November 24, 2007 5:24 AM

Hypocrisy never takes a holiday

O’Reilly Praises Serial Killer Charlie Manson’s Patriotism, Then Accepts Money to Promote “Anti-American” Movie

Seems like O’Reilly can’t pick a topic to assail before he’s quickly and easily called out as a hypocrite, liar, or lunatic. His recent jihad against the film Redacted might hit the trifecta. As some of you know, BOR [Bill O’Reilly] has been screeching and peeing himself about Redacted (directed by Brian De Palma, produced by Mark Cuban), which tells a fictionalized version of the Al-Mahmudiyah massacre where a group of American soldiers raped a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and killed members of her family. As expected, BOR dredged up the republican “endangering the soldiers/hurting America” clich‚àö¬©s . See, US soldiers actually raping and murdering a young girl and killing her family is fine, but news reports and a movie’s adaptation of it endangers soldiers. Just like US soldiers and contractors (with the approval and encouragement of the Bush administration) actually torturing and unlawfully imprisoning Iraqis is fine, but movies and news reports talking about it endanger soldiers.

Ah, the (not so) rare sighting of a Conservative Bloviatus Maximus in it’s natural habitat. Yes, notice the raised voice, the red face, the protruding forehead veins, and- most gloriously of all- the overarching sense of moral superiority. Yes, it’s not very often (well, actually, yes, it is) that we get to see this loud, insufferable creature in it’s natural surroundings- Fox News Channel.

That Bill O’Reilly is bloviating about anything comes as a (not so very) tremendous shock. That his hypocrisy is in full flower should come as a shock to no one, however. Yeah, he’ll raise all sorts of Hell about the way he thinks things oughta be, but damnit, man, when it comes to taking money…hey, a man’s got to feed the bulldog, no?

Behold, then, the mating call of the Conservative Bloviatus Maximus:

There is no excuse for “Redacted.” The incident is based on a true story, but those who committed the crimes are in prison for life. You don’t celebrate this kind of aberration with a movie ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ you don’t brand the U.S. military with this stigma.

Charles Manson is an American too, but does he represent this country in any way? Of course not. And I believe even the odious Manson would not make a movie like “Redacted.”

Of course, Mark Cuban didn’t murder Sharon Tate, did he? And why is O’Reilly so afraid of the truth? No one (certainly not the makers of “Redacted”) is alleging to all American soldiers engage in torture or other inappropriate behavior. Nor is anyone alleging that this sort of excess is official US military doctrine. Horrible things happen in war, though, and O’Reilly seems perfectly willing to insist that this reality be glossed over or ignored altogether. “Redacted” (I have yet to see the movie), as I understand it, is simply the story of one aspect of the war in Iraq. Again, no one is alleging that this sort of behavior is widespread or officially sanctioned. I think any reasonable person would recognize that the sort of behavior depicted in the movie is beyond the pale.

“Redacted” is hardly a “celebration” of illegal behavior during wartime. Nonetheless, there is a story to be told here, and for whatever reason, Bill O’Reilly seems to insist that the only appropriate story is one that fits his preconceived talking points…which appear to be little more than canned propaganda about our glorious war of liberation in Iraq.

I’ve always believed that the truth will set you free- if only you are willing to recognize and accept it. Bill O’Reilly seems to think that truth is something that he’s the ultimate arbiter of. Perhaps this is why he’s such an inveterate DUMB@$$.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on November 24, 2007 5:24 AM.

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