Is Pete Buttigieg toast?

 Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck discuss the non-future of Pete Buttigieg:

Wait, wait, wait! Remember this?

Matt Lauer, just fired from NBC for sexual harassment, only months ago, was grilling for Bill O'Reilly about being pushed aside from Fox News, for sexual harassment. He practically could have been interviewing himself.

At times it seems in the interview as if Lauer was looking for advice for his own situation.

Bill O'Reilly is not the headline, Fox News is

Bill O'Reilly got fired by Fox News yesterday for reported misconduct of a sexual harassment nature. I don't care.  I always could take or leave O'Reilly's show. Sometimes he was way off base or frankly, annoying.  A lot of times he got it right too, it should be said.  The problem is his success on Fox and the potential direction of Fox news media. Apparently Rupert Murdoch and his sons have different visions not only for O'Reilly but also for the direction of Fox News,  Fox News has long been the lone bastion of news media for conservatives (by saying that I am lumping conservative stalwarts like Rush Limbaugh or Townhall etc., into other categories - pundits, editorialists or too small to compare with Fox).

The loss of O'Reilly at Fox may matter to ratings for Fox but likely not - unless Rupert Murdoch's sons decide a more centrist direction.  When Megyn Kelly jumped Fox for NBC, Tucker Carlson stepped in and the network never missed a beat. That can be true for an O'Reilly replacement - conservatives need a media outlet with the size and reach of Fox News.  The younger Murdochs would do wise to realize the success of their father's news outlet rests upon it being the sole entity with the heft to stand up to the liberal media behemoth that confronts the right.  To change it because of their own possible political views would be to make Fox a voice among countless others on the left.  

Disappointed conservatives would abandon Fox in droves as it became apparent that Fox is moving to a 'balanced' line-up. Fox is the balance, not just part of the liberal throng.  Should that come to pass, there is a real opportunity for someone like a Breitbart to step up and fill in the void.  I'd do it but I do not have the critical mass necessary to start a broadcast network.

Bill O'Reilly vs Obama: What Bill did wrong

I have already opined about Obama not having an endgame in his interview with Bill O'Reilly yesterday.  But I think Bill O'Reilly made some mistakes too.  There's an old expression, "Give a man enough rope and he'll hang himself."  Bill O'Reilly wanted answers.  His audience wanted answers.  But Bill O'Reilly genuinely seems to believe his audience (who are typically not Obama fans) wants combativeness more than they want to see president Obama say something that he can't take back.

Here are some examples of exchanges where O'Reilly let his audience down.  The reason will be self-evident.

O'REILLY: It's in the past. But isn't that the...

OBAMA: So...

O'REILLY: -- biggest mistake?

OBAMA: Well, I, you know, Bill, as I said...

O'REILLY: You gave your enemies...

OBAMA: You...

O'REILLY: -- a lot of fodder for it.

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OBAMA: -- that's an act of terror, which is how I characterized it the day after it happened. So the -- so the question ends up being who, in fact, was attacking us?

O'REILLY: But it's more than that...

OBAMA: And that...

O'REILLY: -- though...

OBAMA: -- well, we...

O'REILLY: -- because of Susan Rice.

OBAMA: No, it...

O'REILLY: It's more than that because if Susan Rice goes out and tells the world that it was a spontaneous demonstration...

OBAMA: Bill...

O'REILLY: -- off a videotape but your...

OBAMA: Bill...

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OBAMA: -- by the independent agency...

O'REILLY: I...

OBAMA: -- but we also have to make sure that we understand our folks out there are in a hazardous, dangerous situation...

O'REILLY: I think everybody understands that...

OBAMA: -- and we...

O'REILLY: -- Mr. President.

OBAMA: No, but -- but, actually, not everybody does, because what ends up happening...

O'REILLY: I think they do.

OBAMA: -- what ends up happening is we end up creating a political agenda...

O'REILLY: Absolutely...

OBAMA: -- over something...

O'REILLY: -- and that's...

OBAMA: -- (INAUDIBLE)...

O'REILLY: -- that was my next question.

Oh really, O'Reilly? That's not a debate, that's not a conversation, it's not even an interview. It did nothing. In fact, it reminded me of the Superbowl itself in that way - disappointing.