You are a buffoon if you think O'Reilly believes everything he says and doesn't just play to his crowd in the large part. He knows his audience, he knows what to hit on to keep them watching, he plays to paranoia and Obama hate to the max. He keeps people watching. So does ESPN. So does Honey Boo Boo. So do guys like Howard Stern. Essentially shock jocks. ESPN knew it could create this non-story in to a story because their main audience is made up of morons and hype beasts who will listen to whatever ESPN says about something.