Does Bill O'Reilly Have Blood On His Hands?

From the Los Angeles Times:

Dr. George Tiller, one of the few American physicians who performed late-term abortions, was shot to death in the lobby of his church today in Wichita, Kan., according to his attorneys.
A 51-year-old suspect was arrested three hours after the shooting at 10 a.m. Central time in a Kansas City suburb about 170 miles from Wichita, police said. They did not release his name, but said he would probably be charged Monday with one count of murder and two counts of aggravated assault.

For years, Tiller, 67, was a lightning rod in the struggle over legalized abortion.
He had previously been the victim of violence. In 1993, he was shot in both arms by an abortion protester as he drove away from his clinic. In 1986, his Women's Health Care Services clinic was severely damaged in a bomb blast. In 1991, the clinic was blockaded for six weeks by anti-abortion protesters.
And this month, Tiller's attorneys told the Associated Press, the doctor had asked the FBI to investigate an incident where vandals cut wires to security cameras, cut holes in the roof and plugged downspouts, resulting in thousands of dollars in damage to the clinic.

I'll be interested to learn if the suspect was a follower of FOX News's "The O'Reilly Factor."

From Salon.com:

When his show airs tomorrow, Bill O'Reilly will most certainly decry the death of Kansas doctor George Tiller, who was killed Sunday while attending church services with his wife. Tiller, O'Reilly will say, was a man who was guilty of barbaric acts, but a civilized society does not resort to lawless murder, even against its worst members. And O'Reilly, we can assume, will genuinely mean this.

But there's no other person who bears as much responsibility for the characterization of Tiller as a savage on the loose, killing babies willy-nilly thanks to the collusion of would-be sophisticated cultural elites, a bought-and-paid-for governor and scofflaw secular journalists. Tiller's name first appeared on "The Factor" on Feb. 25, 2005. Since then, O'Reilly and his guest hosts have brought up the doctor on 28 more episodes, including as recently as April 27 of this year. Almost invariably, Tiller is described as "Tiller the Baby Killer."

Tiller, O'Reilly likes to say, "destroys fetuses for just about any reason right up until the birth date for $5,000." He's guilty of "Nazi stuff," said O'Reilly on June 8, 2005; a moral equivalent to NAMBLA and al-Qaida, he suggested on March 15, 2006. "This is the kind of stuff happened in Mao's China, Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Soviet Union," said O'Reilly on Nov. 9, 2006.

On June 15, 2007, O'Reilly added:

"No question Dr. Tiller has blood on his hands. But now so does Governor Sebelius. She is not fit to serve. Nor is any Kansas politician who supports Tiller's business of destruction. I wouldn't want to be these people if there is a Judgment Day. I just -- you know ... Kansas is a great state, but this is a disgrace upon everyone who lives in Kansas. Is it not?"

And an inflammatory demagogue such as Bill O'Reilly is a disgrace upon everyone within the sound of his voice. Is he not?

Pity The Poor White Guy, Huh, Bill?

The Audacity Of A Dope.

Yeah, Bill; the "high school thing..."

Corporate News: Do Shareholders Think They're Editors, Too?

     From the Hollywood Reporter:

     Things got testy Wednesday at the GE shareholders meeting courtesy of several complaints about political bias at its media division, NBC Universal.
     Just don't expect to see the fireworks at the company's webcast of the event, which contains prepared remarks from CEO Jeff Immelt and CFO Keith Sherin but leaves out their interaction with shareholders.
     A GE spokesman clarified that the corporation doesn't typically broadcast the shareholders meeting in its entirety.
     Just before GE board members were re-elected, shareholders asked about 10 questions of a mostly political nature concerning the viewpoints of MSNBC and CNBC, according to attendees.

     First up was a woman asking about a reported meeting in which Immelt and NBC Uni CEO Jeff Zucker supposedly told top CNBC executives and talent to be less critical of President Obama and his policies.
     Immelt acknowledged a meeting took place but said no one at CNBC was told what to say or not say about politics.
     During the woman's follow-up question, her microphone was cut off. Later, during the umpteenth question about MSNBC, another shareholder's microphone was cut, according to multiple attendees.
     "The crowd was very upset with MSNBC because of its leftward tilt," one attendee said. "Some former employees said they were embarrassed by it."
     One specific complaint about MSNBC concerned Keith Olbermann's interview of actress Janeane Garofalo, who likened conservatives to racists and spoke of "the limbic brain inside a right-winger."
     "They were upset that Olbermann didn't bother to challenge her," one GE shareholder said.
     Immelt said he takes a hands-off approach to what is reported on the company's news networks, which prompted a shareholder to criticize him for not managing NBC Uni effectively.
     "My biggest surprise was the open hostility to MSNBC," another shareholder said. "It was noticeable and loud. I don't remember any of this going on last year."
     One shareholder at the Orlando, Fla., meeting was Jesse Watters, a producer of "The O'Reilly Factor." Watters asked a question at the meeting, then turned on the Fox News Channel cameras outside the venue and interviewed other shareholders who attended the meeting.

     Watters, of course, is the O'Reilly go-fer who specializes in ambush interviews. Last month, Watters stalked and ambushed ThinkProgress Managing Editor Amanda Terkel, who was at least the fortieth victim of the FOX tool's tactics. 

     You can expect O'Reilly to mine every second of (heavily-edited) tape in his never-ending jihad against the mythical "secular-progressives" in the "mainstream media," which is really just Bill-O-speak for "MSNBC."

"The Trumpet Does No More Stun You By Its Loudness Than A Whisper Teases You By Its Provoking Inaudibility."

This post's title is courtesy of Charles Lamb.

I'm posting this in its entirety. It's from Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times, who's sick of psychotic m*****f****** like Bill O'Reilly, too:

To: Bill O'Reilly

From: Roger Ebert

Dear Bill: Thanks for including the Chicago Sun-Times on your exclusive list of newspapers on your "Hall of Shame." To be in an O'Reilly Hall of Fame would be a cruel blow to any newspaper. It would place us in the favor of a man who turns red and starts screaming when anyone disagrees with him. My grade-school teacher, wise Sister Nathan, would have called in your parents and recommended counseling with Father Hogben.

Yes, the Sun-Times is liberal, having recently endorsed our first Democrat for President since LBJ. We were founded by Marshall Field one week before Pearl Harbor to provide a liberal voice in Chicago to counter the Tribune, which opposed an American war against Hitler. I'm sure you would have sided with the Trib at the time.

I understand you believe one of the Sun-Times misdemeanors was dropping your syndicated column. My editor informs me that "very few" readers complained about the disappearance of your column, adding, "many more complained about Nancy." I know I did. That was the famous Ernie Bushmiller comic strip in which Sluggo explained that "wow" was "mom" spelled upside-down.

Your column ran in our paper while it was owned by the right-wing polemicists Conrad Black (Baron Black of Coldharbour) and David Radler. We dropped it to save a little money after they looted the paper of millions. Now you call for an advertising boycott. It is unusual to observe a journalist cheering for a newspaper to fail. At present the Sun-Times has no bank debt, but labors under the weight of millions of dollars in tax penalties incurred by Lord Black, who is serving an eight-year stretch for mail fraud and obstruction of justice. We also had to pay for his legal expenses.

There is a major difference between Conrad Black and you: Lord Black is a much better writer and thinker, and authored a respected biography about Roosevelt, who we were founded to defend. That newspapers continue to run your column is a mystery to me, since it is composed of knee-jerk frothings and ravings. If I were an editor searching for a conservative, I wouldn't choose a mad dog. My recommendation: The admirable Charles Krauthammer.

Bill, I am concerned that you have been losing touch with reality recently. Did you really say you are more powerful than any politician?

That reminds me of the famous story about Squeaky the Chicago Mouse. It seems that Squeaky was floating on his back along the Chicago River one day. Approaching the Michigan Avenue lift bridge, he called out: Raise the bridge! I have an erection! 

Roger that, Bill-O?

UPDATE: A Shout Out To UPS.

Great news from The Big Brown Machine.

UPS has pulled its advertising from The O'Reilly Factor thanks to a grass-roots protest led by ThinkProgress.org: 

Click here if you are unfamiliar with the details.
Tell O'Reilly's other corporate sponsors that you are sick of his act here.

Dirty Dozen (UPDATE.)

I blogged about Bill O'Reilly's ambush tactics yesterday, and ThinkProgress.org's campaign to hold his Dirty Dozen enabling corporate advertiser's feet to the fire.

Here's an update from ThinkProgress editor Faiz Shakir: 

Hi, I wanted to update you on our Stop The O'Reilly Harassment Machine campaign.

After day 1 of our campaign, we had over 3,000 people take action against O'Reilly's corporate advertisers. Yesterday, we doubled that number. Well over 6,000 concerned citizens have taken action, urging O'Reilly's sponsors to issue a clear statement expressing their opposition to the Fox News host's "ambush journalism" tactics.

O'Reilly's advertisers are responding to our concerns. Yesterday, UPS told us that it "values and takes seriously" the emails they've received, adding that they are investigating whether to continue supporting The Factor. Capital One told us they "regret" O'Reilly's offensive tactics and do not endorse his "views/opinions."

Please keep the heat on! Keep taking action and let your friends know about the campaign:

http://thinkprogress.org/stop-oreilly-harassment/

Last night, ThinkProgress deputy editor Amanda Terkel appeared on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann. (Watch the video here.) Amanda explained our campaign: "What we're trying to do is just let advertisers know what their dollars are funding. Their dollars are funding this type of harassment. And we want statements - do they agree with this or do they not agree with this? And hopefully that message will get back to Bill O'Reilly."

Please help us by doing your part. Take action again and let your friends know about the campaign.

Dirty Dozen.

     Earlier this week, I posted a link to an item about FOX News attack dog Bill O'Reilly's use of a flunky to stalk and ambush a vacationing liberal blogger. ThinkProgress.org's Amanda Terkel is at least the 40th victim of  O'Reilly's harassment and abuse.

     The 12 companies whose logos you see above are leading corporate sponsors of The O'Reilly Factor. Do they condone O'Reilly's increasingly aggressive tactics against his perceived foes? Buying ad time on his show suggests they do.

     Tell them to wake the hell up by taking 30 seconds to fill out the form you'll find here.

     It's important to note that O'Reilly never invited Ms. Terkel to debate on his show. Instead, he chose to have low-level buffoons stake her out, follow her two hours by car and harass her on vacation.

     O'Reilly isn't a journalist, but he does play one on TV. Tell his sponsors that you are tired of his act.     

"F*** It! We'll Do It Live!"

     I posted a great little Letterman bit earlier lampooning the right wing's obsession with Barack Obama's use of a Teleprompter.

     Web scumbag Matt Drudge--often the table setter for the mimics on the right--kicks off the latest Obama Teleprompter fixation, highlighting the "giant TV monitor" from tonight's press conference: 

     Next--via a screenshot from part-time Drudge editor Andrew Breitbart's TV venture--the idiots on FOX News waste valuable airtime on the mundane:    
     

     And the AP's Ron Fournier--who once signed off an e-mail exchange with Karl Rove by declaring, "(b)ecause I'm on your side"--joined the echo with this sneakily snarky piece of on-message copy. It was picked up by--yup--Breitbart TV and linked on Drudge. 

     Of course, Teleprompters are an everyday tool for public people in a wide variety of mediums; from lead singers in rock 'n roll bands to TV anchors to, yes, the President of the United States.

     In keeping with the right-wing's obsession with inanimate objects and as a public service to future media people everywhere on how not to use the device (and strangely never aired on FOX: The Source for All Your Teleprompter News!©), here once again is then-Inside Edition meathead Bill O'Reilly with an enraged, sociopathic abuse of proper prompter etiquette: 

Maybe Rupert Is Paying Them A Bonus Based On Crazy.

     Since its inception in the mid-90's as a Drudge-driven, anti-Clinton, GOP content provider, FOX News has been home to the craziest mother******* on TV.   Even their name is fake; FOX doesn't do news--they do right-wing talk radio in front of cameras.

     The most recent addition to their stable of the unstable is Glenn Beck, whose ratings have skyrocketed, thanks to the FOX News base audience: a motley collection of broadly-drawn paranoid conspiracy theorists, racists and paramilitary types. But I think the addition of Beck is causing fellow FOX imbecile Bill O'Reilly to lose whatever's left of his mind.

     Two O'Reilly items, both from ThinkProgress. 

     First, here's O'Reilly on Death Squad Dick Cheney's reported assassination ring and its potential effect on journalists with whom O'Reilly--and Cheney--disagree; then, a prime example of an O'Reilly flunky's harassment of a blogger with whom O'Reilly disagrees--here and here.

     I know that Glenn Beck's ratings must be a huge threat to O'Reilly, who has long been the FOX News numbers leader. O'Reilly seems to be joining Beck--and Sean Hannity--in cranking up the crazy meter in the Obama Era. 

     And here I'd thought they'd already pinned the needle.  

Two Negatives Do Not Make A Positive.

They make another night of programming on FOX.

Click here for 1 minute and 45 seconds of FOX News-sponsored insanity.