Earlier this week, Bill O'Reilly claimed that there is bigotry against those who are pro-choice. Yet, during last week's "Culture Warrior" segment,  Bill reported on a Providence RI Right to Life Rally, at the RI State House, during which tempers flared between those who were protesting the pro-life group and those who conducted the rally. Some of those who were on the pro-choice side were also members of a local "Occupy" group. Bill was outraged about the treatment of his fellow anti-choicers and used the incident to vilify all those the entire "Occupy" movement. Once again, Bill's hypocrisy is remarkable given that he seems to ignore bad behavior on the part of those who support his positions. But beyond the hypocrisy, his basic bigotry, in broad brushing a movement with which he disagrees, was front and center. The funny thing is that the accusations of condom throwing, on the part of those who were protesting the anti-choicers, might not be what Bill and his pals in the right wing blogosphere made them out to be. Wonder if Bill will issue a correction? Nah, that might cut the bigotry buzz...

Bill reported on the incident in which a Right to Life rally was disrupted by some members of the "Occupy" movement. He added that the Occupiers threw condoms at a crowd of Catholic school girls and "shouted down a Catholic priest." Bill claimed that this story was "underreported by the national media because it makes the Occupy movement look terrible." Gretchen then took over with her dramatic rendition of what happened. Not surprisingly she mentioned that RI State Representative Doreen Costa was "bumped." (Costa is a GOP teabagger who got some sweet Fox face time during the RI "holiday tree" "controversy")  She cited Costa's claim that condoms were thrown from the balcony. Margaret Hoover talked about the involvement of "Occupy."

This provided a segue for O'Reilly to say that "Occupy" is "not an economic protest" but a "far left social movement designed to attack those with whom they disagree." (ROFLMAO - like Fox News isn't a far right news network designed to attack those with whom they disagree? Hello?) He added "the pro-life movement is target number one." Gretchen read some of the pro-choice signs which the poor Catholic high school girls "had to look at" such as "Check your ovaries at the door," "Abortion Doctors are my heroes," and, according to an indignatn Gretch, "some signs that I can't really say on live national television." (The video showed signs that said nasty things like "Celebrate Choice," "Pro-Health, Pro-Family, Pro-Choice," and "Anti-choice is anti woman." (Ewwww, baaad). When Hoover angrily commented that a pro-choice rally, held earlier in the year, had no protesters from Occupy, Bill responded "because they support that." To Hoover's remark that they didn't show up to support the pro-choice rally, Bills said that's because "they don't support anything." He described them as "fringe, far left kooks" who don't like anything including Obama.

Gretchen carefully enunciated her "stat" that *"50% of Americans are against abortion" and that doesn't fit with the "Occupy" claim that they represent the 99%. Bill brayed that would he has been saying, that "Occupy" is a far left anarchist movement that attacks those with whom they disagree, is "absolutely true."

Funny, when the teabaggers were disrupting Town Hall meetings in the summer of 2009, Bill didn't say object. He never, as far as I know, vilified the Tea Party movement when a swastika was painted on the door of a black Georgia member of congress who alleged that calls to his office, about healthcare reform, were racist. When Democratic politicians were spat on and the subject of racial and homophobic epithets, during a Washington DC Tea Party rally, O'Reilly didn't condemn the entire Tea Party. Yet, he condemns, on the basis of a few rabble rousers, an entire movement which, in Providence, has been peaceful. And while he castigates "Occupy"  for attacking anybody with whom they disagree, Bill has no qualms about doing the same thing.

Postscript - Turns out that the condom throwing was done by one man who, according to State Police, didn't appear to be targeting anybody.

 *According to Gallup, 51% support abortion under certain circumstances and 26% support under all circumstances. 20% oppose under all circumstances. So Gretchen's "Fox Fact" - not so much.