During the March 17 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly attacked St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Sylvester Brown Jr., falsely claiming that Brown's March 16 column “took information from a far-left smear website, which routinely distorts comments from anyone the site doesn't like,” adding that Brown “knows that, but prints the dishonest garbage anyway.” In fact, as Brown noted in his column, Media Matters for America compiled a montage of clips from both The O'Reilly Factor and Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly demonstrating that, despite his claims to the contrary, O'Reilly routinely engages in personal attacks. Brown pointed out that even though Media Matters “relies on transcripts from his own programs to refute his outrageous claims, O'Reilly still insists the group blatantly uses his words 'out of context,' then 'feeds stuff to the mainstream media to discredit me.'”

As the Media Matters montage shows, far from representing a distortion, O'Reilly's statements that Madison, Wisconsin, residents “commune with Satan,” Iraqi citizens are a “prehistoric group,” Europe is “soft and afraid” and poor Hurricane Katrina victims “were drug-addicted thugs,” were accurate.

O'Reilly has previously attacked Brown's column. During Brown's January 25, 2005, appearance on The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly bet Brown “a dinner at Tony's," a St. Louis restaurant, that O'Reilly had not labeled Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) “a nut,” as Brown claimed. But the following day, O'Reilly admitted that he had done so on his January 19, 2005, radio show. Brown later wrote an open letter to O'Reilly, challenging the Fox News host to make good on his bet. Then during the January 27, 2005, broadcast of The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly claimed that Brown “uses Media Matters stuff all the time. You know they just feed it to him, and he prints it.” As we noted at the time, however, neither Brown nor anyone else at the Post-Dispatch had ever cited Media Matters items before O'Reilly made those remarks.

From the March 17 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:

Writing today in the liberal St. Louis Post-Dispatch, fanatical progressive columnist Sylvester Brown says, "[Bill] O'Reilly insulted cities, countries and even an entire continent. Madison, Wis., residents commune with Satan,' he said. Iraqis are a 'prehistoric group,' poor Hurricane Katrina victims 'were drug-addicted thugs' and, according to O'Reilly, all of Europe is 'soft and afraid.' "

Now, Mr. Brown admits he took that information from a far-left smear website, which routinely distorts comments from anyone the site doesn't like. Brown knows that, but prints the dishonest garbage anyway. Says a lot about him and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Anyone watching The Factor or listening to the radio program, and that's tens of millions of people every week, would know Brown's distorting the truth, just as they know the far-left smear websites are in business to injure rather than inform.

Of course, that kind of muck diminishes the far left, but they are now addicted to it. They can't stop. So Republicans are silently rooting the Kool-Aid left on. The more hysterical they get, the more chance Americans will turn back to the GOP, despite all the problems the Bush administration is having.

From Sylvester Brown's March 16 Post-Dispatch column:

It's amazing that so many conservatives and right-wing pundits still use the “blame the media” ploy when depressing facts seem to get in their way. Bill O'Reilly of Fox News employs the tactic often. During the Feb. 23 edition of the “O'Reilly Factor,” with guest Mike Farrell, O'Reilly unashamedly claimed he doesn't “do personal attacks.”

Media Matters for America, which describes itself as a nonprofit research center that monitors conservative media, launched an Internet montage of O'Reilly “personally attacking” on his TV and radio shows.

O'Reilly is heard describing Howard Dean as “the biggest coward in the country,” labeling John Kerry a “sissy,” calling newsman Bill Moyers the “biggest mouth in town,” and New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristoff [sic] “nuts.”

The attacks weren't simply targeting individuals either. O'Reilly insulted cities, countries and even an entire continent. Madison, Wis., residents “commune with Satan,” he said. Iraqis are a “prehistoric group,” poor Hurricane Katrina victims “were drug-addicted thugs” and, according to O'Reilly, all of Europe is “soft and afraid.”

O'Reilly's most cutting remarks were reserved for Media Matters. They are “vile, despicable ankle-biters,” who, he admits, “listen to every word” of his program. Although the organization relies on transcripts from his own programs to refute his outrageous claims, O'Reilly still insists the group blatantly uses his words “out of context,” then “feeds stuff to the mainstream media to discredit me.”