On the November 15 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Chris Daly, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, said Fox News host Bill O'Reilly should be fired for his remarks regarding the recent passage of Proposition I, a ballot initiative urging public schools and colleges to prohibit military recruitment on campuses. As Media Matters for America has documented, O'Reilly criticized the ballot measure on the November 8 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly, saying, "[I]f Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you 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."

On the November 14 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly defended his comments, claiming that they were part of a “satirical riff,” although in replaying an audio clip of his remarks, he left out his comments about letting terrorists attack the city. On MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann asked if he would be arrested for making similar comments “while standing in line at San Francisco International Airport.” Daly responded, “Quite possibly.” Daly said San Franciscans “have a message to Bill O'Reilly: We don't find your satirical riff funny. We find your words damaging, you know, and dangerous for 770,000 San Franciscans, over 100,000 San Franciscans who are children.” Daly then called for Fox News, which produces O'Reilly's radio and television shows, and Westwood One, which distributes the radio program, to remove O'Reilly from the airwaves, saying, “You know, this is dangerous. Fox News and Westwood One need to take some accountability for this and terminate Bill O'Reilly's employment.” Daly introduced legislation on November 15 urging that Fox News fire O'Reilly for his “flagrant disregard for the safety and welfare of San Franciscans.”

On Countdown, Daly also said that O'Reilly was not telling the “entire story” about Proposition I. Daly stated that while the measure was a “statement of policy” that “the city and county of San Francisco ... discourage military recruiters on campus,” it also required the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to “do more in the budget for 18-year-olds coming out of college” because economically disadvantaged youth “should have other options” than the military. Proposition I would not ban recruiters from city campuses that receive federal funding. Daly concluded: “The guy [O'Reilly] has got the right to say whatever he wants, and he has the right to speak his mind ... but he doesn't necessarily have the right to be a so-called anchor on Fox News.”

Olbermann opened the segment by quoting Dr. Samuel Johnson's famous remark, “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel,” and said, “If that's true, Bill O'Reilly has reached his last refuge.”

From the November 15 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:

OLBERMANN: “Patriotism,” Dr. Samuel Johnson famously wrote, “is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” If that's true, Bill O'Reilly has reached his last refuge. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is looking at a resolution calling for O'Reilly to be taken off the air by his TV masters, Fox News, and his radio syndicators, Westwood One.

Our third story on the Countdown, the man who has been to all but about 1 percent of the population an obnoxious and perverted but fundamentally buffoonish character is in the deep woods now. He has not only amplified on his call to have Al Qaeda attack San Francisco, he has also defended it while at the same time doctoring the transcript of it, while at the same time claiming that all those who criticize him are against America.

In a moment, the San Francisco supervisor leading the call for O'Reilly's dismissal will join us here. First we go back to where this started.

[...]

OLBERMANN: And you thought Senator Joe McCarthy was dead. San Francisco's Board of Supervisors is now debating putting a measure on its agenda next week calling for Fox to fire the big giant head or for his radio people at Westwood One to discontinue his radio program. The man leading that charge, supervisor Chris Daly joins us now from San Francisco. Thank you for your time tonight, sir.

DALY: Thanks for having me, Keith.

OLBERMANN: Let me play devil's advocate here. Let me assume for a moment that he isn't lying when he said that this stuff about inviting Al Qaeda to blow up your city was a “satirical riff.” If I had gone off on a similar satirical riff while standing in line at San Francisco International Airport, I'd be arrested, right?

DALY: Quite possibly arrested, and just consider if, you know, your background was Arab-American, it would be taken very seriously. I think San Franciscans right now, as Bill O'Reilly digs in, we have a message to Bill O'Reilly: We don't find your satirical riff funny. We find your words damaging, you know, and dangerous for 770,000 San Franciscans, over 100,000 San Franciscans who are children. You know, this is dangerous, Fox News and Westwood One need to take some accountability for this and terminate Bill O'Reilly's employment.

OLBERMANN: Maybe just as important as underscoring that this is not patriotism, it is hate speech, and self-promotional hate speech at that, is the point that it is broadly inaccurate. I mean, what is he leaving out particularly when he says, as he did a week ago today: “In San Francisco they are voting on two initiatives, one would ban military recruiting.” That's not the entire story on those propositions, is it?

DALY: Not the entire story. He is talking about propositions H and I on the ballot. I was the main author on Proposition H, which will ban handguns for most San Franciscans. We have had a problem with homicides, handgun-related in San Francisco. That's our response, 58 percent of the voters voted in favor of that measure.

And he is talking about Proposition I, which was put on the ballot by signature, citizen petition, over 15,000 signatures were to place Proposition I on the ballot. It too got 58 percent of the vote last Tuesday. And it's a statement of policy. Basically what Proposition I says is that it should be the policy of the City and County of San Francisco that we discourage military recruiters on campus. And, you know, you don't have to watch the latest Michael Moore film to know that some military recruiters, not all, are selling -- you know, are selling goods to American young people. And in San Francisco, while we think that young people should have other options. Those who are in poor communities, those who are in poor schools, lots of them don't have real economic opportunity, and so Proposition I also called on my board, the board of supervisors, to do more in the budget for 18-year-olds coming out of college, and we plan to do that next budget year.

OLBERMANN: So this is -- he says, you know, San Francisco is banning military recruiting. It's on the actual campuses and it's to discourage, in any event --

[crosstalk]

OLBERMANN: I've mentioned this many times before: He has been bouncing around this business for 30 years. And he has always been viewed as a guy who is, you know, several light bulbs short of a marquee. Why not just dismiss him as the Michael Savage-type, to quote another figure who is familiar in your city, one of these learning-challenged hypocrites who believes in rights for everybody who agrees with him and for nobody who doesn't?

DALY: Well, it is an interesting point. Certainly Hard Copy* is a long way from SportsCenter, which I used to watch you on every night, a legitimate news program -- sports news program. And so, you can say write the guy off, but unfortunately, he's become very powerful, not just in influencing public opinion in middle America, but seemingly influencing policy made in Washington, D.C. This guy has big ratings. He is bombastic, and he uses that to promote his show and boost up his ratings. And his little mini-empire that he is building with the radio show and with, you know, his books and his children's book, you know, for crying out loud, and, you know, the guy has a huge following, and with that comes a huge responsibility.

He occupies, you know, a lot of airwave, and with that comes responsibility. The guy has got the right to say whatever he wants, and he has the right to speak his mind, I guess. I'm not trying to encroach on his First Amendment rights, but he doesn't necessarily have the right to be a so-called anchor on Fox News.

OLBERMANN: I bet he would not admit right now to influencing policy in Washington. In any event, San Francisco supervisor Chris Daly, who has introduced a resolution calling for the firing of Bill O'Reilly. Good luck with it. There is still advertisers to deal with. We'll see what happens, thanks for joining us.

DALY: Absolutely. The vote will be on Tuesday.

This item originally stated incorrectly that Bill O'Reilly had previously hosted Hard Copy. He did not. Media Matters regrets the error.