Bill O'Reily salutes The Beach Boys :)

[Magic Transistor Radio]

I am a conservative and used to like the Fox News types. But now I like Ron Paul libertarian types.

[jimmy1949]

Just last night I viewed a YouTube clip of Mr Positive on O'Reilly back when he was suing Brian over the infamous British BB freebie cd. Just listen to him whine,whine,whine!!!

[oldsurferdude]

Just last night I viewed a YouTube clip of Mr Positive on O'Reilly back when he was suing Brian over the infamous British BB freebie cd. Just listen to him whine,whine,whine!!!

Just like the greased pig that he is.

[Alex]

O'Reilley's an asshole ( the only conservative TV "pundit" I can really stomach is Stephen Colbert), but, as others have already said, at least he has a good taste in music. Personally, I'd be flattered if he called me a "pinhead".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BBfybCPkjA

[Amy B.]

I'm no fan of O'Reilly, but I'm glad to see the Beach Boys getting some genuine love. He's clearly a fan. Though I always laugh when I hear people say "UPLIFTING music," because of course there was a lot of stuff that reflected Brian's depression. Then again, there was no cynicism there.

Wonder what Bill thinks of the darker aspects of the Beach Boys' story?

[Newguy562]

O'Reilley's an asshole ( the only conservative TV "pundit" I can really stomach is Stephen Colbert), but, as others have already said, at least he has a good taste in music. Personally, I'd be flattered if he called me a "pinhead".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BBfybCPkjA

gotta love the ramones :]

[Myk Luhv]

Someone should get O'Reilley a copy of Heroes & Villains, I'm sure he'd think it's outta sight!

[Chocolate Shake Man]

Actually, that's pretty much the only place there IS any serious journalism going on (unless of course you mean "journalism" that  merely parrots the entrenched liberal talking points while acting as the press room for the current administration). It's one of the few places you can get any honest challenge to the prevailing dishonest whitewash by the left-leaning media of current events, particularly the stories they refuse to cover at all because they are contrary to their own political views.

In fact, there is barely any serious journalism going on in the mainstream media, whether you're looking at Fox, MSNBC, The New York Times, etc. And moreover, the media is not "left-leaning." Rather, the media reflects the positions of the slim minority of concentrated power that owns and produces it. In the most recent edition of Ben Bagdikian's excellent The Media Monopoly, he shows that roughly 90% of mainstream media (including television, radio, print, etc.) is owned by only five corporations - Bertelsmann, Disney, News Corporation, Time Warner, and Viacom. Furthermore, as guitarfool noted above, not only is media owned by concentrated corporate power but its main target audience is not the population but rather other businesses - namely businesses who purchase advertising and thus create the largest amounts of revenue for the media. Of course, then, it makes perfect sense that the media should reflect the position of not only those who are responsible for its production but also responsible for its existence. This is why anybody who asks, "Is the media left or right" is ultimately asking the wrong question. Rather, the media reflects the status quo ideology held by the ruling class. Obviously they are not going to be in favor of a way of giving the news that incorporates a serious systemic critique - in fact, it wouldn't even cross their minds since typically they would believe that being "liberal" is the most radical position you could hold. So naturally you get a very narrow political perspective - usually reflecting somewhere between the center-right liberal stance and the extreme right stance held by Republicans with very little deviance from that extraordinarily narrow perspective.

 You obviously really don't know the reputations and pedigrees of the large majority of the Fox news staff and anchors.  If you don't like the views of their conservative commentators, fine, those are commentators, but remember Fox is just about the only news channel that consistently offers viewpoints from commentators across the political spectrum.

That's completely false. As per above, Fox, like just about every other mainstream news outlet, offers viewpoints from commentators who reflect ideologically acceptable viewpoints. So Fox might go as far to the left as having a center-right liberal or pro-Democrat commentator but you wouldn't find anyone to the left of that there or anywhere else in the mainstream because anywhere left of that is threatening to the status quo ruling ideology and is disenfranchised from the media as it has been disenfranchised from mainstream political life for decades.

 You will not find that on a lot if any of the other stations - they generally offer one side, the liberal one, and if you don't like it, "tough.  We're smarter than you and our view is the only one you need".

And, again, the liberal viewpoint is not really distinctly different from the Republican viewpoint. There is some deviation - mostly in terms of comparatively insignificant social views rather than  international or domestic policies where the view points are pretty much the same as Republicans. The fact that there is a theatrical pretense that there is a world of difference between the two so-called "sides" works to compensate for the lack of real, genuine political debate in the country.

 And O'Reilly is not an entertainer - he is a serious reporter with an MA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard who covers stories that people need to hear, no matter which side of the spectrum they fall on.

Of course, he's an entertainer. Every television "journalist" is - he just happens to be hyper-aware of his function as an entertainer which is why he has been so successful. But there's no denying that his sole purpose is to entertain rather than to give serious, significant or substantial newsworthy information. That's why he uses catchphrases like the "no spin zone" and reduces people to "pinheads or patriots." He uses highly charged, infantile rhetoric precisely because he has absolutely zero interest in what he is actually saying. If he cared about the issue, he would present them in a serious way with some kind of methodology behind it. But he doesn't. He says the things he does in the way he does because his central function is to entertain and the heightened production value of his show only serves to reinforce that.
 
The fact that he was trained at an elite institution is, of course, exactly what one would expect. Elite institutions typically teach from and reflect an elitist point of view - which is perfectly in keeping with the points of view held by the ruling class. Journalism schools, for example, train people how to produce "proper" journalism - what the rules are, what constitutes news, etc. Naturally elite education serves typically to perpetuate the system.

[SMiLE]

O'Reilley's an asshole ( the only conservative TV "pundit" I can really stomach is Stephen Colbert), but, as others have already said, at least he has a good taste in music. Personally, I'd be flattered if he called me a "pinhead".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BBfybCPkjA

You know Colbert is only pretending to be a conservative, right?

[Mikie]

Yeah, I suppose I'd feel the same way if a cynical douche like Bill Maher were to salute the group. 

Yeah, but he hit the nail on the head with what he called Palin!

[runnersdialzero]

Uplifting music UPLIFTING MUSIC NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR "'TIL I DIE" BRIAN UPLIFINT MUSIC

[Runaways]

O'Reilley's an asshole ( the only conservative TV "pundit" I can really stomach is Stephen Colbert), but, as others have already said, at least he has a good taste in music. Personally, I'd be flattered if he called me a "pinhead".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BBfybCPkjA

You know Colbert is only pretending to be a conservative, right?

this reaaaaaaaaaaaally needs to be answered

[runnersdialzero]

"CAROLINE NO"?



FUCKIN' THING SUCKS!

UPLIFING MUSIC BRIAN

[filledeplage]

Rockandroll has some very valid points about where entertainment journalism comes from.  Occassionally, for the sake of ratings a firecracker is brought aboard for ratings.  Is that who O'Reilly is?  I don't know and don't care.  You can either get your news from a filtered source like entertainment journalism or find reliable, multinational sources and make up your own mind.  The networks market their own political position, to a greater degree.  

Recently a couple of The View hostesses walked off the set with O'Reilly on as a guest. Barbara Walters (a real journalist) put them back in check, telling them that they needed to hold themselves together professionally even if they violently disagreed with the speaker and the subject matter.  It is where drama takes a back seat.

The moderator is largely a function of the owner of the network, and reflects the positions of the network.   That should be pretty transparent.  Someone else posted the registered parties of the Boys.  It is no one's business for whom they vote.  When people go into the voting booth, the curtain closes, so to speak or even with the newer computerized / hard copy ballots, there is some modicum of privacy.  

Politics can infiltrate society but US dominated political discussions don't seem fair on a global forum.  It might be better discussed in the Sandbox, and the music treated in a "politically neutral" fashion. JMHO.

But O'Reilly is a fan who finds himself "upllifted"  by the Boys' music.  And that cuts across political parties, personalities, network interests, and all the "Hot Topics" on his or other entertainment journalism fora.  

[Cabinessenceking]

Beach Boys rules, politics don't.

All you crazy GOP ppl and O'Reilly haters go to different forum.

[guitarfool2002]

I'm no fan of O'Reilly, but I'm glad to see the Beach Boys getting some genuine love. He's clearly a fan. Though I always laugh when I hear people say "UPLIFTING music," because of course there was a lot of stuff that reflected Brian's depression. Then again, there was no cynicism there.

Wonder what Bill thinks of the darker aspects of the Beach Boys' story?

I said "uplifting music" too, and I mean it very personally, because many, MANY times in my life when I've needed to be uplifted I've turned to the music of the Beach Boys and it helped me get through those rough times. As far as the uplifting nature of the band, when people go to a Beach Boys show or a Brian Wilson show or anything related, do many of them leave depressed, or do you mostly see smiles from those people?

That is uplifting. I agree with O'Reilly 100% with using that term to describe their music, and sometimes it's a gut reaction from hearing a song like In My Room or God Only Knows which creates a certain happiness that outweighs in that immediate moment whatever went into the song's creation 5 decades ago or whatever hardships befell the band through the years.

Uplifting and transcendent.

[Amy B.]

I said "uplifting music" too, and I mean it very personally, because many, MANY times in my life when I've needed to be uplifted I've turned to the music of the Beach Boys and it helped me get through those rough times. As far as the uplifting nature of the band, when people go to a Beach Boys show or a Brian Wilson show or anything related, do many of them leave depressed, or do you mostly see smiles from those people?

I get your point, but I don't think your argument here is valid. Do you leave ANY music show depressed?

[Roger Ryan]

I said "uplifting music" too, and I mean it very personally, because many, MANY times in my life when I've needed to be uplifted I've turned to the music of the Beach Boys and it helped me get through those rough times. As far as the uplifting nature of the band, when people go to a Beach Boys show or a Brian Wilson show or anything related, do many of them leave depressed, or do you mostly see smiles from those people?

I get your point, but I don't think your argument here is valid. Do you leave ANY music show depressed?

Poorly performed shows, yes!

"Uplifting music" is just a euphemism for music you like. I find Joy Division songs to be uplifting in that they identify a sense of melancholia or anxiety that I recognize in myself, a state-of-mind that is going to be there regardless of what music I listen to. "'Til I Die" works the same way for me; it's honestly is reassuring. Now, unrealistic "uplifting music" is just plain depressing  . Contrived emotions don't work for me. Fortunately, the best of the Beach Boys work is fairly sophisticated is presenting honest emotions, such as acknowledging that isolation can be a positive thing ("In My Room") or that having a good time is transitory and elusive ("I Get Around" or "It's OK").

[guitarfool2002]

I said "uplifting music" too, and I mean it very personally, because many, MANY times in my life when I've needed to be uplifted I've turned to the music of the Beach Boys and it helped me get through those rough times. As far as the uplifting nature of the band, when people go to a Beach Boys show or a Brian Wilson show or anything related, do many of them leave depressed, or do you mostly see smiles from those people?

I get your point, but I don't think your argument here is valid. Do you leave ANY music show depressed?

Depends on the band and their performance.

If someone going to a show were to carry into that show all of the heavy baggage that has come with this band the Beach Boys, they would miss a portion of that pure joy of hearing the songs and experiencing them with other people you're sharing the music with. Take whatever song someone considers "uplifting" and go into all the negative things that may have gone into making that song, and you might just ruin that experience.

Or, what if the band members themselves were to, from the stage, go into all the darker and heavy stuff around the band during the actual show, and bring up all the darker stuff in the group's history, from the lawsuits to the drug abuse to the deaths in the family to whatever else...*that* would cause many to leave the show depressed, I'm sure.

One of the things music and concerts do so well is provide a bit of escapism from the daily grind. If I wanted to hear all the dark and gloomy stuff on the band I can read any number of books on the subject. But if the music "uplifts" me in some way, or uplifts Bill O'Reilly and whoever else agrees with his commentary on the band, maybe those folks do know the history and prefer to focus on the joy of the moment when they hear a Beach Boys song that makes them feel good.

If O'Reilly and I and whoever else here thinks the band has made uplifting music, don't laugh at us for feeling that way.    It's a perfectly valid opinion.




 

[joshferrell]

Being around Christians The code word "Uplifting" in the Christian community is code word for music/movies that are "safe" for people and not considered "evil or blasphemy or antichristian". I'm not sure if that's why he said it but that's ONE possibilty of what he was saying since Christian conservatives typically watch Fox..

[Mike's Beard]

At the risk of sounding like a tree hugging hippie may I say that great music will always transend gender, race, religion and politics and reach out to people from all walks of life. The fact that a right wing douche like O'Reily can find joy in the songs of The Beach Boys just as much as the guy on the street speaks volumes about the power of Brian's music.

[Justin]

I'm actually surprised this conversation has gone as far as it has.  This amount of aggressive political talk would have been shut down several pages ago on the other boards I visit.

[Mikie]

I'm actually surprised this conversation has gone as far as it has.  This amount of aggressive political talk would have been shut down several pages ago on the other boards I visit.

That's 'cause this board is a helluva lot better than the other boards.  Free speech prevails here.

"Starting out with Berkeley free speech and later on at People's Park, the winds of change fanned into flames........"

[Heysaboda]

He recently called Willie Nelosn a "creep" for being a marijuana advocate.

At least he's on FoxNews where he belongs... not a lot of serious journalism happening there.

FoxNews is the #1 watched news channel.  There's a reason for that.  The republican slant is refreshing from all the mind-numbing nonsense coming from MSNBC or CNN. 

This is the same Fox News (Faux News) that spent an hour last July debating (quite a master de-bate indeed!) about whether Obama's recent trip to India cost taxpayers 2 BILLION or 3 BILLION $ a DAY.  Yes, 2-3 BILLION $ a day!  I watched the whole clip, and it was not funny to know that people can be just so, so ignorant.

LOL that anyone watches Faux Gnus or takes it seriously.

I think that crazy-haired lady in the red shirt from John McCain's campaign must be posting here!  LOL

[SMiLE Brian]

He recently called Willie Nelosn a "creep" for being a marijuana advocate.

At least he's on FoxNews where he belongs... not a lot of serious journalism happening there.

FoxNews is the #1 watched news channel.  There's a reason for that.  The republican slant is refreshing from all the mind-numbing nonsense coming from MSNBC or CNN. 

This is the same Fox News (Faux News) that spent an hour last July debating (quite a master de-bate indeed!) about whether Obama's recent trip to India cost taxpayers 2 BILLION or 3 BILLION $ a DAY.  Yes, 2-3 BILLION $ a day!  I watched the whole clip, and it was not funny to know that people can be just so, so ignorant.

LOL that anyone watches Faux Gnus or takes it seriously.

I think that crazy-haired lady in the red shirt from John McCain's campaign must be posting here!  LOL

That whole "story" came from a rumor in an Indian Newspaper.