Althouse: Rush Limbaugh on Bill O'Reilly: "Somebody’s got to say it. The man is Ted Baxter."

July 2, 2008

Rush Limbaugh on Bill O'Reilly: "Somebody’s got to say it. The man is Ted Baxter."

Ha ha. I wanted to break that line out of the long post on the NYT article to make sure you wouldn't miss it.

Here's Ted Baxter:

24 comments:

Beth said...: I guess it was bound to happen that once in 20-some years I laugh at something Limbaugh has to say.

Peace, harmony, laughing at Bill O. It's all good.; 7/2/08, 12:58 PM
Beth said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/2/08, 12:58 PM
Amexpat said...: I read the NYT article and that line caught my attention as well. Though there is a large dose of truth in it, my guess is that it was motivated by professional jealousy.; 7/2/08, 1:35 PM
Anonymous said...: Sheepman: Given Limbaugh's inablility to break into TV I tend to think you may be right. Attributing someone else's success to anything other than hard work and talent is a widespread trait among egomaniacs.; 7/2/08, 1:58 PM
Ruth Anne Adams said...: I'm looking forward to the "Talking Points" handling of this as well as "The Word." Loofahs at the ready, people!; 7/2/08, 2:14 PM
Ruth Anne Adams said...: We'll do it LIVE!; 7/2/08, 2:15 PM
George M. Spencer said...: Cloris Leachman was the original mother on "Lassie.

Betty White played a senator in the movie "Advise and Consent."

And Ted Knight played a reporter in a wonderful episode of 'The Outer Limits' in which future Batman Adam West was terrorized by a hand puppet sand dragon on Mars.

Even better? Ed Asner. He investigated a vacuum cleaner-activated dust ball from Hell on the Outer Limits.; 7/2/08, 3:00 PM
MadisonMan said...: Well, that was an hour wasted watching great old clips.; 7/2/08, 3:03 PM
DBrooks17 said...: Saying that Rush Limbaugh is jealous of Bill O'Reilly is akin to saying that Kareem Abdul Jabbar is jealous of Pau Gasol. I think not.; 7/2/08, 3:18 PM
Pelkabo said...: I don't think it's a good comparison. Maybe it's just nostalgia for the 70s, but I remember Ted Baxter as a kind of lovable dunce. I've yet to see anything lovable about Bill O'Reilly.

I forget where I read it, but someone compared the O'Reilly/Olbermann feud to the Iran-Iraq war. You'd like to see them both lose.; 7/2/08, 3:41 PM
KCFleming said...: I've yet to see anything lovable about Bill O'Reilly.

What's not to love?
F*ck it. There's no words on it.
I can't do it.
Go Go!
We'll do it live!
F*ck it.

Not Ted Baxter?
You can't be serious!?; 7/2/08, 3:57 PM
the wolf said...: It's easy to grin
When your ship comes in
And you've got the stock market beat
But the man worthwhile
Is the man who can smile
When his shorts are too tight in the seat.; 7/2/08, 4:09 PM
Anonymous said...: Saying that Rush Limbaugh is jealous of Bill O'Reilly is akin to saying that Kareem Abdul Jabbar is jealous of Pau Gasol. I think not.

O'Reilly having the highest rated show on Cable News for 90 months in a row plus his other ventures is a bit more than a comparison to Pau Gasol would indicate. Limbaugh comparing him to Ted Baxter, at the very least, while not jealousy, expresses a lack of recognition. I suspect he doesn't think BOR is a true conservative and is more show than intellectual substance.; 7/2/08, 4:15 PM
KCFleming said...: I suspect Rush thinks BOR is just an idiot, like old Ted, with an IQ of 90 or maybe 92 with caffiene. That doesn't mean BOR's not popular, just a popular moron.; 7/2/08, 4:33 PM
paul a'barge said...: Second post in a row that begins with Ha Ha.

Ha ha.; 7/2/08, 4:39 PM
Anonymous said...: He may be an egomaniac gasbag of the first order and hundreds of other things but no idiot is he. Nor would he be with an IQ of 90.; 7/2/08, 5:00 PM
KCFleming said...: That's the point, really.
Rush is just saying BOR is an idiot, like old Ted.

It's an insult, not a fact.; 7/2/08, 5:20 PM
Spread Eagle said...: O'Reilly having the highest rated show on Cable News for 90 months in a row plus his other ventures...

That's what's known as damning him with faint praise. O'Reilly's audience is nowhere near Limbaugh's, and O'Reilly, even with all of his cable success, won't be getting any $400m contracts.

O'Reilly took the opportunity presented by Limbaugh's hearing loss and implant surgery to rush his own radio show into direct competition at that precise moment. There's some acrimony there.; 7/2/08, 5:28 PM
Steve M. Galbraith said...: It's interesting to note that Olbermann uses his Ted Baxter voice/impersonation on his show when he reads comments made by O'Reilly.

Like Limbaugh, Olbermann is a very talented personality (in different ways) regardless of what you think about their politics (although I'm not sure that Olbermann isn't as least a much of an opportunist as he is a liberal).

Neither one belongs within 1,000 feet of a newsroom.

Limbaugh knows this; Olbermann apparently doesn't. More likely he does; but simply doesn't care.; 7/2/08, 5:29 PM
EnigmatiCore said...: I think the best thing in these comments is the comparison between Olbermann and O'Reilly.

It would be perfect except that Olbermann is more ideologically pure left than O'Reilly is pure right.

But both are pompous blowhards who tend to really piss off those on the other side of the aisle, while making us in the middle turn to Food Network.; 7/2/08, 8:09 PM
Unknown said...: Rush Limbaugh on Bill O'Reilly: "Somebody’s got to say it. The man is Ted Baxter."

Glenn Reynolds on Ann Althouse:

"Somebody's got to say it. The woman is Sue Ann Nivens."; 7/2/08, 8:33 PM
Nitpicker said...: Has anyone yet noted--while comparing Olbermann to O'Reilly--that Limbaugh stole this comparison directly from Olbermann's mouth?

I guess he's cribbed all he can from Father Coughlin...; 7/2/08, 10:16 PM
Fr Martin Fox said...: I tuned in to see what O'Reilly would say, then saw he was on vacation. I didn't care what his substitute would say, and highly doubt he'd say anything (I didn't stay to find out, anyone know?).

Then I got thinking: does O'Reilly really want to pick a fight with Limbaugh? Why would he want that? What can he possibly gain?

My guess is he'll ignore this.; 7/3/08, 9:26 AM
Anonymous said...: Has anyone yet noted--while comparing Olbermann to O'Reilly--that Limbaugh stole this comparison directly from Olbermann's mouth?

I guess he's cribbed all he can from Father Coughlin...

Given that Coughlin was a leftie, he'd be cribbing from a liberal still. Except people would notice when Rush said it.; 7/7/08, 7:55 PM