O'Reilly attacks JetBlue for sponsoring YearlyKos convention, compares DailyKos to Nazis and KKK
Reported by Chrish - July 16, 2007 -
O'Reilly's Talking Points Memo tonight 7/16/07 targeted JetBlue and CEO David Barger for their sponsorship of "a hate site like DailyKos." Producer/stalker Jesse Watters accosted Barger leaving his apartment on his way to work and demanded that Barger explain his company's decision to do business with those "far left hatemongers." JetBlue gave a handful of tickets to principals of the convention and will get to hang banners and such in exchange.
In video within the TPM, Watters read or paraphrased four comments from readers or diarists at DailyKos, a site that gets (according to Wiki) between 14 and 24 MILLION visits a month, to illustrate for Barger (viewers, really) what a disgusting site it is, and asked Barger if he shared those views.
O'Reilly suggested to viewers that there comes a time when consumers have to take a stand and "hold accountable" any business or person who endorses hate web-sites, (funny how he conveniently excluded hate-radio stations and hate-TV), essentially calling for a boycott of JetBlue. But it's not ideological! Hate is hate, no matter where it comes from.
Comment: Well, since he's made a career out of labeling people who don't fall in line with his narrow ideology haters - Bush-haters, America-haters, US haters, far-left haters, far-left Bush haters, etc - it's rather disengenuous of him to claim it's not ideological. There's an abundance of hate emananting from the right that never sees the light of day on FOX.
O'Reilly brought on Diane Brady of Businessweek Magazine and announced that Barger looked as bad as any CEO has ever looked. (He's got to be kidding.)
Brady took the reasonable view that JetBlue is looking at how many hits DailyKos gets, and noted that airlines often sponsor debating teams (for example) and don't necessarily know or endorse the positions. But O'Reilly said, he sent them this info last week, so they've had time to look it over - they didn't ambush him!
O'Reilly insists that JetBlue just doesn't care about those five things he cited, and wonders if they're just plain (plane?) stupid? It's like the KKK; it's like the Nazi party - there's no difference. He lectured Ms. Brady, saying "they" want people to die.
Brady, again too reasonable for O'Reilly, asserted that the problem with open forums is you get a lot of lunatics (oh, yeah) ... and O"Reilly cut her off, saying he has his own website, open forum is bull; you can regulate what's on your own website. (Especially if you charge $50 to join to be able to post.)
O'Reilly thinks it's just an awful business decision, and Brady said that in retrospect they may regret it (now that FOX has made a federal case about it, sure). She mentioned that FOX and JetbLue have both sponsored gay/lesbian events, and O'Reilly pooh-poohed the comparison, because they are Americans who are gay and lesbian, and these people are haters.
"These are people who are wishing people with whom they disagree, ill. That's who they are. That's what they do. That's all they do."
O'Reilly said he'll never fly them again, and asked Brady to comment on their continued viability.
Comment: O'Reilly is once again using his national editorial platform to call for punishment of someone who has outraged him (and we all know how difficult that is.) DailyKos is liberal and supports Democrats, explicitly, which is of course why O'Reilly is attacking.
And by the way: the Pope IS a primate.
