Bill O'Reilly Smears San Francisco With Surreal Pseudo-Documentary (VIDEO)

Bill O'Reilly is scared. As a daring crusader on the side of "traditional America" in the war against "secular progressives," O'Reilly fears that the "far left" will push President-elect Obama to embrace their values. As an example of the horrors that would befall us if this were to happen, O'Reilly offers up a surreal pseudo-documentary of San Francisco. O'Reilly sends producer Jesse Waters, whose sole journalistic value seems to be his utter lack of shame at chasing after and ambushing anyone O'Reilly points his finger at, to San Francisco because it represents 'far left government' at work.

Watching this video, one would think that ninety percent of San Francisco's population are either homeless, addicted to drugs, prostitutes, crazy, or some mix of all these. The video is an unbelievable smear on a great American city. The only thing worse than the video's message is the production value. After showing the video, O'Reilly interviews Waters for insight into how San Franciscans can live in such moral and physical squalor. Waters basically says the citizens of Frisco have accepted, and adjusted to, the fact their city is a hell hole. Actually, the city is so beyond the pale that O'Reilly once said he wouldn't mind if Al Qaida attacked the city. Watch and judge for yourself.

Comments

[mercury613]

I have lived in San Francisco a number of years and have never felt unsafe. I have only been the victim of crime twice in my life, and interestingly, both incidents occurred less than a mile apart from each other in a very upscale suburb of Los Angeles.

O'Reilly obviously doesn't get out much.

[stkjasmin]

hahahah!!! you wouldn't go to the Presidio at night? North Beach is the Tenderloin? Wow, you really are as dumb as you look. Get informed before you smear one of the only places in the States we can be free enough in to live, where people still respect one another even if they don't agree.

[Enid]

Anything in San Francisco pales in comparison to the smut and dirt in Bill's grotty mind.

[mercury613]

I know. Repressed conservatives are always the ones who are so "smut" obsessed.

[gluvox12]

They didn't mention all the great loofah stores.

[gluvox12]

Great! Stay out!

[realspear]

It's amazing how much falsehood there is in this story, as pointed out in many comments.

One thing that was missing is that California marijuana laws makes possession of a small amount a misdemeanor punishable by a $100 fine. This is statewide, not just San Francisco, as O'Reilly implies. And one has to wonder, does he want the cops dealing with pot smokers rather than serious crime? As a city resident, I sure don't.

On the other hand, this "news" segment is probably a good thing. I would like O'Reilly viewers to stay wherever they are.

[NoKneeJerks]

Outside of gated communities, you could go to just about anyplace in this country and interview the crazy people there and make broad generalizations about the area. I live in SF and have for more than 10 years. I am proud that Bill-O doesn't like SF, that's possibly the best endorsement I can think of. As for the Faux News skewed segment, it is purposely and obviously biased, just listen to the lead in. "This is what we want you to think and here's an extremely biased video to support our position." That's not journalism, it's partisan social warfare. It's a standard slam job with little or no facts or information other than a collection of some unfavorable clips and imagery.

[Tarran]

You know the worst thing about that video? The guy didn't even have the decency to talk to most of the folks that inhabit the Civic Center area, which is where he got most of those images, and ask them about their situation. I work in this neighborhood, and talk to these folks every day - do you know who a lot of them are? Folks who have been booted from mental health facilities due to the lack funding, US Veterans who are suffering from PTSD who have no where else to spend the day, women who have been abused for years and are awaiting intervention services. San Francisco is the home of a lot of folks who have escaped situations in less tolerant cities and now have a place to call home that doesn't judge them but instead tries to help them. So Bill-O stick that in your pipe and smoke it: why else do you have such a facination with marijuana usage?

[MagicalPossibilities]

Oh come on Bill-o I know you are dying to go hang out on Castro St...

What is with this great fear of homeless people anyway? The guys in the park looked pretty harmless. Last time I went to S.F. my friend and I had a young homeless woman serenade us on Market street. She was funny, sweet and charming. We laughed, chatted with her, and gave her 5 bucks for the entertainment.

I love S.F. just can't afford to live there.

[Susej]

I wanna move there.

[Umberto]

Both of these people, O'Reilly and Waters, are out of their ever-loving minds. O'Reilly says he wouldn't go near the Presidio at night!!!! LOL. Oh my God!!!! I have never heard something more outrageous on cable TV and that's saying quite a bit. I lived in the Presidio for 3 1/2 years. It's under federal jurisdiction and is the single most safest place in the city. We used to leave our house unlocked all day. I would take runs at night on the sidewalks and trails. Homeless and criminals don't go anywhere near the Presidio. These two clowns are liars. They didn't go to Pacific Heights, or the Marina, or the Outer Richmond. They didn't bother to interview normal, working, affluent people. They ignored the natural beauty and the majority of the city. And they made fun of our tolerance. Pathetic. These two scumballs should be ashamed of this - smearing an entire city for the sake of drumming up right-wing rhetoric which furthers divides the country.

[Wake-up]

True he obviously mis-spoke regarding the Presidio... but seriously, go the convention center and anywhere near it... It's worse than Amsterdam... Fact is the city is in trouble.

"Clowns.." "scumballs..." name calling is what divides and the inability to objectively discuss and debate anything like an adult.

[Umberto]

Here's the email that I just sent to O'Reilly. Yeah, the Tenderloin sucks, but that's nothing new. The city is not "in trouble" any more than any other city. O'Reilly and Waters are scumballs and I have no problem with name calling on a blog comment. For my email, I cleaned up the language a bit.

Part 1
Bill,
I just watched your hit piece on our fair city and I'm going to go ahead and conclude that you and your buddy Jesse Waters are out of your ever-loving minds. You claim that you wouldn't go near the Presidio at night. I have never heard something more outrageous on cable TV and that's saying quite a bit. Have you ever even been to the Presidio, or does it just look like a big, dangerous, green space on a map to you? I lived in the Presidio for 3 1/2 years. It's under federal jurisdiction and is easily the safest place in the city. We used to leave our house unlocked all day. I would take runs at night on the sidewalks and the trails. The homeless and criminals don't go anywhere near the Presidio. This error on your part shows me and the rest of your viewing audience that you didn't do an honest job with this piece, which is really no surprise. (continued in Part 2)

[Umberto]

Part 2 of my letter to O'Reilly:

You didn't go to Pacific Heights, or the Marina, or the Richmond. You didn't go to Laurel Heights or Seacliff. You stayed down in the Tenderloin and flashed shots of strip clubs while interviewing the strangest people you could find. You didn't bother to interview normal, working, affluent people. You ignored the natural beauty and the majority of the places in the city. And you made fun of our tolerance. You should be ashamed of this - smearing an entire city for the sake of drumming up right-wing rhetoric which furthers divides the country. You don't know the first thing about San Francisco. I've lived here for 6 years now and each day I learn something new about it. Your stereotypes are 40 years old and are as dead as the political party you belong to. Your little "documentary" on San Francisco was akin to a 10th grade video project for the A/V club. You proved nothing to anyone, other than to show what an ignoramus you are. I will give you that the Tenderloin is not a great place, but attempting to portray an entire city in this manner was dishonest. I'm really not sure what you were trying to accomplish. San Francisco is an affluent, hard-working, prosperous city and I am proud to be a citizen of this city.

[doctorwang]

Sort of like when O'Reilly calls people pinheads?

[Nikola Tesla]

Worse than Amsterdam?

Amsterdam provides for ALL it's citizens.

ALL OF AMERICA IS WORSE THAN AMSTERDAM!

[artemisvictrix]

You are right Umberto... it seems to me that first of all, they don't know what they are talking about!
O'Reilly says that the Tenderloin is in North Beach!!!! Did you see that??

Oh my goodness, Sir, go and learn a little bit of the geography of the city before even start your ignorant comments!

But you know Umberto, coming from this man nothing shocks me .. really!

[Wake-up]

Are you-all joking? Have you been to SF and any other large (similar) city in America? Sf has become a dump... the alchol/drug-addicted homeless are aggressive... I was in NYC in Sept. for 3 days and I saw in lower and mid-town maybe 5 homeless losers... The great leftist experiment does not work, wake-up people. O'reilly is right on.

[mercury613]

Please keep saying that. It will keep out people we don't want here and make more room for those that appreciate our beautiful city.

[Wake-up]

If you find urban decay beautiful, it's all yours... just don't come crying to the tax payer once it gets unlivable. The reason why NYC works better is Rudy... SF needs a Rudy.

[bobdeckerbob]

Wake-up is right! San Francisco is an utter hell-hole. The food is dreadful and you can't walk down any street without be swarmed by beggars with eye disease and weeping sores. Especially in the Tenderloin section of the Presidio. Tourists beware! Cancel your plans to visit here and go to Las Vegas or Orlando instead.

[DMcMillan]

What? There is no Tenderloin section of the Presidio. They are two different places in different areas of the city. Please, the Presidio is one of the nicest neighborhoods here.

[mercury613]

Seriously! I want to be left alone to deal with all the terrible restaurants, yawn-inducing views, horrible weather, ugly architecture, and homophobia we have.

Let me suffer in peace!!!!!

[BENNYINSF]

bobdeckerbob: Sorry ,dude. You gave away your ignorance and your comments are completely invalid. You've probably never stepped foot here. San Francisco is known around the world for great cuisine, and the Tenderloin is not a section of the Presidio. In fact, they're two different neighborhoods in two different parts of the city. They're not even connected.

[DubiousAtBest]

OBVIOUSLY you never went beyond downtown, which is essentially skid row. The vast majority of SF is residential neighborhoods, which you obviously aren't aware of. That's typical for a clueless tourist or convention-goer who never ventures beyond their immediate area.

There are skid row areas in every major US city (AS YOU MENTIONED...)

They could just as easily have shown only multi-million dollar houses, expensive imported cars, socialites at the Opera House, and wine-sipping yuppies on sailboats in the Bay. All that would be true...IF THAT WAS YOUR AGENDA!

[BRE]

Bill O making Colbert's job easy.

[UrsaMajority]

I've worked in San Francisco for 22 years, and have seen very little of what Waters describes. During my entire time here, I'd say I was hassled by a street person to the point of annoyance maybe three times.

To send someone who admittedly has never been to San Francisco to go and not only report on a specific situation but to pontificate on the state of the entire City is beyond laughable. And, I believe that the report probably captured a view of every single strip joint in the Tenderloin and North Beach, and somehow had them representative of what are probably over fifty thousand businesses in the City?

And, interestingly, the report unintentionally makes an interesting point -- people sitting around smoking pot aren't really much of a threat to anyone, are they? (Just like the fact that people going off and getting married to other people of the same sex aren't a real problem for anyone else either.)

[ginsushark]

SF is one of the cleanest and beautiful cities in the USA. Its WAYYYY too expensive. O'Reilly is selling a fantasy based on out of date stereotypes. he might as well be complaining about those wild gold bugg'd miners and chinese railroad workers.