Posted on 11/11/2015 7:03:23 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Were the lungs the seat of wisdom, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly would be wise, but they are not and he is not. So it is not astonishing that he is doubling down on his wager that the truth cannot catch up with him. It has, however, already done so.
The prolific O'Reilly has, with his collaborator Martin Dugard, produced five "history" books in five years: Killing Lincoln, Killing Kennedy, Killing Jesus, Killing Patton, and now the best-selling Killing Reagan. Because no one actually killed Reagan, O'Reilly keeps his lucrative series going by postulating that the bullet that struck Reagan in March 1981 kind of, sort of killed him, although he lived 23 more years.
O'Reilly "reports" that the trauma of the assassination attempt was somehow causally related to the "fact" that Reagan was frequently so mentally incompetent that senior aides contemplated using the Constitution's 25th Amendment to remove him from office. But neither O'Reilly nor Dugard spoke with any of those aides -- not with Ed Meese, Jim Baker, George Shultz, or any of the scores of others who could, and would, have demolished O'Reilly's theory. O’Reilly now airily dismisses them because they "have skin in the game." His is an interesting approach to writing history: Never talk to anyone with first-hand knowledge of your subject.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
Who buys these books? If you want fiction there are reams of writers with more credibility than Bill O’Reilly. If you want history there are reams of historians with more credibility than Bill O’Reilly.
He is simply a simpleton. Stopped watching
him years ago.
Amen. Somehow or another, this clown has the highest rated show on cable news and has for years (a fact he and his network never tire of telling you), and presumably those millions of people lend him a pretty high degree of credibility. It’s not too great a leap from there to imagine these same people buying his book and believing he is both competent and honest.
Me, I stopped watching Fox News and all cable news networks round about summer of 2013, and cancelled cable completely once and for all back in April. A waste of time and energy.
Will is a hack. His drivel in the Boston Herald is no longer readable. He should go back to Stephy and wait in the Green Room until the Round Table to be the token.
I don't disagree with your assessment of George Will. But watching him duel with the insufferable O'Reilly is still fun.
I got “Killing Jesus” from my local library. It was interesting of the lineage of the Roman emperors, but quickly faded as it got into Jesus and his times.
The Gospels are much more compelling, and my favorite, Hyam Mcaccoby’s “Revolution In Judaea”, from a Jewish POV.
Ted Baxter should take his money and retire back to wherever.
I didn’t read killing Kennedy. He basically regurgitated the Warren novel.
I did read Patton cause I was doing research. I don’t buy O’Reilly version of that story.
While you maybe right in this specific instance I agree with him!!!
O’Reilly appeals to the LIV who want to fancy themselves as intellectual. It’s the appeal of agreeing with someone who is pompous and “in the know.” The force of personality is a powerful thing.
I read 3/4 the book till I finally decided that it was a hit piece designed to do long term damage to the memory of Reagan. The sources that are used in this book are dubious. basically the book tries to convince the reader that Reagans Alzheimer’s starts impacting his presidency after the assassins attempt by John Hinkly. The book tries to claim that after the attempt that it was a combination of Mrs. Reagan and his staff that ran the country. The book uses a lot of historical facts mixed with sources that I find as an Amateur historian Buff suspect.
I read someplace that the gift shop at Ford’s Theater won’t sell “Killing Lincoln” because of the many discrepancies by Bill-0 and his ghost writer.
I suspect that most of the book is a fantasy of bills ghost writer and that he thought the book was better vetted then it was. I think the ghost writer played into what O’Riely wanted to believe. so bill put it into print. This book makes Me question everything I read about killing Patton.
I haven’t read a BORe book but I wouldn’t believe George Will if he told me he could talk.
I hate to read books...I have read some of his and they are great!!!!!!!I think that they have been well researched and seldom go beyond the border of probability...
Start watching again, he is among the best at what he does!!!
Do you now rely on NBC for all your information????
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