Did anybody listen to the Bill O'Reilly aborted interview on NPR?

[Cascadian]

I listened to snipets of it on Mike Malloy's show last night. I swear to God. O'Reilly is on crack. What a spass! I thought Terri Gross handled it well. I wonder if it was her first walkout?


John

[bloom]

1. see:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=500904


http://www.democraticunderground.org/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=502070

[CO Liberal]

2. Maybe O'Reilly's Been Getting His Supply From Rush????

:-)

[RobertSeattle]

3. You can listen at http://freshair.npr.org

He was quite abrasive, but the interview was more on him than his beloved book. He's obviously a control freak that can't handle it when he doesn't own the interview.

[SharonAnn]

14. And he keeps saying that what he says is TRUE!

he keeps repeating this, it's bizarre.

Everything he says is TRUE, it's THE TRUTH, you know it's TRUE!

Methinks he doth protest too much (paraphrasing Shakespeare).

[Catherine Vincent]

41. I just listened and can't get over with how many times he says this.

What a prick. It's like everything he says is right and that's that. Oh please.

[ronzo]

21. try this one...

http://www.npr.org/display_pages/features/feature_1459090.html

cheers!



edit: it was timing out for me.... traffic, I suppose.

[MrBenchley]

4. I can't handle those files on this computer

and will have to wait for transccripts.

What cracks me up is that Terri Gross is one of the blandest reporters in the world.

[1gobluedem]

5. Fresh Air walkouts

Lou Reed walked out on Terry too when he thought he was going to only discuss his new CD and she brought up the Velvet Underground. She plays it (it's about :60 seconds) whenever she does a live speech. It's funny.

[0007]

11. Not as funny as Bill O'Rielly

Nothing wrong with Terry. Bill had a big big problem.

[Cha]

6. I actually did on the Mike Malloy show last night! And I never

listen to shit like that! But Mike made it easy for me!

What a Giant Paranoid Egomaniacle Raturd!

bo'r is either taking what rush is poppin' or needs to!

edit~ spelling

[BigMcLargehuge]

7. Didn't she interview Gene Simmons from Kiss?

Wow was that a funny interview! I wish Simmons had allowed NPR to retain rights to it.

[demon67]

10. Hilarious

That Gene Simmons interview was one of the funniest things I have ever heard. Don't remember him walking out, but was surprised that she didn't.

[demnan]

8. I listen to Fresh Air just about every day

and I've never heard of anyone walking out on that show. I'm a fan of Terry Gross. I think she is a very thoughtful interviewer, not harsh to anyone at all, but deep. She will ask penetrating questions. (Just last week or so she practically had Joe Pentliano crying on her show about his childhood.) She knows how to bring out the true person.

I think that pretty well explains what happened with O'LIEly. She was getting to the heart of the man and he couldn't take it. Although she did bring out about this fight he had with his father and that was really good - it showed that he grew up in a violent home, that's why he's so angry. What a nasty insignificant little worm he is.

[Demoiselle]

15. I agree..

I listen to Terry Gross whenever I can...She is very very gentle but she does dig...I heard the whole O'Reilly interview and I didn't realize until reading your comment how important the segment on his relationship with his father was...Yes indeed, anyone listening to his story about his father had to conclude that daddy dearest was a mean bastard and a violent one at that...explains a lot about O'Reilly, but it doesn't excuse it. His tantrum was both absurd and sad, actually, and Ms. Gross handled it beautifully.

[9119495]

9. Yep

I heard it. I wanted to hear him freak out, so I listened to the whole thing. Talk about the pain of listening to this self-serving loser! His walkout made it all worthwhile.

Franken: "He lies. He's a liar. He should be called Bill O'Lieley."

[1gobluedem]

18. Both interviews

If you go to npr.org, and click on the Bill O'Reilly interview in the 'Editor's Picks' section, you'll find audio for both the O'Reilly and Franken interviews. And on that page, you can click on the 'previous shows' icon and find shows from the last five years. I can't remember exactly when the Gene Simmons interview aired but I think it was either the fall or summer of 2002. But you should be able to find it.

[Richardo]

19. Don't forget: "O'Reilly is a registered Lie-o-crat"

Franken - HA! :D

[wryter2000]

12. I have to wonder

Is he doing this stuff as shtick now? I mean, it's really silly. But more of his mouthbreathing viewers might buy the book in sympathy after hearing how he was "mistreated."

[Skittles]

13. I noticed how many times he said.....alright?

and what a condescending prick he is. Man, he just cannot get over Franken. He is a man obsessed.

[whirlygigspin]

16. looking for a fight

He was snarky and insulting during the whole interview,
but they never got a around to talking about his book at all,
--I think that's what p.o.'ed him so much--

[RandomKoolzip]

17. Yes! It was even better than the Gene Simmons interview!

O'Really outed himself as a pud early on, lashing out at anyone and anything that would DARE criticize him. Using the flimsiest of arguments, he tried making it seem as though everyone were out to get him; instead he came off as a paranoid blowhard with petty scores to settle. What a dick.

[eleny]

20. I think O'reilly planned it all along

It's curious that he only finally got angry enough to leave when the hour was up. So, he got his 50 minutes of fame out of NPR - and then used a minute to create a scene to use on his program.

He was a coiled spring throughout the interview. I'll bet he lied about not hearing the Franken interview. So, I'm concluding that he engineered the walk out prior to the interview. There was something less than sincere about his indignation, wasn't there.

[donco6]

32. And lied about not going to Fox to demand they sue Franken

Bullsh*t. Of course he did.

[calm_blue_ocean]

44. Trademark registration and what it means here

From what I read, Fox registered the trademark "Fair and Balanced" in 1998, long before Franken's book or O'Reilly's rise to fame.

If you are willing to pay for a registration (they cost legal fees and TM office fees), then chances are you are willing to enforce the trademark when someone else uses it.

In light of the court's decision in the Franken case, it is easy to see that Fox's trademark strategy of registering such a "descriptive" mark was sheer folly.

However, my point is not that Fox behaved wisely -- my point is that it is clear that Fox laid significant groundwork for the Franken suit before O'reilly really came on the scene. This is a powerful reason to believe "O'Lielly" in this instance.

[LisaM]

49. That trademark should be rendered invalid

The Trademark Office could hardly reject it as descriptive, which it's NOT -- but they probably didn't realize that back in 1998. Fox should have been required to disclaim both terms or, what should really happen, is that now it should be invalidated because it's misdescriptive, which makes a make unregistrable! (e.g., you can't call an apple an orange and expect to get a trademark registration.) Unfortunately for them, the lawsuit just showed what a terrible trademark they chose. Parody and fair use are both allowed under the trademark act.

[calm_blue_ocean]

54. I am an intellectual property attorney . . .

so I can give you a little bit of a lesson in trademark law. Skip the rest of this post if you are not interested.


As a legal matter, trademarks and potential trademarks are routinely evaluated on a spectrum of descritiveness. The evaluation is as follows:

1. Generic mark: a mark that says what the product is. Hypothetical Example: "Chicken Brand Poultry Products"

2. descriptive mark: a mark that is highly descriptive of its associated product. Hypothetical Example: "Crispy Brand Fried Chicken."

3. Suggestive Mark: a marks that merely suggests its associated product. Hypothetical Example: "Finger lickin' Good Fried Chicken."

4. Fanciful / arbitrary marks: These marks don't identify or descrbe the associated product. Hypothetical Example: "Fair and Balanced Brand Fried Chicken."

The above evaluation has important consequences. Generic trademarks are impossible to register and/or enforce (you can enforce a trademark without registering in many cases). Descriptive trademarks are difficult to register and difficult to enforce. Suggestive, fanciful and arbitrary trademarks are relatively easier to register and enforce.

Now comes the problem: it is difficult to draw the line between descriptive marks and suggestive marks. This is a bad problem because this hazy distinction is fraught with legal consequences.

Fox's attorney probably thought and argued that their "Fair and Balanced" trademark was at least suggestive (not sure I didn't read the briefs). The judge implicitly thought that the trademark was clearly decriptive (or maybe even generic). I am inclined to agree with the judge.

Final Note: bringing it all back to O'Reilly. I would be surprised if O'Reilly knew then or even now all of the foregoing fundamentals of trademark law. I wouldn't expect him to. However, I don't think his lack of tm knowledge has much to do with whether O'Reilly did or did not push to register the tm back in 1998. Once the mark is registered, it needs to be enforced orr you can lose the mark through abandonment. Trying to read between the lines, I think that Fox had a legal investment in the trademark that they wanted to defend. Because of the timing, it looks like this legal investment wasn't O'Reilly's baby.

Disclaimer: The above discussion is provided for general knowledge purposes only and is not to be taken as legal advice about anybody's specific sitiuation. There will be no malpractice liability arising from the above discussion!

[LisaM]

59. Or, they can eventually claim acquired distinctiveness

I don't think they have filed any additional applications under Section 2(f). I still maintain that FAIR AND BALANCED should not have been registered on the Principal Register; I'm well aware of what comprises registrability. I have seen trademarks rejected that were far less descriptive than that. I suppose that they could argue NOW that it's fanciful, but I think misdescriptive fits it better. The mark did not undergo any rigorous examination, either, it was passed for publication in two days with no objections (or something close to that, I checked the record when the lawsuit was going on).

[calm_blue_ocean]

60. Better ingredients make better lawsuits

You are right, if the lawsuit had gone on, Fox would have argued in the alternative that: (1) the trademark was suggestive or better; and (2) even if found descriptive that there was acquired distinctiveness. Fox may have had a chance on an acquired distinctiveness argument because they advertise so much!

However, I don't think that Franken could have argued a misdescriptive trademark. Although geographical misdescriptiveness is a hot issue at the Fed. Cir. court this year, I don't think trademark law really concerns itself with other types of misdescriptiveness.

Your suggested misdescriptiveness argument would probably be taken as a false advertising claim, not a TM claim. I think Fox would probably win on such a false advertising claim because "fair and balanced" would probably be considered "mere puff and blow" under false advertising law. (see, eg, "better ingredients make better pizza" case from a couple years back).

Nice to see a DUer with some good tm knowledge! Funny how all the good ones are taken.

[Toucano]

22. He got rabid

Because she wanted to discuss the way he attacks anyone who says anything bad about him or his "work" (which, earth to Bill: are one in the same!) Why did he object to that quote from People Weekly anyhow? It wasn't THAT bad!

So what do he do on his show? Retalliates by attacks Terry Gross, NPR, PBS. He demands that congress stop funding the CPB! He completely proved the point she was trying to make.

I think I heard him complain that his picture on Franken's book is "distorted". Vain, egomaniacal LIAR!

When he "threatened" to get the transcript from the Franken interview I heard the echo of child abuse.

[1gobluedem]

23. Transcripts

Like those aren't publicly available? Terry told him to go ahead.

My station fired a program host last March for refusing to run NPR newscasts on his program (and recommending FOX News to the audience), he got a right-wing media friend to spin it as being fired for being pro-war. The Drudge Report picked it up and next thing we knew our fired host was on the O'Reilly Report. O'Reilly's tease was "NPR host fired for being pro-war" and showing a shot of the NPR headquarters in DC (interestingly followed by a local commercial for another NPR station in this area, lol). But when our former host said at the outset "...before we start, let me just say that I didn't work for NPR" O'Reilly lost all interest and zoomed through the segment. So, he really is out to get NPR.

[KharmaTrain]

25. Great Stuff

There's definitely wheels loose in this moron's head.

He's been on the case of NPR and PBS since day one (Bill Moyers is always taking a trashing)...and they use the usual mantra that NPR, and by association, all of its affiliates are government supported...a total lie.

Most public stations are either owned by state entities such as universities or not-for-profit organizations...and each carries the majority of the financial burden of their station and the network. It's actually money flowing from affiliates TO the network, not the other way around!

It's time Public broadcasting stood up to the relentless lies from the RW. It used to be a minor irritant when it was a Helms or other ideologue in some far-flung magazine, but today it's a psycopath with a political agenda disguising it as a "news" program (even though he parses like Rush...calling it "commentary" when his "journalistic" credentials are questioned).

Getting off the soapbox now...

[Toucano]

26. I can't help but think that the PIPA report fueled him even more.

This has been widely reported on DU, but I think it is appropriate to see it again in this context.

http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Iraq/Media_10_02_03_Report.pdf

[0007]

24. I just finished listening to Terry & Bill O'Reilly

Very good! There are a few things that O'Reilly is right on about. But the main thing about him as I see it, is that he's trying to play God and would like people to believe that he has great wisdom and extensive knowledge.

In other words Bill O'Rielly wants to do our thinking.

[ronzo]

28. Yeah, he does...

In other words Bill O'Rielly wants to do our thinking.

He does do the thinking for a couple of people I know. A couple of the more intelligent conservative I'm acquainted with see him for what he is... a self-absorbed blowhard entertainer. They don't consider him conservative, either.

[calm_blue_ocean]

56. "Bill O'Rielly wants to do our thinking."

Yes, he is so unlike most political commentators who modestly want us to believe that they are wrong and lack great wisdom and extensive knowledge.

[mumon]

27. O'Lielyy lied and lied and lied...

he kept saying he was "defamed" and "libelled," but didn't show any instance of anything that was actually wrong.

When Terry Gross read the NYT piece on Michael Moore's book, he wouldn't admitt that he was wrong.

What a jerk.

And, to repeat what I said elsewhere:

O'Lielly most likely grew up in a Levitt house in Westbury. There are Levitt houses in Westbury.

But does that make a difference?

You bet your ass it does! Levittown's the Island Trees school district. Westbury's in the Westbury school district. They are light years apart in quality.

[Blue_Chill]

29. I just listened to it and I must say O'Reilly made a good argument

He came off as a jack ass as usual because he can't hide what he is. However he did make a good point when he asked if she was as hard on Franken as she was on him. That is a valid point.

[Toucano]

33. I'm a little mixed about that.

First, I don't think she was really being HARD on him. She was giving him an opportunity to address things that were printed about him, and explain HIS REACTION to them. She does that with just about everyone be they author, actor, musician.

Secondly, I think the fact that Franken's book is satirical does put it in a different context. I don't know if there was anything HARD to ask Franken. Maybe about the Fox lawsuit. What tough question could she have posed to Al?

I only wish she hadn't paused quite as long before saying, "No". But maybe she wanted to give him enough rope to hang himself. Which is what he did.

[eleny]

36. Thanks! You're so right!

"She was giving him an opportunity to address things that were printed about him, and explain HIS REACTION to them. She does that with just about everyone be they author, actor, musician."

What B.O. couldn't see or didn't want to see is that Gross was giving him the oportunity to bring a fair balance to those negative statements and reviews. I bet that irritated him all the more.

Unable to calmly discuss her motives, he sunk to an accusatory tone leaving in a preplanned and well timed huff. They could have come to an agreed conclusion. But, then again, that would not have served his purpose.

[Blue_Chill]

37. True.

Had O'Reilly not lost it he would have realised that he had just been given a the chance to give his side of the story.

[calm_blue_ocean]

47. How many negative reviews did she read to Franken? nt

[maha]

63. Pay attention

She read a negative review of FRANKEN'S book to O'Reilly. And even that pissed him off.

[Zero Gravitas]

38. Franken interview

What I like about Terry Gross & Fresh Air is that she has conversations with people and does not hit a bullet list of talking points. The conversations go where they do based on the subject matter and the personality of the interviewee. She asked similar questions to Franken about his book and what he says in it. the difference was that Franken has a sense of humor which O'Reilly clearly does not. Franken does not take himself nearly so seriously as O'Reilly does and is a controlin, angry, pompous blowhard, so the conversations took very different routes.

If O'Reilly had a sense of perspective about himself and just a tiny hint of humility and humor the outcome would have been very different.

[mumon]

45. But Franken isn't a lying liar.

He's pretty straight up.

Which is what the wing-nuts REALLY don't like.

[eleny]

30. My email to B.O.

"Bill,
Your indignation at Terry Gross did not come across as genuine. Waiting until the last 10 minutes of the interview to put an end to it is laughable. Your behavior led me to conclude that you engineered your ire to craft an attack against NPR. In my view, your strategy failed. I am doubling my contribution to NPR.

Eleny (and my last name)
Denver, Colorado
..............

I tried to keep it "pithy".

Btw, Cascadian - Last night, Mike Malloy said that Monica Lewinsky walked out on her interview with Terry Gross.

[1gobluedem]

31. Good for you!

Good for you, Eleny! We public radio people love to see things like that!

Monica Lewinsky kind of walked out on her Fresh Air interview but not the way O'Reilly did. About ten minutes into it she told Terry that she didn't want to talk about Clinton or the impeachment and ended it but she did it politely. I don't know why she thought those topics wouldn't come up but she wasn't a big jerk like O'Reilly. And Terry did air the portion she had, then explained why it didn't go any further.

[eleny]

35. So Monica had more "class" than Bill

Interesting! She made her needs clear immediately. Whereas Bill got his 50 minutes of air time, working himself up in a carefully orchestrated strategy. Pffffft!

[Yupster]

51. Monica didn't want to talk about Clinton or impeachment?

What did she expect to talk about?

The only reason anyone knows her name is she gave the president a blowjob, oh and the little cigar thing.

Did she think anyone wanted to hear her opinions of African famine relief or the Chinese space-program?

Of all the Clinton women who were supposedly looking for money, she has turned out to be the most embarrassing -- trying to make money from having an affair with a married man. You'd think she'd be embarrassed enough to lay low.

Maybe I'm just from a different generation.

[PATRICK]

34. He IS crazy

Maybe it is the unchallenged power that was was just slapped broadsided across the face by Franken but he is totally gone beserk.

Which is gratifyingly revealing. He speaks in absolute, childish terms with paternalistic, nearly divine pronouncements- when questioned in ANY way. In typical rageaholic frenzy all you have to do is mention franken and watch the barometer rise to hurricane strength.

It is absurd for any sponsored network to tolerate this madness. He could barely restrain himself froma the diatribe that was eventually included by NPR to preface the piece. All they did in effect was let him perform all over himself. Only those as crazed and devoted to himself as he is could not feel the sickness oozing from the speakers.

Sure there have been egotists on the infotainment circuit, and biased peacocks, crusaders and dummies, but this is beyond the verge of pathological and it has much more to do with insanity than lying or propagandizing(as he accuses all his critics of doing).

Riled up Riley. Maybe these are all people haunted by the paranoiac fear that their names are God's joke on them. The dreamlike surreal rage of characters from the Alice books by Carroll. The lack of reason or common sense, but plenty of shallow, absolute self-confidence. If only Riley WAS the bad dream he personifies so well, we could all wake up from our national nightmare.

Sponsors beware. Listeners, save yourselves. Critics, just shut up. Tweedledum is waving his sword of "truth".

[cosmosmom]

39. That's a fact

I got sick to death of him saying "and that's the truth" and "I'm right about this" or "that's a fact" and so on and so on. Most people are going to take the time to check his "truths" and he knows it.

This guy is nothing but entertainment value. If you speak with an authoritarian style the the weak minded will go blindly along..


I loved his definition of spin. Especially got a kick out of the comment that he didn't ever do it. Yet then he proceeded to talk circles around the questions Terry was asking him without answering her.

[Oilwellian]

40. Excellent summation

Riled Up Riley is but one of many characters shining the light on the absurdity and the "shallow absolute self-confidence" of the Republican party.

There's one part of the interview I found very interesting. O'Really kept claiming that he could accept a differing opinon of his book if the critic reviewed his book, and not his character. Although I haven't read any of his books, my impression is his "character" and "opinion" are what he writes about. Naturally when you review what he writes, the credibility of his character is going to come into play.

That is why O'Reilly gets defensive. Franken exposed the core of his shtick as being phoney and actually full of spin and O'Reilly's being called on it. If he truly were "no spin" he'd be examining the White House's reaction to the CIA leak instead of throwing tantrums on national radio when someone questions his "character." He needs to prove what he claims to be and imho, he ain't quite cutting it.

[librechik]

52. Get O'Reilly some Paxil- he could be salvaged.

that'll fix him right up. I bet he's one of those macho guys who doesn't believe in disease and won't take his medicine, though. He's a classic passive-aggressive personality. When he hurts you it's because "you made him do it."

[oasis]

42. O'Reilly feels his integrity is going to be damaged when "traitorgate"

gets full blown. Since he has cast his lot with the Chimperor, there can be no reversing of allegiance without totally looking like a fool. He sees it all coming to an end.

It was a great ride Bill. buh bye :hi:

[Butterflies]

43. I thought she was EASY on him

She gave him all the opportunity he wanted to give his side of everything she asked him about. She never interrupted him, and it sure isn't that way in interviews on his show.

It was crazy in the end when he had his meltdown because it was so unexpected. He was totally irrational.

[morgan2]

46. you people should really listen to the interview

The entire interview was the lady from fresh air tried to make O'rielly look stupid and failed misterbly. I'm no fan of mr O'Rielly, but he definatelly was right. She spent 50 minutes, and the only thing she said about the book was she talked about his father for 5 minutes.

[Love Bug]

48. Now wait a minute

I DID listen to the whole interview (all 41 minutes of it) and Gross let O'Reilly take the discussion where he wanted it to go. If his book wasn't much discussed, it's HIS fault for not taking the opportunity. All he did was complain about what Franken said about him in his book. He also took the opportunity to tell us a.) he opposes the death penalty; b.) he would like to see marijuana de-criminalized but hard drugs enforced more vigoriously; c.) that he would like strict environmental regulation; d.) that he is Catholic;, etc., etc. He had plenty of time to state whatever he wanted to say but it was obvious he had a big chip on his shoulder throughout the interview and frankly, didn't have the guts (as usual) to even listen to any criticism. Terry gave him a chance to speak to the People quote to an audience who probably wouldn't have the chance to hear his side of it, and he came off as expected--a big crybaby who can't stand it if people aren't kissing his ass.

[Boudicea]

53. I totally disagree

I thought she was downright gracious and he was an insulting asshole, at one point calling her "madame." What a jerk.

[bpilgrim]

64. listen to o'Really Interview 911 victim's son Glick.mp3

http://globalfreepress.com/mp3/oReally/glick.mp3

o'Really is a well known bully and he behaved as one would expect a bully to.

peace

[chookie]

50. Bill is having a nervous breakdown

Yup, it's kind of hard to tell because he is so nuts to begin with, but I suspect O'Reilly is having a nervous breakdown. He has been showing exaserbated symptoms ever since the Franken book show episode. Old Bill is another one of these malignant Narcissist Personality Disorder types, and when they are "provoked" (i.e. someone manages to get a word in edgewise in their life's monologue), they go psycho.

I bet all sorts of things are happening in Bill's life these days, and don't be surprised if he is not one of the next people showing up in the National Enquirer for having done some crazy thing.

[RedEarth]

55. I just listened to the last few minutes...

couldn't handle listening to anymore of that obnixous piece of garbage. I can't believe people buy into this arrogant jerk.

[dutchdemocrat]

57. I thought she

blew it. Personally. She could not find material (where is that magazine?). He corrected her on the libel-slander fuckup (she was wrong). She stumbled over words - sounded unsure. Then he ripped into her for the Franken interview and he had a point.

She scored a couple of points but her questions were all in all, lame. She could have done much better.

[REP]

62. Her Stuttering Style is Her Trademark

Terry Gross always stumbles and stammers through her interviews, and usually does softball interviews. "Your voice has the quality of silent luxury - how do you respond to that?" is one of her inane questions from years ago that has stayed with me.

I listen to her show because a) it's on and b) she usually has interesting guests and c) she's been on vacation a lot lately. I heard most of the O'Rielly interview, and her style was about what it always is. She was fair enough (and does anyone really expect objectivity from these interview shows - any of them?) and didn't take his bait, which I give her credit for.

Fresh Air is not the place to look for a "gotcha!" interview, and Terry Gross is not an investigative reporter. She's not my favorite interviewer, but all in all, she did okay.

[skip fox]

58. So when someone won't come on O'Reilly, that person is a

coward, but when O'Reilly can't stand the heat and leaves, he's a . . . what? Righteously indignant abused interviewee?

[yellowdawgdem]

61. Listened to his interview, and then heard him

talk about what happened next day on his freeper show. He totally twisted things that Terri Gross said, and went ballistic about the damage done to him. Also he was saying he hoped congress would pull the funding out of npr because of how biased they are etc etc. I just don't get it that their news show is considered balanced. I haven't seen anybody as unbalanced, even Rush is a heckava lot more balanced than O'Reilly.