Bill O’Reilly and his inflammatory speech was on The View this week, and everybody knows it. But, the attention should go elsewhere.

His baseless anti-Muslim rhetoric that led Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg to walk off the set earlier this week was a ratings boon for him and the show. O’Reilly appeared on the Glenn Beck show and The View hosts are scheduled to discuss Thursday’s show on Monday.

The show is likely to grab more ratings and headlines, but really, it’s time to shift gears and focus on the anti-Islam hysteria sweeping over the U.S. Bill O’Reilly is getting bashed in the press, but thousands, maybe millions, agree with him. Some of them are silent. Many are not. It has become mainstream to bash Muslims.

John Esposito and Sheila Lalwani at the Huffington Post, 16 October 2010