11.12.05
Paraphrasing Bill O’Reilly
Bill O’Reilly encouraged or baited terrorist organizations to attack San Francisco. This is what he actually said, and didn’t get fired:
You want to be your own country? Go right ahead. And if Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we’re not going to do anything about it. We’re going to say, look, every other place in America is off limits to you, except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead.
You can listen to an audio clip of the comment over at The Political Teen.
Not only did he not get fired, but he’s gotten support for saying it. Californian Conservative says, “[Bill O’Reilly] says it like it is, and takes the heat” and that “San Francisco can use its liberal arrogance to fend for itself [from a terrorist attack].”
Californian Conservative emphatically denies that the O’Reilly is “suggesting or recommending that anyone ‘blow up’ Coit Tower.” Oh, really? What if I make the quote a little more personal and use those same words with O’Reilly as the subject, with just a couple substitutions for context:
Fine, Mr. O’Reilly. You want to be a religious nationalist? Go right ahead. And if al Qaeda comes in here and cuts your head off, we’re not going to do anything about it. We’re going to say, look, every other person in America is off limits to you except Bill O’Reilly. You want to assassinate Bill O’Reilly? Go ahead.
Does that not sound threatening? No? If you really want to test your theory, try one more substitution: Change “Bill/Mr. O’Reilly” to “Mr. President” above and say that on national radio. Then see if the Secret Service finds it to be a little threatening.
