Bill O’Reilly Accuses Obama Of Political Terrorism

Now that Glenn Beck has left Fox News and slithered off to the obscurity he so richly deserves, Bill O’Reilly is stepping up to fill the role of frothing lunatic that the network has missed since Beck’s departure.

Monday night’s program featured an interview with Frank VanderSloot, a wealthy businessman who is the finance chair of Mitt Romney’s campaign for president. VanderSloot has been the subject of a Murdoch Media blitz to defend him from what they have called a smear campaign. In fact, VanderSloot was merely identified factually as a major Romney supporter and his history of ultra-conservativism and anti-gay activism was truthfully reported. He has received the sort of attention that any prominent political operative might expect to receive.

However, in conservative circles that is regarded as something akin to McCarthyism. That’s the characterization that has been disseminated in Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, Fox News, Fox Business Network, and Fox Nation. And now O’Reilly is chiming in with the most absurd and irresponsible rhetoric to date. Here is the exchange between O’Reilly and VanderSloot:

O’Reilly: Some believe this is economic terrorism…not economic, political terrorism. That targeting a business man like you, running an honest business, because of your freedom to donate to who you want to donate to, but try to ruin you personally and professionally, that’s terrorism. Political terrorism. Do you see it that way?

VanderSloot: Well, I have these two questions, Bill, to President Obama. Why did you publish a list? […] Then the second question is, who is supposed to receive the message? Is it only the liberal press that’s supposed to go after these folks, or is it also the agencies that he runs, that he’s in charge of, and that report to him and want to please him? […]

O’Reilly: They want to intimidate you from giving any money to the campaign, and others like you who might be thinking of it. Business people go “I’m not gonna do that. They might put my name on the web and I’ll lose customers. So I’m not gonna do it.” But that’s terrorism.

VanderSloot: I suppose it is.

Just to be clear, what O’Reilly and VanderSloot are describing as terrorism is actually just disclosure. They believe that transparency in political donations by powerful corporations and wealthy individuals is an unwarranted burden. They would much prefer to be able to buy elections and influence politicians in complete secrecy. And even though donors to candidates of both parties are subject to the same disclosure rules, only Republicans consider such requirements the equivalent of terrorism.

Aside from the obvious absurdity of attacking open and honest political disclosures as terrorism, this sort of discussion also trivializes the very real horrors experienced by actual victims of violence perpetrated in the name of intimidation and fear. O’Reilly and VanderSloot should be ashamed of themselves, but instead used the occasion of this madness to solicit donations for Romney. They closed the segment by celebrating VanderSloot’s new donation of $100,000 to Romney’s SuperPAC.

Seriously, when is the Federal Elections Commission going to start monitoring Fox News for its in-kind contributions to Republicans? The network is a non-stop ad for the GOP.

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16 thoughts on “Bill O’Reilly Accuses Obama Of Political Terrorism

  1. Right-Wingers are trying to provide their conservative dupes a casus beli to engage in assassination and murder against Liberals.

  2. It is so irritating how they always say ‘some believe’ or ‘some say’ all the time. Who are these ‘some’, who believe this or say that? They never tell us because it is they that are saying and believing this. It is the prototypical straw man argument. They know this is not akin to political terrorism it is just a word they like to throw around that means nothing to them.

    • Some people say Bill O’Reilly blames the Troops for being homeless and addicted to pain meds. And that some would be Bill -O himself. Bill O’Reilly repeatedly insults homeless veterans. To Bill, Veterans are homeless because they don’t “work hard and keep it honest” like Bill.

      Some people say Bill O’Reilly is a filthy degenerate sexaul assault perpetrator, and those soem would be court documents and audio recordings of Bill O’Reilly the filth-monger.

      • You have much less to fear from conservatives than your own liberal philosophy and your willingness to voluntarily give up your freedom to the state.

        • this is what’s known as an obligatory disclaimer. Not the same as but reminds me of Bush II’s tepid endorsement of Romney.

          • an obligatory perfunctory disclaimer. It took me forever to remember that word.

  3. Huh. It just seems to me that in presenting facts about VanderSloot that list was just reporting and letting us decide. Is that methodology suddenly terrorism?

    • Yep. To conservatives, openness and honesty is like poison. Asking them to be open is akin to threatening their lives.

    • O’Reilly claimed that revealing misanthropy is terrorism, ” … “and I’ll lose customers. So I’m not gonna do it.” But that’s terrorism.”
      the other guy just agreed. not that he cares much, while O’Reilly sucks his toes…

  4. This story aired on TRMS (5/15/2012).
    Odd that Vandersloot has changed his story as to when this terrorism started. Initially it was in March when TRMS ran a similiar story based on a reporter who had the same claim pushed against him for writing about Vandersloots bully pulpit abuses of anyone who doesn’t agree with him.

  5. The party of “personal responsibility”, hard at work making sure that nobody can hold them accountable for their reprehensible hate campaigns…

  6. “…Glenn Beck slithering back to obscurity…”

    Glenn Beck made $80 million last year, accoring to Forbes magazine. And his “Restoring Love” event in Dallas is sold out. Once again, you have no grasp of reality.

    • Sure he’s making money, but he has still lost his platform and he no longer makes news. When was the last time you heard a story about him? No one cares anymore but his glassy-eyed disciples who are happy to empty their wallets into his bank account.

  7. “When was the last time you heard a story about him?”

    What kind of benchmark is that? If you want to talk about a pundit who has made news AND slithered back into obscurity, that would be Keith Olbermann.

    “…glassy-eyed disciples…”

    No matter how mant times you burp out little insults about Glenn Beck fans, it’s clear that these people will find more inspiration to do good works by attending that event, as opposed to reading the stuff on this site.

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