Originally posted by 80sU2isBest:
Bill O'Reilly
Still watching FOX News Channel I see?
This sounds swell but, of course, is a pipe dream. Look, America has exploited me economically. It takes more than half of my take-home pay and gives it to people like Boris Yeltsin and some drug addict who won't work. It isn't fair, but that's life. I have no right to kill or hurt anybody because I don't like the system.
It made sense until this paragraph. "More than half of my take-home pay." Why doesn't he get a little more melodramatic? Even the highest of the top 1% (and we're talking people like the billionaire Walton dynasty here) don't pay more than 36% of their income in taxes. And, hmmm, what Mr. O'Reilly seems to forget is that his taxes pay for this war that he supports. "More than half of [his] take home pay" doesn't go to social programs. And besides, it's a contradiction in terms. "Take-home pay" means that the government has already taken out their taxes, so, unless he gives his money voluntarily to the government, he keeps 100% of his "take-home" pay. I can tell we're not talking about the brightest individual here.
Most dissenters have other agendas running. Some, like Phil Donahue, are wide-eyed idealists who believe they can reason with fanatical killers. They'd be singing "give peace a chance" while a blade crossed their throats. Others are socialists, or anarchists, or just people who hate any kind of central authority.
His criticism of Donahue is a valid one. But then he throws in that emotional plug to get that 90% angry. "Socialists"--what he really wants to do is evoke another Red scare--and "anarchists." Where are these people he refers to? In writing this sentence, he casually dismisses all opposition to this war as non-sensical fanatics, and I find that very condescending in nature.
I have always thought that Jane Fonda's strident anti-American views in the Vietnam era were more about the resentment she had for her autocratic father than they were against perceived injustices to the Viet cong. It was telling that when the Khmer Rouge murdered more than a million Cambodian civilians, Ms. Fonda said nothing. If Jane was really so worried about innocent people dying in Southeast Asia, she should have gotten her butt over to Phnom Phen.
A valid criticism of Jane Fonda. I have a feeling that O'Reilly was pro-Vietnam.
But a well thought-out protest is as rare as a kickboxing Quaker. There are millions of Americans who simply don't like their country. In times of trouble, these people can be counted on to take a point of view counter to the establishment, but often their protest has little to do with any one issue.
So here's where his central point comes across. "There are millions of Americans who simply don't like their country." Implicit is that anyone who is against this war doesn't like their country, and, hence, is a traitor in his eyes. It feels more like the 1950s everyday since September 11th.
The truth is that ideology and misguided beliefs dominate some people. They simply are unable to think clearly. This attack on America was so savage -- and so unnecessary -- that any response short of annihilating the perpetrators is not only inappropriate, it is unconstitutional. The American people give our elected leaders power in order that they will "insure domestic tranquility."
How tranquil are you feeling these days?
"Misguided." Implicit is anyone that disagrees with him is "misguided." Now I will state, once again, that I believe that there really was no alternative to war here, as much as that saddens me. But to wholly dismiss the 10% opposition, who, to be honest, are absolutely no threat to O'Reilly or anyone else, would be to give the government a license to start lying to everyone, as no one will ask questions. Why does O'Reilly need
everyone to agree with him? I mean, he has 90% of the nation! He is just simply doing what he does best: bitch. And these days, it's starting to sound arrogant, when we don't have to worry about public opinion.
The war is yours. Your war is not threatened. What is everyone complaining about?
Ormus