Bill O'Reilly: The Internet Is Bad
Reported by Marie Therese - December 23, 2004
Bill O'Reilly has been in rare form the past few days. His "Save Christmas" crusade just boggles my mind. Christmas doesn't need saving - anymore than Social Security needs saving. Neither is under attack but you'd never know that if you listen to or watch FOX News! On 12/21/04 in his Talking Points Memo, O'Reilly praised the victories for Christmas, while taking digs at the bad people on the internet.
O'Reilly: Finding the truth. That is the subject of this evening's "Talking Points Memo." Revenge of the secularists. That is the subject of this evening's "Talking Points Memo." As more Christmas victories come rolling in, so do more personal attacks. The Los Angeles Times called me a thug in an editorial bemoaning the Christmas controversy. The Times wants us all to get along. Yeah, sure. That paper has defamed me and others who are fighting against the secularism of America. I'd love to get along with you people! But you've got to halt the hate, get the true spirit of Christmas going on.
Now if you read the progressive press, you'd have no idea what this Christmas deal is all about. You would think it's a bunch of fanatics trying to ram the birth of Jesus down the collective throat of America. That's how the progressive left is spinning it. The truth is that the federal holiday of Christmas should be respected in public. Its images are a threat to no one. If you are offended by a snowman or the image of a baby, you need therapy, with all due respect.
One of the reasons the truth is so hard to get these days is the Internet. Last night on ""The Factor"," Phil Donahue and I were discussing Iraq when Mr. Donahue said this:
VIideoclip of PHIL DONAHUE: "When I dissent from this war, as I have done and paid my price, I am honoring the millions of young men who went before me..."
O'REILLY: "Oh, I respect..."
DONAHUE: "... and died on foreign battlefields to protect our way of life at the center of which is free speech and the right to dissent ..."
O'REILLY: "Absolutely. I respect that ..."
DONAHUE: "... without being called a traitor, by the way, Bill."
O'REILLY: "No, nobody -- nobody would do that."
DONAHUE: "Without being called ...you haven't called anybody traitor?"
O'REILLY: "Not at all."
DONAHUE: "You called Tim Robbins a traitor."
O'REILLY: "No, I didn't."
DONAHUE: "Yes, you did."
O'REILLY: "When?"
DONAHUE: "Well, look it up."
O'REILLY: "Look it up?"
DONAHUE: "Check your own Talking Points.'"
O'REILLY: "Well, I didn't ever call Tim Robbins a traitor."
DONAHUE: "Oh, you were out..." (End videoclip.)
O'REILLY: "And the truth is I never did. In fact, I even stuck up for Robbins and his wife, Susan Sarandon."
Begin videoclip of O'REILLY: "If they - Robbins and Sarandon - do a movie I find interesting, I'll pay to see it. While I find some of their actions inappropriate, I'm not gonna sanction them because I disagree with their methods." (End videoclip.)
O'REILLY: "Now why did Donahue say what he said? Well, because he relies on left-wing propaganda. He does not seek the truth. Mr. Donahue is not dishonest. He's just misinformed. And, unfortunately, millions of Americans are the same way. They are being systematically lied to by Internet fanatics who feed their distortions to corrupt mainstream journalists. I see it every single day of my life. Washington Post writer Tom Shales has figured this out. He writes, Isn't the Internet really the greatest distributor of misinformation, likes, pornography and malicious slander ever invented? It's a global carnival of crooks and kooks with almost limitless access to nearly everybody.'" Now I hate to admit this, but I could not have said it better. Shales nailed it. Of course, there are good Internet sites where you can learn a lot, but the bad, unfortunately, is overwhelming the good and things are getting worse. The good news is that the folks understand what's going on. The more we get slimed, the stronger our ratings become. The more hate spewed our way, the more you guys rally against the hatemongers.
This Christmas battle really stunned the secular forces, and their desperation is showing. There will be many more battles to come. We hope you continue to look to us for the truth.
COMMENT
WHAT attack on Christmas? The only thing I'm stunned by is the amount of coverage this phony issue has gotten. Most of these "attack on Christmas" occurances turn out to have vastly different storylines than the one that O'Reilly bloviates about. Later today I'll be filing a number of reports on Bill's other rants on Christmas and other topics, including a complete transcript of his fascinating interchange with Texas preacher Joel Osteen. It's worth the wait!
If the rest of the media had any backbone and refused to pick up FOX's "tabloid topic du jour," this whole Christmas thing would have died out in a day. The FOX effect is alive and well and the echo chamber still creates bogus news.
What really interested me about this particular Talking Points Memo was O'Reilly's attack on the internet. We all know which site has to be on that list - News Hounds! While we may be small potatoes, we are definitely on FOX's radar screen - we get the occasional e-mail complaining about this or that - but, like the proverbial gadfly, we're hard to get rid of.
