Riled, O'Reilly?
Reported by Marie Therese - July 4, 2004 -
The O'Reilly Factor. Tuesday, June 29, 2004. Various times (see body of post).
Bill O'Reilly was in rare form during this show, cutting people off, raising his voice, expostulating and jabbing his finger at the camera for emphasis. Some choice tidbits:
On the FAR RIGHT:
O'REILLY (8:03 PM EDT): The far right in the USA has been largely quiet since Bill Clinton left office, so it is the far left that is really out of control right now. Senator Kerry would be well advised to understand that and distance himself from it.
The far right, QUIET???
Let's see. The "quiet ones" include: Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, Pat Robertson, Michael Savage, Chris Matthews, Sean Hannity, Linda Vester, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, Clear Channel, Tom DeLay, Dennis Miller, William Safire, Dick Morris, the entire staff of FOX News Channel, among others.
Hardly the sounds of silence!
On MICHAEL MOORE
Bill despises Michael Moore. The volume knob has been pushed up a notch - probably because Fahrenheit 9/11 is successful in the red states (a fact one never hears on FOX News Channel) despite the conservative pundits' opinions to the contrary!
O'REILLY (8:01 PM EDT): Now we have a full-length film from Moore and other far-left individuals. They're bomb throwing all over the place.
During an interview with guest, Kirsten Powers, a Democratic Strategist and Vice Chairwoman of Democratic Leadership for the 21st Century, he had one point to make and one point only: John Kerry better not ever share a stage, a room, a conversation, a handshake or a cup a' joe with that arch-fiend Michael Moore.
O'REILLY (8:22 PM EDT): Let me get this straight, Miss Powers. You don't think its disrespecting the office of the Presidency in a time of war to call the man a deserter?(8:23 PM) Now, when you have the media locking in on the far left, they're the ones getting all the publicity right now. Don't you think that's a very tough assignment for Kerry, who's trying to move to the center to attract more voters?
(8:24 PM) These people [red-state voters] don't like the Michael Moores of the world and the Stewart Smalleys [O'Reilly's name for Al Franken], they don't like that....So when a Michael Moore says to an audience "The people beheading civilians in Iraq are like the Minutemen in the Revolutionary War", John Kerry can't be seen with this man, after a statement like that...
(8:24 PM) But he [Kerry] can't even be SEEN (his emphasis) on the same stage [with Moore]
8:26 PM) But Moore is an extremist and he is...And I think Kerry's got to know if he associates with that, he's gonna lose votes.
For the most part Ms. Powers held her own against Mr. O except when it came to his statements about being on stage with Kerry. She agreed that Kerry should downplay his connection to the "radical fringe".
I was very upset. Yet again, another pundit who seems to be "liberal" morphs into a "pseudo-liberal". I strongly suspect Ms. Powers is affiliated with the Democratic Leadership Council, the Republican wing of the Democratic Party.
