I’m sure none of our regular readers would be surprised to know that Bill O’Reilly trolled the March on Washington anniversary celebration today with his eagle (white) eye out for African American transgressions. O’Reilly could have used the day to try to broaden his understanding of African American concerns. But no. Tonight, he scolded, condescended and even distorted the truth to promote his grievances – at the same time that he pointed a  misleading finger of accusation that the attendees were too full of grievances. Oh, the irony. UPDATED

It took O’Reilly less than a minute to start whining. At about :40, he complained that the anniversary excluded black Republicans and conservatives.  Later, in a discussion with James Carville, he amended that to complain that “No Republicans and no conservatives were invited.” But that’s simply not true. Both President Bushes were invited and each declined, citing health reasons. House Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Senator John McCain and former Florida Governor (and potential presidential candidate) Jeb Bush were also invited and all declined.

Nevertheless, O’Reilly said condemningly, “All the speakers were Democrats. That was a glaring error and does not indicate a desire for inclusion.”

O’Reilly went on to say that “most of the speeches were uplifting and respectful to America.” But not all. And, therefore, it was necessary to highlight at least one such transgression - from Marc Morial, head of the National Urban League. Morial said that white sheets had been traded for button-down shirts, attack dogs and water hoses traded for stop-and-frisk and nooses for handcuffs. OK, that is a bit inflammatory but so what? It's not like anyone was shouting, "Kill whitey!" or anything. You may recall that Morial recently extended a hand to O’Reilly to work together to try to bridge gaps between black and white, only to be rudely turned down.

“Now that kind of grievance mongering does the cause of civil rights No. Good. Whatsoever. Period.” O’Reilly reprimanded, as though Morial’s speech should have been vetted by him first. But O’Reilly’s concern about grievance mongering only seems to extend to African American liberals. Because just last night, I heard Ann Coulter tell an admiring Sean Hannity that Democratic presidents “don’t care about America’s national security interest.” And how about Hannity’s racial attack on Rep. Keith Ellison, suggesting he’s an African American KKK? Or the vile, murderous racism that’s regularly found on Fox Nation, the site edited by O’Reilly’s ambush producer? O’Reilly really needs to take a good look around his glass house at Fox News before he throws “grievance” stones at anyone else.

But O’Reilly wasn’t done lecturing African Americans about how they should have conducted their celebration. He played a clip of President Obama saying that the income gap has grown wider between races and that the standing of all working Americans has eroded, making Dr. King’s dream “even more elusive.” O’Reilly sneered venomously, “And whose fault is that?” He didn’t say so directly but it wasn’t hard to read between the lines and find out the answer: it’s African Americans’ fault. First, according to O’Reilly, it’s Obama’s fault for mishandling the economy. Second, “The skill level of many American is declining.”

Of course, real experts find that our income tax system, a shift from manufacturing to service jobs and a minimum wage that has not kept up with price increases are major factors. But why spoil a good rebuke with research and facts? Especially when O’Reilly was just warming up for another round  of “attack the blacks for their own problems and pretend you’re just looking out for them.”

Even if jobs become more plentiful, you have to be able to do them. You have to speak proper English, be able to do basic math and conduct yourself responsibly. Millions of Americans have not mastered the basic of the marketplace. …The private sector is seeking minority workers, wants them, recruits them but they have to perform and have enough educational success to get a shot.

…There is little institutional bias any more in this country. …There is individual bigotry but nothing can ever wipe that out entirely. …Accept the fact that some things are always gonna be there.

O’Reilly praised a section of Obama’s speech as “accurate and important” in which he chastised African Americans:

And then, if we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll admit that during the course of 50 years, there were times when some of us claiming to push for change lost our way.  The anguish of assassinations set off self-defeating riots.  Legitimate grievances against police brutality tipped into excuse-making for criminal behavior.  Racial politics could cut both ways, as the transformative message of unity and brotherhood was drowned out by the language of recrimination.  And what had once been a call for equality of opportunity, the chance for all Americans to work hard and get ahead was too often framed as a mere desire for government support—as if we had no agency in our own liberation, as if poverty was an excuse for not raising your child, and the bigotry of others was reason to give up on yourself.

All of that history is how progress stalled.

So O’Reilly laid it on a little thicker:

…Fair-minded Americans want all of their fellow Americans to succeed and I believe most of us are fair minded. But self reliance and hard work is the key to success in life, no matter what color you are. President Obama and many in the civil rights industry believe that government must provide, provide for those who fail, even if it’s their own fault they fail. ...(C)radle to grave protections. And if you oppose that philosophy, there’s something wrong with you. And in some cases, they’ll accuse you of bigotry.

America remains the land of opportunity but only for those who are honest and responsible. If you are irresponsible, lazy and/or corrupt, this country can be a tough place. Dr. Martin Luther King wanted equal opportunity for all and while that has not been totally accomplished, our system is moving toward it.

To his credit, O’Reilly ended with a clip from Rep. John Lewis talking about how we are all Americans, living in one house. And I’d give O’Reilly more credit if he were not such a key cog in the big machine of divisiveness otherwise known as Fox News.

UPDATE: O'Reilly apologized the next night for his error in claiming that no Republicans had been invited. He also chastised them for declining.