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Weekly words of wisdom from Bill O'Reilly

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Quote:

Taste for the notorious
is coarsening America

Perhaps the most profound change in American society over the past 40 years is how bad behavior is processed. When I grew up in the 1960s, bad boys and girls were usually held accountable for their misbehavior, punishment was almost a lock and very few scandals resulted in profit participation.
Today, all that has changed. In the latest of a long line of rewards for questionable activity, Monica Lewinsky has been hired to host a prime-time television program called "Mr. Personality." Since Ms. Lewinsky has no TV experience, one can assume that the only reason she is doing "Mr. Personality" is that ... well, you know what I mean.

Lewinsky's employment follows a long list of people who have profited from notorious incidents. G. Gordon Liddy has a syndicated radio show, Oliver North works for Fox News, Winona Ryder is doing commercials fresh off her shoplifting conviction, Robert Downey Jr. got a role on "Ally McBeal" right out of drug rehab. The list goes on and on.

Paula Jones, who made a federal case out of sexual-harassment allegations against then-Gov. Bill Clinton, was paid six figures for showing her figure in Penthouse magazine. After seeing the pictures, I wanted to sue for sexual harassment. Jessica Hahn and Tonya Harding also made good money in the aftermath of their scandals. Many rappers will tell you the more they are busted by the police, the bigger their recording contracts. R. Kelly has a hit album after being charged with sexually abusing a minor.

The message here is that American society really doesn't care how anyone behaves and that some in corporate America will reward tawdry behavior all day long. Believe me, this situation is not lost on children. They see Lewinsky scoring in the media, and they know exactly how the play was made. Surely, TV programs starring Anna Nicole Smith and Lewinsky send a signal that the U.S.A. is a place where hard work doesn't really matter if you are ready to marry an 89-year-old guy or exceed your internship job description.

While it is true that we Americans love a story of redemption, contrition is not needed to capitalize on scandal. Few of the infamous ever admit wrongdoing, and it is certainly not required by those who hire them. No, the only thing that is required is a famous name, and it really doesn't matter how you become famous, just as long as you are.

You would think that NOW - the National Organization for Women - would be outraged over Lewinsky's "Mr. Personality" gig. Aren't there any women in America who are actually qualified to host a reality program of this kind, women who actually worked for years developing communications skills? Where is NOW on this?

In fact, where is anybody on this? I know these TV programs are culturally insignificant, but there is a larger issue here. Isn't there?

Unfortunately, very few of us care about the issue. Americans are numb to tawdry actions because we see so much of them, and the celebration of boorishness has now been elevated to a level the decadent Roman emperors would have enjoyed. The result is that America unquestionably has become a coarse society, a country where crude can be very profitable. And we're not talking oil here.

File the hiring of the infamous under freedom of expression. The Constitution gives us all the right to profit from our mistakes. And never has the business of bad behavior been better.

Any thoughts or opinions on this?

You know I believe that there is a general lowering of our sense of what exactly is considered acceptable behavior. Beneath that however, is an inability to judge character. If we had a sense of the true character of the people we idolize, we'd be repulsed by them.

And you also know I believe this is a media-induced state of affairs.

I'm impressed that he included North. He usually shies away from criticizing anything about Fox News.

I honestly don't understand how anyone could watch some of these people. I get sick just looking at them for a second.

I think Nike used to sponser alot of atheletes who had a bad rep in their sports. There was a soccer player who had a pretty bad reputation that Nike signed, and after he scored a big goal, he got all the fame because of his bad boy image.

Another example would be the wrestlers in WWE. Just look at how bad ass stone cold Steve Austin is idolized.

"bad behavior" as defined by Bill O'Reilly...

In my opinion, it is the people who sensationalize 'bad behavior' who are to blame. I don't see what the bigger problem is - that they hired Monica Lewinsky or that people, undoubtedly the same that watch Fox News or similar cable new programs- watch that kind of crap.

Art... this is partly due to that AntiHero thing you wrote about in v3.0

Wow, Another editorial by Mr. O'Reilly that I agree with.

It seems as long as he stays away from politics he has a lot of good opinions :)

Yup, I'm gonna have to agree with him on this one. When I buggered up at home, I got an @$$ kicking.......I wasn't waited on hand and foot.

Wow! Bill O'Reilly actually called marrying somebody "bad behaviour"?

Winona Ryder, Robert Downey? Come on. These people are doing their job. They were doing their jobs before they got arrested, why should they stop once they get out. If I was waiting to go to trail I'd probally continue to work, if I just got out of rehab I'd get a job to keep myself busy. R kelly doesn't have a best selling album because raped a girl. He has a best selling album because people like his music(I dont know who, but someone)

I dont think these are "REWARDS" for bad behavior. If My friend got out of Rehab I wouldn't dis-own him. I'd help him out as much as I could. If I had a friend that shoplifted I wouldn't hate them and it wouldn't bother me that they kept working while they were on trial.

G. Gordon Liddy and Oliver North can both be compared to Ex-hackers turned Security Consultants. Its what they know, they just use their knowledge in different ways than before.

I have to disagree with most of the points made in O'Reilly's article. I will give him Monica and Paula because I wouldn't touch either of these two with a 39 and a half inch pole. Just my Opinion :)

Hope this makes sense :/

"Surely, TV programs starring Anna Nicole Smith and Lewinsky send a signal that the U.S.A. is a place where hard work doesn't really matter if you are ready to marry an 89-year-old guy or exceed your internship job description."

This no different from the glorified past that O'Reilly so desperately wants to live in... The only difference is that their activities have been publicized. People (in this particuar case women) have been using their assets to get what they want since the stone age.

As for the others mentioned, I have to agree with cybermike in the post above.

a guy can get straight a s all through school as a broadcast journalism major be handsome and articulate run an award winning student newspaper and radio station and get beat out every time by a mediocre washed up quarterback for a job on monday night football

Quote:

Originally posted by cybermike
Winona Ryder, Robert Downey? Come on. These people are doing their job. They were doing their jobs before they got arrested, why should they stop once they get out. If I was waiting to go to trail I'd probally continue to work, if I just got out of rehab I'd get a job to keep myself busy. R kelly doesn't have a best selling album because raped a girl. He has a best selling album because people like his music(I dont know who, but someone)

I dont think these are "REWARDS" for bad behavior. If My friend got out of Rehab I wouldn't dis-own him. I'd help him out as much as I could. If I had a friend that shoplifted I wouldn't hate them and it wouldn't bother me that they kept working while they were on trial.

G. Gordon Liddy and Oliver North can both be compared to Ex-hackers turned Security Consultants. Its what they know, they just use their knowledge in different ways than before.

I have to disagree with most of the points made in O'Reilly's article. I will give him Monica and Paula because I wouldn't touch either of these two with a 39 and a half inch pole. Just my Opinion :)

Hope this makes sense :/

when bad behavior doesn't have any penalties and consequences, then why not all have bad behaviour?

Actors in movies have a particular draw, and well so long as they are still accepted without prejudice then again there is no penalty.