ACLU

Bill O’Reilly Has Totally Lost His Feeble Mind with this ‘Price of Freedom’ Rant on Guns

Posted by on November 8, 2017 at 3:19 pm. 2 Comments :

Being a notorious sexual predator who has paid out tens of millions of dollars to victimized women is taking its toll on Bill O’Reilly. Now that he’s sequestered to his chintzy weblog since Fox News fired him, O’Reilly is exhibiting signs of acute mental distress. Among other humiliations, he has been making guest appearances on Sean Hannity’s radio show despite having hated him when they were Fox News colleagues.

Bill Reilly

On Tuesday O’Reilly posted a mini-rant on Twitter (video below) to complain about criticism he received for his remarks on gun regulations. Following the Las Vegas massacre, O’Reilly wrote on his website that:

“This is the price of freedom. Violent nuts are allowed to roam free until they do damage, no matter how threatening they are. The Second Amendment is clear that Americans have a right to arm themselves for protection. Even the loons.”

Gee. Why would anyone criticize that? O’Reilly is just quoting from the Constitution’s “Even the Loons” clause of the Second Amendment. Never mind that he is expressing a perverse comfort with potentially violent miscreants obtaining guns at will without any public safety oversight. Even worse, he is justifying the carnage as an acceptable consequence of making sure that every American has unfettered access to assemble a personal armory. And so O’Reilly takes to Twitter to double down on his lunacy, posting this belligerent response to his critics:

“The last time the Vegas thing happened I said this is the price we pay. This is the price of freedom. And all the left – ‘Oh O’Reilly, arrgh – [blubbering sounds].’ Look you pinheads, our freedom dictates that police cannot intervene unless a crime is committed.”

So O’Reilly is cool with dozens of people being slaughtered at a country music concert so long as psychopaths can still buy AR-15s. Then he asserts that “everybody knew this guy was bad news.” He was referring to the shooters in both Las Vegas and Texas. He went on to say that the price of freedom demands that the rights of people like these to buy guns supersedes the rights of the rest of us to live. And while he notes that there is an exception for people with felonies, he apparently forgot that the Texas shooter’s criminal record had not been properly recorded. But here is where O’Reilly slipped off the rails:

“In the Reagan years there was a downgrading in getting people institutionalized. So it used to be a lot easier, in this country, to put people who are misbehaving, or behaving in an aberrant way, under observation and to take them off the street. But then the ACLU stepped in, the civil liberties people, and ‘Ah, no no no.’ So now you’ve got people walking all over the place and the authorities can’t do anything. [Raising his voice} The Price of Freedom!”

First of all, there was no “downgrading” of criteria to institutionalize someone in the Reagan years. What Reagan did was to close institutions in order to cut his budget as governor of California. That meant that thousands of people who were previously being treated for mental illness – voluntarily in many cases – were put on the streets. It was a budgetary decision, not a medical one.

Secondly, WTF is he talking about? He starts off reminiscing about the good old days when it was easier to lock up people for psychological reasons. He even takes a swipe at the ACLU for protecting the rights of the mentally impaired. And he bitches about all the free-roaming nutcases who can’t be involuntarily incarcerated. Apparently, freedom doesn’t mean that people with mental problems should be allowed to actually be free. However, he then reasserts his premise that freedom does mean they should all be able to arm themselves to the teeth.

If O’Reilly got his way, and the “authorities” were allowed to pick up “people who are misbehaving,” O’Reilly would have to be at the top of the list. Anyone with his decades long history of sexually harassing and assaulting women ought not to be “walking all over the place.” And his clear inability to articulate a coherent thought makes his case all the more troubling. He’s obviously a very sick man, in more ways than one. And in the final analysis, his “price of freedom” was $32 million (and more) paid to silence his victims.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

‘I Hope Trump Enjoys Losing’ Says ACLU Director After Donations Skyrocket

Posted by on January 30, 2017 at 12:31 pm. 3 Comments :

Last week Donald Trump issued an Executive Order suspending immigration from seven Majority-Muslim nations. The outcry was swift and furious as hundreds of thousands of Americans across the country took the streets (and airports). The public revulsion to this bigoted proposal became the latest theme for massive anti-Trump protests. Even many Republicans expressed deep disagreement with the White House. Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham issued a stinging joint statement taking Trump to task. They boldly declared that “we fear this executive order may do more to help terrorist recruitment than improve our security.”

Donald Trump

That’s an opinion shared by many national security and counter-terrorism experts. But a surprising confirmation of the widespread opposition to Trump’s ban came Sunday evening with an announcement by the ACLU. As reported by The Hill:

“The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has received more than $19 million [now more than $24 million] since Saturday, and has hundreds of thousands of new members since it took action against President Trump’s executive order […] The average it takes in per year is $3 million to $4 million, according to Reuters reporter Dustin Volz.”

So the ACLU received six times as much in donations in one weekend as they ordinarily receive in a full year. That’s a powerful demonstration of citizens voting with their pocketbooks. It all began with the ACLU filing a lawsuit to challenge the Executive Order. They argued that it unconstitutionally discriminated on the basis of religion. A federal court in New York agreed, issuing an emergency stay finding that there is “a strong likelihood of success.” That ruling prompted this deliciously snarky response from the ACLU’s national director, Faiz Shakir:

“I hope Trump enjoys losing. He’s going to lose so much we’re going to get sick and tired of his losing.”

Indeed, the sentiment against Trump is growing daily. Gallup’s tracking poll shows his net approval plunging eight points, in just five days, with fifty percent disapproving. In the first week of his presidency he has earned the distinction of having the lowest favorability of any new president on record. His own email appeals to supporters reveal that he’s “worried:”

“We thought there would be a huge influx in contributions this weekend, but we were wrong. We need a MASSIVE turnaround immediately if we’re going to hit our goal by tomorrow at midnight.”

The Trump team may suffer further disappointments going forward. The American people do not tolerate official prejudice from their government. Trump tried desperately to spin the order as a safety measure that was not directed at Muslims. However, that contradicts his campaign promise “calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” His surrogates Rudy Giuliani and Michael Flynn, Jr. similarly admitted that the order was deliberately aimed at Muslims.

The momentum is growing for Americans committed to the values to which this country has long aspired. The support for the ACLU’s actions affirms those values. And there is no reason the momentum can’t continue. Here is a link to the ACLU’s donations website. Share this article and link with your friends and family. If we remain active in protests and communications with our representatives, we can insure that Trump and his hateful agenda continue to lose, although most of us won’t get sick of it any time soon.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Update On Journalists Arrested At Republican Convention

Posted by on September 19, 2008 at 1:24 pm. NO Comments :

At the Republican National Convention in Minnesota this month, there was an unprecedented assault on freedom of the press as dozens of journalists were arrested along with the protesters they were covering. Those arrested included members of local broadcast media, the Associated Press, and mainstream newspapers, along with alternative media and Internet news sites.

The actions of law enforcement in St. Paul were thoroughly unjustifiable and smacked of police state suppression of free speech. It is a black mark on the city’s reputation, and the fact that it was done with the cooperation of the Republican Party doesn’t say much for their commitment to the First Amendment either.

Today Mayor Chris Coleman of St. Paul announced that the city will decline to prosecute all misdemeanor charges against journalists arrested during the convention. While dropping these charges is the only acceptable course of action, Coleman still believes that the arrests were proper and in the interests of the community. He asserts that “the police did their duty in protecting public safety.” (Exactly who in the public did Coleman think the journalists were threatening?) Nonetheless, he heaps praise on himself for reversing the police on their arrest authority.

“This decision reflects the values we have in Saint Paul to protect and promote our First Amendment rights to freedom of the press. A journalist plays a special role in our democracy and that role is just too important to ignore.”

If this is an example of how St. Paul protects and promotes the First Amendment, it is a sad commentary on their understanding of the Constitution. Dropping these charges is not a demonstration of principle. It is merely a correction of prior misbehavior. And it does nothing to undo the damage caused by the detentions in the first place.

If the reason for arresting the journalists was to limit the free distribution of information from the convention site, and there is no other plausible reason, then their mission was accomplished. Reporters cannot post stories from jail. By releasing them after the event was concluded they were effectively silenced. Whatever news these reporters might have gathered and supplied to the public is forever lost.

Another deficiency in Mayor Coleman’s statement is language that calls into question who will be cleared and what defines a journalist:

“The decision will only affect people identified as journalists who face the misdemeanor charge. Recognizing the growing media profession in print, broadcast and the Internet, the city attorney’s office will use a broad definition and verification to identify journalists who were caught up in mass arrests during the convention.”

What these means is that any person that doesn’t meet the city’s definition of a journalist, or any journalist the city chooses to indict on charges higher than a misdemeanor, is exempt from this absolution. This interpretation directs the power back to the government and away from the Constitution. It would be far too easy to apply these vague rules arbitrarily in order to harass selected individuals whom the government dislikes.

If the city of St. Paul faces no consequences for their repressive tactics, then they and other government bodies will have a green light for future clampdowns on lawful, Constitutionally protected activities. Hopefully one or more of these journalists will file suits for false arrest and violations of their Constitutional rights. At this point the courts are one of the few remaining paths left to affirm the principle of a press that is unshackled from government control.

Also on the path are the ACLU and Free Press. They are both in hot pursuit of truth and justice in this affair. Feel free to help them out.

Six Years Of Shame: Close Guantanamo Now

Posted by on January 11, 2008 at 10:05 am. 3 Comments :

News Corpse is wearing orange today to mark the sad persistence of the stain on American justice and morality that is Guantanamo Bay. This detention facility is an unprecedented departure from the Constitutional principles upon which our nation was founded. Six years is too long to tolerate this unlawful, unproductive and unethical policy.

The ACLU has initiated a campaign to remind all Americans what it means to be American. They are asking everyone to wear orange today and to help educate their family, friends, and others about this issue. I am asking that everyone contact local and national media today (and for as many more days as it takes) and advise them that we will not sit back any longer and pretend that we’re not responsible for the atrocities being done in our name. Read the fact sheet below and go to the Close Guantanamo web site for more information and opportunities to take action.