Past their primetime? Bill O'Reilly aims at "crude" Eminem & shoots himself in the mouth

April 9, 9:12 PMPop Culture ExaminerDominic Patten

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There was once a time when seeing Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in the ring together would be watching a battle of champions and philosophies. That time was 1974 in Zaire in the famous Rumble in Jungle bout. Put the legends together today and you likely wouldn't get much of a sparing match outta the two battered, bruised and battle scared old men. It's not an indictment of them, their stature or their abilities, it's just time moving on.

I'm not going to venture on who would be who in this comparison, but I can't help thinking of such creaking bones and slow moves as Eminem and FoxNews' Bill O'Reilly get in the ring over the video for the rapper's latest single "We Made You" off his upcoming Relapse album.

Having been out of view for the past few years except for failed marriages to twice married wives, the tragic loss of old friends, rumors of pill popping, fast food binges and a fat Elvis period, Marshal Mathers III started easing back into public consciousness earlier this year with the single "Crack A Bottle" and a best selling autobiography. 

If you want to hear Eminem at the top of his most recent game, click here for "Crack A Bottle," his first single of new material in four years - Dr. Dre and 50 Cent make an appearance too

Now he's brought out the celeb slamming "We Made You." Which he admits. "There's some celebrity bashing in it," Eminem told MTV News this week,  "I wanna say it's not necessarily intentional bashing in it; it's not necessarily taking deliberate shots at people...Yes, it is. What the **** am I talking about?" I actually don’t know what he is talking about, that’s the thing. I think “We Made You” is celeb slamming, it might just be a joke that Eminem’s entourage don’t have the guts to tell him isn’t funny anymore. Very very similar to his 2002 "Without Me" single, with its widespread cultural references, impersonations and "I'm back" intro not to mention the same director, "We Made You" is so current it's already totally dated. Like a trip down a House of Pop Horror's mirrored hallway, there's Brett Michael and VH-1's Rock of Love, Transformers, and Ellen DeGeneres' lesbianism. A butt shaking Kim Kardashian, a burger chowing Jessica Simpson, a stripper pole swinging Britney Spears, a Jailhouse Rock era Elvis, an all over the shop Amy Winehouse and John Meyer all also make an impersonated appearance. The sequence in the 18 wheeler where a trucker hatted Eminem is trying to convince Lindsay Lohan to break up with girlfriend Samantha Ronson would be just funny or - if like me, you think that the 8 Miler is immensely talented and has a lot more going on than is first apparent - even poignant, if it weren't for the fact they very publicly broke up last week. The Star Trek scenes at least play forward with the new J.J. Abrams prequel not out until early May. Self cannibalizing and too self aware, “We Made You” is not, musically or visually, one of Eminem’s better or more original moments

Check out "Without Me" here from MTV

For more on Brett Michaels and Rock of Love, plus the show' famous fanbase, click here

Haven't seen Eminem's "We Made You" yet? Click here to take a look

So obviously geared to get a response, because nothing can help sales like a bit of a scandal, there's also a section in the video about Sarah Palin. That where a muscle suit wearing Eminem crudely depicts his lust and contempt for the Alaska Governor and former GOP VP candidate. If that wasn’t bad enough,  Lisa Ann, the scantly clad porn actress whose making a career out of playing Palin looks nothing like her. In a catalogue of cheap tricks, it lacks any of the wit and satire, Eminem used to so deftly juggle.

Gov. Sarah Palin says she's not running for President, yet - we'll see. Until the formal announcement, click here for the scoop on the Republican Party's 2008 Vice-Presidential candidate's plans for 2012

Then again, maybe, like the circus that is Britney Spear’s Circus tour, perhaps wit and satire isn’t on the agenda anymore?

Predictably the video and the rapper's lyrics about Gov. Palin got FoxNews' Bill O'Reilly all lathered up. On the song, Eminem raps, "I'll invite Sarah Palin out to dinner, nail her / Baby, say hello to my little friend" In response, the cable king, who knows a good PR stunt as well as the next self aggrandizer, told his viewers that "few Americans take the vile rapper Eminem seriously," O'Reilly went on to say that Eminem "represents the lowest form of entertainment in this country and is a publicity hound to boot." Being that the same thing has been said of Bill more than a few times, It's hard to tell if O'Reilly, who is nothing if not a pro, realized both how funny and how incorrect he was with what was a condemnation that "no one over 25 listens to" Eminem. Being that those in their mid-twenties are one of the most coveted audiences in America and being that the Oscar winning rapper, whose been topping the charts and creating controversy for over a decade, has a pretty big middle aged fanbase, one can only assume Bill is lashing out at all those who don't watch his successful show. As if to prove the point about the older crowd, the "We Made You" video even reaches way back to Eminem and producer Dr. Dre playing the Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise roles from 1988's Rainman. 

Personally I think Bill O'Reilly and Eminem are cut from the same rabble-rousing town crier cloth. Both are geniuses at reading the tone of the times and playing the well produced populist card. The thing is they might both have lost their touch. If "We Made You" is anything to go by, both of them are looking nothing if not hopelessly out of touch.

Hopefully this isn't a sad rematch but Round One of a real fight. Now that would be a front row to sit in … too bad that’s about unlikely as Eminem getting a date with Sarah Palin and chaperoned by Bill O’Reilly.