Bill O'Reilly and Geraldo Rivera went at each other this week over immigration policy - in particular, whether the hit-and-run killing of two girls by a drunk illegal immigrant was due to illegal immigration (O'Reilly) or drinking when driving (Rivera).
The confrontation, which indeed looked pretty heated, has received more attention than the subject of the debate. Rivera is getting points for arguing down O'Reilly, whose detractors are also taking pleasure in O'Reilly almost losing it on camera.
I say nothing of the kind happened. Although there is no doubt that both men felt strongly about their positions, neither was close to losing it, and in fact both were in almost total control.
Indeed, both commentators know full well the value of being passionate about a topic and expressing that passion on television. Both have made their careers on it. I have seen both talk in interviews about the value of losing their tempers on TV, of wearing their hearts on their sleeves in front of the camera.
Does this mean the entire heated discussion was staged? I wouldn't go that far.
But I would say that both men let themselves go - let themselves get angry to the point of shouting and practically snarling at each other - because as pros they knew how much television audiences eat this kind of stuff up.
Contrary to what O'Reilly's critics would like to believe, there was never a chance that O'Reilly was on the verge of punching out Rivera. And contrary to what Rivera's supporters might say, he wasn't especially brave in standing up to O'Reilly, for as a TV veteran he knew how helpful this would be to the ratings for his weekend show.
If you doubt this, look at how quickly the two buried the hatchet at the end of the shouting match.
The public gets pleasure in thinking they discover that people on television are just like them. In fact, it's a whole different world on the other side of the camera.
O'Reilly v. Rivera
O'Reilly v. me (and more of my Fox, MSNBC, etc adventures)
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