So how much do we care that O'Reilly's gone?

[Perd Hapley]

'Cuz he was always a jerk, and not the most reliably conservative/libertarian fella out there.

[Ben]

Not that much. I watched him early on, but as his head enlarged, I watched less and less until I completely stopped. He's a bit of a "safety over freedom" guy in my book.

[makattak]

I haven't watched him in years and never really cared for him when he was on.

My opinion, though, likely diverges from the large number of people who have been watching him.

It's funny to see the left working so hard to take down a moderate like Mr. O'Reilly, though.

[Jamisjockey]

'Cuz he was always a jerk, and not the most reliably conservative/libertarian fella out there.

He was a GOP statist shill and I hope he's gone for good.

[grampster]

I, too, watched him early on and had to blink my eyes and shake my head because he was in the face of the MSM.  Pleasant surprise, that.    But slowly but surely his huge ego began to manifest itself and I quit watching as I had with Hannity.

[Fly320s]

O'Reilly Auto Parts?  I like them better than Pep Boys.

[BobR]

One word has summed up O'Reilly for me in the recently :

bloviate



bob

[MechAg94]

I, too, watched him early on and had to blink my eyes and shake my head because he was in the face of the MSM.  Pleasant surprise, that.    But slowly but surely his huge ego began to manifest itself and I quit watching as I had with Hannity.

I felt that way the first time I watched him.  However, I realized pretty quick he did not have a consistent political stance.  Moderate is as good of a description as any.  He just wasn't a raging liberal which was a huge change of pace. 

[TechMan]

O'Reilly Auto Parts?  I like them better than Pep Boys.

I do too.

[zxcvbob]

I felt that way the first time I watched him.  However, I realized pretty quick he did not have a consistent political stance.  Moderate is as good of a description as any.  He just wasn't a raging liberal which was a huge change of pace. 

He was a raging populist.

[Perd Hapley]

O'Reilly Auto Parts?  I like them better than Pep Boys.

My Dad uses them a lot, in his semi-retired, one-man automotive repair shop phase. I don't think they have Pep Boys out there in the boonies.

[Ben]

So interesting side note - I'm wondering what the future of Fox News will be?

I read up a bit on the background on the O'Reilly thing, and apparently both O'Reilly and Ailes were ousted by James Murdoch, one of the sons. It seems he's a raging liberal and despises Fox News. He's been complaining about them being part of the Murdoch empire for years. One story suggested he wanted to combine Fox and RT (which they also own) into a "Murdoch global news network". It suggested he might soon be taking over things from his father.

As much as some of the Fox personalities can be asses, I would miss not having a differing viewpoint to every other MSM TV outlet. That said, I've mostly been getting my TV news from Fox Business Network, which seems to be a bit more capitalist/libertarian oriented (Stossel, Kennedy, Napalitano, Pirro, etc.) than Fox News.

[Unisaw]

The Factor was all about O'Reilly.  Current events, and the discussion thereof, were just a prop.  We stopped watching him years ago.

[bedlamite]

O'Reilly Auto Parts?  I like them better than Pep Boys.

Better than Auto Zone too.

[agricola]

So interesting side note - I'm wondering what the future of Fox News will be?

I read up a bit on the background on the O'Reilly thing, and apparently both O'Reilly and Ailes were ousted by James Murdoch, one of the sons. It seems he's a raging liberal and despises Fox News. He's been complaining about them being part of the Murdoch empire for years. One story suggested he wanted to combine Fox and RT (which they also own) into a "Murdoch global news network". It suggested he might soon be taking over things from his father.

As much as some of the Fox personalities can be asses, I would miss not having a differing viewpoint to every other MSM TV outlet. That said, I've mostly been getting my TV news from Fox Business Network, which seems to be a bit more capitalist/libertarian oriented (Stossel, Kennedy, Napalitano, Pirro, etc.) than Fox News.

It is James' style to cauterize wounds like that. 

When the Murdoch empire got into trouble over here for malpractice (presented as phone hacking, though they had also been paying cops and other public figures for information), the paper most obviously guilty of the practice was closed and all the records relating to the hacks who had paid for information - and all the sources who had been paid for it - was sorted through by NI's lawyers and then an unknown amount of it was handed over to the Police and Prosecutors. 

IIRC the end result was that all the sources were convicted, as were a couple of the hacks, but none of the suits. 

[Hawkmoon]

Who?

[Andiron]

Mildly smug that he got himself canned,  he was a pompous jackass.  but otherwise don't care.

[RocketMan]

With regard to Ben's question, I think Fox News will continue its slow slide to the left, though it might move a little faster now.
And the overall quality of its journalism will continue to erode; not that O'Reilly had anything to do with that.

[Frank Castle]

I have given up on all news channels. I don't watch the news at all anymore.

O"Reilly getting fired makes no difference to me.

[brimic]

He was a GOP statist shill and I hope he's gone for good.

+1

[TommyGunn]

'Cuz he was always a jerk, and not the most reliably conservative/libertarian fella out there.

He never claimed to be either conservative or libertarian.   He said he was a "traditionalist."  I liked him and will miss him.  If the  idiot James Murdock does lead  Fox  News to the left I may wind up missing the whole enchilada.
Don't  be fooled; the libtards have scored a hit.  We're down by one.   
O'Reilly may have had a fat head but he was better than 99.99% of all the talking heads on cable and broadcast TV.

[T.O.M.]

I always thought he was more of an opportunist.  He found an opportunity to make a name for himself at Fox, and he did so.  I believe that if the opportunity came up at any of the other networks, or the other side of the aisle, he'd be there so long as their checks kept coming.

[BobR]

I kind of like the fill in they are using right now, Dana Perino, I had not heard much about her but so far I enjoy the way she handles herself and her guests on the show.

bob

[DittoHead]

I don't write as goodly as this person but I agree with their take:

If the Right prefers standing firmly on the moral high ground, it can’t cave to the temptation to defend the indefensible. We’re different from the Left, but we’re still made up of flawed individuals who are pulled by fame and money. They’re not worth protecting just because you agree with them on the Second Amendment, taxation, and national security.

Sure, I’ll wait to see if the ongoing drama turns out to be an actual smear campaign as promised facts are presented. For now, though, I don’t put it past Bill O’Reilly to have done exactly what he’s accused of. His spirited crusade against political correctness shouldn’t lure us to ignore his transgressions nor betray our principles.

[Monkeyleg]

His stance on issues is based upon what's best for him, not an overall philosophy. He allowed guests very little time to speak, instead using them as whipping boys for his own arguements. I tired of him very quickly.

None of the conservative talkers are crying foul, so I assume it's not a liberal conspiracy.