Bill O’Reilly has all the answers about the Jovan Belcher tragedy – that is, if you don’t pay too close attention to the inconsistencies. First, he wants you to know that it is “grossly irresponsible” to blame any cause other than Belcher, himself. Then, O’Reilly was willing to allow that substance abuse might have played a role so long as “the headline” remains that it was Belcher himself who was the villain. Then, at the end of two discussions, O’Reilly revealed that he thinks the real villains are the public schools and the media.
O’Reilly called the Talking Points commentary that opens most shows, “America and Personal Responsibility.” He said:
Immediately after Jovan Belcher shot his girlfriend to death and then killed himself, the excuses started. Guns, violence in the National Football League and other adjacent issues were trotted out by a variety of pundits. But here’s the fact, Belcher is solely responsible for the horrendous crime… He did it. He knew right from wrong. He chose. He chose to inflict lethal damage. There’s no question Belcher was mentally imbalanced… But to blame society or guns or football is grossly irresponsible.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that O’Reilly can’t use the tragedy to attack some of his favorite targets. From there he went on a rant against schools, courts and a special racialized attack on African American sportswriter Jason Whitlock who compared the NRA to the KKK.
Next, O’Reilly discussed Belcher with two psychiatrists, including Fox’s resident crackpot, Dr. Keith Ablow. And in that segment, he attacked the “pundit class” for “making excuses.”
Dr. Dale Archer made the argument that “The number one predictor” of violence and suicide is alcohol and drug abuse and that that must be considered.
O’Reilly admitted Archer had a point so long as it included “the headline, he (Belcher) did it, he’s responsible.”
But after all that, O’Reilly decided it was the schools’ and media's fault.
Well, besides not being tough enough on kids. He yelled:
Now, what we can do is marginalize the behavior and tell kids, in particular, "If you do this, you’re a villain, rather than a victim!"
…You want to solve this problem? The schools, the public schools, alright? And the media have to tell the population that drug taking, and alcohol and getting drunk and hitting people and bullying is bad behavior. You should be ostracized for it. Not a victim.
No words for why a gun vendor would do that, Bill?
How about that the police showed up five hours before the shooting because he went after her, and decided that it was just he said/she said because of who he was, without checking his record to see his flags… any words for that?
This is not a “blame the shooter and leave it” crime- there are a substantial number of contributing factors, several of which are criminal incompetence in their best light. And it raises many (though not all) of the same questions of Aurora did. In fact, the only missing queries are the ones that would be raised if he was in tight with the local GOP leaders, like Holmes was.
For someone who’s academic record claims he has a “sense of intellectual curiousity that’s almost impossible to satisfy,” O’Reilly sure does like to act stupid.