Politics : Bill O'Reilly and John Stewart - The Missing Tapes
This is fascinating - the Stewart / O'Reilly clips that Fox cut from the broadcast but graciously left on the full, uncut interview on their website. Stewart really has this whole thing down, and he describes it all SO WELL, and his theory about the Fox narrative is just so on point that I wonder if he's not being wasted at Comedy Central at this point.
Here's one example. I feel dirty linking to Fox, but here's the full interview, and it's really worth the time.
Culture Critique : On The Murder of Dr. Tiller and Home-Grown Christian Jihadists
I am not a fan of abortion. I do believe in a woman's right to choose, and I do think abortion should be legal, though I think there should be more limits and regulation placed on abortion, more counseling done beforehand, etc. However, whether or not you believe Dr. Tiller was a murderer for performing abortions (many life-saving, by the way), to act as though his murder is justifiable is nothing short of insane. It is disgusting, and it does nothing but hurt the cause of the "pro-life" movement. Do they not see the irony?
Mr. Leach said he and Mr. Roeder had met once, and Mr. Roeder had described similar views to his own. Of Dr. Tiller's death, Mr. Leach said, "To call this a crime is too simplistic," adding, "There is Christian scripture that would support this."
The man being questioned in connection with the investigation is Scott Roader, 51, of Merriam, Kan. [...] Neighbors said they've seen a similar car at the house in Merriam. They describe the ongoings at the house as strange. They said it's a revolving door of men coming and staying there and describe what appear to be religious gatherings.
As someone who has always called what the Jihadists do terrorism, could I get a response from Malkin as to whether she believes this Christianist murder is terrorism as well? Imagine an Islamist fanatic had assassinated a pro-Israel rabbi in a synagogue, and had harassed synagogues for years, including one arrest for bomb materials in his car. Imagine if one of his associates had tried to kill the rabbi before. Would there be any question that this was Islamist terror? So why is this not Christianist terror?
These questions are obvious to me, but obviously they are not obvious to people like Michelle Malkin and Bill O'Reilly, who are clearly enablers of these heinous killers.
Randall Terry, Founder of Operation Rescue, will hold a press conference to discuss how the pro-life movement should deal with Dr. Tiller's death...
Mr. Terry states: "We must not fear, we must not flinch, we must not retreat a single inch. George Tiller was a mass murderer, and we must continue to say so in his death just as we did in his life.
Terry said he was now concerned that the Obama administration "will use Tiller's killing to intimidate pro-lifers into surrendering our most effective rhetoric and actions.
If he means that this will help the passage of the hate-crimes bill and will work against the murder of human beings in cold blood in front of their churches, let's hope he's 100% correct.
Finally, do not be coaxed into thinking these people are just a few bad apples, or fringe elements. They are well-backed, well-financed, and seen as heroes by many. The responses on Twitter are a testament to that.
# Crap, I always forgot hashtags. I'm happy Tiller's dead. - Jennifer Waite, Selah, Washington
# UPDATE... Doctor George Tiller was aborted today in his 204th trimester - aren't paybacks a bitch - Punch
# oh HAPPY DAY! Tiller the baby killer is DEAD! - Samantha Pelch
# George Tiller the baby killer was shot dead this morning. God bless the gunmen who hopefully won't be caught. - readnwatchchris, Creedmor. NC
# was George Tiller the baby killers brain scrambled the way he scrambled full term fetuses.. one can only hope - Brad S
# Infamous baby killer George Tiller gunned down at (irony) church. Why do I not feel sorry for him? Have fun at Judgment Day. - James Fiddler
# tiller the baby killer shot dead...wow. is it insensitive of me to say what goes around comes around? - Brad M. Negulescu Cleveland.
# George Tiller the Baby Killer shot dead. May he rot in Hell. - Amy Strong
# Tiller Baby Killer was shot and killed this morning Justice has been served. - Shirl Ledeux
# Thinking about "Tiller the baby killer" He now knows the wages of sin is death. - Dianne McDowell
# May Tiller rot in Hell , infanticide is the murder of babies, he WAS a provider of death like Hitler, Bundy the list goes on.... - Dennis, A People Voip Company
# Burn in hell George Tiller - mikedanben Sparta, NJ (41.005501,-74.672)
# No need to pray for George Tiller. We know he went straight to hell!!!!! - Laurie D. Bailey Olive Branch, MS
# Good ridence to Tiller - babies will not be murdered because he is now gone. Wonder how he likes hell! - Jay Emess, Southern, NJ
# Karma is a beautiful thing. Cheers to the hero who sent George Tiller where he belongs... straight to hell. - Matthew Kamar
Thanks, CarlNation, for that summary. Frighteningly, that's all it is - a summary. Check out the Twitter search results for up-to-the-minute hate and bile. I fear for my country when this kind of thing can happen and so many outwardly and hatefully support it. When, inevitably, this insane (accused) murderer ends up on death row, I will protest it, because no murder is fair or right - not even the murder of sub-human cretins like these right wing crazies.
clip from judgement day: intelligent design on trial
cdesign proponentists - evidence that the word "creationists" was simply replaced with "design proponents" because of a typo in an "intelligent design" manuscript
Popular Mechanics Popular Mechanics took a prototype plug-in 2009 Prius for a short test drive, which might be the first PHEV to market.
YouTube - Bill O'Reilly and Ben Stein on Creationism, oh dear The way O'Reilly sarcastically says "separation of church and state" and that Stein says with a straight face that creationists "aren't allowed" the freedom of speech they deserve is mind blowing and frightening.
Evolution James Watson: Please bend over while I kick your freakin ass. One of the worlds most eminent scientists was embroiled in an extraordinary row last night after he claimed that black people were less intelligent than white people and the idea that equal powers of reason were shared across racial groups was a
This American Life Sure, you know the big ones: don't murder, steal...something about graven images? We help you with the others through stories and interviews, each dealing with a different commandment. Military chaplains discuss "Thou Shalt Not Kill." Middle school studen
David Byrne Journal: 4.1.07: Your Government Working for You The Copyright Royalty Board is proposing a large increase in the performance royalty rates for non-interactive streaming services. This means web radio, cable radio and satellite radio will pay more to SoundExchange in royalties. Presumably those ro
Pharyngula: Congress controls the sun? As you know, Daylight Saving Time started almost a month early this year. You would think that members of Congress would have considered the warming effect that an extra hour of daylight would have on our climate. Or did they?
Perhaps this is another plo
Found: The New Earth | the Daily Mail It's got the same climate as Earth, plus water and gravity. A newly discovered planet is the most stunning evidence that life - just like us - might be out there.
Above a calm, dark ocean, a huge, bloated red sun rises in the sky - a full ten times the s
There is no war between science and Christianity The scientists who challenged this Absolute Truth came to bitter ends. Although the vast majority were Christians themselves who had no desire to harm the Church, their findings were completely unacceptable to the popes, saints and theologians who were al
MPR: The Memoirs of Frank Stanton The Memoirs of Frank Stanton is an audio autobiography of the man who was president of CBS for more than 25 years in its heyday as the "Tiffany Network." Stanton also took on Congress in a battle for First Amendment rights for broadcast journalists.
Pharyngula: Congress controls the sun? As you know, Daylight Saving Time started almost a month early this year. You would think that members of Congress would have considered the warming effect that an extra hour of daylight would have on our climate. Or did they?
Found: The New Earth | the Daily Mail It's got the same climate as Earth, plus water and gravity. A newly discovered planet is the most stunning evidence that life - just like us - might be out there.
There is no war between science and Christianity The scientists who challenged this Absolute Truth came to bitter ends. Although the vast majority were Christians themselves who had no desire to harm the Church, their findings were completely unacceptable to the popes, saints and theologians who were al
MPR: The Memoirs of Frank Stanton The Memoirs of Frank Stanton is an audio autobiography of the man who was president of CBS for more than 25 years in its heyday as the "Tiffany Network." Stanton also took on Congress in a battle for First Amendment rights for broadcast journalists.
Introducing the "Headlines from the Green Blogosphere" Tool In it are contained the best feeds from the blogosphere that I personally read and approve. The tool is completely free of charge, as long as no alterations are made. We do not insert ads (except for the First Sustainable text link), and we do not charge
Recording a Renewable Record: Kelley Stoltz Stoltz's newest album, Below the Branches, is the first album to incorporate the Green-e label on its product packaging, signifying that the album was recorded using 100-percent renewable energy.
United Nations to Organize List of Green Women This week, the Women's Environmental Network (WEN) drew our attention to a new list, to be compiled by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
TDS More of the Mess in Messopotamia Jon Stewart has some fun with the smiley faces coming out of Iraq, while Molly Ivins says you call this progress.
Keith Olbermann / Bill O'Reilly Continued he story continues. Mike, Fox Security, Al Franken, Howard Stern and he whose name may not be spoken all have something to say about Big Bad Bill.
MassLive.com: Search The local company developing an engine that will reportedly get nearly double the mileage obtained by gasoline and diesel engines is set to show off its technology to the big guys.
Wal-Mart doubling organic food offerings Wal-Mart Stores Inc. aims to be the mass-market provider of organic food, and will have doubled its organic offerings over the next couple of weeks, Wal-Mart's head of dry grocery told Reuters on Monday."
Entertainment : Colbert Report - David Cross On Organics
Ok, so it's actually David Cross pretending to be a radio host named Russ Leiber... but it's hilarious. Colbert pulled an O'Reilly and "cut off his mike." Here's the video.
"Please, stop supporting the big corporate kohlrabi farms. When you eat that, you are literally eating a stew of LIES!"
Comedy Central said yesterday that it was giving Mr. Colbert his own show: a half-hour that is expected to follow "The Daily Show" on weeknights and will lampoon those cable-news shows that are dominated by the personality and sensibility of a single host. Think, he said, of Bill O'Reilly and Chris Matthews and Sean Hannity.
Where "The Daily Show" and its host, Jon Stewart, generally spoof the headlines of the day (and the anchors and reporters who deliver them), Mr. Colbert's program will send up those hosts who have become household names doing interviews and offering analyses each night on the 24-hour cable news channels. The program, which is expected to begin appearing on Comedy Central as soon as early fall, is being produced by Mr. Stewart's production company, Busboy Productions.
To recap the story: three malls in the Palm Beach area are calling their seasonal varmints by names other than the Easter Bunny, so as to get all parents, not just the Christian ones, to bring the tikes to the mall to get some chocolate eggs and then buy a bunch of stuff from Toys 'R Us
The promo from the Fox News site:
Why is the "Easter bunny" under attack? You won't believe what some malls in Florida have planned less than two weeks before one of biggest day's on the Christian calendar.
Ok, no, seriously. This is true. From the transcript:
SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: You know something, David? Look, where is the tolerance on the left anymore? I mean, this is the Easter Bunny. This is about Bob's kids and my kids going to the mall. Are you really going to be hurt, are you really going to be offended by a mall identifying a bunny as the Easter Bunny? Is your faith shaken that deeply?
SILVERMAN: On a scale of one to ten, we're talking about a two. But on a scale of one to ten, the actual act of calling it something more neutral is nice to see. You know, it's nicer to see.
HANNITY: Should we remove the name of Jesus Christ from the public square totally?
SILVERMAN: We're talking about the Easter Bunny.
HANNITY: Take "In God We Trust" off U.S. coins, right? "One nation under God" out of the Pledge. We go back to the Declaration of Independence and say, "Endowed by our creator," out, too?
SILVERMAN: Absolutely not. We're talking about malls that are allowed to call the Easter Bunny anything they want.
This is faaaaaaaaaaar nuttier than the Christmas is under attack bullshit that O'Reilly and his cohorts were spouting at the end of last year. At least that was about people "attacking" a Christian holiday... not that it's really very Christian anymore... and not that anyone was actually attacking it. But the EASTER BUNNY? The only relation he has to Easter is that his name includes the word, and in some homes he shows up on Easter to give the kids candy. He certainly has nothing at all to do with the resurrection of Jesus, that's for sure.
I mean damn, the idea of a Godman dying and being resurrected is very deeply rooted in Paganism, but the Easter Bunny is quadruply so.
The rabbit is well known as a sexual symbol of fertility. In various parts of the world, religions which developed from Babel also associate the rabbit with periodicity, both human and lunar (Egypt, China, etc.). As you may remember, the Mother Goddess Semiramis (Easter) is associated with the Moon. In other words, the Easter bunny symbolizes the Mother Goddess. Annual Spring time fertility rituals are associated worship of the Mother Goddess and Tammuz, the reincarnation of her husband Nimrod.
In fact, many Christians think it's evil to do the whole bunny thing, because it's so Pagan and evil and... whatnot.
Finally, we hear from Rush:
Rush concludes by saying, "But I bet this is happening all over the country: the banning of the Easter bunny and Easter eggs and this sort of thing." And if it is, it's undoubtedly the fault of the ACLU, Ward Churchill, and Hillary Clinton.
FOX News host Bill O'Reilly denied calling Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) a "nut" and promised to play a clip on the air to verify his denial. In fact, he did indeed call Boxer a "nut" on his January 19 radio program, as Media Matters for Americadocumented (audio here).
He also denied his frequent practice of applying labels like "nut,"
"loon," and other disparaging names to political opponents, though Media Matters has documented O'Reilly's long history of this rhetorical practice.
...
BROWN: Well, let me -- let me explain the Springer comparison. You can talk about [Tom] Brokaw, you can talk about [Tim] Russert, you can talk about [Walter] Cronkite, everybody else who works for the "liberal media," but you don't see these guys calling people "idiots" on the air. You don't see them calling them "nuts" on the air. You don't see them calling names on the air. You don't see them --
O'REILLY: And the last time I called somebody an "idiot" was?
BROWN: But you did it, Bill --
O'REILLY: When?
BROWN: -- and you know you did it.
O'REILLY: When?
BROWN: You did it last week. You did it last week on -- with Barbara Boxer. You called her a "nut." You called the voters who voted for her "loony." Is that not true?
O'REILLY: That's not true. I mean, what I do is I say, "there are loony left-wing people" or "this is nuts," but I never say "She's a nut" or "This person is a loon."
BROWN: Bill, I suggest you --
O'REILLY: Come on.
BROWN: I suggest you play your tape. You did call Barbara Boxer a "nut" last week.
O'REILLY: I -- her position is nutty on certain issues. I do not call her a "nut." And, you know, we'll pull it [the clip], and we'll show that you're wrong.
But here's the deal. You write for a liberal newspaper --
BROWN: It's your radio program.
So all you guys -- all you people with the Madonna CDs? Just cross out Madonna and write in Esther. This woman's not a loon, is she? [Radio Factor, 6/17/04]
And when I saw these attacks on him [actor and director Mel Gibson], and you know, using his father, who is undeniably a loon,
but using his father to bash him, and -- oh! I -- I mean, it -- it just
made me sick because he has a right to put that movie [The Passion of the Christ] out. [Radio Factor, 6/18/04]
The New York City judge, who's a loon, by the way, in my opinion. We did this on The Factor last night, says you can't search the protesters out on the street. [Radio Factor, 7/21/04]
Is Sharon Stone a loon, or what? [Radio Factor, 8/4/04]
Look at the people -- write all the people that you know pretty well down on a sheet of paper. I guarantee you 30 percent of those people are loons. I guarantee it. Everybody who's a human being knows 30 percent of the people they know are insane. [Radio Factor, 8/11/04]
I believe that Kerry is a smart guy who has an understanding of policy and our position in the world. Unlike Howard Dean, who is a raving loon. Did I make that clear enough? [Radio Factor, 9/27/04]
The nutty people over at MoveOn.org have attacked Gallup. ... I mean, these people are just loons -- the Kool-Aid people. [Radio Factor, 9/28/04]
Now, outta the 20 percent base of people who say they're
liberal, I would say about 10 percent of those, half, are crazed --
loons. Just nuts -- who run around and do a lotta damage. [Radio Factor, 10/28/04]
And then this Randy Moss, this loon who plays for the Minnesota Vikings. Grosses out a national audience. And, the NFL doesn't look like they're gonna do anything about it, and they should. [Radio Factor, 1/10/05]
UPDATE: Just realized I screwed up the links to the media matters content. Fixed now.
I actually thought it was as well, since that's what I've always been told, but apparently the people who told me were misinformed or lying. From Media Matters:
In fact, though the Third Geneva Convention defines a category of detainees called "prisoners of war" (POWs) and lays out specific protections for them, the Fourth Geneva Convention ("Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War") lays out separate protections for civilians, including so-called "unlawful combatants," as Media Matters for America has documented.
So anyway... yeah. The next time an O'Reilly type or Limbaugh dittohead tells you that the Geneva Convention only applies to POWs and soldiers, you can either tell them they're wrong or smile to yourself.
It is touching that the Right has managed to transform the holiday season into another hate fest. But, let me say this -- when the occasion arises, I tend to say "happy holidays." Not because I'm worried about offending people. Not because I'm trying to be overly inclusive to people of all faiths. It's because it really feels fucking stupid saying "Merry Christmas" on December 1 when Christmas is over 3 weeks away.
The "holiday season" is that period from Thanksgiving until New Years. If we count Thanksgiving, which we should given the ever-lengthening advertising campaign which seems to define the season, that includes 3 federal holidays, one of which falls on December 25. Now, some people may like wishing others a "Merry Christmas" over a 40 or so day period which encompasses the "holiday season," and good for them, but I personally like wishing people a "Merry Christmas" on or about the actual day. I even think it may be what the baby Jesus would want, though I'll have to check with Pope O'Reilly I.
When Oliver Cromwell took over England in 1645, Christmas was cancelled as part of a Puritan effort to rid the country of decadence. This proved unpopular, and when Charles II was restored to the throne, he restored the celebration. The Pilgrims, a group of Puritanical English separatists who came to North America in 1620, also disapproved of Christmas, and as a result it was not a holiday in early America. The celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed from 1659 to 1681 in Boston, a prohibition enforced with a fine of five shillings. The people of the Jamestown settlement, on the other hand, celebrated the occasion freely. Christmas fell out of favor again after the American Revolution, as it was considered an "English custom", and it was not declared a federal holiday in the United States until June 26, 1870.
...what the deal is with people like O'Reilly. I mean, they HAVE to know they're lying, right? From Media Matters:
In response to reports that actor and comedian Chevy Chase called President Bush a "dumb f---" while co-hosting a December 14 People For the American Way awards ceremony in Washington, DC, FOX News host Bill O'Reilly asserted on the December 16 O'Reilly Factor that "you don't see this kind of thing on the right." He added: "You don�t see prominent conservatives cursing out Democratic members of Congress, for example."
Media Matters then points to one of the gazillion news articles that could be used to respond to O'Reilly's completely untrue statement.
Vice President Cheney cursed at Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy during a confrontation on the Senate floor while members were having their annual group picture taken earlier this week, Leahy and Senate sources said Thursday.
...
During their exchange, Leahy noted that Republicans had accused Democrats of being anti-Catholic because they are opposed to some of President Bush's anti-abortion judges, the aides said.
Cheney then responded, "f--- off" or "f--- you," two aides said, both speaking on condition of anonymity.
War : O'Reilly Apologizes, is "Skeptical" about Bush
Does anyone else think this is a pretty big deal? O'Reilly has sooo many hard-core fans. This will either hurt Bush or hurt O'Reilly.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Conservative television news anchor Bill O'Reilly said on Tuesday he was now skeptical about the Bush administration and apologized to viewers for supporting prewar claims that Iraq (news - web sites) had weapons of mass destruction.
The anchor of his own show on Fox News said he was sorry he gave the U.S. government the benefit of the doubt that former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s weapons program poised an imminent threat, the main reason cited for going to war.
"I was wrong. I am not pleased about it at all and I think all Americans should be concerned about this," O'Reilly said in an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America."
"What do you want me to do, go over and kiss the camera?" asked O'Reilly, who had promised rival ABC last year he would publicly apologize if weapons were not found.
O'Reilly said he was "much more skeptical about the Bush administration now" since former weapons inspector David Kay said he did not think Saddam had any weapons of mass destruction.
While critical of President Bush (news - web sites), O'Reilly said he did not think the president intentionally lied. Rather, O'Reilly blamed CIA (news - web sites) Director George Tenet, who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton (news - web sites).
"I don't know why Tenet still has his job."
He added: "I think every American should be very concerned for themselves that our intelligence is not as good as it should be."
O'Reilly anticipated the presidential election would be a close race, adding he thought Democratic front-runner Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) of Massachusetts would be a formidable opponent against Bush.
"It will be a very close race. The nation is divided," he said.
