Ratings Are Meaningless

Oreilly accuses CNN of joining the darkside because of their low ratings. He states that his ratings are 6 times that of CNN at 8pm.

How does Oreilly explain that *I* would rather watch his show than CNN also? How does he explain the phenomenon that *I* would rather listen to Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Michael Medved and company over AirAmerica, which I find to be boring and embarrassing.

Ratings don't tell you why someone watches your show. The success of ultra-conservative feux news shows is their Id-stimulating entertainment value. Liberals already know what they believe, now we want to laugh at how Bill uses lies, half-truths, exaggerations and distortions to explain what he believes. It solidifies our stance.

Why don't we listen to Air America much? Because we don't want to see everything we despise about the disingenuous talk radio format being copied by people who believe what WE believe. It's embarrassing. Talk radio is entertainment because it is transparent bullshit that bypasses critical thought. Even a child can see through the spin tactics. All you have to do is take the facts and twist them 180 degrees- the war is working, we are safer now, it's all the liberal's fault, it's cold today so global warming is clearly not true.... Whatever is the most aggregiously counterfactual is sure to be the position they take.

But the polls tell the tale.

September 25, 2007
Democratic Party Maintains Solid Image Advantage Over GOP
Public Prefers Democratic Party to Republican for handling terrorism, military security
by Lydia Saad
GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

And for keeping the country prosperous-

Fifty-four percent of Americans now say the Democrats would do the better job, compared with only 34% choosing the Republicans.

Bill Oreilly is an idiot. If you didn't already know it.