Not too surprisingly, Bill O’Reilly thinks Pat Buchanan should not have been fired from MSNBC. But even he would not go so far as to praise Buchanan, much less gush over him, as guest and Fox News contributor Sandy Rios did on The O'Reilly Factor Thursday night (1/26/12).
“I don’t think he should have been taken off the air,” O’Reilly said, in defense of Buchanan. “I don’t think he’s a white supremacist.”
O’Reilly’s chief argument was that Buchanan’s new book – which O’Reilly presented as having prompted the firing – was nothing Buchanan hadn’t already said before. But what O’Reilly didn’t mention is that Buchanan promoted the book on a “pro-white” radio show and that Buchanan has made headlines for other remarks recently. There was also a petition drive by ColorOfChange.org to have him fired.
Of course, O’Reilly could not resist a swipe at MSNBC. “If the litmus test is you fire extremists, then MSNBC would have nobody on!”
Rios opined that what’s really extreme “is the assault on First Amendment rights.” She likened the firing of Buchanan to Cambodia putting intellectuals “like the Pat Buchanans” in jail.
That was going too far, even for O’Reilly. He said that as a private organization, MSNBC has the right to hire or fire whomever they please. “My thing is, Buchanan’s not saying anything now that he hasn’t said before… They knew it when they hired him… “
That wasn’t enough Buchanan praising for Rios. She said, “When I was reading this stuff, getting ready for the interview, I was reminded of how really great Pat Buchanan is. What a great thinker. And to shut him up because you were afraid to hear what he has to say?”
O’Reilly said he’s “not taking any sides” but he urged viewers to “check out Pat Buchanan’s book for themselves.”
Bill O'Reilly Defends MSNBC's Right To Fire Pat Buchanan
Thursday night, The Factor's Bill O'Reilly reported on how "the very liberal MSNBC network" has taken Pat Buchanan off the air because of opinions espoused of his book, Suicide of a Superpower, particularly where the issues of religion and immigration are concerned. Buchanan had previously denied being suspended from the network, explaining his absence as a medical leave.
BOR – I never do anything to jeopardize my paycheck. Besides we’re all psychopathically insane here, including the guys at the top.
SR – Pat startin’ here any time soon …?
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” — U.S. Constitution, Amendment I
That’s funny, Sandy — I don’t see anything in the above passage that GUARANTEES Buchanan’s right to be on a broadcast television network.
It’d be nice if wingnuts would sometimes READ the constitution they so claim to revere . . .
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