The O'Crap Factor: Pick the Most Absurd

By Lee Russ

Thursday, October 06, 2005 at 08:32 AM

I'm far from the first to notice that Bill O'Reilly can't seem to be bothered to check his facts, or his mouth, before blurting some nonsensical thing.  Which he frequently denies having said (sort of what Bush's old Yale Economics professor says about Bush).

A few days ago he made a beaut, claiming that the 82nd Airborne Division had committed mass murder of German troops during World War II, when, in fact, it was the German troops who murdered a bunch of American prisoners.  But the same insightful genius can be gleaned from his comment that "Now, in order to fail in this country, you've gotta be one troubled individual."

So I ask, which statement is worse?  You be the judge.

His insult to the 82nd Airborne came in an interview with Wesley Clark earlier this week, on the subject of torture in Iraq and whether the U.S. should release more pictures of what occurred.  The Big OH said "General, you need to look at the Malmedy massacre in World War II and the 82nd Airborne  who did it!" quote here

The Malmedy massacre is, in fact, an event which has been depicted in many movies and recounted in many books.  It involved the  "shooting of 84 American soldiers who had surrendered..." It took place on December 17, 1944, the second day of the Battle of the Bulge, by Germans Waffen-SS soldiers. see source here

Given the extremely public nature of the event, which produced a war crimes proceeding after the war, exactly how lazy would you say O'Reilly has to be to get the facts wrong and blame the Americans?

The comment on only troubled individuals failing in this country comes from his August 10 broadcast of Westwood One's The Radio
Factor with Bill O'Reilly source here

According to Shill O'Reilly, " If you go to this permanent underclass and speak with them -- and I have, I have -- there are two reasons -- three
reasons, really, why people can't make a living." And of course Mr. Oh Reilly can tell you that those reasons are:
1. "They are stupid, ill-educated, have never,
ever taken an interest in acquiring knowledge about anything."

2. "the addicted. These are the homeless people you see scarfing money from you, OK? Addicted to whatever substance. Can't hold a job because they have to be in a constant state of intoxication."

3. "those with mental problems that
   

society doesn't know what to do. OK? You can't put them in the mental facilities anymore, the ACLU gets them right out. But they're schizophrenic or bipolar, whatever, so they can't conduct themselves in the workplace."

Poverty, according to Saint Aw Reilly.  And actually he wasn't done.  He spun that bit f wisdom off into a column, "Not everyone is equipped for success" in the Gwinnett Daily Post on 8/12/05. story here

There, he adds that, "Kennedy [Ted, I presume] likes to portray less-educated Americans as
victims. Some of them are - victims of stupid, irresponsible parents. But many simply don't care for one reason or another. Add to the equation addiction, mental incapacities and other serious maladies, and you have a full explanation as to why some Americans fail in the marketplace."

So I ask, which is worse: blaming the victims of an atrocity for committing the atrocity, or thinking you have to be stupid, drugged, or crazy to be poor in this utopia?  Let me know.  Better yet, let Mr. No, Really hear from you.  He claims to live in the "Westbury section of Levittown" which Al Franken has pointed out is impossible (they are two separate towns), but it makes PO'Reilly seem more blue collar to throw Levittown in there.

If you write him, don't expect to become friends, though.  His Fox biography once claimed that his best friends were "still the people he went to first grade with."  Perhaps they formed a lifelong loofah friendship.