The point is clear, but I really don't think showing some boxers and cursing makes you a non-person.

I think it's good O'rielly is exposed to other cultures. But that he "couldn't get over it" means Bill only hangs with rich white people. His patronizing comments about "blacks figuring it out for themselves" aren't respectful either.

The surprise here is anyone's surprise.

Rick Sanchez said earlier on CNN that he was a big fan of Billo... probably auditioning for a future job a Faux News.

We could only hope that this is Oreallys Imus moment, but step back and look who he works for. Does anyone really think that Faux Conservative Propaganda Channel or the radio program he works for really care like NBC does about him spouting rascist diatribe. I think it is actually expected of him.

Billo's time is up.

i am a whiteman and i can't get over the fact that billo is still on the air. he offends me deeply. he is a racist without conscientious morality. what a dumb MOTHER-FUCKER !

Another ignorant blowhard shattering the myth of white "supremacy."

Unite folks, unite, don't get all us/them in these things. How many of you haven't said almost the same thing. When you don't get around another culture a lot you bring cliche stuff with you. He may have not been as politically correct as one would desire from a media *star* but he didn't call anyone a N****r or other sort of mean spirited thing.

I certainly don't like the man and the only time I see him since I have no TV is here on C&L but his comments weren't so far out. I know plenty of people of color over 30 who have the same embarassment about the 'gansta' culture stupidity.

Since whites made up the racist vocabulary there really isn't anything as inflamatory to say about us but damn, what do we call our trailer trash rock celebrities who are tatooed, pierced, siliconed fools who are just as embarassing as the gansta rappers, etc.?

Now watch the fathead O'Reilly squirm out of this just as he does in every other situation by claiming he "never said that".

This is what O'Reilly does. He implies this bullshit by supporting the intent of the individuals and the outcome, but never the actions that would connect A to B - no matter how obviously racist or illegal the action would be. Then O'Reilly tries to deflect any oncoming criticism when people call him on it by raising his hands and saying "I never said that!" and pretends to play the victim of liberal "hate".

Zenrage @ 21:

Now watch the fathead O'Reilly squirm out of this just as he does in every other situation by claiming he "never said that".

This is what O'Reilly does. He implies this bullshit by supporting the intent of the individuals and the outcome, but never the actions that would connect A to B - no matter how obviously racist or illegal the action would be. Then O'Reilly tries to deflect any oncoming criticism when people call him on it by raising his hands and saying "I never said that!" and pretends to play the victim of liberal "hate".

O'reilly, like any typical reich-winger, will blame the media.

"we ALL have an uncle like that..." ?!?! do we now?

I don't want to see your underwear
I don't want to hear you swear
you can eat whatever you like
but spare me your mysoginist tripe

Well I went to an upscale gay establishment one time and the bathroom was immaculate and people were in there minding their own business. There wasn't one U.S. senator having sex in the stalls! No men dressed as women using the ladies room either. I was surprised to learn that there were straight guys there that didn't get propositioned or raped. Nobody was swinging from the ceiling or having bareback sex on the pool table!

Those gays must be thinking for themselves as they have obviously strayed from the homosexual agenda.

The hilarious clip of Sanchez getting tasered is a regular feature on the Daily Show. That dude is almost dumb enough to be a regular on The View.

it is really difficult for me to imagine how someone could make the original reference he is quoted as making. He goes to a fine restaurant in Harlem and then has to make racist remarks about it to get stunt value.
why does it play like news? the old description might have been: "Famous conservative republican TV pundit makes racist statements about they people he dines with, again"
I know that other people in this country think these twirks are becoming the norm. they aren't. they are only becoming louder because they have less and less to say.

The man in the van @ 19:

Unite folks, unite, don't get all us/them in these things. How many of you haven't said almost the same thing. When you don't get around another culture a lot you bring cliche stuff with you. He may have not been as politically correct as one would desire from a media *star* but he didn't call anyone a N****r or other sort of mean spirited thing.

I certainly don't like the man and the only time I see him since I have no TV is here on C&L but his comments weren't so far out. I know plenty of people of color over 30 who have the same embarassment about the 'gansta' culture stupidity.

Since whites made up the racist vocabulary there really isn't anything as inflamatory to say about us but damn, what do we call our trailer trash rock celebrities who are tatooed, pierced, siliconed fools who are just as embarassing as the gansta rappers, etc.?

Pamela Anderson?

If O'Reilly had any class at all he would apologize to African Americans by admitting that he's too stunned to know that what he said is offensive.However as he has demonstrated time and time again,he doesn't have any class.So what he does instead is fly off the handle and attack his critics.Just another republican jackass refusing to be held accountable.

pinkobait @ 37:

If O'Reilly had any class at all he would apologize to African Americans by admitting that he's too stunned to know that what he said is offensive.However as he has demonstrated time and time again,he doesn't have any class.So what he does instead is fly off the handle and attack his critics.Just another republican jackass refusing to be held accountable.

We don't want his apology, because it will be meaningless tripe, like any apologies made to African-Americans when people like O'Reilly get caught.

My question is: "If you're proud of being a bigot, why hide behind a sheet, hood, robe and Fox News?" It's easier to ID dumbasses like O'Reilly, who makes it known they're bigoted, as opposed to other dumbasses who try to hide behind civility while engaging in other racist and bigoted acts (i. e. the Bush Administration).

It's because BillO is trying to dance around the more raw thoughts in his head, so he trys to say it nice but...

DOH!

I think Bill O'Rielly is pretty cool, for a white man.

I mean he wears his ties straight, he combs hair, i bet he even has clean nails. He can even make a back handed racial insult and not know what he said exposes him as an ignoramous who has never spent a moment of his life with black people.

Wait, that would be the definition of "WHITE!" wouldn't it?

It is like we have elevated Archie Bunker to the heights of an Aristotle or Plato. The guy is making his living totally by being stupidly controversial on a network that makes its living by playing to the intellectually lazy side of America. Bill O'reilly is an asshole. We know what comes from that orifice, why are we so attracted to the smell?

"Bill O'Reilly hates black people"

The only thing that surprised me about O'reilly's restaurant critique is that he didn't mention the absence of "nappy headed hoes" and that no one appeared to be carrying spears.

ya can't blame poor o'reilly, he doesn't know any better; after all, he's had to watch all that... fox news!

I'd love to take Bill O out on a tour.

"Hey, I ate at Nagasaki's, and all of the asians weren't kung fu fighting! They were eating like civilized people! Congratulations!"
"Hey, I really enjoy this place. No terrorist bombings, no bad yelping music, it doesn't completely reek of curry, I think Hummus World is a respectable place for me to eat! The food is tasty, too!"
"Sitting here at Swiss Chalet, I don't feel the grease of Canadian Liberal on the walls, its just really good tasting chicken with great sides. I think I have a new found respect for Canadians!"

...and I can go on. Anyone who has been in public television as long as him has no place to be that ignorant about the world. What is more amazing is how scripted it all felt. Here is CNN, doing everything possible to quote him correctly, not to attack him head on as a FUCKING RACIST IGNORANT TWIT and it ends with Fox News lining it up as nothing but a Liberal Plot OF DOOM.

This needs to get on the Daily Show. Not Colbert protecting big Papa bear with a tongue in cheek, but Jon Stewart verbally raping him for being a racist c*nt.

Bill's advertisers should be ashamed of themselves for financing his eugenics views. He's a modern day George Lincoln Rockwell

"I went to a restaurant in Harlem and was surprised to discover that blacks seem to have the same number of chromosomes as humans. They are even starting to learn how to use their opposable thumbs" _ Bill O'Reilly

Oh yah.. it's a compliment.... *rolls eyes* just like "I was surprised to go into an Irish pub and not see a single fight, those Irish folks have really learned to discipline themselves and be civilized" that's a compliment too isn't it?

Well my son in law is white, my daughter is black and their children are both. I really don't know if O'Reilly is just stupid or looking for attention. I know his rating are very low and Keith are high. If O'Reilly had been a real man an joined the Military he would have been able to know alot more minority Americans other then Blacks. There are so many people who don't look at race it is strange to hear the Republicans talk about it so much. What's really sad is this is the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement. I'm just glad there are more Americans who believe in equal rights then those would are racist and prejudice.

"Bill O'Reilly you are an arrogant, condescending racist douchebag. Exactly what I THOUGHT you were" _Coach Denny Green

Mackris! :D

I thought the "nappy headed hos" comment by Imus was overblown, and was just a joke, and that he was railroaded. But this comment by O'Reilly is really strange. he's obviously serious.

Whats unfortunate about this is that this is where I could understand activists protesting, but since they made such a big deal about Imus (unfairly imo) people wont take them seriously now about O'Reilly. They'll think "not this whining shit again". And ironically O'Reilly's comment is definitely racist where Imus' wasnt.

"Lemon: O’Reilly lives in NYC, one of the most diverse places on earth and you would think why is he shocked that an African American restaurant people aren’t, you know, acting out of context as they should be acting in a restaurant?"

BOR does not live in NYC. He lives in Manhasset on Long Island, 20 miles and a whole other world away from Manhattan. 75% White, 12% African American. Not exactly diverse NYC.

It sounds as if Bill-o is doing an impersonation of Stephen Colbert doing an impersonation of him! What the falafel?

The CNN hosts are so afraid of Right-Wingers. I guess they fear the onslaught of their psychotic fans. Later last night Sanchez started frantically backtracking from his earlier comments and almost did a complete reversal. You could tell he was trying to calm the dittoheads. The media is so cowardly and craven it makes me almost puke. Sanchez is now worthless.

A better response from Roland Martin at CNN is here. Nice to see someone respond with some passion. Take note Lemon:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2007/09/25/chetry.martin.oreil...

If the Dems demonstrate any one quality that distinguishes them from GOPS it is their lack of arrogance when vested with the raiments of power. Say what you will about Bill Clinton, that man never forgot he was just a poor brat from Hope, Arkansas. Unlike Arbusto, he knew that when he takes a crap, it smells. Unlike Arbusto, he could (if only reluctantly at times, and under the gun at that) admit to making mistakes. It is characteristic of dogmatic, authoritarian persons that they cannot admit to making mistakes, just as it is common for them to blame others for any perceived wrongs. With Billo, lately, the scapegoat has been Media Matters.

In his paranoid delusions, O'Really suspects that MM is out to get him, only he's now joining CNN as co-conspirator. (Billo doesn't talk much about MSNBC of late, perhaps because he's losing in the ratings war, and in any case, why even acknowledge that Keith Whatshisname, so obviously unworthy of recognition by one so high and mighty as the Great Man Himself.) But one suspects that Billo's motivations for blaming Media Matters for his own faults amounts to more than his perception that the news source watchdog website is out to destroy neo-cons, the Karlheinz Cheanie cabal, and crypto-fascist GOPeratives. After all, Media Matters spares no one; calling into account factually deprived media reports on political concerns is hardly limited on their site to right wingnuts and Arbusto cronies, much less to the White House organ that is Fox Noise. Hardly.

I suspect O'Really's anti-MM campaign has a subtext many are missing. If you go to their site and click on "Staff," you learn that several of their people are either openly gay or gay-friendly -- pluralistic in the most liberal sense of the word. For all of his protestations he is pro-gay rights, Billo's don't-ask-don't-tell and sanctity of marriage positions betray a homophobia that occasionally manifests in his use of code language, e.g. "special rights," as if the Declaration of Independence actually read, "We hold these truths to be self-evident...that all men (except gays and lesbians) are created equal...." Buzz words are the lingua franca of the GOPeratives and their noise machine.

I am thinking that Billo is especially chagrined that the MM staff includes David Brock, the author of a tell-all memoir about working with the Right to defame Anita Hill, as well as other outrages for which he should be (and no doubt is) ashamed. Brock's book, Blinded by the Right, also explains that he is a gay man. Brock was not particularly kind to O'Really in another of his tomes, The Republican Noise Machine, so his gayness and his perceived betrayal of Fox Family Values (which is to say, right wingnut GOP values) is especially bothersome to Billo. One must suppose that his pathetic Factor people will get hold of some obscure footage of Brock (perhaps from C-Span Books) and have the body language lady discuss Brock's Vogue poses. What's next, a report from a phrenologist?

Why not? As a Catholic, Billo is a dangerous lunatic who believes in the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus. He's just as dead certain as Arbusto that God guides his every action. (As an aside, I am beginning to see that Arbusto said he'd looked into Putin's eyes and "I saw his soul" because he realized in that moment that the two were birds of a feather, cut from the same cloth: both of them ruthless thugs with private mafias, using their "elective" offices to advance their personal agendas: power and pocketbook padding.) No, when O'Really craps, it smells like perfume, only he wipes with the Bill of Rights, the U.N. Charter, and the Geneva Accords.

My god what a bunch of suckups.. trying to devert the issue away from blatant ingnorance and racism like this is an insult to viewers, but they'll get away with it for sure. Well, at least I feel all dirty now so I'm going to take a quick shower.

Hey MFer, bring me some more iced tea with my falafel.

Social commentary?

Please, if it is social commentary than it's only made out of his own ignorance. All he managed to reveal with that statement is his stupidity by exposing all the bullshit stereotypes he obviously has running around in his head about black people. As a black man myself all I'm thinking is what is so shocking here? I mean what? Did he expect that he'd have to duck under the tables to avoid the gunfights in between the spontaneous bouts of people break dancing on the tables? Maybe he was stunned when he walked in he didn't slip on a huge pile of watermelon seeds and friend chicken bones.

Basically he's heard all this crap people say about black folks and, exhibited through his BS stand against hip hop, through the media that he actually thinks it's true. To me it's like all those arguments people made against the Sopranos. Oh, it makes everyone think that all Italians are in the mob. And that's true if you're, you know... Stupid. Only stupid people would think that they see this movie or this show or this video or listen to that song that it One, represents a vast majority of people and, Two, is anything more than image and entertainment.

Even 50 Cent where's three piece/linen suits nowadays.

Vitam Vas @ 1:

Be the Imus moment...BE the Imus moment

V V

Actually I hope it isn't. It's more fun watching loofah boy implode. Not to mention Keith Olbermann's hilarious segments .

Sanchez is clearly auditioning here for Faux News. People are "maybe offended?" O'Reilly is "brave" and "honest?" Blacks are "actually offended?". What a frigging TOOL this Sanchez guy is.

And Don Lemon was no better. Why didn't he say something to Sanchez, i.e., " WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN, 'BLACKS ARE ACTUALLY OFFENDED?' OF COURSE THEY ARE OFENDED, YOU DOPE!"

Billo is a pathetic individual who has a well documented history of engaging in this subtle type of racist/bigoted commentary. He is smart and knows full well what he is doing. Fox News and this clown on CNN are no different when they continually defend him.

Billo has a standard response to all his media critics:

"My TV ratings are bigger than all my cable news competitors combined. The far left loons can kiss my Irish ass" _Billo Reilly

Sometimes it's not an "Uncle" sometimes it's parents and siblings. THAT'S why I haven't spoken to mine in over two decades. OLielly was right, there WASN'T any racist intent. THAT MAKES IT EVEN WORSE!!! OLielly wasn't TRYING to sound racist, he IS racist. THAT'S how racists react when confronted with the reality of how far up their asses their heads are shoved. "I'm not racist???EVERYONE knows THOSE people are like that!" What's he gonna say next? They were a credit to their race?

What, was O'Really surprised to see blacks not acting like the primitives he thinks they are?

This is crap. The guys defending this racist are shmucks.

Yeah, I have a friend that might pull stuff like this but he knows if he does while I am around, he will have to get his nose fixed afterwards.

It is even worse when someone in the public view like O'Really pulls this crap. You can do stuff as a 'civillian' you just cannot do when you are on TV or radio.

Does Rick Sanchez ever shut up?

Bill O'Rielly's comments is what it betrays about not only himself but about many right wing pundits. Bill has no idea what black people are like because he has never allowed himself to be exposed to them. He has no idea what war is like because he has never been in one. He has no idea what not having health insurance is like, no idea what poverty is like.

In his opinion, that makes him an expert.

Not only is O'Really on CNN's case, he's got Matt Lauer joining him. Poor Billo is the victim again.

Why are the main stream media so terrified of Billo? Has he got some video from their ast Christmas party?

Shoreke (#54) and Soothsayer (#67) bring this up, but it seems everyone else has missed it. Have you actuallly listened to the audio?

Bill starts out acknowledging that every black person in America has encountered racism and then goes on to tout the typical "personal responsibility" conservative argument. That some african-americans will take that sort of opposition and ignorance and turn it around and say that "I'm better than that and I'll prove it to you." It's a gross oversimplification of the issue of racism and all of the things that influence it and could be argued as racist itself. He then shoots himself in the foot with the next comment which was clearly racist. Here's the text of what he said:

OREILLY: "And I couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia's restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City. I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it's run by blacks, primarily black patronship."

As everyone else has already pointed out, that any adult in 2007 would be surprised at civil behavior in a restaurant whether it's in Harlem or anywhere else in the country is completely ridiculous and should be called out for what it is, racist and ignorant. As usual, Bill's trying to sound reasonable, but can't get over his own entrenched viewpoints and personality and ends up sounding like an ass.

The comment about the MFer came as O'Reilly was talking with Juan Williams, an african-american reporter, who works for both NPR and FOX. It sounds like that audio was cut from a different part of the program (at 2:01 or 2:03 mark), so I don't know if Williams was on air when the first comment was made.

This second clip has Williams and O'Reilly agreeing that gangster rap is a problem. Williams is calling it a "corruption of culture" and a "vile poison". He argues that it's consumed mostly by white audiences rebelling against their parents and that it's only phase for them, but that black kids take it differently.

WILLIAMS: [They] "take it as, oh, that's what it means to be authentically black...It really corrupts people and I think it adds, Bill, to some serious sociological problems like the high out of wedlock birthrate because of this hypersexual imagery that then the kids adapt as some kind of reality. I mean, it's inauthentic and it's not in keeping with great black traditions of struggle and excellence from Willie Mays to Aretha Franklin...That's treated as you're a nerd and you're actin' white if try to be excellent and black."

The actual O'Reilly quote that everyone's piling on comes when he's talking about an Anita Baker concert with Williams. He points out that she's running a family show and there's no profanity in her show and then says:

OREILLY: "This is what white America doesn't know, particularly people who don't have much interaction with black americans. They think that the culture is dominated by Twista, Ludacris and Snoop Dogg."

WILLIAMS: "Oh and it's just so awful because it's literally the sewer come to the surface and now people take it that the sewer is the whole story."

OREILLY: "That's Right! That's Right! There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screamin' 'M-Fer, I want more iced tea'."

WILLIAMS: (Laughing.) "Please"

The two of them sound like old fogeys kvetching about that "damn rock n roll music". I'm fairly certain that Ludacris and Snoop Dogg don't go into a restaurant and scream "M-Fer, I want more iced tea." either.

There probably is something to the argument that being immersed in gangster rap culture in the absence of positive role models does have a negative effect on kids both white and black, but it's also an oversimplification. They're making the common mistake of conflating race with socioeconomic status with a little generation gap to confuse things even further.

In the end O'Reilly's contradicting himself with his own comments. He tries to point out that white America is confused about black people because of gangster rap, but falls victim to that same trap himself when he's surprised that people in Sylvia's are acting with civility.

I do think that you have to be careful taking clips out of context. Anybody listening to any of these sorts of shows on either radio or TV can't seriously expect to get a reasoned or logical discussion on anything.

Bill O deals in prejudice, fear, anger, hatred and any other negative emotion that he can exploit in his viewers. He expresses the old "if you look like me, talk like me, think like me and vote like me you are great, if not, you are stupid and evil and alien" attitude, which is one of the main tools that dictators use to exploit the populace and justify all sorts of evil actions. He did not explicitly attack black people, but he did expose his own internal prejudice and ignorance when he was surprised to find african americans behaving like normal people. Like I said before, however, he exposes his prejudice against other races and other cultures and other political beliefs on a daily basis, this is just the first time he obviously exposed his prejudice toward african americans. We should not be surprised by this, Bill O eats, drinks, sleeps and craps prejudice.

xoites defends Constitution @ 43:

I think Bill O'Rielly is pretty cool, for a white man.

I mean he wears his ties straight, he combs hair, i bet he even has clean nails. He can even make a back handed racial insult and not know what he said exposes him as an ignoramous who has never spent a moment of his life with black people.

Wait, that would be the definition of "WHITE!" wouldn't it?

Actually, THAT is a racist comment, not all white people are like BillO, so please don't stoop to his level and make a snap judgement about all of us simply because a few, ok, alot, ok, well most of us, are total jerks!

This is silly. It's a socio-economic issue. Poor people don't adhere to the standards of society that O'Reilly was referring to. It has nothing to do with race. Go into a honky-tonk in West Texas (where I'm from), or KFC in Alabama and you will see people behaving in a manner that is entirely in keeping with their culture, but would not be tolerated in the upscale Harlem restaurant where he had dinner with Sharpton.

Bill's comments actually don't surprise me because this is actually the mentality of many White Americans. And what makes me laugh is how a lot of Whites will say that that's not how they think or they've never said anything like that. Just because you don't say it in public, you only say it behind closed doors does not negate you've said it. I'm not a Black racist, I'm just a socially aware Black man that is educated on the ills of society and the ideologies of many different races. There's racism from all races, as well as intercultural racism.

#104 says:

How on earth is racism going to be over unless we stop addressing it?

Simply because the majority creates a system of great social injustice that is setup for minorities to fail. The playing field is not equal and until White America is not oblivious to these facts, then we can move forward towards a progressive goal on eliminating racism.

In the words of Mos Def: "When White folks are doing it well, it's success/ when our folks are doing it well it's "SUSPECT"

BurnTees @ 112:

this whole thing is SO dumb! i don't even like Bill, but when you view the entirety of the conversation IN context, he really doesn't say anything racist. I'm so sick of EVERYTHING being a race issue.

Are you stupid? What other context needs to be considered for a comment such as this? This is exactly what has to stop, stop making excuses for people who are known to be assholes and bigots.

nate @ 105:

...He did not explicitly attack black people, but he did expose his own internal prejudice and ignorance when he was surprised to find african americans behaving like normal people.

You, like most on this board obviously never listened to the whole show. Bill never said he was surprised at the way black people acted in Sylvia's. He was using his trip to Sylvia's as an example of how the majority of African Americans DON"T act like thugs.

The point Bill was trying to make was that the Hip Hop community is the most visible group of African Americans in our society, and in Bill's opinion, they (hip hop artist), represent Black's in a negative manner, but he knows that they DON"T represent the majority of African Americans. He used his experience at Sylvia's to illustrate this point. Oh, no one bothered to mentioned he was dining with Al Sharpton.

Fuck Bill Orally. They should Imus that motherfucker for bein so rasist. That mother fuckin chickenhead ain't shit and Fox knows it. They just as rasist as that peckerwood.

I'm so sick of people like Sanchez.
Why is CNN presenting us with these halfwits.
"My African-American friends and associates" - oh yeah...

Gee,
This is kinda like me meeting O'Reilly and coming away saying, "I'm amazed, this well dressed white man is stupid, ignorant, and misinformed on pretty much every issue. I thought they all were pretty smart". We live in illusionary times, and most of us exist in our own self made mental and emotional ghetto.

what's ironic is how Sanchez did the SAME THING O'reilly did.
Sanchez: If his expectation is that any white American goes into a black establishment he should be surprised that people don’t have their underwear sticking out of their pants and they’re not running around cursing...
O'reilly didn't say blacks have underwear sticking out of their pants....so Sanchez brought that off the top of HIS head.....then, if you were quick enough to catch it....he immediately recoils and realizes he's falling into the same trap as O'reilly did and says "oh oh, wait, lets quote him directly, not say what we THINK he said"

Sanchez speaks truth to power! Finally a progressive voice at CNN instead of that toady Blitzer. Any honest person would admit that Sanchez caught O'Reilly in a BIG FAT LIE! How can O'Reilly claim that he is not a racist and that there were no complaints about his insensitive show when there was a caller to that very same show who pointed out how O'Reilly constantly harps on the supposedly negative influences of African American rap artists? And so what that Sanchez didn't listen to O'Reilly's entire show to make sure of proper context before reporting on the isolated parts. Who would want to listen to the whole show?
I just fear that the scurrilous attacks on Sanchez will soon start because he is now obviously such a threat to the Right Wing. We will hear rehashed lies about how his Katrina work was so inaccurate that lives might well have been lost in all the alleged fog. The smearers might even stoop to "revealing" the ancient history of how Sanchez killed someone while driving DUI. We must combat these smearers and their intimidation!