Blowhard Bill Strikes Again

On Tuesday, Shakespeare’s Sister, along with a slew of other blogs and journals, mentioned Media Matters’ report on Bill O’Reilly telling a Jew who grew up feeling bullied by Christians at Christmas to “go to Israel.” Now O’Reilly is attacking Media Matters and Anti-Defamation League president Abraham Foxman, who sent O’Reilly a letter in response to his original comments.

According to O’Reilly, there is “a defamation pipeline that starts in the Internet,” and he’s none too happy about it:

The left-wing websites who are responsible for all of this kind of stuff, and the journalists in the newspapers who print it without any context -- are the worst element -- non-criminal element in the country. The worst. All right? They undermine freedom of speech. They undermine all fair play. They are despicable, vile human beings -- ankle biters.

You know, I really, really, really fucking despise this guy. Aside from his regular barrage of slurs against liberals, he’s approximated viewers of Fahrenheit 9/11 to Nazis, and now the implication is that liberal bloggers are seditionists. Well, I fall into all three groups (and don’t even get me started on his attitude toward women), and I take particular umbrage to being thought of as a lying, fascist traitor, especially by someone who can’t ever, ever seem to be honest about anything.

Now, the write-ups about this -- didn't put any of it in context. Didn't say it was about Christmas. Didn't say it was about anything. The writer said, O'Reilly told a guy if he didn't like it go back to Israel. Dishonest, of course, blatant. That's what they do all day long.

[...]

Now, I have now been accused by Abraham Foxman as [sic] being anti-Semitic because I said to the guy [the December 3 caller], "hey, you know, if it's drivin' you crazy you gotta go back to Israel."

First of all, the context used by Media Matters was a direct transcript of his show, which was also used by myself and undoubtedly most of the other bloggers and journalists who reported the story. That’s the thing about Bill O’Reilly—he’s such an incredible dickhead that his idiocy is apparent even when he's quoted in context.

Secondly, what O’Reilly said to the caller was: “[Y]ou don't wanna hear about it? Come on, [caller] -- if you are really offended, you gotta go to Israel then.” He didn’t tell him, as he claims, “if it’s drivin’ you crazy.” He said if “you don’t wanna hear about it” and “if you are really offended.” Driving someone crazy, i.e. annoying someone, and offending someone are, in fact, two different things, although O’Reilly repeatedly proves that one person is perfectly capable of doing both.

Remember, more than 90 percent of American homes celebrate Christmas. But the small minority that is trying to impose its will on the majority is so vicious, so dishonest -- and has to be dealt with.

Leaving aside that O’Reilly makes no distinction between celebrating Christmas as a religious holiday (Jesus’ birth) and celebrating it as a secular holiday (Santa and a day off work), thereby rendering his 90% stat suspect at best, I’m not sure how he is able to claim with a straight face that it is his opponents who are vicious and dishonest.

And it is really his contention that the will of the majority should include sending anyone who disagrees with them out of the country? I suppose most of his viewers probably hold that opinion, but it’s still amazing that we’ve reached a point where even a supposed news man can espouse that belief without even a flutter of real controversy.

Except among the treasonous Lefty bloggers, of course.