Posted on 09/19/2004 8:35:07 PM PDT by NonLinear
Letter to Fox by me:
Sent to: Speakout@foxnews.com - Doubt BOR would read
I like Fox News - big time.
I really used to look forward to the No Spin Zone. But lately, and I mean for several months now, I really believe Bill O'Reilly has lost his edge. On what may be two of the biggest stories of 2004 - The CBS Forged Memos and the Swiftboat Vets for Truth, Bill has simply dropped off of the credibility scale.
Swift Vets - Bill blasted these guys as lying mudslingers, period. Kerry's record is established, and these guys are just wrong. Never did it creep into his sharp, analytical mind that there was the possibility that Kerry had filed false reports as an officer, manipulated the system, and otherwise engaged in deceitful and calculated behavior to get out of Viet Nam as fast as humanly possible, leave a hero, and build a sham persona to be used for personal gain. Finally after six months, when Kerry has grudgingly admitted that his "first" Purple Heart was bogus - self inflicted with no enemy fire, that Christmas in Cambodia was a fabrication that was "seared, seared into" him, that in the "No Man Left Behind" saga, Kerry actually fled the scene while ALL of the other boats stayed to help the mined craft - not vice versa as in his published exploits, it was his "fanny" that was bleeding, not the arm that pulled Rassmann from the water - with the "fanny wound" being self-inflicted from a stock of rice blown up by his own grenade - ok the "third" Purple Heat is bogus too, Bill concedes to grant John O'Neill a token interview to show how "fair and balanced" he is. Bill claims it is a draw between Kerry and the Swift Vets. Um, let's see... Swift Vets prove at least three substantial lies by Kerry. There are a few points that the Swift Vets have not actually proven yet, but then again Kerry hasn't disproven either, so we have a draw. Oh no, I don't see any spin there.
And like Bill, I looked carefully at the claims, the documentation, the collaboratng reports and witnesses, and the excellent assembly and verification of the Swift Vet's data. And, you know what? The Swift Vets have done their homework. I am a reformed skeptic. No, that's not right. I'm still a skeptic, but a convinced one. I'm not particularly fond of Bush, and may just write someone in on the ballot. But John F Kerry is, in my humble opinion, a fake, a fraud, a liar, and someone who helped millions of friends of the United States into Pol Pot's killing fields and re-education camps while slandering his "band of brothers" under oath here at home.
CBS Memos - Within 12 hours of the CBS broadcast, the memos were known within 99% certainty to be fake. They failed in at least 50 distinct points. The last bit would require verification of a few "stipulated" items. I use the quotes because by "stipulated" I mean the items were generally accepted but not proven rigorously, not the actual definition of the word. Within 48 hours, the odds of the memos being real were about on par with the odds of one purchasing three consecutive grand prize winning Powerball tickets. Bill finally addressed the issues with some meek acknowledgement that the issue actually exists. Quite a firm stand for one who is "lookin' out for the little guy". The memos were clearly bogus, Bill knew it, Dan knew it, CBS knew it. Hey, why not have a little honest discourse on the sheer ineptitude of the the whole scam. How about "CBS and Dan Rather have worked for five years to be able to prove that George Bush shirked his duty at the Texas Air National Guard, and did so using the influence of powerful friends of his family. Suddenly, just a couple of months before the elections, memos surface that provide exactly the "proof" CBS has been lacking. Unfortunaltely, those memos could be recognized as computer- generated fakes almost instantly upon examination. The CBS anchor man who presented the report has complained that no one is addressing the allegations presented in the fake memos. This is pathetic." That would seem to be pithy enough.
Perhaps Bill has lost his ability to put the pieces together. I don't know, maybe Kerry is a friend of Bill's. What I do know is that the "No Spin Zone" has quietly mutated to the "No Spine Zone".
I am very sorry to inform you that I no longer watch Mr. O'Reilly. Now when his show comes on, I simply turn him off and join those pajama people who are not afraid to examine the facts. And, you know what? They actually have the audacity to make people who post those allegations, claims, smears, or what have you, to provide a source. With hundreds (thousands?, more) of people reading one's post with every resource known to man available to at least one of them, the claims are either vetted or debunked in short order. Very short order.
If Mr.O'Reilly wishes to reclaim his relevancy, then let him regenerate his spine. Otherwise, perhaps fishing with Dan Rather and John Kerry will allow him the time to reflect on the good old days when people believed him simply because they had to, or because he projects a "lookin' out for you" image, and not because people could verify his stance and say "Yeah, Bill O'Reilly has got it right. Amen brother!"
You know...I'm going to miss those days. I really thought I had found someone that would tell it like it is. Oh well, thanks Bill for those years where you really did give it a try. I'll try to remember you that way.
I'm thinking that Bill thinks he has a shot at Rather's job.....
O'Reilly's show is completely unwatchable, for the reasons stated on this thread.
Well said and I completely agree.
That sentence nailed it!
I remember the incident with Fox. The upside is that I suspect he's doing much better financially and has far more influence than if he had stayed with Fox.
The moral of the story might be God looks out for you if you do right.
Did you see the first interview? O'Reilly was down-right hostile and dismissive of the Swift Vets.
I almost didn't want to watch the second interview with O'Neil after that....but watched anyway and was VERY IMPRESSED with the change in attitude Bill displayed.
It was like night and day.
That's a win-win situation. CBS and Fox would both improve.
Yep.
O'Reilly's sure turned into a pandering go-along. As you know, Bill was at CBS for years. Apparently, you can take the man out of CBS but you can't take CBS out of the man. And hey, the guy is no spring chicken.
It has also occurred to me that what O'Reilly really wants is to return to the "mainstream media" that he grew up in because to hum that's the "real" media. His gig at Fox is just a holding pattern until something "back there" opens up.
I truly believe that if O'Reilly ever left Fox, he'd find out what Keith Olberman found when he left ESPN. To borrow a football phrase, it is the system as much as the player. O'Reilly benefits from being in the prime spot in a powerhouse network. Do you think for a minute that, oh... say, John Kasek (sp?), couldn't replace him? I'm not saying that Bill doesn't have his following. He does. But he benefits GREATLY from the "system" that Fox has built. Hell, as much as I despise Geraldo, I give him credit for realizing the only network that could still get his lamo/liberal/machismo/finger kissing act any ratings was Fox. And I can only imagine Fox gave that idiot a job to show that it was powerful enough to survive the employment of that uber-liberal weiner.
Welcome to FR, SugarLand. (I haven't been to SugarLand in several years, but I can still remember how good it smells! I wonder if Hershey, PA smells as good!)
I agree. It was obvious that Bill initially went with his instinctive "mainstream media" reaction but by the time of the second interview he had actually read the book. Once you read the impeccably researched and documented book, Unfit for Command, you understand what a scumbag Kerry is and you can never go back.
Great letter. It's been a while since I watched The O'Reilly Factor.
For me, it started with the "weapons of mass destruction" spinning. He got all caught up in that, as if there had been no other reasons to go to depose Saddam Hussein. Then I tried to listen to his radio show but it was horrible.
It never bothered me that Bill isn't really a conservative and holds viewpoints conservatives may disagree with. He's just so elitist and pretends he is not. And he has an unbelievably large ego.
I stopped watching mostly because of the way he would treat Ann Coulter. I'd contrast it to the way he sucks up to people like Barbara Wawa, Michael Moore and (now) Dan Rather, and I'd be disgusted. I can't stand that little smile he gets when he's "debating" with a liberal, as if he doesn't take his own arguments seriously. But he's a rabid attack dog when it comes to conservatives he doesn't agree with.
It's Bill's arrogance that dooms him. He totally dismissed and harangued the Swift Vets, not because he'd examined their arguments and found them wanting, but simply because they had the AUDACITY to make the claims that they did. It's the same with Dan Rather. He fawns over his fellow journalists instead of challenging them. He's NOT looking out for anyone but himself.
Nah, the sugar mill has shut down. I guess we just smell like suburbia now... unless the wind is blowing in from Houston.
That's my problem with O'Reilly. He is just as pigheaded as the rest of the mainstream media. He's just not brave enough anymore.
I'm halfway through the book and am already totally disgusted with Kerry. God help us if this lying weazel get's in the White House.
I gave upon Bill "O" over six months ago.
I noticed earlier that he was being lead down the ego path and his ego was getting the best of him.
When that happens people like Bill think they have beome "the elite" and consequently part of the liberal press.
I noticed his snap decisions tended toward the "liberal way" more and more until I realized six months ago that the dark side had pretty much taken over.
Bye bye Bill
I agree. I almost choked on my coffee when I heard Oreilly say he didn't think Rather had anything deliberate to do with the forged memos. Scuse me? He sure as hell DID, since he presented them as genuine even AFTER the experts told him NO. I'll watch Hannity and the other Fox guys from now on. O'Reilly's just too damned libified for my tastes.
Wow. I had no idea. Are the headquarters for Imperial Sugar still there? I'll have to google and find out where the sugar factory is located now.
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