Homeless Vets Prepare To Block O'Reilly's Shot

UPDATE: The homeless vets got turned away by Fox News and O'Reilly. We've got full video of what went down (and Keith Olbermann's take) here.

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Wednesday afternoon, John Edwards suspended his candidacy for President, vowing to "never forget" the poverty-stricken Americans he so passionately stood up for, and beseeching the remaining candidates - indeed, all Americans - to continue the work that he termed "the cause of [his] life." This afternoon in New York City, some of that work will resolutely continue, as a group of homeless veterans - one of the segments of the population of forgotten Americans that Edwards spoke of so often on the stump - will swarm FOX News Channel's Studios to bring their fight to Bill O'Reilly, the millionaire celebrity host of The O'Reilly Factor.

O'Reilly, who regularly defamed Edwards as a phony, has a lot to answer for. In attacks on the former North Carolina Senator, O'Reilly has repeatedly belittled his compassion, issued inflammatory statements and mocking attacks, and denied both the "existence and significance" of homeless veterans. As recently as January 16, O'Reilly took to the airwaves to rain ridicule upon Edwards, saying, "Well, we're still looking for all the veterans sleeping under the bridges,...so if you find anybody, let us know." As we reported two days later, Robert Greenwald and his crew at Brave New Films did exactly that.

Now, a group from Fitzgerald House, an "organization representing homeless veterans," plans to bring their fight for recognition to Fox's doorstep. They plan on visiting the Fox News Channel Studios today at 3:00 pm, and will come carrying a petition signed by 17,000 people demanding an apology from O'Reilly for his ignorance and abuse. In a press release, Brave New Films and Fitzgerald House say thay "have found that it is very easy to locate homeless veterans and are willing to help O'Reilly find them if his desire to help homeless vets is sincere."

Of course, the last time we checked in on O'Reilly, he was in New Hampshire, bullying Obama aides, and snarling about how "nobody blocks a [camera] shot" on the "Factor." Well, we'll see about that.

Comments

[kirotahoe]

ever notice how o'really is just like a big baby. all you ever hear is his howling - wahhhhh

edwards talks about homeless - wahhhhhh

someone tells him to ease up on keith o - wahhhhhhh - i'm gonna call the police - wahhhhhh

his publisher tells him book sales are down - wahhhh - suddenly there ARE no homeless vets - wahhh = sell more books. make more money. fuck you bill

[edsel]

That's really a great venue for him (Orielly) though, the make pretend news. Watching Fox news is like watching professional wrestling.

[jerrypenguin]

How can anyone forget the brave utterances of ole' splotchy face. "Cut off his mike!!! Call security!!!"

[IMPRISONBUSH]

THE MAN IS WORTH MILLIONS BUT TO CHEAP TO HELP OUR SERVICE MANTHE HOMELESS AND ILL, BUT CALLS OTHERS UNAMERICAN FOX NEWS IS THE JOKE OF THE AIRWAYS AS ARE THE PEOPLE WHO STILL WATCH HIM.

[edsel]

I just love it when right wing jerks like you visit this site

[booker52]

Billo is a putz, pure and simple, wait, just simple minded.

[superglide2000]

my dad was a disable vet of world war 2// 4 of us lived on a check my dad got from v a 125.00 a month// he was in Germany for 4yrs. 7 month/ when i was a kid i had to put up with all the sadness /the crying / sleepless night/ all the horror that was in his head// these thing of war still hurt me today/ not only does a vet have it bad so does his children// I LOVE MY DAD HE HAS BEEN GONE FOR 20YRS BUT WAR ROB ME OF MY CHILDHOOD/ I love vets so piss on bill orilley/// vote [ RON PAUL ]

[Economike]

Even is rush was arguing the point that homeless vets could not be a byproduct of two America's as John Edwards said, Rush is still wrong because many people enlist to escape gang infested neighborhoods, lack of employment and as a way to get better quality education. Something Limpbaugh would have no direct experience of.

[USMC1980]

They should drag that "wanna-be" tuff guy Bill O'Reilly, out by his dick, and pound hid head in untill he signs their petition, and admits to his own arrogane and ignorance...They he should be pissed on:)

[JScott]

Hope goes back to his nice estate at the end of the day as he opens the door his maid sez 'we have some long term houseguests from Fitzgerald House that will be joining you for dinner tonight'.

[Issak]

Heavy competition- but if anybody needs a serious ass kicking is this mother fucker- Rove, Limbaugh and Kristol -I'm talking loose teeth and broken bones type ass kicking - too violent you say? don't think so.

These assholes have been inflicting their cowardly brand of violence on our society with impunity for far too long-

I'm yet to meet an asshole viewer or listener of any of these shit heads who would dare to start their shit with "lib" this or that to my face. About time we put the breaks on this unacceptable behavior.

And like any bully- cowards deep down- from time to time need someone to teach them a lesson.

[GH]

Ufortunatley for Bill O'Reilly, I can speak better for him than he did. The point here is that the homeless situation is no different than it was in 2000 (give or take some small (and who knows) percentage point) - for Vets as well. In fact one of the larger problems is that instead of retiring, service members continue to rotate back to Iraq or Afhanistan.

John Edwards would nerver have been so loud on such an issue, and the media would have never so boldly picked up and carried such a message, whether true or not, during, for example, the 2000 presidential campaign - when there was a sitting Democrat in the White House.

I personally consider Edwards to be a bit sincere, in spite of his lavish wealth and how he earned it - but the story is one of politics - nothing but politics.

[Tasies]

This mush brained degenarate is beyond repair.

[fantagor]

What O'Reilly's attitude reveals, in all its ugliness, is that "pro-military" is conservative code for "we love war". That's it. Conservatives LOVE war. However, they HATE reminders of war, and veterans are a rather substantial reminder of war, like pictures of dead (insert here a proper plural for the inhabitants of a country America has pissed all over) strewn on a battlefield or a flag draped coffin or a veteran laid up FOREVER because he has no limbs or mental faculties. Homeless vets are an extension of the conservative reaction to the catastrophic consequences of their armchair hobby, rooting for more and bigger wars with bigger and more interesting casualties.

I can think of nothing more pornographic than O’Reilly, who wouldn’t risk his life helping an elderly nun across the street, draping himself in the flag via some towering god-headed diatribe about the virtues of staying in Iraq, till the end of time, if necessary, followed by a frothing bit of misdirection which claims that supporting the troops equals keeping them in harms way, till the end of time, if necessary, then topping that off with a condemnation of Edwards for bringing up the existence of homeless vets which O’Reilly was doing a heckuva job ignoring till Edwards had the audacity to remind him and by extension his audience.

Randy

[imsosure]

Once again O'Reilly confirms he is nothing more than a heartless,gaseous windbag. His rhetoric is something more like what I'd expect from a fascist neonazi. I hope someday the bottom falls out of his base and those who might possibly still think this guy is correct come to realize what a blow hard he truly is. That or he could just die.