Will O'Reilly's Vile Attack on Arianna Huffington Finally Get Him Kicked Off the Air?

I know, I know. It's wishful thinking, but I can dream, can't I? This isn't the first time the cowardly BillO has attacked Arianna and obviously it won't be his last. You see, the conservative media is a bit unnerved right now and are acting like fools, as is evident by this latest Factor smear. He's upset because some idiots left terrible remarks about Nancy Reagan on the HuffPo comment threads. Unfortunately it does happen on the Internet (including my website as well, CrooksandLiars) as much as we guard against it. Most sane people understand this fact.

You can see the video of BillO here.

O'Reilly: I have no respect for the woman. I think that she is hurting the country...

O'Reilly: What's the difference between the KKK and Arianna Huffington? What's the difference?

Ham: I think there is a difference,.

O'Reilly: I don't see any difference between Huffington and the Nazis. It's her, It's her, It's her...I didn't say she's a Nazi.

Ham: Alright.

O'Reilly: There's no difference between what the two do.

Say, what? OMG. What the heck is he talking about? Yea, Bill, if Arianna actually had a hand in genocide, you poor ignorant fool---you might try to say they took similar actions, but let's look at you. O'Reilly says Americans should start holding people accountable for what they say, so I think BillO should have already been fired for saying this about Michelle Obama:

O'Reilly: "I don't want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there's evidence, hard facts, that say this is how the woman really feels...

And he still has a job? He has the audacity to compare Arianna to the KKK and then want to lynch Michelle Obama if he feels she wasn't jingoistic enough. Jesse Jackson brought up BillO's rant on MSNBC after Tuesday's debate and said that this type of rhetoric can lead to violent episodes in our country. Maybe that's what he's after.

I spoke with Arianna about it last night and she feels he really crossed the line. He's been crossing the line for years now, but nobody ever called him on it before the blogs showed up. Hey Bill, we're not going anywhere. I wonder if he'll go to Sylvia's and discuss lynching Michelle Obama over a late night meal with FOX's Juan Williams.

You may not agree with all of Arianna's politics, but where she's full of grace and elegance---O'Reilly is an angry, pathetic, right wing media parasite. Print that, Howard Kurtz!.

UPDATE: (Nicole) I don't think Billo knows who he's dealing with:

Arianna's courage comes from a mother who stood up when others would have run, a single Greek woman who faced down real Nazis, real soldiers with real guns, real Nazis who killed millions of innocent people and came close to destroying our world, not blowhards with a falafel.

Fire away Billy, I promise you that Arianna can take all you can dish out, and a hell of a lot more.

Follow John Amato on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnAmato

Comments

[GeoNorth]

These guys don't get fired. O'Reilly, Limbaugh, Hannity, Cunningham, Savage, etc. are all full of shit. The thinking, rational world knows this. O'Reilly thinks he's the smartest guy who ever lived. He thinks that he is the first to think of this shit. Most rational people have rolled these notions around in the head. Those same rational people reject these ideas and notions very quickly because they are flawed notions and ideas. Radio keeps these morons on the air because they know that these morons are full of shit. As long as they can sell advertising for these trainwrecks, they'll keep them on. It's the only defense they need. We all agree that they are full if shit, but the advertisers like 'em.

Now, if anyone were to be telling the truth on a like show, they'd be considered dangerous. Advertisers stay away. People who agree with the truth are too busy with real life to be listening in any great numbers.

Screwy. Ain't it?

[wolf58]

What really surprises me is that some hasn't gave the coward chickenhawk boy or one the other talking assholes a third eye. I'll bet if that were ever to happen all the rest would crawl quickly back under the rocks they came from. Bill, Rush, Sean, Ann and the list goes on all would have made their daddy Joseph Goebbels proud. They talk of being patriots yet all are cowards. They wave the flag make fun of others, their words are of hatred and intolerance they support the enemies of the country namely the traitor Bush,Cheney and the rest of all those who walk lock step with them. They question the patriotism of others who do not agree with their words or their thoughts..­.
Its just a matter of time.

[Grulg]

Bill-ORALLY! Once again-Now and Forever-the WORST PERSON-IN THE WORLD!!!! *Cue bad organ music*

Arriana, the guy's an asshat. Keep hammering him as much as HUMANLY POSSIBLE. He does this to Others all the time, he can take it-or Get Out.

[leftLibertarian]

I have no respect for chicken hawk Bill O'Reilly. He is hurting the country. It was people like him who lied that Iraq was a threat to the US. He, Cheney and Bush should be sent to Iraq to fight in the war they wanted.

[DLSteinhardt]

Julian Ortega makes an excellent suggestion here: O'Reilly's words about Arianna clearly constitute slander. They represent a reckless disregard for the facts, which is the standard for slander or libel against a public figure.

Suing O'Reilly and FoxNews for slander and defamation of character could be a very effective tool for ending the reign of slander out of that disgusting organization.

They worship nothing but the dollar over there anyway. Change the financial incentive, and you could very well do away with FoxNews as currently constituted.

[cblcar]

Oh, please... Arianna loves this stuff. Eats it up. And she's just as capable of handing it out. No one needs to defend her. She can quite easily do that herself.

[connman]

I suspect it was one of O'Reilly's own trolls that wrote the anti Reagan comments just so BillO could have some spiteful materal for his show.

[yappnmutt]

there is a simple explanation why oreilly should not be fired. the common etiquette of political punditry is that it is okay for the right to compare people to horrific images and vile people but political correctness prevents anyone on the left from doing the same without liberal(lol) doses of public humiliation and career destruction.

i don't understand why people in the media don't understand that by giving character distressed people a platform outside of their own venue the media perpetuates the sociopathic behavior by encouraging it.

[MagisterLudi]

I abosultely do not support the blowhard idiot like O"Reilly who constantly vomits idiocies on the air.
I aslo do not support the Neo-con/Nazi style character assassination of Senator Clinton that takes place on Huffpo on hourly basis. I fail to see the difference between O'Reilly's propaganda and Huffington Post propaganda. In fact Huffpo is worse, because it seriously undermines the foundation of the democratic party in order to promote ONE candidate, and one candidate only.

[ChimpmasterDJ]

"I aslo do not support the Neo-con/Nazi style character assassination of Senator Clinton that takes place on Huffpo on hourly basis."

If you were truly an honest and analytical long-time observer of Hillary, you'd have noticed that - most particularly since her accession to the Senate - Hillary has been "assassinating" her own character. HuffPo merely documents and reports via their bloggers and selection of news articles. And the sheer volume of comments of like-mind should make you think long and hard about your obvious pro-Clinton bias.

[laocoon]

you need glasses!!!!! I see a variety of opinions on this site including many proHillary bloggers. I see no variety of opinion on the Factor unless someone is being set up to be ridiculed. You need glasses and a hearing aid!!!!!

[realpolitic]

The only one making Nazi comparisons are you and O'Reilly?

Hitler is everywhere to O'Reilly. First, Saddam was Hitler, then the president of Iran was the next Hitler, and now Arianna. The guy who beats O'Reilly to a parking space is probably Hitler, too. Hitler must have been cloned about a 1000 times.

[ThatSharkeyGeezer]

Brilliant!!!

Thanks for the laugh, realpolitic!

[longislandlol]

Like the schoolyard bullies of my youth -growing up in the 50's -- my friends and family came across what it was like to be verbally taunted by the likes of people who thought that anyone who came from another country (like my ancestors) was fair game for their bullying--

[ArchibaldTuttle]

No. This well not get him fired. Until Bill O' costs FOX more then he makes them, he's in. That simple... he probably shouldn't renegotiate his contract anytime soon but, unfortunately, I think his position is safe.

[chumleypotts]

This will not harm him in the least, in fact, he will grow even stronger, as his fan base is H-U-G-E.
Whether people like it or not, he massacres all competition in his tv time slot, and has an enormous following for his radio show, which is syndicated all over the place. Then there's that pesky free speech thing....

[realpolitic]

Free speech has little to do with what is said over the public airwaves, as Don Imus found out.

[L. Rozner]

It's highly unlikely that Bill O'Reilly is going to get kicked off the air. He's got too many allies from conservative thinktanks like Media Research Center and Townhall.com to defend him. It was the Media Research Center that released a, quote, "report" about the Huffington Post called "Huffington's House of Horrors." All we can do is just fight back with even more hostile attacks against him the way Keoth Olbermann would do (I.E. The O'Reilly mask he wore while doing a Heil salute.)

[schmuckwithearlaps]

This brings back recent memories of Randy Rhodes' (I think I spelled her name wrong) fall on the street in Manhattan. To Ann Coulter, that was her birthday, Christmas and Bush's birthday wrapped into one. Ann actually called Randy a "hag" on the air. Now Bill says that whenever a conservative hurts themself liberals have fun with it. Interesting. I do not remember him taking Ann to the woodshed over her cruel comments.

[realpolitic]

The term "conservative thinktank" is an oxymoron. How about conservative "I like war tank?"

[amicus1991]

I'm no fan of Arianna Huffington, but I do admit that O'Reilly went too far with those comments. I would also add, however, that Olberman is far worse in spewing venom than O'Reilly, and at least O'Reilly has the guts to have guests on his show who disagree with him and call him on it when he's wrong. Olberman's show is nothing but an echo chamber. That's probably why O'Reilly has 4 times his audience.

[BOfever]

Olberamann is really scared of having a real debate and it's obvious that he really really likes to hear himself talk (Bill only really likes to hear himself talk). I'm sure a guy like Tony Snow would love to hop on Olbermann's show and debate him about what Keith thinks goes on in the White house.

[shockmagog]

The fact that Olbermann's show is an "echo chamber" points up the fact that 90% of the Corporate Media provides a platform for Right Wing advocates and pundits. There seems to be little room left over for the left. Similarly, both of you seem a little upset that some of us on the left have little room left over for polite and decorous discussion of the issues.

I kind of doubt Tony Snow would do any such thing as debate Olbermann. For one thing, Olbermann would bring up the long withheld White House visitor logs. As I'm sure you'll agree, the Bush Administration's unprecedented penchant for secrecy helped to fuel suspicion for all of us on the question of what has been going on in the White House:

'White House visitor logs are public documents, a federal judge ruled Monday, rejecting a legal strategy that the Bush administration had hoped would get around public records laws.'

'The ruling is a blow to the Bush administration, which is fighting the release of records showing visits by lobbyist Jack Abramoff and prominent religious conservati­ves.'

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/12/17/bush-admin-ordered-to-rev_n_77143.html

[GrammyinPA]

I gave up on Olberman months ago, along with All MSNBC programs.
They are equally as Bad on Left, as Faux is on the Right.

I do NOT need these biased "pundits" telling me how to think.
I do quite well on my own. Thank you.

[realpolitic]

BOfever says "Olbermann blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." Give an example of when Olbermann does not tell the truth or pipe down. As O'reilly would say, " s-h-u-t u-p!"

Tony Snow is famous for his spin and distortion. Being able to twist an argument in different directions and obfuscate does not make one right.

[anelder]

What's to debate. Olbermann does check his facts and when it's an opinion he so states. At that point I can choose to agree or not.

Mr. O'Reilly has, I believe, an impulse problem. He speaks before thinking and hence makes too many errors. This doesn't even inlcude the slips of the lips - like our President - he's inclined to make.

[Shozen]

BillO only has guests because he can cut their mikes when he starts losing.

[prittfumes]

Here's your echo, amicus1991! I would like to add that I used to watch Olbermann but not anymore. Now I listen to see what he is going to whine about next. Did he borrow that sickening smirk from someone in a very high place? It is particularly evident when he seems to be having a great time bashing Hillary. He'd better hope "BillO" stays on the air. Without "BillO" he would have no show.

[anelder]

Sorry but O'Reilly - and Fox - has these very goo ratings because there are may people who really do believe: They more and better than others, who want to keep what they have and not risk losing aome of it, who are generally unhappy with life as it is and want to hear that there are others like them, who never learned to share with others, and of course those that believe they are the only ones destined for salvation.

[realpolitic]

Yes, they are the paranoid few who feel the complex world is closing in on them. They want to be reassured of the simplicity of all things and that America is always right.

[ESerafina42]

After the smears against George Soros (who survived both the Nazis AND the Communists) as well as the "lynching party" remark about Michelle Obama, do you really think that THIS is going to do him in?

[onenation]

I just saw BillO on the GOD chanel. Ugh! And Tony Snow moves from Pres Pres Spoker to BillO backup.
They know you know, and don't care. They think they own the cops, as the new AJ just reperted with "I won't prosecute" to the Houseof Reps.
This is beginning to really worry me.

[MinuteMan]

If Billo worked for a reputable company he would have been gone after he was caught with his falafel unwrapped. It was the worst sort of incident: caught sexually harassing an employee, forcing his employer to pony up a large sum for a settlement and then all of the discredit that was so publicly brought on Billo and his employer. Of course since neither the perpetrator nor his employer has at last the least shred of shame there is no reason to expect decent behavior out of either of them.

[BOfever]

What media company is reputable anymore may I ask you?

NY Times (going with a McCain story with 0 facts, 0 evidence, secret sources)
MSNBC (Matthews on primary coverage saying he gets funny feelings up his leg when Obama speaks)

[realpolitic]

The New York Times had sources it did not disclose, which is questionable. Besides the sexual aspect, the story was interesting for what McCain was willing to do for a lobbyist.

Obama is simply a great orator. Everyone acknowledges that quality. It is not wrong for Matthews to acknowledge the fact that Obama is inspiring.

What you can not stand is that no other news outfit lies completely and as a policy as does Fox. The whole network is propaganda and jingoism. You probably like the graphics, the leggy blondes, the unadulterated selling of your point of view where all dissent is shouted down. Admit it! Fox is a joke!