Posted on 09/26/2007 4:00:36 PM PDT by ElkGroveDan
NEW YORK - Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly said Wednesday his critics took remarks he made about a famed Harlem restaurant out of context and "fabricated a racial controversy where none exists." He criticized the liberal group Media Matters for America as "smear merchants" for publicizing statements he made on his radio show last week.
O'Reilly told his radio audience that he dined with civil rights activist Al Sharpton at Sylvia's recently and "couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference" between the black-run restaurant and others in New York City.
It was just like a suburban Italian restaurant, he said. "There wasn't any kind of craziness at all," he said.
O'Reilly told The Associated Press that Media Matters had "cherry-picked" remarks out of a broader conversation about racial attitudes. He had told listeners that his grandmother — and many other white Americans — feared blacks because they didn't know any and were swayed by violent images in black culture.
"If you listened to the full hour, it was a criticism of racism on the part of white Americans who are ignorant of the fact that there is no difference between white and black anymore," he told the AP. "Circumstances may be different in their lives but we're all Americans. Anyone who would be offended by that conversation would have to be looking to be offended."
His radio show was a conversation with Fox News contributor Juan Williams, author of a book about the coarseness of some black culture. Williams defended O'Reilly during a Tuesday appearance on "The O'Reilly Factor."
"It's so frustrating," Williams said. "They want to shut you up. They want to shut up anybody who has an honest discussion about race."
The controversy was similar to one that enveloped presidential candidate Joe Biden last winter. When Biden praised rival Barack Obama as "articulate" and "clean," many saw this as a way of conveying these were unusual characteristics for blacks.
Sylvia's manager Trenness Woods-Black told the New York Daily News that O'Reilly's remarks were "insulting" and showed he has little knowledge of the black community.
At one point on the radio show, Williams mentioned that too many people see little else in black culture beyond profane rap. "That's right," O'Reilly said. "There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming, `M.F.-er, I want more iced tea.'"
Karl Frisch, spokesman for Media Matters, said it is typical for O'Reilly to criticize his group for merely reporting what he says.
"We didn't call him a racist," Frisch said. "We said his comments were ignorant and racially charged and we stand by that."
O'Reilly said the Williams conversation was carried on more than 400 radio stations and there wasn't one complaint from a listener.
"This isn't about a racially insensitive remark," he said. "Anybody can listen to the unedited version of the conversation on billoreilly.com. You want to think I'm insensitive to race, you go right ahead."
The real story, he said, was about the "corrupt media culture" where outlets like CNN and MSNBC do stories about his remarks "because they're getting killed in the ratings."
"The O'Reilly Factor" is seen by more people — 2.2 million average this year — than its direct competitors on MSNBC and CNN combined. MSNBC's "Countdown" with Keith Olbermann averages 721,000 viewers in the time slot while CNN's 8 p.m. show averages 611,000, according to Nielsen Media Research.
I’ll rise to his defense. I don’t always agree with him, but he’s right this time. CNN is doing it again, and it’s wrong. They cherry-picked a few comments and drew an erroneous conclusion. Character assassination is abominable no matter who is the victim. And I have no delusions that when CNN takes on O’Reilly, they think they are weakening conservatism.
At least they air Lou Dobbs.
For once Juan is right. In stead of building a constructive dialog the other guy gets thrown under the bus, like Fuzzy Zoeller or Trent Lott were. It happens all the time.
People like Media Matters are not interested in clarity, honesty or reconciliation. They prefer leverage and advantage.
Yawn..
sw
The MM people? Ya, they prolly invented it.
Point well taken, I know about Media Matters and their agenda, but if Rush, Hannity, Savage and Coulter are used to it, Bill should get used to it, too, and stop the whining.
OReilly is a hot head who thinks everything revolves around him.
NO one in the PC media is irreplaceable.
By the way, isn't Elk Grove famous for it's skanks???
given my screenname i must say that BOR's comments about FR were laughable. he was just wrong. but it is beneath us to do the same thing we profess to hate so much.
Bill you ignorant slut. You alienated the very group of people that would have stood behind your arrogant ass. Defecate or get off the pot and take your medicine like a man.
Hey, Sonora-
I like Bill, too.
This is rich. Seems like I've heard it before.
I find it impossible to listen to the self important clown for more than a few minutes - before having to turn him off..
His slavish attachment to Al Sharpton, coupled with his indignant response to criticism put him in a category of fool that few attain...
His final act of alienation for me - was when he championed John Kerry and accused the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth as being no more than a radical group attempting to ruin a “hero’s” reputation..
You hope the $oros smear machine takes down a TV icon that more than half the time is on the right side. Yeah, that makes sense.
WE WON.
This new thing is pure cotton candy. A few grains of sugar spun by very hot air, and then wrapped around an empty paper cone. It’s wrong and I wrote to CNN today and told them so. Media Matters would be a waste of time. I don’t like Don Imus at all, but what happened to him was just so wrong, and also, he caved in to Big Al Sharpton and the other pimps. Now, where’s Big Al? He’s at the center of this controversy, he was at the Harlem restaurant, so why isn’t he speaking out and condemning these lies? And that’s what they are, just listen to what he said for yourself. It’s all on his website.
Elk Grove Dan is looking for cliches to describe this situation. How about, “You can go to hell being right”?
I don’t want to pigpile on O’Reilly when the pigs are MM and CNN. They’d love for that to happen.
Couldn’t agree more.
BOR has a new segement on Thursdays Called “Dhuepoint”, where he responds to comments and complaints from viewers that are sent to the show “Ombudsman”, Laurie Dhue.
Anyone tried to get a mea culpa out of him through Ms Dhue?
I’m just curious as to whether he is ignoring the FReeps, or is just ignorant to the anger out here.
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