Despite available audiotape, O'Reilly asserted, "[T]he Hagee thing isn't going to take off because there's no tape on Hagee"
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SUMMARY: Discussing supporters of Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama, Bill O'Reilly said of Rev. John Hagee's controversial comments, "[T]he Hagee thing isn't going to take off because there's no tape on Hagee." In fact, there is audiotape of several of Hagee's comments about Jews, Islam, and Hurricane Katrina.
During the May 30 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly discussed controversial supporters of Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama and claimed that "the [Pastor John] Hagee thing isn't going to take off because there's no tape on Hagee." Hagee withdrew his endorsement of McCain after McCain rejected it following the revelation of comments Hagee made in the late 1990s about Adolf Hitler. Contrary to O'Reilly's claim, there is audiotape of several of Hagee's comments. In a May 21 post on The Huffington Post, reporter Sam Stein linked to the audio of Hagee asserting that God allowed Hitler to happen "[b]ecause God said my top priority for the Jewish people is to get them to come back to the land of Israel." Further, audio is available of Hagee's appearance on the September 18, 2006, edition of National Public Radio's Fresh Air, during which Hagee asserted of Hurricane Katrina: "I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they are -- were recipients of the judgment of God for that. The newspaper carried the story in our local area that was not carried nationally that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other Gay Pride parades." He later added: "Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans." Also during that broadcast, when asked by host Terry Gross whether he believed that "all Muslims have a mandate to kill Christians and Jews," Hagee replied: "Well, the Quran teaches that. Yes, it teaches that very clearly."
Moreover, while O'Reilly discussed Hagee on the May 30 edition of The O'Reilly Factor and asked McCain about Hagee during their interview on the May 8 edition of the program, Hagee had been mentioned on only one previous show since his endorsement of McCain on February 27. During that broadcast, on March 14, it was Fox News anchor Geraldo Rivera -- not O'Reilly -- who brought up Hagee. Discussing Obama's former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Rivera stated of Obama, "[H]e's not the first candidate, in fairness ... to be burned by a religious endorsement, like Hagee." O'Reilly did not respond to Rivera's mention of Hagee.
A Nexis search* of O'Reilly Factor transcripts between February 27 and June 2 produced only three broadcasts on which Hagee was mentioned. A similar search for Pastor Rod Parsley** yielded zero results. Parsley, a senior pastor of the World Harvest Church in Columbus, Ohio -- whose endorsement McCain accepted on February 26, but then rejected on May 22 -- has been widely criticized for comments about Islam. Indeed, audio is available of Parsley saying about Islam:
I do not believe our nation can truly fulfill its divine purpose until we understand our historical conflict with Islam. I know that this statement sounds extreme, but I'm not shrinking back from its implications. The fact is that America was founded -- I'm gonna stagger you right now -- America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed. And I believe September 11, 2001, was a generational call to arms that we can no longer ignore.
Moreover, ABC aired video footage of Parsley on the May 22 edition of Good Morning America.
By contrast, using a Nexis search*** of broadcasts of The O'Reilly Factor between February 27 and June 2, Media Matters for America found that Wright was prominently discussed and/or mentioned in the context of Obama's presidential campaign on at least 37 editions of the program, often during multiple segments of the same edition.
Likewise, a search covering the same period for mentions of Father Michael Pfleger**** -- who made controversial remarks during a sermon at Obama's former church on May 25 -- found that Pfleger was prominently discussed on at least three editions of O'Reilly's program and once in multiple segments.
From the May 30 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:
O'REILLY: OK, Tanya, I mean, I don't know what to say here. I think this is a huge issue and is going to be one up until the vote in November. And what say you?
TANYA ACKER (Democratic strategist): A couple of things. You know, I'd like to jump back to Geraldine Ferraro's point, because she said something that I thought was really insightful about the responses that she's getting from white people who feel that their voices aren't being heard and they can't discuss these issues honestly.
I think that there are probably a lot of people in that congregation, you know, the people who she referenced who are standing up and clapping when a lot of these statements were made. I think that they may feel the same way. I think that there is an issue of racism in America and anger around race in America that people are just not confronting openly. And I wish we could have that conversation divorced from all of the incendiary sermons that are coming from different pulpits -- not just Reverend Wright's, but also John Hagee's. I don't think that -- just like I don't think that Wright speaks for Hagee or Pfleger, or -- I'm sorry, Wright speaks for Obama or Pfleger speaks for Obama, I don't think that Hagee speaks for McCain.
But I think that they're -- we're raising important conversations now. I just wish we could have the conversation --
O'REILLY: OK. I don't disagree with you that --
ACKER: -- in a more dispassionate way.
O'REILLY: -- that both black and white Americans, some of them, feel that they can't say what's on their mind. I don't disagree with that.
But the key in this discussion is that Barack Obama thought he had finally gotten this Reverend Wright thing at least in the background. And now you have another nut, Pfleger, come up, associated with the Obama campaign, because Pfleger is involved or was involved -- I think they might have fired him recently. But very close to Obama. And now Americans are going, look, how many more of these people are going to come out of the woodwork? You see what I'm talking about, Tanya?
ACKER: No, I do. And I think that it's not an invalid question. I would simply say that, you know, it's not really fair to ascribe that to Obama, because I do think that if we start parsing through and scouring relationships that any of us have, that any politician or public figure has, there are going to be people close to that person who have written --
O'REILLY: Not at this level.
ACKER: -- things or said things.
O'REILLY: Not -- look, when you go --
ACKER: I don't know about that, Bill.
O'REILLY: -- when you go Bill Ayers, when you go Bernadette Dohrn, when you go Reverend Wright, when you go Father Pfleger -- not at that level. You're just not going to have it.
And the Hagee thing isn't going to take off because there's no tape on Hagee. And it's just -- it's basically a convenience thing that McCain went down, and he regrets doing it. And then I gave him hell for doing it when I interviewed him. How do you see it, Andrea?
ANDREA TANTAROS (Republican strategist): Well, I see it as this is how Obama handles dealing with nuts. I mean, he hasn't quit this church. Why?
From the May 8 edition of The O'Reilly Factor:
O'REILLY: OK. John Hagee is a guy --
McCAIN: Yep.
O'REILLY: -- that you sought his endorsement in San Antonio, Texas. He said bad things about Catholics, and gays, and other things like that. And your opponents are saying, "Hey, you know, McCain hangs around with Hagee. Obama hangs around with Wright. No difference."
McCAIN: I do not embrace a view that he stated about the Catholic Church. I steadfastly reject it and repudiate it. I've never been in Pastor Hagee's church. I know him, and -- but the fact is that I accept his endorsement --
O'REILLY: Yeah, but you courted him.
McCAIN: -- which means he supported --
O'REILLY: You went down there --
McCAIN: When you say --
O'REILLY: -- had breakfast with him, you know?
McCAIN: Well, I had breakfast with him and I've met with him. I don't embrace all of his views. He endorsed me.
O'REILLY: OK. You ready for the viciousness of this campaign? We understand The New York Times has -- you know, a squad of reporters looking to dig up any dirt they can on you. You know that, right?
From the March 14 edition of The O'Reilly Factor:
O'REILLY: Tonight, four hot topics: the Obama conundrum, did Eliot Spitzer use campaign money to pay prostitutes, and the men who murdered that University of North Carolina student body president. Also, there's been a verdict in the John Ritter medical malpractice case. Here is Fox News anchor Geraldo Rivera.
All right, let's knock them down one by one.
RIVERA: Well, I want to take to you a radical synagogue first, after you get out of church.
O'REILLY: Listen, I'm a man who is very curious about things. And I would love to attend --
RIVERA: I know a firebrand rabbi that really is gonna --
O'REILLY: Well, I mean, you know, the ladies were nice to come on here, and they believe what they're saying. But I don't think they see the big picture here, Geraldo.
RIVERA: The big picture is that Obama's candidacy brink -- is on the brink of disaster and --
O'REILLY: Yeah, it is.
RIVERA: -- ruin right now.
O'REILLY: Right.
RIVERA: He released a statement that was very good, just out an hour or so.
O'REILLY: Right.
RIVERA: Let me just read you the part that is the most important part. "The statements that Reverend Wright made that were the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation." So now, Barack Obama has set up a factual straw man here. If, indeed, it can be proven that he was in the church when statements like this were uttered --
O'REILLY: Well, I think he's toast.
RIVERA: -- then he's in real trouble.
[...]
O'REILLY: He's not there every week. He might not have heard those statements, but he knew about them.
RIVERA: I hope -- I hope he didn't. Because he really had -- he had to strongly condemn it. And in tactical terms, you're right: He should have done it before this --
O'REILLY: Himself.
RIVERA: -- rather than his campaign.
O'REILLY: Right. And because he knew it was coming down the road.
RIVERA: But he's not the first candidate, in fairness --
O'REILLY: No, but you -- if you couple it --
RIVERA: -- to be burned by a religious endorsement like Hagee.
O'REILLY: -- if you couple it -- if you couple it with Michelle Obama's comments from a few weeks ago -- which I defended; I defended her. Again, I want to give the candidates the benefit of the doubt. If you couple that with this and you're running on judgment, man, it's tough.
*Search terms: "Show (O'Reilly) and (Hagee)"
**Search terms: "Show (O'Reilly) and (Parsley or Parsely or Parsly)"
***Search terms: "Show (O'Reilly) and ((Jeremiah pre/2 Wright) or Rev! Wright)"
****Search terms: "Show (O'Reilly) and (Pfleger)"
This is O'Reilly's (new?) thing lately. His shrug and dismissal of an issue as "unimportant". Valerie Plame? No-one cares about that. McClellan's book? It's a non starter. Won't sell 50K copies. trust me.
And now Hagee. Eh, this doesn't have legs. He's as much telling his zombie listenerrship to not care about it. Trying to create a reality that he hopes will happen.
It's not only BilldO. Most of the rightys are so out of defenses, they're just hanging onto the fringe wingnuts who'll believe whatever they're told.
If BO says there's no tape, that's exactly what his core audience of terrified senior citizens wants to hear.If Dick Morris says the McClellan book is nothing ,even as he describes it as exposing "old news" that Morris has never acknowledged as truth, his demo is happy to move on to Bill Clinton sex rumors.
Plame wasn't outed because there were no convictions, Bush's lies don't matter because he's not running for president, etc.Fox may have lost some of their audience that decided to do a little thinking, but that doesn't mean they're not going to keep trying to replace them with new idiots.
This is O'Reilly's (new?) thing lately. His shrug and dismissal of an issue as "unimportant". Valerie Plame? No-one cares about that. McClellan's book? It's a non starter. Won't sell 50K copies. trust me.
No body cares about Plame other than 'witch-hunting' liberals. No body cares about Hagee other than hypocritical liberals. No body cares about McClellan other than fellow disgruntled ex-employees who didn't care to call Bush a liar while on a liberal show, he had to wait until his book came out. Only liberals care about those non-issues because only liberals are able to happily argue amongst themselves while showing how hypocritical they are.
right Snoop. O'Reilly is putting up this facade about McCllelans book just like the other right wing water carriers for one reason. McClellan's revelations leave much egg on the conservative talking heads face. They have held fast to the notion that it is conspiratorial and unpatriotic to put forth the notion that intelligence was manipulated for this war. They all said this couldn't be true. They all let themselves be used as tools for the propoganda. when the truth comes out, it's attack the messenger. O'Reilly is amazing. He has been claiming that McCllelan's revelations are incorrect. He insinuates that somehow his version of events are more accurate. He wants his elderly audience to beleive that a man who had daily direct access to the President and high level meetings doens't know as much about the inner workings of the White House as he does. Sweet Jesus I Hate Bill O'Reilly......great website too!
Philib: "No body cares about Plame other than 'witch-hunting' liberals."
Prince and Snoopy did a fine job of responding to your misguided post but I do want to take issue with your Plame remark. People DO care about what happened to her...and not just liberals. Smart conservatives do too.
Having 2 close friends who are employed by the CIA, they have expressed great concerns in our conversations (regarding what happened to Plame) about people in the government outing America's CIA agents. While being outed by accident is bad enough, they think being outed for political purposes is extremely disturbing. An outing would ruin their career and may even put their lives, their families' lives or the lives of their assets in danger.
So next time you or O'Reilly quip that nobody cares about Plame, realize that you and O'Reilly are fools and rotten Americans NOT to care.
"So next time you or O'Reilly quip that nobody cares about Plame, realize that you and O'Reilly are fools and rotten Americans NOT to care. "
Yeah,.....right. How self-righteous of you to claim un-Americanism for someone believing a spy got outed by someone other than who you people blame for it. You have no more a clue than the others.
Ahhh, but life is good... the Detroit Red Wings are Stanley Cup Champions. Again!
Philib: "Yeah,.....right. How self-righteous of you to claim un-Americanism for someone believing a spy got outed by someone other than who you people blame for it. You have no more a clue than the others."
No, it's self-righteous of you to claim that no cares about the outing of Plame because people do care. And, as an American, you SHOULD care that a CIA agent got her cover blown whether it was by accident (Armitage to Novak) or for political purposes (Rove to Cooper). It doesn't matter who did it...the fact is it was done and it shouldn't have happened.
You are seriously clueless and stunningly naive if you don't think that the outing of a CIA agent can have life and death repercussions and do damage to an expensive covert program. The fact that you simply chalk it up to being about liberals wanting to blame someone in particular shows just how much you really don't get it. It doesn't speak well for you as an American or human being that you have no concern as to what can happen to an outed agent, the human assets they work with and the program itself.
"it's self-righteous of you to claim that no cares about the outing of Plame because people do care. And, as an American, you SHOULD care that a CIA agent got her cover blown whether it was by accident (Armitage to Novak) or for political purposes (Rove to Cooper)."
There, see? My proof that liberals don't care "who" outed her. Your only concern is to denigrate the current administration every chance you get. A "spy" can only get their cover blown once. That was done by Armitage. No arguement there. How in the blazes can you blame Rove or any other person in the Bush/co administration when you know darn well who the actual source of the leak was? Whether Rove or anyone else "lied" about what they knew at any given time is a TOTALLY different story. But, for some reason you (and others) seem to think lieing is the same as outing.
If you're going to rant and rave about how dangerous it is to be a spy then, at least, get your hatred straightened out. Do you hate the fact a spy was 'outed' (accidently by your own admission)? Or, do you hate the fact that a Bush/co member lied about his knowledge of the 'outing'?
"WELL DO IT LIVE! F*** IT!!!"
"I just wish Katrina had only hit the United Nations building, nothing else, just had flooded them out, and I wouldn't have rescued them." --on his radio show, Sept. 14, 2005
http://www.barelypolitical.com/ward-room/episode/WRM_20080515
I had posted in an earlier thread that BillO's eyes were going to pop out of his head at his learning that Eric Alterman's ghost writer for his book "Lapdogs" was none other than Scott McClellan...... was this mentioned on his show?
I guess BillO survived the news? Or chose to ignore it because he knew he wouldn't be able to control his temper?
Doing it f***king live ain't what it used to be........ huh Billy
It appears that he was making the point that Scotty is coming a bit late to this expose of the Bush administration, and that everything Scotty writes in his book was already reported in lapdogs. But better late than never...
MARY,
Ok..... I guess I may have missed the humor on this one...... we all have off days after all!
However, since FOX Noise is all about reporting opinion as news instead of reality as news..... it wouldn;t suprise me at some point that Billy says something about it
Sure, Bill... and there's no tape of you harassing Andrea Mackris with a loofah.
Hagee DID IT LIVE!
If you put Obama and McBush side by side and only covered their campaign C-Span style, Obama would clean his clock.
Campaigns are like new cars in the showroom. They are cleaned and polished for sale. Unfortunately C-Span just sits on the side with cameras rolling and challenges nothing. McCain brings to the table the necessary experience of getting things done in a partisan Washington DC but a history of flip flopping on almost every issue that he has no core beliefs to stand on. Obama brings nothing but rhetoric - he is an empty suit who has shown that without a teleprompter he has not a clue. However each side has their solid 40% who will vote for their candidate regardless of how bad said candidate is. While each candidate has enough verbal gaffs and questionable associations to fill a formidable trunk, I will count on the publics ability to sort through the BS and choose the lesser of two problems.
You may not be happy with either candidate and you seem to dismiss them both. What you and other right wingers don't seem to understand is that America only prospers and fulfills it's promise of being the last best hope for earth when we have leaders who inspire us.
America's greatness, doesn't lie in it's leaders but in it's citizens. And America is never greater than when it's united citizenry work to make the world a better place for all people.
I have great respect for John McCain but so far he's done nothing but repeat the neocon mantra of more war, less taxes, little or no help for the least among us.
While that may inspire you, the rest of us want our country back.
America only prospers and fulfills it's promise of being the last best hope for earth when we have leaders who inspire us.
America's greatness, doesn't lie in it's leaders but in it's citizens. And America is never greater than when it's united citizenry work to make the world a better place for all people.
Also - I wish to commend you on eloquently statiing the above. I heard very similar sentiments on a Limbaugh morning update while driving to work a while back - he attributed it to Regan, but it sounds like something from that originated from our founding fathers.
So, do you get your Rush Limbaugh talking points from his radio show, or does he send them to you by e-mail?
Dems, With all due respect, I have to go with Pete below......those that criticize Obama for being a toothless shell of rhetorical hot air need to asked how does he stack up against what we currently have, or what we could have in McCain?
Bush's failures speak for themselves, here and abroad, how can we get any worse? How can we? As for McCain, he is inspirationally challenged at best, and fast becoming nothing more than an expedient panderer to me, I can imagine getting motivated to pull the voting lever for him without "meh", which is what I did for Kerry in 2004 because I was so over Bush.
Policy differences aside for me, Obama inspires and motivates, and he appears honest and trustworthy - (unless he picks Hillary) he revs up passion and excitement about America again and that ain't a bad reason to vote for him.
Tommy - as per my response to Pete below we are not in disagreement. And your pro-Obama justifications sound great and I believe that is what all the Obamamania (Thanks Jeter) is about. It is a movement. I know that if I were looking for a leader to take my business, my sports team, my school district, my state, etc, etc, etc, out of the doledrums, I would need more than great inspiration. I would look for experience.
Niether of these candidates presents the full package - see my original post. However I am willing to bet that those on the fence, when it comes down to pulling the lever, will go with old age and treachery before choosing youth and inexperience.
Fair points, although I predict McCain will lose, and by a healthy margin, unless there is some big revelation or surprise that tilts it his way. He is already running away from Bush, which means many hardened rightwingers in his base will not be motivated to support him, they won't go for Obama but they may resign themselves to presidential defeat, not vote for anyone, wait out the next 4 years, find a more palatable candidate and look towards 2012......that is my sense anyway.
We will see.....
In any case, do you really think she's been any less "phony" through this process than you claim Obama has been?
I am definately not a Hillary supporter either. I just whining because I am fed up with the poitical system that elevates a chosen few and tosses them to the public and tells us we have a choice. Our choices are becomming very limited - like going to a restaurant and being offered a choice of chicken; baked, broiled, or fried.
Our founding fathers envisioned a political system where established citizens would serve as statesmen for a short period of time and then return to private life. That is where our greatest hopes lie. It would be easy to like Obama for the reason that he has not been in politics long enough to considered a seasoned professional. However the legislative branch he will be working with is filled with seasoned professionals and his lack of experience will be visible in the tire tracks on his suits after they run him over. (figurative reference)
"he is an empty suit who has shown that without a teleprompter he has not a clue."
Sounds like the last 7 years.
PROPAGANDA is not only what's "reported" ... and how ... it's also about vetting issues as to which will NOT be covered, which will be shunted aside, which will be declared "unimportant".
In the case of "our" Rightwing Media, the IMPORTANT things are Obama's associations, Hillary's unpredictable ambition, Bill's behavior, and a general sneering about those who "don't want to win the war".
The UNIMPORTANT things are who's getting obscenely wealthy, the corruption of Bush, the personal flaws of McCain, and Cheney's completely off the radar screen. In short, anything that might reflect negatively against Republicans or their actions ... THAT'S NOT REALLY NEWS. Shrug it off, America, WE WILL TELL YOU WHAT IS IMPORTANT.
Can they really believe this will continue to work? Proper PROPAGANDA is supposed to make the people LIKE what the "Dear Leader" dishes out. It is supposed to make the people accept and reject things according to instruction. Americans are no longer accepting what our Media has become.
TEX - if your assertions were true, Bush's approval numbers would be high and republicans would be a shoe in for the White House and congress in 2008. It's not happening.
If it wasn't for the propaganda machine, then (insert your own racist slur here) would already be put out to pasture a la Jesse Jackson. But the lies and spin have kept him in the race. After what happened in 2000 and 2004, the media will do ANYTHING to have a down-to-the-wire "horse race". They could care less about the fact/issues - its all about dragging out the process to produce the highest "drama" of a close election.
See - it works both ways!
Here's a start - if you think she's a loner you're in for a big surprise.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=KACQuZVAE3s
Dems, when you say Democrats, I assume you mean someone that people actually know, not some nut essentially off the street.
Please, you have to do better than that.
I repeat - if you think she's a loner you're in for a big surprise.
Follow Lanny Davis and his contingent - go to Hillaryclinton.com. I've given you a start - now it's time for you to do some legwork if you are really interested.
Dems,
If you are saying there are unknown individuals within the Democratic Party that say these things, then I am sure you are correct. I assumed that you meant someone prominent, because who cares otherwise?
That's like giving credence to what posters say on threads.
Also, if you are going to claim something, then it is up to you to prove it. I'm not going to do your legwork for you. If you can't provide the backup then there is no reason to believe anything you say.
If you are saying there are unknown individuals within the Democratic Party that say these things, then I am sure you are correct. I assumed that you meant someone prominent, because who cares otherwise?
You should care otherwise because it is the unknown individuals that will collectively cast their votes or sit home in protest come November.
Also, if you are going to claim something, then it is up to you to prove it.
I gave you two real examples - the rest is up to you.
Okay Dems,
If anybody in the world says something stupid I should care? You really don't have much do you? You use people off the street as some shining example of the "Democrats".
Please, get real.
Terry McAuliffe, Clinton campaign chair, saying on Fox News that 90% of the media is in the tank for Obama, and that Fox is the fairest of them all.
You asked for a Democrat after I gave you the "Hillary wing", I gave you exactly what you asked for.
Oh, and add Geraldine Ferraro to that.
Which Democrats think that and how has Obama been "propped up" by the media?
Could it be because he's a passionate, moving and coherent public speaker? Could it be because he has proposed real solutions to our country's problems. Could it be because he's a uniter not a divider, believes in hope and not in fear/hate? Could it be because he's representing the core beliefs of the electorate?
Could it be that he's simply a good politician?
Please enlighten me.
...Could it be because he's a uniter not a divider...
Fog - Please provide an example of who and how Obama has actually united. What has his "uniting" accomplished?
Remember Goerge Bush was branded a uniter because as Governor of Texas he united a divided state House and Senate and acheived some legislative success. That "Uniter" did not translate to Washington and the union became more divided.
Maybe everyone can get the audio from his television show
He spouts all kinds of horrible (and quotable) things in a single broadcast. This guy makes Falwell and Robertson look like pussycats.
I know about his show because I'm one of those "car-wreck enthusiasts" who, once in a while, watches his show in order to see if he can reach a new low (and like Savage he hardly disappoints).
I know about his show because I'm one of those "car-wreck enthusiasts" who, once in a while, watches his show in order to see if he can reach a new low (and like Savage he hardly disappoints).
..and you read Playboy for the fabulous articles. :-)
The fact that any of these goombas would have the President's ear is quite scary. If you actually listen to what they say, any one of them is far more disturbing than Jeremiah Wright.
Does anyone think that we are seeing the "real" Hillary Clinton, or the "real" John McCain? It's all a sales job.... nothing new there.
As someone said above, Obama can't possibly be any worse than the numbnuts we've had for the last 7 years. Dumbya can't even speak well WITH a teleprompter... at least we're making progress on that front.