O'Reilly Tells How to Create Your Own 'No Spin Zone'

O'Reilly Tells How to Create Your Own 'No Spin Zone'

Phil Brennan, NewsMax.com
Saturday, Jan. 12, 2002

William Buckley once suggested that the reason then-Sen. Robert Kennedy refused to debate him on his "Firing Line" TV show was for the same reason that "the baloney rejects the meat grinder."

Anybody rash enough to enter Bill O'Reilly's "No Spin Zone" can expect to find himself being fed into another kind of meat grinder - the kind he reserves for those whose activities or opinions strike the host of Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" as sheer nincompoopery.

O'Reilly's first book, "The O'Reilly Factor" - a runaway best seller - spelled out his personal and political philosophy in blunt, easy-to-understand terms. It also revealed that he finds it hard to follow the biblical injunction to "suffer fools gladly."

In his latest book, "The No Spin Zone," he recalls a spate of confrontations with his guests that strongly suggest he reads that biblical passage to mean "make fools suffer - and do it gladly."

He takes on what he sees as the most pressing issues of our times - sex, sleaze on TV, violent rap music, taxes, the Clinton legacy and a host of other controversial matters. He does it by recalling interviews with people whose views were diametrically opposed to his own.

In most cases, sparks flew, and the guests got burned.

Your Own Zone

In this first of a three-part series, NewsMax.com looks at O'Reilly's recommendations of how readers can create their own personal No Spin Zones, which, he advises, will "save you time, money and frustration."

A No Spin Zone, he says, is a "state of mind that demands the discipline of clear thinking and the flexibility to change that thinking should the evidence dictate."

The zone is a place where you do your own thinking - where you don't let others do your thinking for you. Once you have sized up a situation and considered all the angles, you can elude the spin others are using to get you to think and act their way. You set your own rules for daily life.

After you set up your personal No Spin Zone, he writes, "you will learn not to tolerate victimizers or charlatans or liars or manipulators. First off, you can just refuse to associate with them. And if that doesn't work and they are still having an impact on your life, call them out verbally ... you have a perfect right to be fool-free."

Here are a few ways O'Reilly uses his own No Spin Zone, strategies you can use too.

When telephone solicitors call, immediately let them know you don't do business on the phone. Just hang up. "Rude? No. The call is intrusive and rude."

Use the two-call rule. "If I call a person twice and don't receive a call back, the relationship is over. I leave a short message saying I won't be calling again."

Insist on having appointments honored. "If I've made a restaurant reservation, I expect it to be honored in fifteen minutes. Same with a doctor's appointment. The physician’s time is valuable, but so is mine and yours.
"Being on time and honoring your word are signs of respect. I want to deal only with people who are respectful of others, even in a casual setting such as a restaurant. Be aware of how others are treating you and question that treatment if you feel it isn't square. That's all part of a no spin life."
In other words, don't let people ride roughshod over you. Be polite, considerate and friendly - and be firm.
Next: O'Reilly vs. the Clintonoids.
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