We didn't lose the game; we just ran out of time. - Vince Lombardi

You Orilly Men

by Hal_10000

It seems Bill O’Reilly can dish it out but can’t take it:

On this peaceful, pleasant Atlanta Saturday morning, my colleague Cynthia Tucker, syndicated columnist and the AJC’s editorial page editor, was returning from a trip to the grocery store when she was “ambushed” on the sidewalk in front of her home by a three-person crew sent by Fox’s Bill O’Reilly.

Here’s a little background:

In a recent column, Tucker noted that Bill O’Reilly had skewered the parents of 16-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears after she became pregnant. “The blame falls primarily on the parents of the girl, who obviously have little control over her,” O’Reilly said. Yet as Tucker noted in her column, O’Reilly seemed to have a different set of standards for the parents of Bristol Palin.

As Tucker stopped outside her house to pick up her mail, the Fox camera crew emerged out of a car parked across the street and advanced on her, yelling questions. At this point, I’ll turn it over to Tucker for the blow-by-blow account, as she recalls it:

O’Reilly guy: “Cynthia, in your column, were you comparing Bristol Palin to Jamie Lynn Spears?”

Cynthia: “In my column, I was criticizing Bill O”Reilly. And I stand by that.”

O’Reilly guy: “Bill pointed out that Jamie Lynn Spears was running around unsupervised. You know that. So you were saying that Bristol Palin was running around unsupervised.”

Cynthia: “If I said that, read that part. You’re holding the column (in your hand). Read where I said Bristol Palin was running around unsupervised.”

O’Reilly guy: “You inferred (sic) it.”

Cynthia: “I inferred O’Reilly is a hypocrite. And I stand by that. Good day, gentlemen. I’m going inside to finish my Saturday chores.”

(They ran behind me, shouting, “Why weren’t you in Minneapolis? You went to the Democratic Convention. Why didn’t you go to the Republican Convention?” I didn’t look back — just got in my car and drove into my driveway.)

For the record, the AJC sent reporters to both conventions. Tucker went to the Democratic Convention, while our more conservative colleague Jim Wooten went to the Republican Convention.

Now, “Bluster Bill” O’Reilly likes to try to intimidate people. But in this case, he didn’t have the courage to do it in person. He probably didn’t want to bite off more than he could chew — as Clint Eastwood once said, “A man has to know his limitations,” and apparently O’Reilly knows his.

I grew up in Atlanta, reading Cynthia Tucker’s columns on the pages of the AJC.  She’s very liberal and I disagree with her almost all the time.  But she was right.  And O’Reilly—apparently feeling more in his league attacking a B-string journalist than say Jon Stewart (who nailed him on this issue last week)—has once again revealed himself to be a first-class turd.

While we’re on the subject of Everyone’s Drunken Uncle, you might want to check out the preview of Obama’s appearance on the Factor.  I actually thought the Chosen One did pretty well for himself.  There was a toughness in his response that I hadn’t seen before.

(I’m curious to see who knows the origin of the title of this post.  My money’s on Lee.)

Comments

Posted by on 09/08/08 at 10:51 AM from

I split my evenings between O’reilly and Olbermann. I try to keep my left and Right Bias equal;) They are both lousy journalists.  Olberman is horribly biased and O’reily is not quite as tilted, but just uses terrible, terrible journalism tactics.
They both make this country a worse place to live.

Posted by on 09/08/08 at 10:56 AM from

I’ve never liked O’Reilly; he always struck me as a bully and a self-important ass.

Posted by on 09/08/08 at 11:15 AM from

O’Reilly is even worse on his radio show. Every third word is umm, uhh, ahh. He’ll yell random hits on Obama, talking points, in series with no coherent thread to connect them. Then he’ll rail against media matters and Jon Stewart without really saying what they are accusing him of.

That interview with Obama wasn’t very classy. Too much yelling and pointing.

Posted by on 09/08/08 at 11:21 AM from

The headline comes from Fawlty Towers.

Posted by Hal_10000 on 09/08/08 at 11:48 AM from

Ding ding ding!  Well done jslncp!

Posted by on 09/08/08 at 12:24 PM from

Best. Show. Ever.

Posted by thetommonster on 09/09/08 at 01:14 PM from

You are a hhhideouth orangutan.

(dammit, I know I’m second)

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