Category: Current Events

O’Reilly Flip-Flops on Falafel

April 6, 2011

 

I watched with much bemusement this evening as Bill O’Reilly defended the sleazy and seamy tactics employed by conservative activist James O’Keefe to catch NPR executive Ron Schiller with his pants down during a lunch with men he thought were representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood. O’Keefe had sent two operatives posing as members of the Islamic group to ostensibly discuss a donation to the news organization, but in reality, to ambush Schiller as he branded members of the Tea Party movement as racist, discussed pro-Israeli bias in the media, and opined that NPR would be better off without federal funding. With hidden cameras rolling during this meeting with the mendacious Muslim posers, these statements would cost Schiller and CEO Vivian Schiller (no relation) their jobs.

 

Now certainly these two hypocritical Schillers had it coming—their elitist and arrogant belief that everyone is beneath their enlightened consciousness and their laughable assertion that NPR doesn’t lean left made them ripe for a comeuppance, but exactly how low are “journalists” allowed to stoop to get a scoop? Should it not be a fundamental tenet of journalism, not to mention common decency, that people identify themselves honestly and not engage in deceptions?

 

O’Reilly doesn’t seem to think so. He blustered and pontificated that the ends justify the means and that the truth was paramount, and so lauded O’Keefe and his tactics. But it was only six years ago that O’Reilly himself was stung by a secret recording of a phone sex exchange he had with Fox News producer Andrea Mackris, who accused him of sexual harassment. The Fox News bloviator (to speak in his language), the married father of two children, who uses his bully pulpit to promote morality and Christian values, was caught on tape discussing crude sexual acts with Mackris, and in a classic malapropism from the Harvard grad (who never lets you forget it) discussed having Mackris rub his body with “that falafel thing.”

 

Apparently O’Reilly wasn’t so keen on clandestine recordings then as he went to great expense to smear Mackris and sue her for extortion. “This matter has caused enormous pain, but I had to protect my family, and I did,” O’Reilly explained after finally settling out of court by paying Mackris a sum reported in the millions. In O’Reilly’s world, true justice is conferred on those with the biggest checkbook.

Can’t Buy Me Love

June 8, 2010

 

 

I watched with bemusement last week as Paul McCartney, during his visit to our nation’s capital, made sarcastic remarks about George Bush’s intellect by implying he didn’t know what a library was. Now old “W” is no mental giant to be sure, but I don’t think Sir Paul should be throwing stones. He was recently fleeced of nearly $50 million by a one-legged, gold-digging tramp—who’s the genius now, Paul??

 

Take into further account that one of those in attendance at the former Beatle’s White House fete thinks our country comprises fifty-seven states, and I’m surprised anyone in the room could remember to breathe. The lesson: It takes one to know one, and washed-up bassists should stick to what they know.

O.J. Pisses on Nicole’s Grave

May 12, 2006

 

And the O.J. Simpson saga goes on. Just when you thought this amoral sociopath couldn’t possibly do anything to make you detest him more, O.J. raises the bar–outdoes himself–disgraces the human race with a cynicism heretofore reserved for politicians.

 

In “Juiced,” a pay-per-view show set to air this month, Simpson appears in several vignettes where he pulls pranks on unsuspecting victims candid-camera style. One prank involves Simpson on a used-car lot trying to sell the infamous white Bronco in which he led Los Angeles police on a slow-speed chase three days after butchering his ex-wife and Ronald Goldman. This chase, of course, is where we got our most revealing look into Simpson’s moral character as he played the coward throughout, whining and acting aggrieved as he threatened suicide, conveniently choosing to forget that he had murdered the mother of his children by slicing her throat from ear to ear.

 

“Juiced,” a wretched paean to all that television has become, finds O.J. telling a prospective Bronco buyer that, “It was good for me—it helped me get away.” That something this disgusting is allowed to happen in this country is shameful. Fred Goldman, Ronald’s long-suffering father, said he found Simpson’s comments “morally reprehensible.” Indeed, would anyone think less of Goldman if he had Simpson killed?

 

Simpson’s partner in crime is the contemptible Rick Mahr, who besides being an empty and kindred soul of Simpson’s, is also the purveyor of distasteful dreck like “The Best of Backyard Wrestling,” “Ghetto Brawls,” and my favorite, “Brawling Broads.” That either one of these vermin can be so flippant about these savage murders, especially when we all know who committed them, is truly stunning.

 

I hope there’s a special place in hell for these two—a corner booth where they can share cocktails with Johnnie Cochran and reminisce about the good old days when it was okay to keep your bitch in line by slashing her throat.