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O'Reilly on Gitmo interrogations: "If it were illegal, Bush and Cheney would have been arrested"

June 08, 2009 8:50 pm ET

From the June 8 edition of Fox News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor:

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    • Author by solon (June 08, 2009 9:10 pm ET)
      7  
      By THAT standard the St Valentines day massacre must not have been illegal. What a putz O'Reilly is
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      • Author by LuvLuLu (June 09, 2009 12:42 am ET)
        6  
        On this same evening, when Juan Williams pointed out that abortions were illegal and torture was not, O'Reilly accused him of arguing "semantics", like the difference between something that's legal and something that's not legal is simply a matter of semantics, or a minor difference in meaning!
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        • Author by pags2 (June 09, 2009 1:29 am ET)
          1  
          O'Reilly takes inconsistent positions on the law concerning this segment, Dr. Tiller and the Philly vigilantes. He was self-righteous as usual and he cannot see the inconsistencies. In the torture segment he says that the torture was legal based on the AG's interpretation and even if it was not legal, it saved lives. Of course, this is the ends justifies the means argument. On the Tiller case he told Williams he should not hide behind the legal niceties of the law but he argued for the legal niceties on the vigilante case. O'Reilly believes in the rules of law only when they fit his personal idea of morality. The rules of law must apply to every case and are not subject to be suspended on an ad hoc basis. He is free to argue the morality of late term abortions, but ultimately he must acknowledge the legality of these abortions regardless of what any other doctor claims about these abortions. The state of Kansas prosecuted Tiller and lost on this issue. If you don't like the law then your remedy is to change the law.
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        • Author by weedwonker (June 09, 2009 7:35 am ET)
          1  
          Thank you,that was my own immediate reaction: now Fox is giving us a new definition of semantics. Must be a Fox dictionary somewhere: maybe on the "NYT's bestseller list"
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    • Author by christopher howard (June 08, 2009 9:23 pm ET)
      6  
      I love how clearly contemptuous Bill is toward the rule of law in this segment.

      Wasn't this idiot some years back going on about how Clinton was a law-breaker for lying about sex with an intern?
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      • Author by snoopy (June 08, 2009 10:09 pm ET)
        7  
        All you have to do is look at the list of republican offenders to see how hollow Bill's words are. You will never see him condemn a crooked republican.
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      • Author by nerzog (June 09, 2009 9:13 am ET)
        6  
        You're Right about Clinton. The bulk of the Republican Party is drowning in its own hypocrisy on this issue. The same people who are now defending torture were, 12 years ago, weeping and wailing and rending their garments, lamenting the death of our judicial system because Bill Clinton lied about his sex life under oath.

        I distinctly remember callers to the Rush Limbaugh show practically in tears because they didn't know how to explain to their children why the President could get away with lying. Politicians predicted that American children would think that telling the truth was no longer necessary, and Western Civilization would crumble.
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        • Author by mikehuck1976 (June 09, 2009 2:22 pm ET)
          1  
          That is precisely when the Republican party lost me for good. The disgusting hypocrisy that it must take to separate the thoughts in your head to justify this belief system is beyond me.
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    • Author by pags2 (June 08, 2009 9:38 pm ET)
      1  
      Bush and Cheney arrested? We can only hope.
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    • Author by budrykzp9226 (June 08, 2009 9:47 pm ET)
      5  
      WOW, Bill. I guess you're also a huge fan of that guiltless hero Richard Nixon. Wait, what am I talking about... of course he is.
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      • Author by christopher howard (June 08, 2009 10:05 pm ET)
        6  
        Funny, I chose Clinton for my example, but was thinking of Nixon too. The "if it were legal" [we'd arrest the president]argument has to be one of the dumbest things I've heard O'Reilly say in a while. This country is not in the habit of arresting its presidents and, by O'Reilly's standard, no president has ever broken a law. Wadda maroon.
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        • Author by christopher howard (June 08, 2009 11:13 pm ET)
          3  
          And I should, of course, have said "if it were illegal."
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        • Author by Bronwyn (June 09, 2009 1:55 am ET)
          1  
          Except when the Republicans were all for spending millions of dollars to prove President Clinton lied about having sex with an intern. But when it comes to dragging us into illegal wars, torture & such, breaking these laws are not important or worse they are justified. Billy Boy Bush and Cheney may still be arrested for war crimes It ain't over until the fat lady sings.
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    • Author by ProgLib (June 09, 2009 12:14 am ET)
      6  
      FINALLY... juan williams not being a patsy for bill oreilly's propaganda.
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    • Author by overmars jr. (June 09, 2009 12:16 am ET)
      1  
      Wow. More of this speaking on behalf of all the demented liberals... which of course means anyone an inch to the left of Daddy Rupert.

      I fear one of these whackadoos will shoot up any random "liberal event" as a "heroic gesture". Please do note how often he uses this phrase when describing how hideously vile every single instance of "baby killing" and "support for baby killing" is, almost as if the real heroic gesture would be say... oh I don't know... maybe do the exact opposite, Bill?

      For me, FNC constantly dances on the line of public incitement, which definitely is illegal - not that Billy would care. I mean, never mind that his infallible holy book was twice edited by a council of powerful men, that stands the test of thousands of years despite all advances in reason and knowledge.

      But these mere laws, they're just babies! Who could take those seriously, right?! Because as we know, right wingers have the right stuff to judge what is and what shouldn't be law, and when those laws are mere silly things to ignore. Ya know... coz they are so beyond bias, and merely cosmic truth tellers.

      Egads.
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    • Author by rwmacdonald2091 (June 09, 2009 4:06 am ET)
      1  
      Hey Billo, give it time, Bush and Cheney still may be arrested!

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    • Author by dmhack (June 09, 2009 5:16 am ET)
      1  
      Just as I suspected--Bill is anti-semantic.
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    • Author by Easy to refute wingnuts (June 09, 2009 7:28 am ET)
      4  
      By BillO's "reasoning," then, sexual harassment must be legal, too, because he was never arrested.

      Well, his emotional development was, though, at about the age of twelve.
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    • Author by seeryer (June 09, 2009 11:54 am ET)
      3  
      Juan,
      Can I do your job for you but like 100 times better. Here is how you answer O'Reilly's question: "Liberals aren't advocating for the torture of Mr Roeder. If they were, your argument might be more than just an attempt to compare apples to oranges in order to make liberals look bad".
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      • Author by Easy to refute wingnuts (June 09, 2009 1:53 pm ET)
        3  
        Except that O'Reilly's arguments are usually on the order of comparing apples to telephones.
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