Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Bill Werde, My New Hero



Warning: The above You Tube has already been yanked twice by Google for whatever reasons...so it may not be here by the time I post it.

It's been a while since I've gone on a rant against the right wing Republican assholes in this country, but when they start messing with my music...

My good pal, brilliant writer Maryanne Stahl, has an equally brilliant son-in-law, Bill Werde, who is Deputy Editor for Billboard Magazine. She's the one who turned me on to this.

Idiot extraordinaire Bill O'Reilly had Mr. Werde on his radio program to discuss the Dixie Chicks sweep at the Grammys last week, framing the wins as the result of politics and sympathy rather than an acknowledgment of powerful and well-crafted art.

Werde defended the Chicks' sales of over 2 million records (so far) as an achievement while O'Reilly preferred to compare the number to their greatest success to date and note the greatly reduced numbers. Werde persisted in recognizing the achievment, made greater in the face of the withdrawn support of the whole country music industry.

When asked if he had watched the Grammys, O'Reilly said he had, a little, but couldn't take too much of it and segued onto another target, Ludacris, and objectionable language on his winning record. Werde asked him if he had listened to the music on which he was commenting, noting that this latest is a dramatic change in direction for Ludacris. O'Reilly admitted he didn't have a frame of reference to put that into, and Werde asked "Don't you think that's important, to have a frame of reference when you're judging cultural..." Naah, said O'Reilly, I can pull the lyrics and put the lyrics, like I did, on the radio so everyone can hear them, to which Werde replied "that doesn't sound like particularly responsible journalism..." and BAM - O'Reilly was off and running, calling him a snide SOB, and when Werde tried to respond again O'Reilly cut him off - "get him out of here" - and then spent another two minutes ranting about Werde's nerve and Ludacris' offensive language and the culture and and and...

He twisted the words spoken moments earlier, blaming Werde for demeaning O'Reilly's opinion (when he had only questioned the basis for it) and positioning Werde as the one who couldn't have a decent conversation, yet it was O'Reilly who cut him off and called him condescending and a son of a bitch.

Sooo...have a listen to the above posted You Tube and try and keep your breakfast down.

I'll be back this afternoon with hopefully nicer news.

6 comments:

  1. Very telling that the only way O'Reilly can make his point is to cut off a challenging dialogue and get back to his broken record.

    Well, surprise, surprise that he sucks. Maryanne Stahl, on the other hand, is awesome.

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  2. O'Reilly simply can't take being challenged ... especially by someone intelligent, articulate and well-informed. He's just too limited to hold up his end of the argument so has to make it one-sided. Typical.

    I don't understand what people see in this blowhard. He's not bright, he's not well-informed and he's not honest. All he's got going for him is arrogance.

    Bill Werde rocks.

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  3. Thanks, Rob.

    I'm so proud of Bill (W!) And have I mentioned how gorgeous my grandson is?

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  4. There aren't many {ultra}conservative radio talk show hosts that will let any disconcerting voices make a point on their shows. At least not that I've heard. They have all gone to the same school of Arrogance in Broadcasting and know how to belittle any alternative opiner's voice as soon as they are threatened by a force of knowledge and rightness. Has anyone ever listened to Michael Savage?

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  5. Anonymous7:13 PM

    Bill O' Reilly is a pompous, bombastic skin flint who stiffs
    cab drivers, and condescends to google-eyed sycophants at close quarters.

    It's true.

    A friend of mine used to drive a taxi in Portland, & he told me how one night O'Reilly piggy-backed on the fare of these two star-struck tourists--all the way from the airport to downtown, signifying and speechifying like a puffer fish in the crowded backseat, for the whole nine mile trip.

    Then, after the tourists are dropped off at motel up by Portland State University, my friend takes O'Reilly to the Benson Hotel, about twelve blocks away, and turns the meter off because he figures Big Shot Bill is good for a decent tip.

    So they get to the Benson, and O'Reilly stiffs him!

    Stiffs my buddy with a damn smirk on his face.

    This consummate asshole makes seven figures per year, and he can't kick down a double sawbuck to a service worker!

    There ya go, Rob.
    Absolutely true story.


    --D

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  6. Anonymous6:28 PM

    Right on Bill....how did you stay so calm talking to this guy???

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