Despite Bill O’Reilly’s claim to host a “No Spin Zone,” spinning was pretty much all that was evident in his coverage of an ACLU lawsuit to stop Michigan’s Secretary of State from requiring voters to check a box saying they are U.S. citizens. In his zeal to promote his anti-ACLU, pro box-checking view, O’Reilly left out some important information about the case. But there was plenty of time to accuse - without any evidence - the ACLU of deliberately rigging the election with non-citizen voters in order to get Democrats elected. And then he announced that if the judge doesn’t rule the way he thinks she should, he’ll “put the judge’s face on the screen” and ambush her. Classy.
As WCHBNewsDetroit.com reported, the ACLU is not the only party filing the lawsuit. Others include the Service Employees International Union, Ingham County Clerk and Democrat Michael Bryanton, Latin Americans for Social and Economic Development, and registered voters. Furthermore, as WCHB reports,
Republican Gov. Rick Snyder this summer vetoed a bill that included a requirement for voters to check a citizenship box – citing potential voter confusion – but (Secretary of State) Johnson says she still has the authority to include the box under her power to prescribe ballot forms.
The suit cites confusion from the August primary – when enforcement of the citizenship question varied and Johnson sent a clarifying directive to clerks saying voters did not have to answer the question to vote.
But O’Reilly introduced the segment by saying the suit was “another unbelievable ACLU campaign.” As he spoke, a graphic saying, “OUTRAGEOUS ACLU LAWSUIT” appeared next to him. I guess hating the ACLU is a no-spin truthiness.
Smiling with condescension, O’Reilly asked his two lawyer-guests, “More madness, why don’t they want this?”
Guest Lis Wiehl said snidely it will “suppress everybody in Michigan because everybody’s gonna be confused by checking off that box, Are you a U.S. citizen?”
“This is just madness and stupidity,” O’Reilly said, as Wiehl agreed.
The other guest, Kimberly Guilfoyle, who probably hasn’t met a Fox News talking point she wouldn’t endorse since she joined the network and stopped being a liberal, also agreed. She baselessly alleged that the reason for the objection is “to make sure that the some-odd 4,000 people that they believe are registered voters that actually aren’t U.S. citizens – which would be violating law – are still allowed to vote.”
“Very good, Guilfoyle,” O’Reilly said approvingly. “What the ACLU wants is, they don’t want people committing perjury when they register. They do want people voting who are not American citizens… They believe that most of those people would vote for the Democratic candidate.”
Apparently, the goal of not discouraging legal voters was not even a possibility to these three. Instead, O’Reilly puffed himself up by scare mongering with a baseless accusation that the ACLU was promoting illegal voting in order to elect Democrats.
But wait, there’s more.
“The problem is that crazy judges might go along with this,” O’Reilly continued. But Papa Bear O’Reilly will not stand for it. “If they do, you are to tell me immediately,” he instructed his guests. “And we’ll put the judge’s face on the screen… and (send ambush producer) Watters out to see him or her.”
Who needs facts and/or a review of the law when you're Bill O'Reilly?
Regarding naive requirements, you may not know that people applying for a visa to visit the USA used to (still) have to sign a declaration that they “were not and had never been communists”. Until the late ’70s, European newspapers regularly ran stories on how elected representatives politicians and union leaders from Western Europe, especially France and Italy, had been denied a visa for having refused to sign that declaration. They were, of course, making a political statement because everybody signed with their fingers crossed.
What I’m getting at is this: what America has always SAID on the subject of freedom of speech has all too often been belied by what America has actually DONE. Hate-based groups have always been allowed to speak freely (at least, until they go out and kill someone) but people who’ve never done anything against the law are treated with suspicion for having simply read and appreciated the writings of Karl Marx.
PS: The noble intent of President Obama’s fine words at the UN GA was significantly weakened by the decision taken the very next day to pull the American delegation out of the hall during Ahmadinejad’s address. I know, I know, it’s election time, but I’m distressed by this tendency not to walk the talk. Acts are a lot more convincing than fine words.
Damned ! There is voter fraud, non-citizens are voting (and like all foreigners, they are damned libruls) !
These fraudulent voters are honest, they’ll check a box saying they’re not citizens so we won’t count their votes !
Yeehaw ! Aren’t we clever ?
http://www.salon.com/2012/09/26/fla_voter_fraud_charge_has_ties_to_romney/
When I’m done, the first thing I’m doing is trotting over to foxnews.com to see how many times the words “GOP funded,” “Romney Campaign,” and “Nathan Sproul” show up in their articles, or the videos they saw fit to post.
I’m willing to bet I don’t find any of those terms- And I’m just as willing to bet that they talk a lot about the already discredited accusations against Democrats by GOP “voter watch” groups, like that crap in Maryland with the time they save.
That is so “Hal Turner” Bildo. You looking for some prison time?
Bildo’s buttboy Jesse has a full stalking schedule ahead of him with Vice President Biden and all those judges who support voting rights.