O'Reilly discusses the "fascist" zoning laws in his home town: "[Y]ou can't put up a fence"

Well, in all fairness, it is pretty stupid that you can't put up a fence for privacy. I live in a community where its overlooked by a board so people don't put rusty bathtubs in the front yards to decrease home values. But when they get involved to the point that you cannot protect your privacy in a fashion that includes a nice fence is pretty ridiculous.

It is especially funny because conservatives tend to defend homeowners associations because they are a corporation representing capitalism and the free market. To legislate HOAs to protect homeowners is an attack against limited government and capitalism, so conservatives tend to side with government not doing anything to protect from the injustices of HOAs...

My suggestion to all the complainers about zoning/building restrictions is this...... move to Haiti.

I lived on the 23 rd floor of a high rise in downtown LA when the Northridge quake struck. Our bldg went straight up in the air what seemed like a foot...the building sustained hardly any damge and was never closed down for a moment.

Fascist zoning laws would forbid O'Reilly from having a show.

I understand MMFA's point that he doesn't understand what "fascist" means but I don't think this is a fair criticism. First he made the comment in conversation, not with luxury of time which one has when writing a blog post, for example. Second he used the word in the context of making a defense of President Obama against a rabid partisan - IMO he was likely exaggerating to make his defense stronger.

"Don't people do that now with zoning laws? In a town where I live, you can't put up a fence! I mean, they run the government where I live, like a fascist would run it! They tell you what you can and can't do, how the lawn has to be cut a certain way, this and that..."


Where I live there are zoning laws too, I think there are zoning laws where everyone lives.

It's simply part of something we live under that's generally called 'Law and Government'.

As far as the people who make the zoning laws, where I live any particular zoning law or even a variance, could actually come up as an Article at Town Meeting (in truth such things never do come up at TM, but they could, we as the electorate could actually vote directly on such a thing, if we wanted to), but zoning issues belong to the Planning Board, and those people are elected by us to that board.

That's not simply 'Law and Government', that's called 'Democracy'.

We elect people to make the Laws, and we also elect people to enforce those Laws, or otherwise administer our Government, and it's all part of a grand but wonderful scheme called 'Law and Government', with the most wonderful part being our own direct and indirect participation in the making and enforcing of the Law, which is called 'Democracy'.

I'd think this stuff was too simple and obvious to have to explain to any so-called adult of even the most basic education.

And oh, bill o'reilly is a liar, and he's trying to deceive you.

He lied when he said "they [his town's Government] tell you ...how the lawn has to be cut a certain way."

Unless he wants to be more specific about that little unbelievable tidbit, I conclude that it's a lie and he's a liar, his town doesn't tell him "the lawn has to be cut a certain way."

And if it did, then he should go to Town Meeting and complain about it there, maybe propose an Article for his fellow townsfolk's consideration, or maybe just vote the Planning Board (or whoever) out of office... it's called 'Democracy' and 'Law and Government', not fascism.

Also, unless he wants to more specific about what kind of fence he wants to build (an electric fence?), I think he lied there too, I think it's a lie that "you can't put up a fence" where he lives.

bill o'reilly is a liar, he lied in the above video clip.

I bet that's probably too simple and obvious a truth to have to explain to you, if you have even the most basic education in these things, if you have any knowledge at all of him and of Fox News Channel.