I wasn't crazy about seeing Bill O'Reilly's column makes its debut in The Gazette this morning. Nothing particular against O'Reilly: He is the most entertaining of the talk show ranters, often entertainining, occasionally insightful and sometimes downright funny. I even agree with him most of the time.

But he also has the classic talk show faults: He talks over his callers, pushes an agenda, oversimplifies and plays to the crowd. Although he claims to operate in a "no spin zone," he actually spins all the time. For example, he has a habit of dismissing people who disagree with him as "pinheads." To the extent this is an argument at all, it is purely ad hominem -- a classic rhetorical fallacy that presumably was ancient even when the ancients got around to writing down logical fallacies. In short, it's pure spin.

My real gripe is that I get enough of O'Reilly without reading him in the local paper. Many more thoughtful and less familiar voices are out there, don't you think?