1999-2010

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Little sympathy for Barry in Boston

Yeah, he got his wish and now he's a liberal martyr and once again elevated near the recognition level of his former tabloid television rival Bill O'Reilly. And even though he attacked us amid his fateful O'Reilly offensive, we're the first to say it:

Boy, do we feel sorry for Barry Nolan!

After leaving Hollywood and the tabloid world for the rarified and certainly liberal Boston television market, with knowledge of enough twenty-five cent words to get himself a spot on a National Public Radio-style word quiz show, and enough wit and boyish good looks (not to mention that Mensa card) to marry a respected local documentary producer and academic, surely he felt safe-- and, perhaps, duty-bound-- speaking up against a ticket-selling ploy by the local branch of the National Academy of Television and Sciences (SATAN in reverse, by the way) of offering his former tabloid television rival Bill O'Reilly a special Emmy.

But Barry's campaign got him
fired from his job hosting a show for Comcast's cable system. Whether there's more to it than the fact that he spoke his mind (as Barry's related scattershot attack on this site might indicate), we'll find out, but in the meantime, public opinion was definitely not in his favor, as evidenced by the reaction to the Boston Herald tabloid's stories of his campaign-- and its repercussions.


Barry misjudged his audience-- something his mentors back in the halcyon (Peter Brennan) days of Hard Copy would not have done. Maybe he should have gone to the more liberal Globe, where he'd have a better chance of controlling the spin. But tabloid is as tabloid does.

Here are the first fifty or so comments on the Boston Herald website story of his ouster:

gungho_guy8888

You had your say, Barry...resulting in a 'dumb move' on your part...sayonara, Barry.

kevkristy
What a maroon... This no talent was lucky to be gievn a forum on a cable-access show, and he blew that. I applaud CN8. The intolerance of these liberal clowns is getting out of control. They are the modern day McCarthys.

Kellyg
Good luck, Barry. What's next after being fired from a Wayne's World job? I see a Deval Press Relation's role in your future!

byeteddy
Enjoy retirement Barry! Next time dont bark up the tree of a guy thats 1000 times more successful than you are.

BCEagle
Barry, there is a reason why you were (formally anyway) on CN8 and O'Reilly is on FOX. Hopefully Barry you've figured that out....

DAVY
Just another Bush hating, O'Reilly hating, bandwagon hopper, that probably never seen ONE episode of The O'Reilly Factor. Go sit on Keith Olberman's lap Barry, that's the only way you'll get back on TV again.

ChrisNH
Barry Nolan despises me, and I'm glad he's out 'looking at his lawn grow' now. What a haughty elite he is for shouting his liberal bias from the mountaintop. It's people like Barry that CONVINCE everyone else of the utter liberal bias that has ALWAYS existed in the mainstream media. And here comes Fox News and Bill O'Reilly--a LONE WOLF on the 'other side'--and poor Barry gets his panties in a wad because he simply can't STAND there to be even a semblance of 'equal time.' Nolan is a bottom-feeder of the worst kind. I hope his lawn gets crabgrass and his wife tosses him aside for someone a little less cantankerous. BFD that he just got a '5-Year watch' from a media outlet hardly anyone knows about.

JackTorse
While Barry is sitting on his front porch watching his grass grow, someone should walk up to him and hand him a cup of coffee . . . in an O'Reilly Factor mug.

rotinski
kevkristy- if you call someone a "maroon" when you are trying to say moron, doesn't it kind of backfire?... you are telling us more about yourself than Barry N

bf258
All is not lost, Barry. You can work again if you learn to say "Would you like fries with that".

ArtieG
Jessica, real professional and objective calling Bill O'Reilly a "Fox News blowhard". Nolan's inappropriate actions get him fired and yet you see fit to take a swipe at O'Reilly?

tappan
Good job Barry. The reason why O'Reilly is so dangerous is because the amount of idiots that believe his crap. Unfortunately they vote. To the 6 people above me in this comment thread. Go have a schlitz and bark at your wife about how many welfare mothers are stealing your hard earned cash as you watch Jerry Springer on your 200inch plasma.

ChrisNH
tappan, the very fact that there are TEN anti-Nolan posts before readers come to YOUR single post in defense of him tells us all we need to know. I suspect that you're probably the welfare mother or father that's doing the stealing, and happy to be doing so. True story.

Fredd
Interesting that the folks bashing Barry are not claiming that Barry was wrong in what he said. "He's delusional," Nolan said of O'Reilly, a former Boston TV anchor. "He's a man that mangles the facts." Do they actually believe that O'Leilly does not mangle the facts? Anyone that chooses to listen to Billo, knowing half the stuff that he says is unmitigated LIES, has a serious problem grasping reality. Good luck Mr Nolan in whatever you choose to pursue in life, hopefully you will remain in broadcasting as we could use some people with principles out there speaking the TRUTH.

GDubaUBush
Remember when this country had the right to free speach?

JackTorse
I remember that. I also remember when its citizens could spell the word "speech" correctly. C'mon man.

slickrick
"Remember when this country had the right to free speach? " Typical liberal idiot. Where was his speech denied? He spoke up and let his opinion be heard. Then his private employer fired him, blame your politicans for MA being a no fault State. How people forget you have the right to say whatever you want but there can be consequences for your actions as well.

Ziggy
Rotinsky, Generally that use of "maroon" is from Bugs Bunny cartoons. Kinda sorta more insulting that way.

Ziggy
GDubaUBush, "the right to free speech" means the goverment cannot pass any laws restricting it. You also have the right to suffer the consequences if your "speech" impacts on things like your employer as it did in this case. There is NO freedom from consequences for what you say.

Ellen
Look there's a lot I don't like about O'Riely even when I agree with him. There's a lot I don't like about a lot them. but what Barry Nolan did was just plain stupid. Talk about ego, and now he can just sit back and like the others say watch the grass grow.

tappan
To the scared and violent white suburban patriots getting ready for their "Budweiser slingfest backyard BBQ's"....Let me repeat what I said a few minutes ago.... Good job Barry. The reason why O'Reilly is so dangerous is because the amount of idiots that believe his crap. Unfortunately they vote. To the many people above me in this comment thread. Go have a schlitz and bark at your wife about how many welfare mothers are stealing your hard earned cash as you watch Jerry Springer on your 200inch plasma.

jimmc2990
LOL! As an RCN subscriber, I haven't seen Barry Nolan or Sara Edwards for years! I didn't know they were even on TV! The funny part is that he had to get fired from obscurity to land on the front page of the Herald.com...

Gooner
You have got to love all the O'Reilly fanboys in these comments typing their hatred through their official O'Reilly keyboards.

Jira
While O'Reilly sometimes comes on too strong, the fact is that he has the guts to publicly stand up to the liberals who want to open up our borders, tax us into oblivion and turn political correctness into an art form. Barry, go watch your grass grow.

troutrivers
Actually, the right to speak freely has been challenged many times in our history. Starting with John Adams and the Alien and Sedition Acts...Lincoln suspended Habeas Corpus and three folks in prison without charges for months...Woodrow Wilson's administration effecively silenced fight Bob LaFollette opposition to the USA entering WWI...and on and on. The current administration has been quite tolerant of dissent in comparison. And speaking of this guy - he had every right to do what he did - as he can do so again if he chooses. But any future employer will also have the right to impose professional standards on his behavior as well.

ChrisNH
You don't need a better example than this to realize that Nolan is simply a Wal-Mart door greeter who took a lucky turn somewhere along the way. He and others of his ilk are assuredly not Mensa candidates, and here's Barry Nolan just putting an exclamation point on it. Somewhere, Bill O'Reilly is asking, 'Barry WHO?'

iggyd23
Barry was just a no talent jerk trying to be the local Olberman. Passing out that literature at the ceremony was just a spineless lib maneuver

jimmc2990
Hey tappan, go back to your tofu and birkenstocks and leave your hate speech in the closet where it belongs. Liberals love the truth as long as it fits their beliefs. They have no tolerance for another viewpoint, and you just help us conservatives make that point every day. Heck, I think O'Reilly says stupid things as well, but at least he says what he feels, and there's no crime in that unless you're a liberal and then it's all hate speech. Stop your hypocrisy.

THEONE
Good Luck Barry on you next adventure. The truth huts! B. O'reilly swept his harrassment case under the rug. Money talks, this b.s. is still walking on a "VERY" thin line. You should of booed him.

peterscala
Go to it Tappan. What O'Reilly does is the journalistic equivalent of Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Entertainment, in other words, it's schtick, with emphasis on the 'entertainment' part. ChrisNH can likely not appreciate the irony of his/her lock-solid, iron-clad conclusion that the posting of ten anti-Nolan posts to your one, actually proves anything. Wonder if (s)he owns a banjo? If the NH means New Hampshire, I suppose we can take the possession of that particular instrument as a given. He's sure got a purty mouth, now, don't he? huh, huh . . .

itsallonthelevel
I love "theone's" post about sweeping the stuff under the rug with money. Ever hear of the Kennedy's up there?

byeteddy
maroon is an insult just like moron didnt you ever see bugs bunny cartoons

Principled
I appluad channel 8, these mean spirited libs are way out of control. Maybe this will be a prelude to a house cleaning at MSNBC and NBC! Principled in Rangeley, Maine

reedkal
Barry, regardless of what you said, or how you said it, you are correct. Bill O'Reilly is a 'pundit'. A commentator who has little respect for the truth and ZERO tolerance for those who dissagree with him. (I notice how that is being shared by conservatives everywhere. "You're right until I say you're wrong!" I am saddened that an Emmy was presented to him. It loweres my esteem for the Academey of Broadcast Arts and Sciences. As for Savage (Weiner), well he IS a real terrorist. The first time I heard him, he was advocating the line-up of all liberals against a wall and machine gunning them! This from a man of Jewish heritage! Best of Luck Barry.

ktm400lc
Who's Barry Nolan?

spikewebbe
I wonder if Bill O'Reilly will call Barry Nolan a Pinhead or a Patriot??

Joke
Tappen, please just a few exsamples of what you speak.

heynow
It is hard to believe any one would be giving an honor to Bill O Do people still watch that channel he is on?

tappan
SHT OFF YOUR TV>>>>>THERE IS NOTHING scarier than a Northeast conservative. The bible belt conservatives are at least guided in their conscience by the Lord, and are good neighbors. Here, all it ever is, Gimme my right to have guns and lots of 'em, where's my right to kill the guy that will eventually come into my house and try to kill my family...Death penalty, Death penalty, Death penalty... Damn, look how the ACLU is killing my family...Look how the school system wants to teach sex ed that I don't appreciate, look how the town green can't have baby Jesus without having a Jewish Menorah, look how THEY say "Happy HOLIDAYS" instead of Merry X-mas.. You are ALL scared, you N'East conservatives. You are ALL tools who are making Howie and Bill LAUGH all the way to the bank.... Love your neighbor and buy more TOFU

Jira
In spite of being constantly reviled, Bill O'Reilly has the guts to publicly challenge the liberals who want to open up our borders, tax us into oblivion and turn political correctness into an art form. Barry, go watch your grass grow.

agingcynic
hey now: last time I checked, 3 times as many as watch MSNBC. Nolan is quoting Edith Freakin' Bunker and he's accusing OTHERS of being delusional? No wonder I haven't seen him in 20 years.

Jira
In spite of being constantly reviled, Bill O'Reilly has the guts to publically challenge the liberals who want to open up our borders, tax us into oblivion and turn political correctness into an art form. Barry, go watch your grass grow.

mrpickles
I bet Bill Oreilly is having the last laugh today.

BCEagle
heynow, The O'Reilly Factor has totally dominated the cable news programming over the past couple of years. That's why you have morons like Barry Nolan, Keith Olbermann and the rest of the "wine and brie crowd" lowering themselves to idiotic levels because they know they don't attract an audience like O'Reilly does...whether you love him or hate him...

peterscala
My WWE comparison stands in the matter of Bill O'Reilly. The guy's doing schtick, an act, whatever you want to call it. Somebody once said he'd rather "be loud than right" and there's the problem. A guy like John McLaughlin is bombastic and over-the-top, but regardless of the opinion, you have to admit he's entertaining. So much so that when Dana Carvey started lampooning him, the bit absolutely went to Carvey's top five. O'Reilly on the other hand, is just a mean-spirited blowhard who just happens to be an idiot on top of it. Check out his repeated references back in an '05 series of debates/discussions with Gen. Wesley Clarke to a massacre of German prisoner/soldiers by American troops at Malmedy, Belgium during WWII. Of course it just happened to be the other way around. German soldiers murdered unarmed American POWs who had their hands in the air. Hey, why let the facts get in the way of a good rant? It doesn't matter that Barry Nolan is a nobody in Bill's world. O'Reilly is deserving of honor from no one.

Tomasestinks
I don't even know where CN8 is on my TV. Hey Barry, my grass is growing as well. I'll pay you to come cut it, I figured you may need the cash and you do have the time.

slightcrazed
Tappan - your ignorance is staggering. You seem to be possessed of the same stereotypical view of we on the right that everyone on the left appears to have. Believe it or not, we ain't all gun-totin' bible-thumpin' overall-wearing hicks with bib-style overalls and mullets. If you'd but learn to diversify (and that is the word that defines a liberal, isn't it?) your political beliefs a bit and gain some respect and understanding for your political rivals you may just come to realize that, though we may think differently, we are all just people. I fully respect your right to your opinion, and will allow you to speak it without insult or injury. Will you not do the same?

SarcasticOne
"As for his future, he plans to get his lawn in good shape and spend time with his wife." It's a shame his wife will now have to suffer for his sins.

Massgopguy
Ah, CN8. The channell that BC HOckey is on when all the other sports stations have Pros. Congrats to PeterScala, over 150 words and no mention of Howie Carr. A new record.

ThreeRings
It's one thing to have an opinion, but Nolan went too far and embarrassed his employer.

penna100
Mrs.Heslam refers to Bill as a blowhard.I wish you sweeties would get it right.He\'s a commentator for the great Fox News.

ThreeRings
I guess Nolan couldn't stand the fact that no one cared what he thought, so he had to copy some lame quotes from some far-left website onto cards and put them on all the tables. That's crossing the line. That's liberals for ya: always throwing a tantrum when no one cares what they think.

troutrivers
I have a question for the folks who are so aghast at O'Reilly receiving an Emmy. What did you think when Hillary Clinton won her Grammy?

JackTorse
peterscala: The phrase you're quoting is as follows, and you'll love the author: "When the law is on your side, argue the law. When the facts are on your side, argue the facts. When neither is on your side, yell." Al Gore.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The shutting up of opposition is critical to running a county in a undemocratic way.

Anonymous said...

Look. I don't even like O'Reilly and gave up watching a long time ago. But shouldn't Barry be protesting things like escaped child molesters getting awards? I'm referring to Roman Polanski's Academy honors a few years ago for Best Director. Now that's worth protesting.

Nolan is no martyr to me, political or otherwise. Dumb in this day and age to blow a decent gig. . .

Anonymous said...

Tabloid Baby is quoting another website's comments? What's wrong - no one reading YOUR blog?