You know, every time I think I've seen it all, all the self denying, hate-mongering, ignorant, conservative stupidity that it's possible to see, just when I think outspoken conservatives have sunk as low as it's possible to go - they manage to open their jowly months and the most unbelievable crap just falls out.
Don't get me wrong, Liberals say stupid stuff too, but seriously can anybody top the just plain vitriolic, stupid-ass, hate-filled, demonstratively wrong, utter bullshit that conservative pundits spew like a broken New York sewer pipe?
Take the king of 'traditional' Conservative assholes, Bill O'Reilly, host of The O'Reilly Factor, and mouth piece for inbred, public-restroom cruising, bible waving, red-staters everywhere. According to the leading liberal font of blathering sheeplike hand-wringing, Daily Kos, in the process of bashing John Edwards, O'Reily claimed that there were no homeless veterans living on the streets of America.
Huh? Nobody is that stupid, says I to myself. Kos is full of crap, but I watched the video. This one:
And that did little to change my initial assessment. I don't like O'Reilly, loath would probably come closer to describing what I think of him, but according to the video he didn't actually say there were no homeless vets sleeping under bridges in America - what he actually said was that "the only thing sleeping under a bridge is that guy's [Edwards] brain... ." He was insulting Edwards, not denying the existence of homeless veterans. The guy is still a complete tool, a rabble rousing jerkoff who plays to the lowest common denominator and his own ego (which may be redundant), but he's not guilty of the accusation in this case.
Or so I thought, at first.
Which brings us to this video:
And, there it is. Kos had it right after all.
"If you know where there's a veteran sleeping under a bridge, you call me immediately," says O'Reilly with smug, squinty-eyed, superiority. "They may be out there, but there's not many of them," he opines.
Bill? Fuck you. Seriously, put a sock in it, you rich, well-fed asshole. Reliable data shows there are nearly 200 thousand homeless vets out there, and I know where to find a whole bunch of them. Next time I go down to the VA, you're welcome to tag along - no cameras, no grandstanding, just you, you pompous ill-informed windbag. Just you. I'll introduce you around the waiting room, and you can explain to those guys how they're not actually, you know, homeless. After that, let's visit a couple of places I know in Southern California - and yes, some of them are under bridges. In fact, with a little effort, you could have your limo driver cruise past a few places in your hometown of New York, of course you'll have to look up from counting your piles of money, and the prime rib you're wolfing down off a call-girl's stomach and actually look out the fucking window.
If this idiot can't get his facts correct when he's talking about something so easily verified - and even when he has had his nose rubbed in it, he continues to claim that he's correct despite all evidence to the contrary - then it's a pretty good bet that the rest of his opinions are complete and total crap too. Quod Erat Demonstrandum.
So here's the part I don't get: Why, why, why would anybody give this guy the time of day? Seriously, think about it, the only thing dumber than Bill O'Reilly, is someone who watches The O'Reilly Factor and believes what he's seeing.
Sorry, Jim: Bill O'Reilly has, to the best of my knowledge, yet to meet a factual challenge he couldn't weasel out of or run away from. I'm not even sure if he thinks his blatherations are true; I'm not sure he even cares.
ReplyDeleteI mean, it's even more fundamental than his lack of research on issues: almost everything that comes out of his mouth is dishonest at some level. Take, for instance, the second clip, and the way he would interrupt and talk over his guest to say, "We value your opinion." Compare that to any serious interviewer/TV host, or even an "unserious" host like Jon Stewart. O'Reilly isn't bringing people on to share their views or to hear what they think or even to intelligently debate them: he brings them on to try to score points, and he could give a shit what any of them have to say.
Honestly, you're too kind to the douchebag. While I may not trust Kos all that much, I can't imagine any good reason to give O'Reilly the benefit of any doubt. He's consistently, arrogant, petty, and mean.
Heck, y'know I'd bet his whole schtick about homeless vets is based on nothing more substantial than "John Edwards said x and I don't like John Edwards, so I'll just mock anything he says." Edwards could say the sky was blue, and O'Reilly would probably throw back, "You call that blue? Okay, Mr. Edwards, if you say so. [Rolls eyes.] If any of you viewers can show me a blue sky, feel free to, but until then...."
As for his viewers, I assume they're content to have their illusions reinforced, or confuse having the last word with being right.
I just love Al Franken's treatment of this guy in Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them:
ReplyDeleteA Fair and Balanced Look at the Right. Al's always made me laugh, but his commentary on Bill and Ann had me practically peeing my pants.
And you know how I had astoundingly bad taste in men in my 20's? Yeah, one of them is now a HUGE fan of The O'Reilly Factor.
::Hangs head in shame::
I'm so sorry.
::Slinks off::
Eric, I wasn't really giving him the benefit of the doubt, well not exactly. My assessment of O'Reilly is pretty much identical to yours - it's just that I like to have my facts straight and after watching the first clip I thought Kos was off base, not that the blogger was wrong about O'Reilly per se, just that she'd deliberately misconstrued what he'd actually said (which is, of course, his trick). Then I watched the second clip (which was not posted on Kos, and I found when I went looking for more info) and realized she was right, but used the wrong supporting information.
ReplyDeleteAnd Janiece? It's OK. Everybody had astoundingly bad taste in men during their twenties - even men. :)
ReplyDeleteI haven't read Franken's book, I've got it, just haven't had the time to read it. And you're right - if there's anything more revolting than the sewage spilling from O'Reilly sphincter of a mouth, it's the sewage spewing from Ann Coulter.
Wouldn't you just love to see the two of them die in a fiery car crash after leaving a gay dance club with Senator Craig? Hey, I can dream, can't I?
Jim, that would make a fabulous episode of Conversations with Karma.
ReplyDeleteI'm so hoping that happens...
O'Reilly is one of the reasons I don't regret in the least that I don't have cable. I just get the broadcast networks and a couple of local stations.
ReplyDeleteI think we discussed somewhere earlier that I hate the fact that there are people in the military who need food stamps to feed their kids, and someone (might even have been you) said "If the army wanted you to have a family they would have issued you one".
OK, I can live with that if actual, you know, military folks can. I do, however, think its an absolute disgrace that there are that many homeless vets. I don't think we owe them all a living for the rest of their lives, but the fact that there are so many means that something is badly out of whack.
WARNING: Michelle loses her temper. Language involved.
ReplyDeleteIt never fails to astound me what lows that jackass can sink to.
If I hadn't lost track of my friend Dee, I'd ask her opinion of this. Her husband was in the navy, and when they were posted in SF they actually lived out of their car for several months, because they couldn't afford housing. (This was either during the late 70s or early 80s BTW.)
I just... I just can't even come up with words to explain had mad slimy no-good bastards like O'Reilly make me. I don't comprehend how people who weaseled out of military service have any right discuss the state of the military.
Shit.
These sons of bitches cute veterans' benefits and combat pay and then have the gall to claim that there are no negative repercussions to those actions.
Stupid fucks.
Yag. Please ignore all the typos in my rant.
ReplyDeleteI think I need some pictures of puppies or kittens or something.
Michelle, may I recommend http://www.cuteoverload.com? Great for the blood pressure.
ReplyDeleteRe: O'Reilly - the stuff he says is astounding. I have think that at some level - like Madonna, like the hair bands currently under discussion at The Whatever - it's an act. It's packaged, calculated and aimed at outrage, because it builds ratings and his name brand.
As such, including homeless vets or anything else in his poisonous, inflammatory act is contemptible. Unfortunately, truth and common sense are not required for a syndicated television show.
(might even have been you) said "If the army wanted you to have a family they would have issued you one".
ReplyDeleteUh, no, Nathan, that was emphatically not me. I absolutely disagree with that particular phrase. (not bashing you, just want you to understand that I never said that). Men and women of the armed forces are expected to give their live if necessary in defense of the country - their families, should they chose to have one, are their legacy, their vested interest in the future of their country, their families are why they fight and die and bleed. To tell a soldier, sailor, marine, airman, guardsman you must give your life without leaving anything of yourself behind is the ultimate hypocrisy and contrary to everything we stand for - especially since senior officers and politicians who spout such nonsense think this way not because they care whether we're married per se, but rather because they think military families are too much trouble and too expensive. They'd really like to pay us a lot less, and not have build family housing, or the myriad of things necessary to maintain our families. This, of course, while they're on their second or third trophy wife and are living in the big mansion on base.
Sorry, nathan, not biting at you, but this issue is something that sets my blood to boiling.
Oh - and he's *married* to a PR exec, and has two kids. Can you imagine some woman voluntarily waking up to him every morning? She must have great meds.
ReplyDeleteWhy, Michele, I didn't know you had it in you - I'm so proud.
ReplyDeleteAnd what you said, exactly.
And while we're at it - something I should make clear, it's not just the homeless vets, it's the homeless in general - it's is a crime beyond words that in the richest country in the world, when we have literally trillions to throw at some idiot war, we have people eating out of trash cans and living in doorways. Vets or not, O'Reilly's statement is criminal.
Jim,
ReplyDeleteThe occasion I got that response was when I said I thought it was pretty much criminal that politicians give such lip service to how much they love everyone in the military and then pay them what they'd get working at McDonald's. I don't remember who gave me that response, but I do know they prefaced it by saying they were military. I sort of shut up in the thread from there because if there's one thing I know, its that I don't know military culture. I took a "who am I to argue" stance. For all I know, it could of been from the early days of a certain Sgt, we know. That might explain a lot. I still hold the same opinion I did then.
And Michelle, there's a lovely cat, (mine) on the 2nd post from the top:
http://nathansmusings.blogspot.com/
And Jim,
ReplyDeleteI missed your 2nd post. re: this idiot war. How about we stop the idiot war and then start paying soldiers/sailors a living wage with some of the Trillions we're not spending. I bet they'd make some recruiting goals then.
Actually, I went straight to Cute Overload after that post. Followed by Stuff on My Cat.
ReplyDeleteThose two are like a universal panacea.
Jim,
I didn't mean to be quite so potty mouthed. But if you don't mind, I guess it's okay.
What makes me nuts is people who claim that the homeless population consists solely of the mentally ill and people who "want" to be on the streets.
And I know that lots of people dislike my senators (though Byrd gets more of the vitriol) but both of them tend to be right up front in trying to get support for soldiers both past and present. As much as Byrd was opposed to the war, after it started he was pointing out the needs of military personnel, both in armor and in medical care once they returned home.
It just makes me mad that those who are willing to send soldiers into harms way aren't willing to pay them what they deserve, compensate them properly after injury, treat PTSD as aggressively as it needs to be, and provide care for veterans, in this generation and in past generations.
Okay. Back to the kitties. :)
Nathan, yeah it's a common phrase from a certain type of military folks. Usually some NCO or senior officer - somebody who is either divorced or going to be divorced sooner rather than later. You can always spot them, they show up 2 hours early for work and go home 4 hours later than everybody else, stopping at the strip club first for a couple with the boys.
ReplyDeleteIt's used as an excuse to act like an asshole. Military life is hard enough on families without your boss basically telling you and them every day that they don't matter.
It's about respect for the things that matter to your subordinates.
I didn't mean to be quite so potty mouthed. But if you don't mind, I guess it's okay. Ah hahahaha!
ReplyDeleteThat's potty mouthed? Michele, I was in the Navy for 24 years, your rant wouldn't even get you a beer in the Chief's club. Bastard, Son of a Bitch, and Shit are considered terms of affection, and you only used fuck once in the whole rant instead as a verb, noun, and pronoun in every single sentence.
Jim said,
ReplyDeleteOh, and we will hijack as we please and there's nothing you can do about it bahwahahahahahaHA!
New tactic. Hijack™ your thread with your own comments from my thread. HAH! FTW!
I keeping with your last post to Michelle, "I will fucking take your fucking thread wherever the fuck I fucking feel like fucking taking the fucking thing."
::Was that as good for you as it was for me?::
Oh, and forgot to mention,
ReplyDeleteThe GF read your first comment on my post today and said, "That guy's got at least five screenplays in him".
I said, "That's Alaskan kreplach guy."
She said, "Fine. Six screenplays."
::snork::grin::
Words fail.
ReplyDeleteI could introduce him to oh, quite a few, here in Seattle, from my year or so in the shelters between my becoming homeless due to disability and my getting into an SRO. (Am now out of downtown, thank ghods and Section 8, but... Nah. Not going there, because my blood pressure isn't all that stable.)
People are just... disposable, to those of his ilk. And there are too many like him.
Nathan, you know, I knew I liked GF right from the gitgo, she obviously has great taste.
ReplyDeleteThat's potty mouthed? Michele, I was in the Navy for 24 years, your rant wouldn't even get you a beer in the Chief's club. Bastard, Son of a Bitch, and Shit are considered terms of affection, and you only used fuck once in the whole rant instead as a verb, noun, and pronoun in every single sentence.
ReplyDeleteJim,
I live with my grandmother AND I work with the public.
My propensity to use "fuck" every other word in public was crushed years ago, and I'm not paranoid to use it, for fear I'll:
1) Get a LOOK from my grandmother
2) Offend some poor secretary
However, I did startle a customer the other day, by saying "son of a motherless goat"
And I'm NOW paranoid.
ReplyDeletejeesh
Michele, remember to wash behind your ears, oh, and watch your fucking language, young lady.
ReplyDeleteHa! Ha!
ReplyDeleteI know that wasn't my grandmother!
She NEVER tells me to wash behind my ears!
Also?
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother knows to spell my name with two Ls.
;)
Your grandmother has a headache this morning and has to run to the VA, and the copier is giving her grief, which is not helping her headache. Also, two ell's are for girls who don't swear.
ReplyDeleteWell fuck that one L shit! I am so fucking not into that fucking shit. My fucking name has TWO fucking Ls. TWO! I mean jesus fucking christ, how fucking difficult can it be to fucking add a second fucking L onto someone's fucking name!
ReplyDeleteEr...
Hope the headache is better.
Smooches!
Michelle
Michelle with two "L's," your swearing is improving, but you still have a ways to go before you can be said to "swear like a sailor."
ReplyDeleteAnd Nathan? I agree with Jim on military families. And on the idea that those who don't value their families (or understand why their subordinates do) are not very good leaders.
Janice,
ReplyDeleteLike I said, I'm out of practice.
Maybe I'll go watch "Boondock Saints" again. That might get me back into form.
Actually for good creative swearing, try Formula 51 (also called The 51st State, starring da man Sam Jackson, the terrific Robert Caryle, and the dazzling Emily Mortimer (and over the top Meatloaf! the singer not the food) - nobody can swear like British soccer hooligans. It's a great flick, funny, crazy, and different. Vastly underrated. Sex, drugs, and the ten minute destruction of a beautiful Jaguar XJS on the streets of Manchester. and it's funnier that hell, for fuck's sake (that last is an inside joke, but you'll have to watch the movie to get it).
ReplyDeleteOr I could watch "Boondock Saints" then "Snatch" and then your suggestion.
ReplyDeleteOf course then I'd have to be kept away from the general public for two to five days.