#9: Bill O'Reilly
When you do political coverage or commentary of any variety, you have to be willing to concede to the fact that you will be required to listen to, and tolerate, opinions that you do not necessarily agree with, or at the very least be willing to bite your tongue while the other side is trying to make their case.
Bill O'Reilly still hasn't quite grasped that.
Look up Bill O'Reilly on Youtube, and the first things the search tool will bring up or try to simplify your search down to are his infamous tantrum from back when he hosted "Inside Edition," and montages of him telling his guests, and sometimes even his viewers, to shut up.
Though he is a veteran of the media and generally knows better than to blow his stack or pander to craziness, his intolerance for dissent has often lead him to say incredibly stupid things.
In one instance, for example, O'Reilly offered criticism of the actor / director Tim Robbins, whom he called radical, and cited, of all things, a clip of Robbins criticizing the media's tendency to cover celebrity shenanigans over the war in Iraq.
Another FOX News contributor, Jane Hall, said that his criticism was, in this case, valid, at which O'Reilly blurted out "But Von Ribbentrop in the Nazi hierarchy made valid points, Jane."
As was covered with Ben Stein, leaping to Nazi comparisons is a sure sign that someone is lacking in maturity.
After the Dixie Chicks famously fell under criticism for stating that they were embarrassed by the fact that George W. Bush was from Texas, O'Reilly suggested that they "deserve to be slapped around."
In another instance, O'Reilly argued with analyst Andrew Napolitano about Khalid Sheikh Mohammad etc. being tried in New York.
Napolitano stressed over and over again that it was not his personal opinion that they should be tried in New York, but that it was actually a Constitutional obligation.
"I don't care about the Constitution," O'Reilly responded.
"I do," said Napolitano.
"The Constitution isn't here," continued O'Reilly. "You're here. Don't be a pinhead."
And around the same time, O'Reilly, as a guest for another political commentator, suggested that there would be a "Tea Party tax revolt," and that, as a result of it, "Nancy Pelosi's going to be bobbing up and down in Boston Harbor."
The host responded "I don't think that's necessary."
The host was Glenn Beck, a man so crazy and unhinged that FOX News eventually let him go.
O'Reilly might lack, in his career, a clear point of moral event horizon, but he warrants inclusion on the list (and exclusion from any future commentary) if only for having within him the capacity to turn Glenn Beck into the voice of reason.
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