It’s Bill O’Reilly Versus Geraldo Rivera

An illegal alien who is drunk kills a young girl. So is it an immigration issue — or a drunk driving issue? Or both?

Reasonable people can discuss it, but go to CROOKS AND LIARS HERE and watch an absolutely livid Bill O’Reilly in a screamfest with Geraldo Rivera.

This is a must-view piece of video for several reasons. One is that it underscores how two people who were actually good journalists when they did straight stories and showed some emotional restraint have evolved to where they are today — raking in the Big Bux but caricatures of themselves.

Geraldo Rivera has gone from being a young investigative reporter star to part and parcel of the 21st century’s increasingly popular cable talk/news genre. But in this clip — compared to a screeching O’Reilly — he almost comes off as academic working at a prestigious think tank.

And O’Reilly? He is adored by his fans and loathed by those who disagree with him politically. But what can be said about O’Reilly is that he was an excellent reporter who could do some serious stuff. Then he moved over to the cable/talk radio talk/news genre and has become the Ratings King. Yet, in the process, you see in this video someone who immediately goes on the personal attack and can’t discuss but has to scream. Rage replaces reason…and it’s what gets ratings (and perhaps blog hits). But it REPLACES reasonable discussion nonetheless. If you notice at the end, O’Reilly seems pleased at the hot-emotions fest.

There is a serious issue here. But it gets dwarfed by raging emotions that are nearly as strong as adolescent raging hormones — and emotions are what cause viewers to return again and again (and they do). We bet our readers can discuss this a bit more seriously in comments.