It’s clear Kennedy has an opinion of O’Reilly that is not based on actually watching the show. I would expect someone who teaches journalism to rely on something other than hearsay. Kennedy then calls O’Reilly “preening and arrogant,” and mentions that Barry Nolan joked that he may take Keith Olbermann to the event with him because Olbermann seems to live to mock O’Reilly. There probably has never been a person on TV as preening and arrogant as Olbermann. He makes Sean Hannity seem modest. And who knows how many times Olbermann would have told a guest to shut up in the past seven years if he ever had a guest on with whom he disagreed? While O’Reilly engages in discussion and debate, Olbermann maintains a carefully controlled echo chamber in which no one ever utters a word contrary to what Olbermann believes. Based on this column, I suspect Kennedy may live his life that way.
Rich Goggin
Peabody
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