What I particularly love about Bill is the way he coyly outs himself every now and then...just for the hell of it. According to the always reliable Wikipedia (insert laugh track here), "O'Reilly is often called conservative, but denies this and describes himself as an independent." On his own show, Bill has stated: "You think I'm conservative? See, that's a big misnomer." And then BAM: he's right back to, say, exposing the war on Christmas. "Nobody sticks up for Christmas except me," he chortles. "Did Peter Jennings stick up for Christmas? How about Brian Williams? Did Rather stick up for Christmas? How about Jim Lehrer? Did Larry King [say] "hello, I love Christmas"? No."

(I honestly thought that skit would flop. How could anyone possibly believe it was serious? Answer: when it's in the hands of a comic mastermind.)

Sometimes, Bill gets far more daring with his confessions, fully admitting the charade. In November 2005, when Mr. No-Spin-Zone pretended to be angry with San Francisco for banning military recruiters from city schools, he drolly invited Al Qaeda to blow up the Coit Tower. When this clever bit backfired, he calmly explained it was "obviously" a "satirical reference."

Here's to William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr.: a man ahead of his time.

Mickey Z. can be found on the Web at http://www.mickeyz.net

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