"Narcissus Does Not Fall In Love With His Reflection Because It Is Beautiful, But Because It Is His."

W.H. Auden provided this post's quote.

A funny thing happened on the journey to the center of Bill O'Reilly's mind. First, some background in the form of a typically clueless Bill-O rant from January 22 entitled The Collapse of the Left-Wing Press, courtesy of his website:

There is much irony in the fact that while liberals have won power in Washington big time, the left-wing media is collapsing all over the place. In the past couple of weeks, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the mother of all liberal publications, the New York Times, all have issued SOS announcements.
The Seattle paper will cease publication in March unless a buyer is found. Even though it can't pay its bills, the Post-Intelligencer should get into the left wing hall of fame after its publisher told the FBI to buzz off when the agency asked for media help in locating two possible terror suspects.
The Minneapolis paper, called the "Red Star" by some in Minnesota, has filed for bankruptcy after its earnings dropped more than 50% in one year. That, despite the Presidential vote and a vicious election between Senator Norm Coleman and Al Franken.
As for the New York Times, it is Twilight Zone time. The paper is already trying to use equity from its Manhattan office building to pay debts and now has borrowed $250 million from Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu. And get this—the Times is paying old Carlos an astounding 14% interest rate! What, was Tony Soprano not available? Does the description "loan shark" mean anything to the ideologues running the Times? I mean, the prime lending rate in America is 3.25%, and these guys are paying Carlos Slim 14%! Wow.
On the TV front, the über-liberal, Bush-hating MSNBC network ranked #31 in total day ratings for the first two weeks of January. I think that's right behind the "Roller Derby Channel." General Electric, which owns NBC, has taken a sharp turn to the left in its corporate philosophy, while at the same time it watched its stock price decline from about 50 dollars a share to around $13. The fact that CEO Jeffrey Immelt still has his job ranks up there with the miracle of the US Airways water landing.

Now comes the funny part, as reported in today's Los Angeles Times:

News Corp. reported a $6.4-billion net loss for the most recent quarter, as the media conglomerate was forced to take an $8.4-billion write-down on its television, newspaper and information service business units. Prior to the charge, News Corp. reported an adjusted operating income of $818 million for its fiscal second quarter ended Dec. 31, down 42% from the $1.4 billion it reported a year ago. As a result of the charge, News Corp. suffered a net loss of $6.4 billion, or $2.45 a share, compared with a net income of $832 million, or 27 cents, a year ago. Television reported an adjusted operating income of $18 million for the quarter, down 92% from the $227 million News Corp. reported a year ago. The precipitous drop reflects the recession's effect on the ad market and the higher costs of programming and sports licenses. News Corp. owns the Fox broadcast network and cable channels Fox News and FX.

New Corp. closed the day at $6.90 per share in after-hours trading. No word on when we can expect the O'Reilly opus, The Collapse of the Right-Wing Media.