Posted on 09/19/2004 8:35:07 PM PDT by NonLinear
Letter to Fox by me:
Sent to: Speakout@foxnews.com - Doubt BOR would read
I like Fox News - big time.
I really used to look forward to the No Spin Zone. But lately, and I mean for several months now, I really believe Bill O'Reilly has lost his edge. On what may be two of the biggest stories of 2004 - The CBS Forged Memos and the Swiftboat Vets for Truth, Bill has simply dropped off of the credibility scale.
Swift Vets - Bill blasted these guys as lying mudslingers, period. Kerry's record is established, and these guys are just wrong. Never did it creep into his sharp, analytical mind that there was the possibility that Kerry had filed false reports as an officer, manipulated the system, and otherwise engaged in deceitful and calculated behavior to get out of Viet Nam as fast as humanly possible, leave a hero, and build a sham persona to be used for personal gain. Finally after six months, when Kerry has grudgingly admitted that his "first" Purple Heart was bogus - self inflicted with no enemy fire, that Christmas in Cambodia was a fabrication that was "seared, seared into" him, that in the "No Man Left Behind" saga, Kerry actually fled the scene while ALL of the other boats stayed to help the mined craft - not vice versa as in his published exploits, it was his "fanny" that was bleeding, not the arm that pulled Rassmann from the water - with the "fanny wound" being self-inflicted from a stock of rice blown up by his own grenade - ok the "third" Purple Heat is bogus too, Bill concedes to grant John O'Neill a token interview to show how "fair and balanced" he is. Bill claims it is a draw between Kerry and the Swift Vets. Um, let's see... Swift Vets prove at least three substantial lies by Kerry. There are a few points that the Swift Vets have not actually proven yet, but then again Kerry hasn't disproven either, so we have a draw. Oh no, I don't see any spin there.
And like Bill, I looked carefully at the claims, the documentation, the collaboratng reports and witnesses, and the excellent assembly and verification of the Swift Vet's data. And, you know what? The Swift Vets have done their homework. I am a reformed skeptic. No, that's not right. I'm still a skeptic, but a convinced one. I'm not particularly fond of Bush, and may just write someone in on the ballot. But John F Kerry is, in my humble opinion, a fake, a fraud, a liar, and someone who helped millions of friends of the United States into Pol Pot's killing fields and re-education camps while slandering his "band of brothers" under oath here at home.
CBS Memos - Within 12 hours of the CBS broadcast, the memos were known within 99% certainty to be fake. They failed in at least 50 distinct points. The last bit would require verification of a few "stipulated" items. I use the quotes because by "stipulated" I mean the items were generally accepted but not proven rigorously, not the actual definition of the word. Within 48 hours, the odds of the memos being real were about on par with the odds of one purchasing three consecutive grand prize winning Powerball tickets. Bill finally addressed the issues with some meek acknowledgement that the issue actually exists. Quite a firm stand for one who is "lookin' out for the little guy". The memos were clearly bogus, Bill knew it, Dan knew it, CBS knew it. Hey, why not have a little honest discourse on the sheer ineptitude of the the whole scam. How about "CBS and Dan Rather have worked for five years to be able to prove that George Bush shirked his duty at the Texas Air National Guard, and did so using the influence of powerful friends of his family. Suddenly, just a couple of months before the elections, memos surface that provide exactly the "proof" CBS has been lacking. Unfortunaltely, those memos could be recognized as computer- generated fakes almost instantly upon examination. The CBS anchor man who presented the report has complained that no one is addressing the allegations presented in the fake memos. This is pathetic." That would seem to be pithy enough.
Perhaps Bill has lost his ability to put the pieces together. I don't know, maybe Kerry is a friend of Bill's. What I do know is that the "No Spin Zone" has quietly mutated to the "No Spine Zone".
I am very sorry to inform you that I no longer watch Mr. O'Reilly. Now when his show comes on, I simply turn him off and join those pajama people who are not afraid to examine the facts. And, you know what? They actually have the audacity to make people who post those allegations, claims, smears, or what have you, to provide a source. With hundreds (thousands?, more) of people reading one's post with every resource known to man available to at least one of them, the claims are either vetted or debunked in short order. Very short order.
If Mr.O'Reilly wishes to reclaim his relevancy, then let him regenerate his spine. Otherwise, perhaps fishing with Dan Rather and John Kerry will allow him the time to reflect on the good old days when people believed him simply because they had to, or because he projects a "lookin' out for you" image, and not because people could verify his stance and say "Yeah, Bill O'Reilly has got it right. Amen brother!"
You know...I'm going to miss those days. I really thought I had found someone that would tell it like it is. Oh well, thanks Bill for those years where you really did give it a try. I'll try to remember you that way.
Treating Bill Mahr with ANY respect as a human being should be criminal. I'm done with O'Reilly too, I'm afraid.
I totally agree.
The old BOR would never have had his @ss handed to him by Laura Ingraham the way she did the other night.
BTTT
Bill used to say that the powerful look out for each other. Now that he's powerful too, he's looking out for his members of his own class.
I've "been done" with him for years!
Same here. I've stoped paying attention to what he had to say for some time now.
I agree. Its like he takes the opposite view of conservativies sometimes, even though it is painfully obvious that it is wrong, for the sole purpose of making sure the counter doesn't get too loaded on the right.
Excellent letter. I feel exactly the same way. Be sure to send a copy to the Bloviator's boss.
rogerailes@foxnews.com
Bill is just loud now. I turn the sound down and crochet.
Thank you NonLinear...
And another thing.
He has gone to the mat saying that Rather was duped, he didn't willingly pass on forged memos...
How the heck does he know that?
It would certainly seem on the face that Rather was a willing participant.
"He would do that, that is just crazy"... was his take.
My take is YES, IT IS CRAZY!!!
And that is what Freepers and the Boswell have been saying for years.
So you're not going to watch him interview President Bush this week?
He insulted all of us when he said anyone who thought Dan was capable of deliberate deceit were stupid, or some other inanane name. I'm not stupid, recognized that Dan was a liberal, but never thought he'd stoop to something so brazenly unethical, but he did. Sorry, O'Reilly just didn't understand the depth of Rather's hatred of Bush and all things conservative. O'Reilly should have figured that out when Dan said a person [Clinton] could tell a lot of lies without being a liar. I believe that was his attempt at justifying his [Dan's] own lies.
i hate how bill always goes "I am looking out for the folks at home" ...not sure exactly how he phrases it.
Yeah bill, we can look out for ourselves.
Yes, that's the one segment I will watch this week. I used to watch him every night like clockwork. He lost me when he dismissed the Swiftvets.
O'Reilly is carrying this "fair and balanced" crap to the point where he forces himslef to agree with fringe liberals half the time just for the sake of "balance".
He once came across as the freshest face on TV--now he comes across as fake as a Kerry Purple Heart when he pulls this crap about agreeing with the fringe left half the time for "the sake of balance".
Not only has O'Reilly lost his credibility for this reason, FOX News itself may go the way of the covered wagon if it coninues to fear the leftists claiming FOX is not "fair and balanced" (in liberal speak, that means FOX does nto kiss their ass half the time).
It hasn't been years for me--just since he decried Cgm. Sam Johnson's description of Kerry as Hanoi John Feb, this year). I wrote BOR telling him that SJ ought to know--having spent 7+ years in Hanoi. BOR hasn't backed down since; and one quasi-courteous treatment of John O'Neil ain't quite enough to reinstate him.
You're way behind the times on this issue.
Since then Bill had Swift Vet O'Neil on his show and treated him very well...in fact Bill sounded like he had almost been converted after reading their book.
Great point! You should email it to him since it is so "pithy"! I gave up on O'Reilly after a certain interview that he did with a Christian where he berated him for not being reasonable enough to change his beliefs to match Bill's.
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