Two Liars and an Ass

I do so enjoy reading Media Matters for America. While obviously gunning for right wingers and avoiding the gaffes of lefties - they still manage to use facts and the own words and actions of Conservative blowhards to hoist them on their own petard. [I've always wanted to use that phrase!]

I've listed a few examples below. There is a lot more background information on the people and issues involved on their website, but these quick quotes get to the heart of what makes their reporting such a joy to read.

Everything in dark blue below is taken from Media Matters. Naturally, the profane comments are mine.

Media Matters doesn't go as far as calling these guys liars. So, I will.

From the April 8 broadcast of Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly:

[CALLER]: Thanks for takin' my call, Bill ... about 12 to 18 months ago you were saying that the Pope was also autocratic and senile. And you didn't like him --
...
O'REILLY: All right, well, you're takin' some kinda propaganda 'cause I never said the pope was senile. [A]nybody listening to me and watching The Factor knows I've been very consistent about the pope, and two areas I felt his pronouncements were wrong, and otherwise, I admired him as a very holy man who had a deep respect for life. And that's the truth of that matter.

From the December 12, 2002, edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:

O'REILLY: Well, wait a minute. Hear me out. We all know, everybody knows -- even Law knows. Everybody but the pope, who's too senile to know, and I say that with all due respect. I don't think the pope is lucid, I don't think he knows what's going on ...

Well, Bill, I think you're a fucking idiot, and I say that will all due respect.

O'Reilly again - must be nice to be so popular!

During the August 28, 2001, O'Reilly Factor, in response to a comment by Terry O'Neill, vice-president for membership of the National Organization of Women, that "You [O'Reilly] support the death penalty ... " O'Reilly said,

"No, I don't. ... I'm against the death penalty, Miss O'Neill."

During the Talking Points Memo segment of the March 15 edition of The O'Reilly Factor:

Item: Even though Nichols murdered four law officers, Howard has not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty. What? Can you believe this guy? An accused rapist guns down four people, and you don't seek the maximum sentence? What the deuce is going on?

What? Can you believe this guy?

On to Robert Novak, another great guy...

On Crossfire: "The real problem with the universities, Paul [Begala], is that they don't invite conservatives. They have only left-wing speakers on campuses like Berkeley and Harvard. They don't let people like me tell them what the truth is about America."

Media Matters: In fact, conservatives have spoken at both universities, including Novak's own speech at Harvard University's Institute of Politics on April 8, 2004.

I suppose when you're as smart as Novak - and busy leaking the name of CIA officers - certain past events can slip your mind. He should be careful, or Bill O'Reilly is going to call him senile and then deny ever having said it!



__Related: John Stossel is an ass.
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