Bill O'Reilly: EXPOSED!

[Placebo]

MY FIRST (AND LAST) TIME WITH BILL O'REILLY
by David Cole

"I sat in the Washington studio as the taping of the show began in New York with a rant from Bill O'Reilly. He claimed that "the Factor" had established the link between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, and then played a clip from Thomas Kean, head of the Senate's 9/11 Commission, in which Kean said, "There is no evidence that we can find whatsoever that Iraq or Saddam Hussein participated in any way in attacks on the United States, in other words, on 9/11. What we do say, however, is there were contacts between Iraq and Saddam Hussein. Iraq, Saddam--excuse me. Al Qaeda."

I was impressed. O'Reilly, who had announced his show as the "No Spin Zone," was actually playing a balanced soundbite, one that accurately reported the commission's findings both that there was no evidence linking Saddam and 9/11, and that there was some evidence of contacts (if no "collaborative relationship") between Saddam and Al Qaeda. Maybe all those nasty things Al Franken had said about O'Reilly weren't true after all.

But suddenly O'Reilly interrupted, plainly angry, and said, "We can't use that.... We need to redo the whole thing." Three minutes of silence later, the show began again, with O'Reilly re-recording the introduction verbatim. Except this time, when he got to the part about Kean, he played no tape, and simply paraphrased Kean as confirming that "definitely there was a connection between Saddam and Al Qaeda." The part about no link to 9/11 was left on the cutting-room floor.

Now it was my turn. O'Reilly introduced the segment by complaining that we are at war and need to be united, but that newspapers like the New York Times are running biased stories, dividing the country and aiding the enemy. "The spin must stop--our lives depend on it," O'Reilly gravely intoned. He then characterized the Times story that day as claiming that the Guantánamo detainees were "innocent people" and "harmless." He said the paper's article "questions holding the detainees at Guantánamo."

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

SAD SAD TIMES we live in folks.

>original article>> http://thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20040719&s=coleweb

[indigobusiness]

1. Reeks

on ice.

[Sweetpea]

2. It is sad...

maybe when i wake up, things will be different....theres no place like home....theres no place like home.

[DoYouEverWonder]

8. Sorry Toto

This isn't Kansas anymore.

[Catch22Dem]

3. Everytime I see O'Reillys name in a thread title

I know I'm gonna click on it and hate that fucker just a little more each time.

[sandnsea]

5. Exposed!!!

I keep hoping "exposed" means he was caught running through the streets naked, peeing on the neighbors' doormats. Because I know that's what it would take to get this pinhead off the air.

[Catch22Dem]

7. Nah, his base would just say

He was blowing off steam because he's under intense pressure working under the liberal media.

[Placebo]

11. So Sad But True...

that's probably exactly what they'd say! Just like they gave drug addict Rush a pass.

[Catch22Dem]

13. And "go f*uck yourself" Cheney. n/t

[Placebo]

15. Hollywood Values vs. Cheney/Senate Values...

they loved talking about the democratic love fest where some comedic "foul" language was used, but had no problem with Cheney saying "go f*ck yourself" to a United States Senator.

Not only that, but applaud Cheney for "feeling better" having said it.

And Bush patting Cheney on the back for saying it.

Ugh, the hypcrisy is mindboggling sometimes.

[redstateblues]

12. O'Reilly=Evildoer

[jmags]

4. I saw the link for that today

on Alterman's blog. I suppose there are two ways of looking at it. On the one hand, it is sad that someone who skews facts in a way Micheal Moore never came close to, has a such a large following. On the other hand, when you see the lengths that the Republican talking heads need to go to in order to preserve the views of their followers, its assuring to know that we are on the right side.

Micheal Moore could never dream of being as biased, sloppy, and decieving as Bill O'Reilly. And if he were, he would never get away with it - from liberals especially.

[sandnsea]

6. The BIG difference

Michael Moore is biased and reporting with a leftish perspective, but he ADMITS IT. And he's got solid facts to back up what he says.

[fearnobush]

9. It is sad, I wish I could sue the FAUX Lies network for stealing the minds

of several members of my family. So said that these people, some even poor (My sister) will actually vote to stay poor by choosing the Slander and Thief. O'Slpochly is abhorently evil. He has no respect for human life. I only hope that more minds can be freed from the FOX brainwash network - They truely represent hate and greed.

[tridim]

10. What can be done to stop this guy

and stop the entire Faux juggernaut?

I have absolutely no problem with O'Rielly having a show and saying whatever the hell he wants, but it should be against the law to call it "news", or "fair and balanced". The FCC needs a swift kick in the butt. Possibly by FCC head, Howard Dean in 2005.

[leftofthedial]

14. I know that bushgang-Nazi comparisons are overblown (a little)

but what we clearly have is a Pravda instead of a press.

The GOP propagandists like O'Really and Limbaugh are as over the top with their distortions as Fox News is over the top with their bias. We should fight them every step of the way.

The real problem though, is those with less of an obvious bias, masquerading as nonpartisan or even--gasp!--as journalists, who go into every story and every issue with a preconceived storyline, usually provided by the GOP.

We need a purge. A purge of the entire political system and a purge of the media.

[Moderator]

16. The Nation

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
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copyrighted news source.


Thank you.

DU Moderator