On Friday, a day where the jobs report was one of the strongest yet, in a month where enrollments in exchange policies have exceeded expectations, and where China's economy is wobbling while ours stays strong, Bill O'Reilly went on a rant.
The gist of his raving was about the President putting his focus on gun safety and climate change, instead of rewarding billionaires with more money so they can bankrupt the rest of us.
O'Reilly tried to tie the issues together by claiming, "Many American workers can't make enough money to prosper and the terror threat is off the charts."
Would this be a bad time to point out that the Republicans in Congress just voted to make it easier for would-be terrorists to get their hands on guns?
Making the case for why expanded background checks matter, O'Reilly said, "Criminals and terrorists are not going to buy guns from dealers who do background checks."
Yes. This is true, which is why closing the loopholes for background checks makes all kinds of sense. No, it won't prevent everyone from getting guns, but it will make it harder.
We're on a bit of a digression now, though, because O'Reilly's real point is that the mass slaughter of innocent people is not nearly as important as rewarding billionaires.
Turning to climate change, BillO scolded President Obama.
"On the climate front, okay fine. Let's all try to get the environment cleaner," he conceded. "But this is not a top five issue, and the president should be spending most of his time trying to find ways to stimulate the economy."
"Instead the feds continue to strangle the free marketplace with high taxes, complicated regulations, and mandated Obamacare rules," he concluded.
Perhaps someone on BillO's staff should point out that infrastructure funding would be a huge economic stimulus and would help with global warming, too. He also forgot to mention that it isn't regulations standing in the way of infrastructure funding, it's Republicans in Congress.
And then, after more or less conceding that President Obama's modest gun proposals aren't really all that bad, O'Reilly drops the bomb.
"And on the economy, come on Mr. President, your programs have not worked. Try something else."
5 percent unemployment. More Americans with access to health care.
All anyone has to do is look at where we were in 2008, just before the President took office to know what a lie O'Reilly is telling there. Sadly, that won't stop all the people who tune in faithfully to Roger Ailes' Republican TV from believing him.
The full transcript is here if you can't bear to watch him.
