It's very likely that he was being that subtle, Dan. I wish I had seen the show, but I happen to have seen at least 4 interviews with Al in the past couple weeks, and he seems like the last person to "flip out" and speak rashly.

So far I've seen him on Larry King, the Daily Show, and Real Time with Bill Maher. Granted, these are hardly the same situations as pitting him against O'Reilly. Still, I'd give him the benefit of the doubt over Bill O'Reilly any day.