Bill O'Reilly is a Hypocrite (six ways)

Eric J in MN

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Sat Jan-29-05 01:57 AM
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Bill O'Reilly is a Hypocrite (six ways)

http://www.moveleft.com/moveleft_essay_2005_01_29_lust_bill_oreilly_hypocrite_and_secularists.asp

Bill O'Reilly Is a Hypocrite Who Rants Against 'Secularists'

Andrea Mackris and Bill O'Reilly

Conservative Bill O'Reilly hosts "The O'Reilly Factor" for an hour each weeknight on Fox News. This show is the most popular on cable news.
My column for last Saturday is about Bill O'Reilly making obscene phone calls to Andrea Mackris, who was a producer of "The O'Reilly Factor" during some of this time.

That column also describes how her legal complaint strongly suggests Bill O'Reilly cheats on his wife, and sexual harasses and/or has affairs with other women who work on "The O'Reilly Factor."

Bill O'Reilly's behavior towards women doesn't deter him from his crusade for sexual morality and public spirituality.

Below is an excerpt from an article by Bill O'Reilly in which he expresses outrage at risqué catalogs for Abercrombie & Fitch clothing.

Originally published on December 17, 2003

"The Assault on Morality Never Lets Up: Public's Sick & Tired of Offensive Displays"

by Bill O'Reilly

Abercrombie & Fitch has raised the white T-shirt and surrendered. It is pulling its soft-core clothing catalogue because the outcry has hurt the only thing that matters to A&F: the bottom line. Some store sales in November were down 13% in an improving economy. Apparently, showing naked people in the catalogue was stimulating, just not to clothing sales.
....The truth is that most nonideological Americans are getting sick and tired of offensive displays and outrageous behavior being rammed down their throats. Secularists do not want any judgments made about personal behavior, and if you oppose that, they try to make you out to be some kind of junior Jerry Falwell. It's simply dishonest.

Never before in this country has such a slender secular minority had so much power. The American Civil Liberties Union has succeeded in knocking Nativity scenes out all over the country against the will of the people. Here in New York, schools even forbid any display of the birth of Jesus. So much for the history of a national holiday.

The one-two punch of outrageous behavior and the diminishment of public spirituality is something this country is going to have to come to terms with.

Wow, how hypocritical is that?

Let us count the ways.

1) Bill O'Reilly pretends to be worried that a catalog available in clothing stores may offend some people and that the catalog is being "rammed down their throats," but never showed similar concern about imposing on Andrea Mackris with his obscene phone calls.

2) Bill O'Reilly says "Secularists do not want any judgments made about personal behavior."

If Bill O'Reilly, by contrast, wants judgements made about personal behavior, then why did he settle the sexual harassment lawsuit for an estimated $2 million-plus before it could go to trial?

A trial would have given the public lots more information and more opportunity to judge his personal behavior.

3) In the same paragraph in which he accuses unnamed "secularists" of saying that judging-personal-behavior is bad, Bill O'Reilly accuses the unnamed people of being "simply dishonest."

Where is the honesty of inserting the word "secularists," which means people who believe in separation of church-and-state, into a discussion of a clothing catalog?

Where is the honesty in making dubious accusations against unnamed people, who consequently can't defend themselves?

What does a clothing catalog have to with "personal behavior." Either the photos in the Abercrombie & Fitch catalog are too risqué or not, but it's business behavior which made the catalog, not personal behavior.

If Bill O'Reilly were honest and believed the catalog is too risqué, he'd be criticizing the business behavior of those who decided to print it.

While O'Reilly does mention in the first paragraph that the company is motivated by the bottom-line, the rest of the article is about how terrible someone must be, if they aren't offended by their catalogs.

4) Also, when it comes to being "simply dishonest," the way O'Reilly talks about the ACLU is "simply dishonest."
The ACLU is soooooo powerful. But the Republicans, who control the White House and appointed 7 of the 9 Supreme Court Justices, aren't too powerful.

If the ACLU were powerful, it would have a commentator regularly praising it on cable news, instead of commentator Bill O'Reilly bashing it.

If the ACLU were powerful, it would also have a president who believes in civil liberties appoint the judges which will hear its cases.

5) Another "simply dishonest" O'Reilly sentence: when he pretends we need Nativity scenes in public schools to teach "the history of a national holiday." As if there are no other ways to teach about national holidays.

6) The final bit of hypocrisy above is when Bill O'Reilly bemoans " the diminishment of public spirituality" Hey, O'Reilly, try to be more spiritual by not cheating on your wife before telling us about "public spirituality."

Reason vs. Ranting

A reasonable person can say that the Abercrombie & Fitch catalogs of 2003 were too risqué.

That reasonable person would do so without a bizarre attack on "secularists" (people who believe in separation of church and state; and without assuming anyone who doesn't find the catalogs too risqué is both against "any judgments made about personal behavior" and in favor of the separation of church-and-state.

Bill O'Reilly isn't reasonable. He isn't honest. He's a hypocrite who likes to rant.

Next Week: More Bill O'Reilly hypocrisy. This Saturday I addressed some of his hypocrisy regarding unnamed "secularists." Next Saturday, I address O'Reilly's hypocrisy about people he refers to by name, including President Bill Clinton.