COMMON SENSE

In some areas, to admit that you are conservative or lean towards conservative viewpoints can lead to disapproval and even ostracism. The reasons given are that conservatives are intolerant of others. How odd it is then that those who claim this are intolerant of any viewpoint other than their own.

The conservative viewpoint is a tougher row to hoe than the liberal one. It is fraught with hard lined rules and regulations, thought to have superior moral background and built on a foundation of standing on your own two feet without looking for handouts. Liberalism, on the other hand, is built on do what you want, take no responsibility and look for the free ride whenever you can.

So what’s wrong with this second paragraph? Everything. That’s because there is no one set of rules for either conservatives or liberals. Instead, there are people out there who possess within themselves a little of both types of political affiliation. Those that follow one side are the other tend to be zealots that are far too one side or the other.

Most people never thought about being one way or the other until about 15 years ago. That’s when a little known radio commentator by the name of Rush Limbaugh became the talk of the town, drawing listeners like flies to sugar cream pie. Love him or hate him, everyone was listening and talking about him and his views which were to the extreme right.

Other commentators came along in his wake, attracting tremendous amounts of listeners as well. Some are still around, some have fallen to the wayside and others have arrived in their place to take over. One who has arrived (even though he’s been around for more years than people may realize) is Bill O’Reilly.

As an on air journalist to anchor of the news/entertainment show INSIDE EDITION to his own show on Fox News, THE O’REILLY FACTOR, O’Reilly has drawn fire for his opinions just as all the rest have. Leaning towards a conservative viewpoint, he is not a full blown conservative. Instead, he thinks for himself. And people on both sides hate that in a person.

O’Reilly has moved on from his TV show to radio. But in between, he attacked another medium as well. He wrote a book called THE O’REILLY FACTOR: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS IN AMERICAN LIFE. Is it more of what he offers each night on his television show? In some ways. But more importantly, it is his views on life in today’s world. And his views are amazingly filled with one thing: common sense.

The book moves through a variety of topics, ending on one and blending into the next. And each chapter is a life lesson on things that he has learned along the way from humble beginnings in a modest blue collar background in Levittown, NY. From there, he scrambled his way through school, through a job teaching and into his career as a journalist. Along the way, he has acquired a ton of life lessons. And he shares those in this book.

The book begins with “The Class” where he discusses the fact that America has more of a class system of discrimination than any other form that exists, including racism. From this basic idea, he builds chapter after chapter into a coherent look at the things people should learn of have learned but seem to have missed.

The most refreshing thing about this entire book is that he doesn’t bend towards one side or the other. He thinks for himself and says what he believes, like him or not. He is a man who is independent in thought and action. And that is unusual in today’s world of spin meisters.

Speaking of which, it is this attitude towards spin that have made O’Reilly what he is today. His show even features a no spin zone, where he doesn’t allow guests to go on and on about the topic of discussion without saying anything or answering his questions. He holds those same people accountable in this book.

Chapters include money, sex, media, drugs and alcoholism, job, parents, spouse, child and more. And in each, O’Reilly pontificates his opinions and thoughts on all. The biggest surprise, as I said earlier, is that all of the ideas he proposes make sense. Pure and simple. It’s amazing that no one else has come up with them before.

Most inspiring is towards the end of the book where he makes a statement that is extremely uplifting. Talking about the good things in life he states:

“...but I thank God that I was born here in America-even though it was in New York City! My parents brought my sister and me into a world of plenty, even if our seats weren’t all that great-but that was just the luck of the draw. I could just as easily have been conceived in Islamabad. In that case, I’d be much more familiar with the habits of a cobra, maybe, but I would have missed out on Howdy Doody, the Mousketeers, and the Untouchables. I wouldn’t have played Little League baseball, and high school hockey, or had my first slow dance to the hit single “Hey, Paula”.”

O’Reilly, as he states in the book, is anti-death penalty, was insulted by the antics (non-sexual) of Bill Clinton (feeling that he had a chance to make it big from humble beginnings but sold out for the highest dollar), feels that we need discipline and not federal dollars to end up with better students, believes that parents should take responsibility for their children, values friendship deeply and believes that religion is a high priority in raising a child. On that last one, note that I said religion not Christianity. Although Catholic, O’Reilly does not push his own religion but believes that all religions are a basis for peace and moral good. He states:

“My last word on religion is a practical one based on timeless logic. IF you life your life subject to the rules of Judeo-Christian tradition (or Buddhist, Islamic, or another religious tradition), then you will do more good than harm on this earth. You will love your neighbor and help other people out. You will not do things that hurt others or yourself.”

An odd choice of words for someone who is often accused of being hateful. The fact is that he isn’t hateful at all. He is merely tired of people who take advantage of others. He is tired of politicians and so called do gooders who abuse their positions for personal gain and power. He is an independent minded person whose words here reveal more of the man than most media outlets would allow us to believe exists. Don’t judge O’Reilly on the words of others or on the few moments you see him on TV. Instead, give this book a read and see if you don’t agree with me: O’Reilly just passes along common sense.