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On C-Span, Al Franken Chews Up Bill O'Reilly for Lunch And Spits Out Nails
A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY
Dear BuzzFlash:
On Saturday, May 31, C-SPAN and BookTV broadcast a Book Expo author luncheon panel with Pat Schroeder (moderator), Molly Ivins, Bill O'Reilly, and Al Franken.
Each panelist was given 15 minutes to talk about their own upcoming book. After Molly Ivins and Bill O'Reilly had taken their turns, Al Franken took the microphone. His book, which is unfinished, is entitled, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right" and features pictures of four conservative personalities on the cover. Bill O'Reilly was one of them. At the start of his talk, Franken made a point of showing the cover to O'Reilly and asking if he could get a better photo to use. O'Reilly was clearly upset: silent, but spitting DU-tipped bullets from his eyes.
Franken spent the next 20 minutes or so giving examples of tight wing lies from his book. By then he had already overshot his time slot, but he launched into an account of how he had personally caught Bill O'Reilly in a big lie, which was this: O'Reilly had stated on at least two or three occasions that his former show, Inside Edition, was the winner of two prestigious Peabody Awards.
The story of how Franken tracked down and debunked this claim ran on for 10 or 15 minutes, in excruciating detail. O'Reilly, still silent through most of it, was beside himself and looked to be ready to jump out of his chair and tackle the speaker.
Realize the following, of course: Had Al Franken been a guest on The No-Spin Zone, O'Reilly would certainly have shouted him down and probably disconnected his mic almost as soon as he showed the cover of his book. But O'Reilly couldn't shut down C-SPAN. His frustration was palpable. Finally, he erupted and called Al Franken a lot of things including, "a very vicious person" (if I recall correctly).
By this time, Al Franken had also changed. No longer the kidding-on-the-square humorist, he was deadly serious and emotionally invested in the theme of his book. His lip was quivering and I was afraid he would actually burst into tears. When he said that "they're lying and we shouldn't take it [pause]...anymore", it was every bit as spellbinding as any Howard Beale moment in the movie "Network."
The segment will be re-aired Sunday, June 8, at 5:30 ET on C-SPAN2.
A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY
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