Unoriginal Gangster

Jeff Bercovici is on vacation. Guest blogger Sean Elder submits:

It's hard to say who Bill O'Reilly hates more: Media Matters or Keith Olbermann. Both dog his every step and splash his often ill-considered words across the internet and cable respectively, making it difficult for the man to even order a simple falafel.

On his MSNBC program Countdown with Keith Olbermann, the acerbic liberal commentator devotes a few minutes every evening to tweaking Fox News' star pugilist, throwing fuel on a fire that probably should be burned out by now. (The fact that O'Reilly lets Olbermann get to him just keeps Keith going. It wins him points with younger viewers - he beat his 8 pm nemesis in the 25-54 demo earlier this month -- though O'Reilly still trounces him in households overall.)

But this week it is the progressive website Media Matters, which devotes a whole tier to annoying O'Reilly that has the edge. They captured Bill on his radio show (because he is a master of all media) marveling over a dinner he had a Sylvia's soul food restaurant in Harlem.

In speaking with NPR's Juan Williams (who calls rap music "A corruption of culture," for the record), O'Reilly recalled his dinner with Al Sharpton - "I couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia's restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City!" He then describes going to a concert by Anita Baker - "and the crowd was well-dressed... the band was excellent and dressed in tuxedoes - this is what white America doesn't know!"

When Williams said amen, O'Reilly added, "There wasn't one person in Sylvia's saying, 'M-fer, I want more iced tea!' It was like going into an Italian restaurant..."

Right. Where they say, "Stronzo, where's my espresso?"

by Sean Elder