Melissa Guthrie from the Hollywood Reporter claims Bill O'Reilly is a "rhetorical pugilist" so his lies are okay, while Brian WIlliams' lies are not.
March 1, 2015

Howie Kurtz commented on the article written by David Corn at Mother Jones. Corn wrote about Bill-O's very own slew of lies, such that would have also earned him a suspension without pay. Kurtz writes,

The adversarial tone of the story he co-authored is telegraphed in the headline: “Bill O’Reilly Has His Own Brian Williams Problem.”
--In a Washington panel discussion, O’Reilly said: “I've covered wars, okay? I've been there. The Falklands, Northern Ireland, the Middle East. I've almost been killed three times, okay.”

“He covered a protest,” Corn said. “It might be a minor point, but the war was over. If Mr. O’Reilly wanted to make that case, he certainly could have. I would have gladly put it in the story. Instead of responding to the substance, he’s out there just calling names.”

But Corn’s own piece largely backs up O’Reilly’s account of the dangerous situation, except for O'Reilly's recollection that there were fatalities:

Kurtz of Reliable Sources, along with his Hollywood Reporter guest, Melissa Guthrie, were giving O'Reilly a complete pass on his lies. Kurtz asserts the numerous fallacies told by O'Reilly were a far cry from William's nearly shot-down helicopter story from 2003 Iraq.

"That’s a far cry from a bogus claim of having been shot down in a helicopter, the explicit comparison made by the headline."

Numerous as they are, O'Reilly's lies are, for some odd reason, far less consequential than the disingenuous claim made by NBC's Williams. Guthrie said,

"There's a much different threshold for an entertainer and a news anchor... Bill has furiously debated his critics. He's doing what he does best, he's doing battle."

Guthrie may as well just come out and say it, Fox News is a bogus source of news and it's perfectly acceptable for the hosts of the programs to lie, unchecked, without consequences. Kurtz adds that O'Reilly's ratings have actually gone up, so any time he has to defend his lies, he will turn a negative into a positive and draw a bigger audience. According to Fox News, there's no double standard here, so the viewers can rest assured, Bill-O is right on the money.

Can you help us out?

For nearly 20 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but now Facebook is drowning us in an ocean of right wing lies. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon