2015 seems to be the year that the GOP has finally had to reckon with some of their idiot stars.
IMAGE: DonkeyHotey, via flickr.
BY SEM DEM
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]s Bill Maher said about Sarah Palin, while “the rest of us have been watching this dog eat grass for seven years“, conservatives had to admit she was an idiot when even an audience of rabid teabaggers found her incoherent.
Giuliani just went from “America’s Mayor” to “America’s Top Bitter Racist“.
Even John Ellis Bush (JEB) has shown that he just can’t help being a Bush.
Now enter Bill O’Reilly.
On the heels of the Brian Williams incident, O’Reilly got on his high horse and somehow got the idea that he had the integrity to scold him.
Yes, Bill “loofahman” O’Reilly. The man who sits on a throne of lies at Fox News. The man who, unlike Brian Williams, lied about winning two “Peabody” awards. The man who, like Brian Williams, lied about being in combat—except worse.
The most obnoxious bully and jingo misinformer on American TV is finally causing cracks in his own fan base.
O’Reilly claimed repeatedly that he was in the actual “war zone” of the Falkland Islands in 1982. (He wasn’t) He said that he heroically rescued his cameraman in “a war zone in Argentina, in the Falklands,” while being chased by army soldiers. (Nope–in fact we just learned he was ordered to leave Argentina for risking his cameraman’s life.) O’Reilly didn’t just tell this story once, but repeated it several times. He has it in writing in his 2001 book and stated it as recently as 2013 on his show.
He also said he faced down an angry mob in Argentina who “stormed the presidential palace” and were “trying to overthrow the government”. (Lie.) He said soldiers “opened fire on” and “gunned down” civilians. (Complete lie). He said all the other CBS journalists “cowered” in their hotel rooms while he was the only one who covered the story. (Bob Scheiffer got him on this one).
To sum up: Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie.
Even Hugh freaking Hewitt, sensing a sinking ship, managed to call him out on some of his BS.
“Would you consider a riot a general combat definition?” Hewitt asked O’Reilly.“Yeah, when it’s in a war setting, of course,” O’Reilly responded.
Hewitt also asked if the cameraman would back up his story of being saved by him. Bill seemed annoyed and said he had “no idea” where the guy even was.When your lies are so bad you are challenged by a conservative, you’ve crossed a line.
Lest you think, however, that Hewitt actually developed some journalistic integrity, it’s important to note that Hewitt didn’t challenge O’Reilly for now saying he never said he was in the Falklands, despite repeated assertions that he was. Instead, sensing that Bill was getting upset, Hugh quickly turned to a lame joke asking if O’Reilly had ever played in a “big band” because several celebrities lie about playing with “big bands”. Hilarious.
Billbo’s big response to the Mother Jones story was a slew of unprofessional personal attacks, incitement of violence against the author of the story, and a ridiculous 33-year old memo from CBS that stated he did a good job on his reporting (to which Bill actually said was somehow “rock solid proof” that he didn’t lie about being in a war zone).
Mother Jones responded awesomely, taking Bill down point by point in his personal attack.
As of now, the bureau chief for Mother Jones has said David Corn’s life is in danger since Bill O’Reilly literally called for him to be killed.
That fact alone should be enough to end the career of such a lying, spiteful bastard.
Unfortunately, O’Reilly’s audience doesn’t care about truth nor his calls for violence against his fellow Americans.
If they did, they wouldn’t ever have been watching Fox News in the first place.
However, this incident has forced the media to finally stop giving any semblance that Bill O’Reilly is a fellow “journalist”, something he has desperately tried to pretend that he is. Everyone is now drawing distinctions between Brian Williams and Bill O’Reilly, and why one betrayed our trust while the other is just par for the course at Fox “News”.
Also, it appears highly unlikely that Bill will get any big-named, nonconservative to ever appear on his program again to legitimize his brand of hate (looking at you Obama).
In other words, Bill O’Reilly isn’t gone, but he is definitely over.
1:39 PM PT: Because this guy really has problems, here’s a clip (start at 2:37) of Bill O’Reilly saying how badly he was wanted by pro-football leagues by “leading the nation in punting” and for being “undefeated” on his college football team his senior year. This despite his college not having a football team. Also, he’s so awesome the Mets wanted him as well. H/T Desert Rose
8:44 PM PT: Mother Jones brought down multi-millionaire Romney and exposed O’Reilly as a national liar. Pretty good for a scrappy magazine. You can get a one year subscription for 12 bucks
