Acting as the “Truth Police” during “The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day” segment on the July 26 broadcast of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly baselessly attacked The Oregonian and The Guardian (London) newspapers for purportedly breaking “professional standards” and “attack[ing]” O'Reilly. O'Reilly asserted that Oregonian “far-left TV writer” Peter Ames Carlin's claim, in a July 26 article, that O'Reilly is “an expert employer of personal attacks” is an example of how Carlin is “rarely fair” and stated that The Guardian “continues to spout incredible nonsense” because it apparently wrote on July 26 that “O'Reilly is famous for his rightwing tirades, calling for al-Qaeda to attack liberal San Francisco.” In fact, O'Reilly has engaged in countless personal attacks against those who disagree with him and announced in 2005 that, if he were president, he would tell Al Qaeda that “every other place in America is off-limits to you, except San Francisco,” as Media Matters for America has noted.

In attacking The Guardian, O'Reilly was apparently referring to a July 26 article by Oliver Burkeman that discussed the feud between O'Reilly and MSNBC's Keith Olbermann. Though the article does not contain the exact phrase O'Reilly quoted, Burkeman wrote that "[r]esponding well to criticism has never been among Bill O'Reilly's strong points" and that O'Reilly “rails at the 'far-left internet smear sites' who take him to task for remarks such as his open invitation to al-Qaida to attack the liberal stronghold of San Francisco.” Burkeman highlighted the “long-running feud between O'Reilly and his less-watched rival, Keith Olbermann” which “has boiled over into open warfare between networks.”

O'Reilly stated that the London newspaper's characterization of his San Francisco remarks was "[r]idiculous" and “off the chart.” Yet, as Media Matters has noted, O'Reilly declared on the November 8, 2005, edition of his nationally syndicated radio show that “if Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you [San Francisco residents] up, we're not going to do anything about it. We're going to say, 'Look, every other place in America is off-limits to you, except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead.' ”

O'Reilly's attack on Carlin also appeared to be baseless. O'Reilly said that Carlin is “rarely fair” and criticized Carlin for writing that “O'Reilly is an expert employer of personal attacks” while “fail[ing] to provide any examples to back up his [Carlin's] attack.” In fact, while Carlin did not provide specific examples of O'Reilly engaging in such activities, O'Reilly's suggestion that he does not is without merit. For instance, O'Reilly has equated Media Matters with the Ku Klux Klan, Fidel Castro, and the Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels. He has also referred to Media Matters as "the most vile, despicable human beings in the country."

Additionally, O'Reilly has referred to media writer and Fox News Watch panelist Neal Gabler as a "rabid dog"; called New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof "nuts"; said civil rights attorney Christopher Murray "sounds like a fascist"; referred to former Public Broadcasting Service host Bill Moyers as a “totalitarian”; called Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) a "left-wing nut"; labeled former Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader a "loon"; described former President Jimmy Carter as “clueless” and “a fool”; and said of Sen. John Kerry (D-MA): “He's a sissy.” More recently, O'Reilly called Dallas Morning News columnist Macarena Hernandez “incompetent” and a “Latina ideologue.” Media Matters has compiled a montage of clips from both The O'Reilly Factor and Westwood One's The Radio Factor further demonstrating that O'Reilly routinely engages in personal attacks.

From the July 26 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:

O'REILLY: Time now for the “Most Ridiculous Item of the Day.” As we have been reporting, professional standards have broken down at many newspaper operations, and we spotlight them occasionally for you.

At The Oregonian newspaper in Portland, far-left TV writer Peter Ames Carlin is rarely fair. His latest valentine to me says, quote, “O'Reilly ... is an expert employer of personal attacks, questioning his targets' sanity and morals as aggressively as he picks apart their positions,” unquote.

As usual, Ames fails to provide any examples to back up his attack, but that's par for the course for this guy.

At The Guardian newspaper in London, it's even worse. That socialist operation continues to spout incredible nonsense. Quote, “O'Reilly is famous for his rightwing tirades, calling for al-Qaeda to attack liberal San Francisco.”

Sure. Ridiculous; off the chart, but it happens every single day.