The Importance Of Research

I had a conversation the other day about Bill O'Reilly. I knew someone who watched his show almost daily. I kept my mouth shut as it was neither the time nor place to espouse my views on Mr. O'Reilly. Of course afterwards I went into my anti-Bill O'Reilly mode. I thought about all the things wrong with this man. He is ignorant and arrogant. He helps to further patriotic propaganda. Or how about his listeners appearing to share brain cells. And of course my favorite, his claims of a leftist slant in the "liberal" media.

The "liberal" media one is my favorite. The evidence he uses to prove this can easily be turned around. It can be used to show how the media is far from "liberal." Really Mr. O'Reilly, the media is "liberal?" If it were we would never have invaded Iraq. Cheney and Rumsfeld would be tried as war criminals. Bush would have been impeached for lying to the public. But the "liberal" media neglects to bring this to our attention. Perhaps it is because Fox News Corp, a noted conservative organization, controls a vast majority of our media.

That last paragraph was a bit of rant. My apologies. Yesterday I was thinking about Mr. O'Reilly again. I never liked how his listeners just go out and repeat everything he says. They never do the research to learn more. If Bill hates something, they must hate it also. If Bill says something, it must be true. No further research is required.

Yesterday I realized something. I am nothing more than the liberal version of Mr. O'Reilly's listeners. I only dislike him because of what i've read from liberal outlets. I repeat reasons why I hate him thanks to what i've read. How does that make me any better than the conservatives who listen to his show?

So I decided to learn more about him. I decided to do my own research on Mr. O'Reilly. What he actually says. What he actually thinks. What he actually believes. After my research I came to this conclusion. I still do not like the man. Nor do I like his opinions.

I was surprised to find myself in agreement with him on one topic. That topic is his view on violence in movies. He does not have a fondness for movies like Saw. Neither do I. They are a complete waste of cinematic space. He also calls out Kill Bill, Vol. 1 for its extreme violence. I have been doing that for years. Anytime I hear this movie mentioned, it's about how violent it is. Never a word about the plot. Style over substance does not always work. *cough, cough* The Phantom Menace.

That was about all I could agree with Mr. O'Reilly on. Everything else? He's just a bit too conservative for my tastes. I do feel better. I formed my own thoughts and opinions on him. No more merely repeating the liberal stance.

I end with this: I will watch, with my own eyes, an episode of The O'Reilly Factor. I need to see it for myself. Reading is quite a bit different than viewing.