Bill O’Reilly continued his call for everyone to stop taking offense at Donald Trump’s totally not bigoted attacks on the Hispanic judge on the Trump University case (who should resign for the good of the country). Fortunately, conservative Charles Krauthammer shredded O’Reilly’s argument so completely, it was a thing of beauty. Must see TV!
In last night's Talking Points commentary, O’Reilly again spun the ethnic attacks of his milkshake BFF on Hispanic judge Gonzalo Curiel:
O’REILLY: The truth is, if Mr. Trump feels aggrieved, he will criticize you or me or anyone. That’s just the way he is. So those who are calling Mr. Trump racist, apparently do not know his history. He is an equal-opportunity basher. But it was unwise for the presidential candidate to spotlight the judge’s ethnicity. That mistake gave the Trump haters a free pass to vilify.
Got that? Trump was "unwise," not offensive, because he enabled his foes. And that’s the real problem.
Well, that and the fact that not all journalists are as discerning as O’Reilly in understanding and reporting on what he thinks is a pandemic of over-sensitivity to people of color:
O’REILLY: This 'racism' business is totally out of control and journalists have a responsibility to reign it in, providing perspective rather than silently allowing the cheap talk.
And as part of his job of “looking out for you” (as he claims to do every show), O’Reilly wants you to think that the whole Trump University fraud case is a political witch hunt… just pay no attention to the mountain of far-more damning evidence against his buddy Trump.
O’REILLY: Finally, I suggested the judge may want, by his only choice to recuse himself from the case, not because he has done anything wrong, he hasn’t. But this situation is far more than civil litigation. The law firm representing the plaintiffs is a major supporter of the Democratic Party, paying Bill and Hillary Clinton hundreds of thousands of dollars to give speeches. It’s not a stretch to see the class action suit as a political cudgel. It’s certainly true that Judge Curiel might be seen as giving into intimidation if he would hand over the case to another federal judge. That’s a very bad thing.
Judges have to be strong in the face of criticism. But with this case having a direct impact on the presidential vote, it would be better if there were not a whiff of any political agenda. Would it not?
Enter Krauthammer. You really need to watch the entire segment to get how magnificently he smacked down O’Reilly. But here are a few excerpts:
KRAUTHAMMER: The idea that the plaintiffs’ lawyers have political loyalties one way or the other has no bearing whatsoever on the case. Or on Trump’s comments about the case. And in fact, the issue is not that he went after a judge. The issue is that, in going after a judge, he’s making a speech, first of all, in February, in Arkansas, where he says, “By the way, the man is Hispanic. The man is Mexican.” And then in the rally, the one that caused all the controversy, May 27, San Diego, he says that the judge is Mexican. What has that got to do with anything? Who introduces that factor in talking about unfairness?”
Krauthammer called O’Reilly’s assertion that Trump is an “equal-opportunity basher” a “nice, tricky rhetorical gesture.” He also said it’s “rather surprising” that O’Reilly didn’t point out that conservatives, such as Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, have also denounced Trump’s rhetoric.
KRAUTHAMMER: It isn’t just a mistake, a tactical mistake. It is something quite revealing and quite scary in a country where you don’t call a fellow citizen a Mexican who was raised, born in Indiana and was appointed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, who’s called him a hero because of the way he stood up to the Mexican cartel. We do not judge people by their ancestry but by their lives. And that’s the point. That’s what is so offensive about it.
That and the fact that it’s a transparent attempt to work the ref in a case where the evidence is very strong that the GOP nominee is a crooked con man.
Coming down the pipeline:
1. Cleveland chaos inside and out.
2. The Foxies are caught in the middle.
3. The RNC boils over.
4. GOP is reduced to ashes.
5. A Republican bigwig steps down.
Why? Cuz republicans lost track of what the right thing is a long time ago.
Because, well, party unity is far more important than fretting over a divisive racist in the White House. Heck, I imagine Ryan could convince his colleagues racism, a key to the Republican Southern strategy for decades, is the thing the party can rally around to unify. 👍
I’m glad I can’t tune into Fox to witness their whitewash of this amoral mess.
I agree, BillO — Drumpf’s racism IS “totally out of control” . . .
.
It’s also telling that Trump is using the platform of the republican nominee for President of the United States to weasel out some petty leverage in the case of his shell game university.
It’s surreal to watch Fox hosts largely ignore the 800 pound guerilla in the room: Even Republicans like Paul Ryan are calling out Trump as being a racist. Gregg Jarrett dispassionately finally got around to discussing the issue of racism with all the emotion of him discussing the weather with someone he was sharing an elevator with.
At least O’Reilly playing the role of the knee-jerk Republican apologist is animated in his blindness to the evils of racism. 👍
But then reports are Paul Ryan still plans to vote for the guy he thinks is a racist. So maybe it’s just the liberal in me objecting to racism as being a thing.
I also note that all this talk about whether the law firm donated to the Clintons is irrelevant – since Trump himself has donated to the Clintons!!!! Should Trump recuse himself from the race for that reason?
