As Fox News' Megyn Kelly noted earlier on Monday, the bombshell revelations about the National Security Agency's secret surveillance programs have created the "strangest of bedfellows" amongst politicians and the press.
Last week, The Guardian's Glenn Greenwald reported on top-secret documents detailing the NSA's collection of data from millions of Verizon customers. The Washington Post later reported on Prism, the NSA program that allows the government to collect data from some of the country's largest Internet companies. Days later, Edward Snowden came forward as the person responsible for leaking the classified documents to the press. He worked as a contractor for Booz Allen Hamilton, but was formally fired by the firm on Tuesday.
The NSA security revelations have turned classic punditry on its head, sparking outrage among some unexpected members of media while others defend the government's need to monitor communications for national security purposes. O'Reilly highlighted how the story caused some pundits and politicians to find some surprising common ground.
"This is one big mess, and ideologically, absolute chaos," O'Reilly said. He then listed some individuals who support the NSA surveillance program, Prism: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Karl Rove and Kirsten Powers.
"I didn’t have a problem with it under Bush, and I don’t have a problem with it now, as long as it is done through the FISA court, which was candidate Obama’s position," Powers told a panel on Chris Wallace's Fox New show last week.
O'Reilly named individuals who opposed the NSA surveillance program: Glenn Beck, Michael Moore, Rush Limbaugh, The Huffington Post Media Group president and Editor-in-Chief Arianna Huffington, Al Gore, and Van Jones.
He added, "The headline? Van Jones and Glenn Beck agree on something! Are you kidding me?!" Glenn Beck and Michael Moore were another striking pair to have found common ground.
During a segment on whether leaks like Snowden's harm national security, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow also commented on how the NSA surveillance programs caused even the most unlikely of politicians to agree. "The president and Sen. John McCain rarely agree on anything, especially as it relates to national security. But on this they agree: if you talk about this program—if you reveal the details of surveillance programs like this—essentially you've rendered those programs ineffective."
Related
Before You Go
