Spring Break
Once again, Bill O'Reilly lies to save face for a lie
Rob Switzer
Issue date: 7/18/06 Section: Perspectives
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Sweet Jesus, I hate Bill O'Reilly. I have a sign above my desk in the Michigan Journal office that reads just that, given to me as a joke by the Editor-in-Chief. It's actually a piece of promotional mail for the recent book by the same name, written by Joseph Minton Amann and Tom Breuer.
I was never that big of a fan of the man, but I never truly hated him. That is, until I learned something about him last week that makes all of his flip-flops and lies of the past pale in comparison.
O'Reilly, you see, has the tendency to say things that aren't true, and then instead of retracting the statement, proceeding to try to save face by lying again to cover up the last lie.
Among O'Reilly's most famous incidents is when he claimed his show won a Peabody Award - which he hailed as "the highest award in journalism" - for his work as an anchor on the tabloid television show, "Inside Edition." His rival Al Franken pointed out that they actually won a Polk Award, which is far less prestigious (and furthermore, they won that award after O'Reilly left the show).
O'Reilly's response? To repeatedly deny that he ever said he received said award, even though there's video evidence that he said just that, several times, and at least once specified that he won the award twice.
His latest heinous episode of amnesia is one I caught wind of online from a clip of Keith Olberman's humorous MSNBC show, "Countdown," in which O'Reilly is the most frequent recipient of his daily award: "Worst Person in the World."
Last October, O'Reilly was foaming at the mouth over the decision to release photos of Abu Ghraib prisoner atrocities in Iraq. The guest he brought on to talk about it was former NATO Supreme Commander and 2004 presidential candidate Wesley Clark.
O'Reilly, in an unbelievable attempt to excuse the Americans for what they did at Abu Ghraib, contended that there have always been atrocities in war, even by Americans. This may be a true statement, but the "historical" anecdote he offered to bolster his case is just flat-out wrong.
I was never that big of a fan of the man, but I never truly hated him. That is, until I learned something about him last week that makes all of his flip-flops and lies of the past pale in comparison.
O'Reilly, you see, has the tendency to say things that aren't true, and then instead of retracting the statement, proceeding to try to save face by lying again to cover up the last lie.
Among O'Reilly's most famous incidents is when he claimed his show won a Peabody Award - which he hailed as "the highest award in journalism" - for his work as an anchor on the tabloid television show, "Inside Edition." His rival Al Franken pointed out that they actually won a Polk Award, which is far less prestigious (and furthermore, they won that award after O'Reilly left the show).
O'Reilly's response? To repeatedly deny that he ever said he received said award, even though there's video evidence that he said just that, several times, and at least once specified that he won the award twice.
His latest heinous episode of amnesia is one I caught wind of online from a clip of Keith Olberman's humorous MSNBC show, "Countdown," in which O'Reilly is the most frequent recipient of his daily award: "Worst Person in the World."
Last October, O'Reilly was foaming at the mouth over the decision to release photos of Abu Ghraib prisoner atrocities in Iraq. The guest he brought on to talk about it was former NATO Supreme Commander and 2004 presidential candidate Wesley Clark.
O'Reilly, in an unbelievable attempt to excuse the Americans for what they did at Abu Ghraib, contended that there have always been atrocities in war, even by Americans. This may be a true statement, but the "historical" anecdote he offered to bolster his case is just flat-out wrong.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Anonymous
posted 7/19/06 @ 1:49 AM EST
Fantastical prose; give that man the Peabody.
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