The Turkey Neck is gone

Billbo Billyboy Turkey Neck Oh,Really is gone at FOX.  I haven’t cared much for him for years.  There’s a long list of reasons why.  Oh,Really’s big crime was not sexual harassment.  Oh,Really’s big crime was telling the world that The Empty Suit wasn’t an ideologue, that combined with his tendency to incessantly talk over the guests he invited onto the show and his unbridled know-it-all arrogance made the show – like about 87% of cable news -pretty much unwatchable for me. 

I liked former host Greta Van Susteren.   She’d ask thoughtful questions and then allowed the guest to answer.  I never got the sense of how far left Greta’s political leanings went. She left to work for the enemy – MSBNC.  Maybe she a raging Lib, or maybe she is down the middle. 

About the only show on cable news that I can tolerate for an hour anymore is Tucker Carlson.  He’s a funny guy.  He allows the guests so much room to run with his questions that the whacked out leftists usually end up saying something indefensibly stupid.  That’s when Tucker pounces.  “Wait minute.  You just said ‘Russia hacked the election’.  What proof do have that the Russian government ‘hacked the election’?  You don’t have any proof do you.” 5 minutes of stuttering and Uhs and Uhmms follow.

The left is taking a victory lap on ousting Oh,Really.  If they knew that an arch conservative like Lex was – no happy isn't the right word – more like doesn’t give a crapola that Oh,Really got sacked, they might rethink their victory dance.  Tucker is a much more likeable guy with a much more thoughtful and much more watchable program.  His political leanings are clearly anti-stupid and lay somewhere between conservative and libertarian – leaning more conservative I suppose.  So a likable Oh,Really isn't the answer MSNBC was looking to the Oh,Really question.

Another reason I like Tucker is that he rarely has more than one guest on the show at a time avoiding the usual shout fest that ensues when two people with opposing views are simultaneous mic-ed up.  Also Tucker puts the good interview at the top of the show so that there isn’t 48 minutes of tease followed by a 7 minute segment with Oh,Really shouting over the guy you tuned in to listen to.

Oh,Really is denying the charges of sexual harassment.  I don’t know.  I always assume the truth lies somewhere in the middle when these things come up.  But Oh,Really reportedly has paid out over 13 million in harassment settlements.  That’s a lot of smoke. Anyway, I’ll bet Oh,Really lands on his feet down the road.  He has developed a faithful cult-like following and he’ll make a return.  He may pool his gazillions with Ailes’ gazillions and start another cable network. Good luck Bill.  My only advice is, if you are going to go to all of the trouble to invite a guy onto your show, if you think that they interesting enough to capture an audience, let them talk. 

Am I an idiot for giving the King of cable news for decades advice on how to run a cable news show?  Yeah, I probably am, but the two regular readers of this page already knew that.   

My advice to America is to cut your cable news consumption in half.  That includes ESPN.  Down the road cut it in half again.  Your mental state will improve dramatically.