Beck takes up on a nightly basis - how freedom of religion and honesty in reporting issues at hand should always rule the day in America.

When Ratings Translate To Help

Interesting that O'Reilly never has his massive viewership do anything like this.

"Countdown" viewers raised $185,000 in 24 hours after host Keith Olbermann urged them to donate on behalf of the victims of the South Dakota ice storms.

Tuesday night, Olbermann appealed on behalf of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Storm Relief Emergency Assistance, an organization meant to help what Olbermann described as a "humanitarian crisis at home."

Conservatives love to go after the fact that Fox"News" enjoys more of a ratings share than any other network. They use this as some bizarre form of proof that the network must be 100% accurate in everything they say. Those of us in the real world can see through this facade, as high ratings have never equalled accurate reportage.

What Olbermann has accomplished here is something that no anchor on Fox"News" ever has, used their audience to help someone in need that is being ignored. And while some may point to Hannity's "Freedom Concerts" or O'Reilly's push to get "Jessica's Law", the former has been shown to be a scam in many ways and the later was more of a way for O'Reilly to burnish his image without actually doing any work, as "Jessica's Law" was already being implemented across the country.

Having lived through one of the greatest ice storms in recent history, and seeing how people helped one another, I know that the people of Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe are grateful for what Olbermann and his viewership have done.

Do High Ratings Equal Accurate / Fair Reporting?

Absolutely not.

But Fox"News" continues to think so.

And, I love this dig they get in on their competition:

This would be where CNN and MSNBC use an asterix in their ads to point out some half-baked one-time statistic to prove that somebody stumbled across their channels giving them a temporary spike in the ratings, which they would tout as unprecedented, earth-shattering and monumental. It's actually pathetic since we all know that if they massage their statistics long enough, they can come up with anything to make their tiny lame point. But deep in their hearts, even they know that FOX NEWS IS NUMBER ONE in cable news and has been for years.

Fox"News" is popular for one reason, and one reason only - it's tabloid nature.

People love exploitative television. They love to be "entertained".

If you had to choose between watching Bill O'Reilly have a shouting match with a large-breasted blonde or Wolf Blitzer talking with Alan Greenspan about bank nationalization, which would you choose?

Do Higher Ratings = Accurate / Honest Reporting? Of Course They Don't. Just Don't Tell O'Reilly That

A recent ad produced by Fox"News" aims to inflate the already over-stuffed ego of Bill O'Reilly.

The ad joyously boasts:

At 8PM, cable news shows have come and gone, but only one has been #1 for 90 consecutive months: The O'Reilly Factor with Bill O'Reilly"

Fox"News" loves to tout themselves as "fair and balanced" - not giving one side more positive coverage over another. But, O'Reilly seems to take this to another level. His excessive hubris and self-diefication will surely be his undoing one day ( Andrea Mackris almost accomplished this ). He honestly believes that he opperates a 'no spin' zone, where facts are presented and opinion and conjecture are left out.

O'Reilly derives his power from a show that sensationalizes almost everything. He claims that he is 'looking out for you' and that he always has the well-being of children in mind. However, that wasn't the case at all when O'Reilly decided to see how far his cloven-hoof could fit into his mouth when dicussing the Sean Hornbeck kidnapping.

But this is all old news. The only people that honestly care about what O'Reilly has to say are O'Reilly and those in the 70+ demographic that just enjoy the noise of the television while they are sipping their second can of Ensure.

You may find yourself saying, "well, you seem to care what he says."

You are only partially right.

If Bill is going to try and present himself as hosting an honest, accurate, and fair program - and he doesn't - he should be called out on it. If he's just rambling on and on about his ratings somehow validate his skewed reasoning, then he's definately getting called out for it.

His show is a mixture of a violent car wreck and that scene in Pink Flamingos where Divine eats the dog shit. You know it really doesn't have any inherant value and won't enrich yoru life, but you just can't help but stare.

For years, O'Reilly has had it in for Kieth Olbermann and his show Countdown. Kieth has one major thing going for him - Countdown recently overtook The Factor in the key demographic. That's what advertisers want, people in the 25-54 age range watching television, and they know what programs they are watching.

So, we'll let O'Reilly have his little fantasy that he's actually relevant, for now.