O'Reilly and Miller recycled false attack on Clinton's attendance at 9-11 memorials
On the February 14 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly and Fox News contributor Dennis Miller recycled the myth propagated by O'Reilly that, in the words of Miller, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) "did not attend one" of the "memorial services for the 9-11 people." O'Reilly responded that Miller's claim "is correct." In fact, as Media Matters for America has noted, Clinton attended several funerals and memorials, including one for 79 restaurant employees who died in the September 11, 2001, attacks. Miller purported to contrast Clinton with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who, Miller said, attended "like hundreds and hundreds of them." Miller added: "Well, listen, if they get in a debate, you don't even have to have them talk. Just put that up, number of the memorial services attended. If that doesn't tell you everything about these two people, about talking about commitment versus real commitment, I don't know what does."
Since his original attack on Clinton on the November 27, 2001, edition of The O'Reilly Factor, in which O'Reilly complained that "the only events we know she attended were three highly publicized memorial services," O'Reilly has regularly summarized the controversy by explaining simply that "Hillary Clinton didn't go to one funeral or one memorial service of any of the regular folks killed at the World Trade Center, even though she's a senator of New York" [The O'Reilly Factor, 5/13/02]. On the February 14 broadcast, O'Reilly went a step further, agreeing with Miller's false claim that: "The Factor d[id] some research back then that Hillary Clinton did not attend one" memorial service. O'Reilly falsely responded, "That is correct."
In fact, Clinton delivered a eulogy at a memorial for 79 employees of the rooftop restaurant on World Trade Center Tower One, according to an article in the October 2, 2001, New York Daily News. She also attended a memorial for Rev. Mychal Judge, chaplain of the New York Fire Department, whom she had met at a White House prayer breakfast. On the January 17, 2002, edition of CNN's Greenfield at Large, Clinton stated, "I also have visited in the hospital one victim and met with many, many, many other victims who were either out of the hospital or who lost a loved one."
From the February 14 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:
MILLER: Bill, I want to ask you something real quick.
O'REILLY: Sure, sure.
MILLER: Because you can help me here as far as Rudy goes. I like the fact that he was a U.S. attorney. I think dealing with the mafia he knows the way around punks. You know, he knows how to deal with bullies.
But tell me this. I always liked the way Rudy stepped up to the memorial services for the 9-11 people. Didn't he attend like hundreds and hundreds of them? And didn't, in fact, the Factor do some research back then that Hillary Clinton did not attend one?
O'REILLY: That is correct.
MILLER: Well, listen, if they get in a debate, you don't even have to have them talk. Just put that up, number of the memorial services attended. If that doesn't tell you everything about these two people, about talking about commitment versus real commitment, I don't know what does.
it's nice when you can catch someone so out and out lying. and they do know they're lying.
I smell two things...
The first is the horrid odor emanating from BO and Miller because of where they pulled their "facts" from.
The second thing I smell is either a Silver or a Gold Worst Person in the World award from Keith Olbermann.
Mayor Rudy Giuliani is biggest shill when it comes to taking advantage of 9-11. He's made millions with the creation of his security firm after he went into public office. He claimed he never took advatage of 9-11 events at the Republican convention but mentioned 9-11 23 times in a speech. This guy probably did go to hundreds of funereals and handed business cards or shilled votes right by the casket.
SAVE DEMOCRACY, FOR A DEMOCRAT!
If that doesn't tell you everything about these two people, about talking about commitment versus real commitment, I don't know what does. // Miller
Ya, so what is your point! Really; everyone knows we could fill the Library of Congress with what Miller doesn't know!
Did anyone really ever believe he ever had an opinion of his own? I mean this guy could not drop to his knees fast enough for the corporate media. They gave him late night shows, variety shows, comedy shows, a Monday Night Football job, and stil he could not make anyone but a Neo-Con laugh, and managed to alienate every viewer in America!!
They are running out of people to put up as expertise for the likes of Giuliani so they'll be recruiting skin-heads to grow some hair and buy a three peice suit so to call them "analyist" for the camera's!!
Wait, they already have! Smerconish, and Beck are homophobic racists in expensive suits and a TV show?? Oh well, we do have our work cut out for us!!
Happy Thoughts;
Dan Grady
O'Reilly never lets the facts get in the way of his rants.
And who is still stupid enough to have Dennis (unfunny) Miller on?
O'Reilly. Figures.
>>And who is still stupid enough to have Dennis (unfunny) Miller on?
Oh, be fair. Everytime Miller tries to make a serious point it's hilarious!
Another sleaze attack by Billo the RNC puppet. I actually like the factor and watch it daily but that got me really PO'd because it's just a flat out lie. I'm tired of smear tactics and hillary getting hit harder just because she is a woman
If they lie to you once, how can you trust ANYTHING they say?
who says i trust ANYTHING or everything he says? I don't, in fact I think 90% of what he says is crap (see David Letterman was too nice). It's just fun to see him try to spin his pro bush propaganda and laugh at it. He is pretty charismatic though, I DO like his personality.
Who is, Oreilly or Miller?
oreilly of course. Miller is ok but his shtick got old about 6 years ago.
Thank you for that! I thought it was just me as I used to like Dennis Miller, but now he is just a "one schtick" pony. Foxnoise is the perfect fit for him. As for Billo the only items he says that are true are his name and the name of the show and not the "no spin" part either.........that is pure crap!!
Lets be nice to poor Dennis. He's just trying to make a buck by shilling to anyone who will give him air time. He certainly isn't funny or as smart as he thinks. His only thoughts are from a book of quotes. He's a twit without a cause.
Let us be nice to poor Dennis. He's just trying to make a buck by shilling to anyone who will give him air time. He certainly isn't funny or as smart as he thinks. His only thoughts are from a book of quotes. He's a twit without a cause.
Yeah, you should always hit women softly, Kernel.
I am reminded of a love song by gentle folk band Tenacious D...
The issue of political figures (ok, politicians) going to funerals and memorial services is a toughie. For example, President Bush has been critizied for not attending military funerals. However, many prominent people believe that if they were to attend such a service they would be a tremendous distraction from the poor folks who died. Additionally, unless someone can attend every service, how could they possibly pick and choose?
Whether it's President Bush or Sen. Clinton or anyone else - let them decide what is best and the rest us us should just stay the h*ll out of their decision!
Exactly right.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
New, Just from my perspective, If I sent men to war I would HAVE to attend at least one. Even though I thought war was necessary I would feel the need to show the public that I understand the consequences of my decision. I can't believe that this White House can't schedule a visit from the President and keep it under wraps. They keep SO MUCH UNDER WRAPS. The truth is that Bush would have attended a funeral if he could get press coverage and IF the war was going better. Remember Pat Tillman?
Dennis Miller
Hasbeen Dennis Miller who tried to resurface as a warmonger with HBO Specials, CNBC and FOX. Only BO would put this fool on the air. Real intelligent conversation from Miller.
The Dennis Miller Train Wreck Express passed through Factor territory, I see. Miller's tragic, mystifing, yet fascinating descent from very funny SNL faux news anchor to current Right wing shlock merchant followed a very predictable arc. I loved him on SNL, I really liked his first HBO series, I tolerated him on Monday Night Football and I've loathed him ever since. I'm not sure exactly what happened to Miller, (although my theory is that all the testosterone and steriods from the NFL addled his brain) but the moment I realized he was irrelevant was when he interviewed Scott Ritter (Former U.S. Marine and U.N. Weapons Inspector) on his now defunct MSNBC show. Miller kept trying to push the Conservative talking points onto Ritter and got schooled on every one of them. You could tell that Miller knew it, but Ritters's credentials were too legitimate to be overcome. Now we see Miller resurfacing on Fox. Pathetic.
Fact is--Millers a ratings whore. If Liberal media were as big as con media, he'd be the biggest lefty on the air.
linden, didn't see miller and ritter, but i have heard him on other shows. he must have tied a clueless bush apologist like miller in knots. and miller on monday night football? like listening to nails on a chalkboard. painful.
Dennis Miller was on Real Time with Bill Maher a few years back and Bill Maher asked Dennis how he went from ultra-liberal to ultra-conservative. Dennis Miller responded that some of his formal liberal friends dared to criticize Guilliani after 9/11.
I watched his unfortunate show on MSNBC after his transformation and he was telling jokes with his usual tone but only at liberal's expense. The crowd (who I assumed was mostly made of conservatives) rarely laughed either because they didn't understand the joke or more likely because the jokes just weren't funny.
Of course I believe like another poster on here is the Miller is nothing more than a ratings whore. When a Democrat is elected President again, Miller will once again become ultra-liberal.
These guys are clever, though. As MM noted, BOR has previously claimed that Hillary attended "only a few well-publicized" memorial services, the implication being that she only did it for the publicity. So now they've set up a catch-22: If we can find media reports that she attended various memorials, well, that only proves that they were "well-publicized", so they don't count toward real caring.
True. What I'd like to know, is how does attending these funerals make someone more qualified to be the prez. I've attended many many funerals.
I agree. I would prefer that my public servants are hard at work in their offices addressing a crisis rather than attending ceremonies commemorating one. But hey, that's just me.
Even if she DIDN'T attend any funerals (which she obviously did), who cares??? Why is that such a big deal?
At least they're recycling...
bah, you beat me to it.
Dennis Miller is lying. Actually Rudy attended like thousands and thousands of memorials if not millions and Hillary like only sent like a form letter to one person and the letter didn't have correct postage and got returned and then was used as a coaster by Hillary when she was drinking a diet coke.
And why didn't Dennis mention Hillory was actually Satan in drag?
That was funnier than anything Dennis Miller has said in 15 years.
At least she didn't beat up on the family members of 9/11 victims like O'Really has.
And how low can someone go in the entertainment field, I mean isn't shilling for O'Reilley even worse than being "spit out of the bottom of the porn industry"?
(Words in quotes stolen from Seinfeld episode 169. Writer: Bruce Eric Kaplan)
Dennis, which one did Hillary miss? Was it the only one you went to? Or??????
O'Reilly and Miller- a black hole of suck
Imagine
Imagine if CNN or MSNBC had Tim Robbins on once a week to discuss "World Events", you can just picture O'Reilly having a entire segment on how left wing they are. But yet he has this unfunny Miller on weekly.
Several services?...mmfa's crack staff can only come up with "2" services attended by hrc.
I'll stand corrected if there were more...until then...I guess I'll believe mmfa.
MILLER: Well, listen, if they get in a debate, you don't even have to have them talk. Just put that up, number of the memorial services attended. If that doesn't tell you everything about these two people, about talking about commitment versus real commitment, I don't know what does.
What the hell does putting on your Sunday clothes and going to look at somebody's carcass and listen to bagpipes have to do with commitment? Maybe Clinton was busy in her office doing her job working a bunch of living taxpayers.
I've never understood the whole funeral and memorial thing.I mean, I get wanting to remember somebody, and making it official, but can't you remember somebody using your imagination?Why make a commitment out of it?
The exception, from my experience, is the Irish wake.Although I haven't been a Catholic since I was a young'un, I'm still Irish, and the wake is a good party.
Well, two is more than "none," so Miller and O'Reilly are lying.
Okay. Like it matters. The only way it makes a difference is if you think Rudy is better than Hillary simply because he attended more funerals. Logical.
Maybe I should start attending funerals so I can become a better presidential candidate.
Even if O'Reilly was right, which he wasn't, his argument is ridiculous on its face.
Actually i would be more impressed if our leaders would privately visit gravesites with no cameras present.
I may be parochial, but (having also checked the link to 2005 article) Hillary did EXACTLY the right thing - "going to the funerals of the people that I knew personally. "
To attend merely to pander to the cameras is base, and offensive!
BTW, Hillary is to me an acceptable Dem candidate, but no better than fourth on my list.
Miller has hit bottom....or not...He used to be ultra hip (I myself never bought it..he makes me barf) but now is a puppet to O'really...thats SAD. Pays to quit while your ahead Dennis...oops..way too late!
I'm sure however that Bill'o enjoys sticking his hand up Dennis to do the act....maybe is finally using that loofa. What a pair a'maroons!
PDRUM....ca
"He used to be ultra hip"
-----
Rick Overton, his head writer, was the one who was hip. When Overton left, Miller fell apart. He's not funny on his own.
OK, I'm a little biased, working 2 blocks from the arena where st. rudy gave a motivational speech along with marty schottenheimer, thereby totally xxxxxx up traffic yesterday.....but still....so rudy went to a bunch of funerals....what about his responsibility for the total lack of coordination between emergency services on 9/11 that lead to the deaths of hundreds? I'm so sick of Rudy. What has he done since 9/11 that has contributed one cent to the well being of this country?
What has Rudy done SINCE 9/11?
What did he REALLY do in the aftermath of 9/11? Well, he didn't fly out west to be out of harm's way, as our president did. But what he DID do is HIS JOB. No more, no less. He walked around, sympathized with people, made some calls for aid, gave some interviews, all the things a city's chief executive is SUPPOSED to do when there is trouble.
Like I say, at least he didn't run and hide (or is that, "cut and run"?), like Bush did, but since when is doing one's JOB considered some sort of monumental accomplishment?
My garbage men are supposed to come on Friday, and guess what, THEY SHOWED UP, and did their job. PRESIDENTIAL? Hardly.
He also presided over the hauling away to Asia for recycling most of the structural steel from the WTC. No such steel in a building has failed so catastrophically, before or since. And they say Bush is uncurious. That alone should disqualify him from being the hero of 9/11
I suppose getting into Rudy stuff is kinda OT, but since the opportunity has arisen, I want to second what Tex said. All the way back when Giuliani was "Person of the Year," I was thinking "For what? For not panicking on 9/11? For doing his job?"
There were a lot of people who didn't panic on 9/11, including the cops, the firefighters, and the EMTs who rushed to get to the place everyone else was rushing to get away from. I have a lot more respect for them than I do for that self-aggrandizing faker, Rudy Giuliani.
I didn't know anyone was keeping a scorecard of this. Rudy Giuliani reortedly did attend numerous funerals of 9/11 victims... and that was commendable. As Mayor of New York City these were his people. It was a nice thing to do. But what exactly is it supposed to imply if Sen.Hillary Clinton elected not to do the funeral circuit... for whatever her reasons? This is just another one of those mindless non-issues that the right wing uses to distract people from more important things.
Only on Fox....
A couple of has-beens pimping a non-issue.
Wow!!! BillO, that paragon of journalism and falafels and Miller, that...uh, whatever he is...
Can Fox Noise really afford to have that much brain power on at the same time??
TO DAVE:
Where have you been? This "comedy" has been around the internet for at least a year, maybe longer.
For Miller to use the dead as a means of comparing two(2) politicians is an outrage and the families should let him and Goofy Bill know that they can use their own families for this low-hatred activity. Mr. Miller, as a Pittsburgh boy, you should know better. Using dead people to make a plea for votes. Disgusting...
P.S. TO DAVE:
Fool me once, shame on me....Fools me twice, ah, ah, der, you can't fool me again...Hee,Hee, Hee....Our President and this is REAL
For MMfA:
You referred to Dennis Miller above as a "Fox News contributor."
You give Miller too much credit. He doesn't contribute anything other than vocal feces.
For Wesley:
"Several services? . . . MMfA's crack staff can come up with only 2 services attended by hrc."
The point is, Bull OhReally and Denny maintain that she did not attend ANY.
If you want to split verbal hairs over what number constitutes "several," feel free to do so.
The FACT remains - and this ain't "republican math" - 2 > 0 . . .
Does this make Clinton a better presidential candidate? NO.
But it says something when a sitting US Senator can attend funerals for the victims of 9/11, while the President of the US can't attend ONE funeral for the casualties of the war that was supposedly fought as a result of 9/11 . . .
"Just put that up, number of the memorial services attended. If that doesn't tell you everything about these two people, about talking about commitment versus real commitment, I don't know what does."
Thanks Dennis. It's good to know that my choice for president in 2008 is going to be easy: Just vote for whoever went to the most 9/11 memorials.
I'm glad that when choosing the next leader of the free world, one not be bogged down with issues like the Iraq war, foreign relations, the economy, immigration, national security, the defecit, health care, ethics reform, global warming, stem cell research, or energy costs. Thanks for once again dumbing down the American political process.
Look who you are listening to a wannabe color man for Monday Night Football when the pop culture thought it was kind of cute. He had late night show that failed miserably, and anything else that he has touched since he left SNL. The other you know give him flaleel and loofah and he is a happy camper.