海角大神

Veteran Fox News host Bill O鈥橰eilly had a real shout-down with regular guest Alan Colmes on the 鈥淥鈥橰eilly Factor鈥� earlier this week. The pair were discussing President Obama鈥檚 fiscal proposals 鈥� specifically, whether the White House has proposed budget cuts to any specific programs. Mr. Colmes opined that he had. Then Mr. O鈥橰eilly went ballistic like a North Korean missile test, jabbing his finger and turning up the volume while the smile on Colmes鈥檚 face suddenly went fixed.

鈥淵ou are lying! You are lying!鈥� yelled O鈥橰eilly.

This exchange has had some resonance in Washington for substantive reasons we鈥檒l get to a moment. But our initial reaction to the whole thing was whether O鈥橰eilly preplanned the exchange.

This does not mean we鈥檙e charging journalistic impropriety. O鈥橰eilly is a seasoned pro whose show is the engine that drives Fox ratings. He鈥檚 apologized for the personal attack, saying he wished he hadn鈥檛 used the word 鈥渓iar.鈥�

But we鈥檙e wondering whether he and his producers had planned an amped-up discussion of the fiscal subject and things just went a little too far.

After all, it鈥檚 not like the 鈥淥鈥橰eilly Factor鈥� is free-flowing. The genial and generally liberal Colmes is a regular guest who often plays the role of the Washington Generals to O鈥橰eilly鈥檚 Harlem Globetrotters. In other words, he鈥檚 supposed to provide some opposition and then lose. The only question is the score, not the outcome. Why get angry when it鈥檚 your show and you鈥檙e going to win?

Second, the tantrum has brought lots of attention to the main point O鈥橰eilly wanted to make. He鈥檚 a moralist about the US debt, decrying the trillions-piled-on-trillions as a burden that he says will debase the currency and crush the US economy.

鈥淭his spending issue is vital for all of us, and that鈥檚 why I鈥檓 raising my voice,鈥� said O鈥橰eilly on an apology segment broadcast Wednesday.

Last, the controversy has been great for his network. O鈥橰eilly has been defended on most Fox programs but also skewered by Fox鈥檚 Kirsten Powers, who told O鈥橰eilly to his face that he鈥檚 鈥�100 percent wrong,鈥� and Mr. Obama has offered specific Medicare cuts.

Maybe O鈥橰eilly doesn鈥檛 believe Obama would really make those reductions, or maybe he doesn鈥檛 think they鈥檙e enough. But it鈥檚 wrong to deny their existence, she said.

As far as Fox News chief Roger Ailes is concerned it doesn鈥檛 matter which of his employees is right there. It only matters that the dust-up has provided buzzy content for an array of programs. As Joe Concha writes on Mediaite, this is why Fox dominates cable news ratings.

鈥淭he audience revels in being able to witness a family fight on an almost-daily basis,鈥� .听

As to substance, folks are continuing to argue about this in D.C. because it appears to confirm a deep fear on both sides.

Liberals believe that many Republicans exist in a closed news loop that only feeds their beliefs. Thus the GOP does not realize that Obama has in fact proposed cutting Social Security benefits by changing the way inflation is calculated and reducing Medicare costs by increased means testing of benefits. Ezra Klein at Wonkblog wrote perhaps the earlier this month.

Conservatives meanwhile believe Democrats don鈥檛 understand the economy and don鈥檛 take debt seriously. They think Obama鈥檚 main aim is to recapture the House in 2014 and destroy the Republican Party. In fact, that鈥檚 what Colmes and O鈥橰eilly were talking about just before they moved on to fiscal stuff and the resultant explosion.

Hmm ... so maybe O鈥橰eilly was actually boiling after all?