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Sunday, April 27, 2008

Bill O’Reilly A Closet Populist?

The most recent Bill O'Reilly rant titled, Fight back against Big Oil offers a clear idea just how loosely his head is bolted on. For instance, Billo really thinks that…..
Townhall.com Excerpt:
If a big oil company wants to tighten supply, for example, it's a snap. Just slow down the refinery process by ordering extra "maintenance" or something.
Think about it. If Big Oil would want to tighten supply (yet avoid shortages at the pump and really, really bad publicity), why in the world would they purposely slow down the refinery process when all they need to do is raise the prices slightly. Again and again if necessary till they balance the supply with the demand. In our digitally interconnected world, THIS is the snap. Why in the world would they want to send the message they can’t meet the demand at the current prices by slowing the process – they’d lose money. You don’t make $15 billion quarterly profits by deliberately failing to supply the product……..at any price. You sell what you have at the MAXIMUM the market will bear. Even if it hurts. But Billo still believes and that’s good enough for his Klingons.

But his rant gets better because near the end he not only encourages people to empower themselves, to do a left-wing thing, he actually says if he were president he’d name the greedy CEO’s making millions off of us poor schmucks. My friends at Leftyblogs must be finally getting to this guy. Empowering the people? Strike at the profiteers? Bill O'Reilly? An idealist? A populist?

Instead of taking the typical GOP stance and blaming gasoline taxes, regulations or liberals, Billo asks the people to get ANGRY. Oh, please!
Townhall.com Excerpt:
But if Americans would get angry and begin punishing the oil bandits, prices would drop.
Punishing? Gasp! Watch what you say there, Billo. You're only one more verb away from becoming a person of interest by the authorities.

Are you saying people should organize a mass boycott? How socialist of you! How left-wing of you? A consumer strike? What about all the investors, risk-takers and poor seniors collecting Big Oil dividends? Remember, mega-profits are a sure sign those special and talented CEO's are worth their millions according to Wall Street.

Well, I guess when a self-righteous whacko like Billo tells people to get angry, it’s ok. But when some citizen rises up and pushes back at the greed-fueled power train running downhill on greased rails, well, that’s different. Only then, it must be the irrational outburst of a combative and negative person with an axe to grind. Perhaps in Billo's case, they’d be right.

8 comments:

Greenconsciousness said...

Why call him names? Does it make you feel good? Organizing is about working in coalition with others who do not share your general beliefs. Do we need to do what "Rev" Wright does?

I am surprised at you because you are very intelligent and a good organizer. Are you just being sarcastic? To what end? I like O'Reilly's attitude toward child abuse, big oil and doing political interviews even though he is not a feminist and I am pro choice. Alinsky says "if the anti-choice nun agrees with you on the campaign goal, put her on the committee". That is my approach.

I do not need to believe people are wackjobs or all those other names you used. People are a mixed bag. Work with each other where you can. Respect your differences. O'Reilly believes in democracy, people power and advocacy. He can be a powerful ally against big oil - let's join with him, not curse him.

Please answer me as to why you are speaking like this when I know you agree with him. Is it because our friends will think you are a traitor? We need to stand up against out peers sometimes -- sometimes I think we are a lot like sheep - so afraid of the opinions of the herd we travel with that we don't speak up for the good anymore.

Lou Kaye said...

Well, I'm sorry you feel that way, but take your concern and advice here seriously.

Fighting fire with fire is not usually the best language solution but it has some uses and can be effective just like a back-draft.

When I hear someone like Bill O'Reilly, Rush or Ann Coulter take verbal potshots at regular folks whom they write about in books or invite on their shows - I'm sorry but they've opened the door for this. Now, this may sound hypocritical, but like you, I'm tired of allowing the condescending arrogance and name-calling to go unchallenged. I also understand it can hurt the cause but I'm tired of hearing phony non-partisans telling everyone to be nice and go along to get along. I've heard it enough on the local scale.

When someone like O'Reilly goes on national talk shows and bashes secular progressives, lefties or anyone that runs counter to their ideology as fools, whackos and pinheads, then turns around and asks the same people they refer to as whackos and pinheads to take up a progressive-style boycott against coporations, I'll call them on their phonyism. Even worse is the end THEY serve, they make millions from their hollow diatribes.

I agree with you a lot more than I agree with Billo, but have you ever written to Billo suggesting that his daily bomb-throwing only invites an equal response and divides the country? I think if enough people complained to these guys to stop the insults, others in the backwaters including myself will follow suit.

Greenconsciousness said...

I see the problem - I do not believe OReilly is in the same category as Rush or Coulter and you do.

The people OReilly bashes for the most part I think are hypocrites and need bashing. Hypocrites - wealthy elitists who hide behind so called progressive ideas which are just a front for their extreme self centered greed and narcissism. Like that snarky radio tycoon, Air America, ex comedian who did not pay his workers UC and now thinks his money will buy him a seat in Congress which it probably will. The plagiarism in his book swept under the male left's rug.

There is no Mecca. I am a radical feminist so I look at the boys on both sides, left and right, and see the same will to control and oppress covered so nicely with their fine sounding platitudes. I see hypocrisy all over the wealthy who are doing the work of the corporations. The left by supporting illegal immigration slave labor and Muslim theocracies, their sexism made clear in the media coverage of Hillary's campaign. Thee left give lip service only to the people's struggles only to keep their jobs and their wealth. The right by everything they do more obviously.

In the vandalism thing - the delinquent boys are the sons of gang members, so the cops lie to the community to get the juveniles under legal control where they can squeeze them for information which they call "intelligence" in exchange for their semi-freedom. Thus police and vandals become the same thing and the community is left to suffer for the greater good.

Two prostitutes have just "Hanged them self" before they could release the names of their powerful clients including generals in the Pentagon and the authorities are absolutely certain it was suicide.

I have seen innocent people destroyed by power using the legal system to drive people mad and shut them up. This really IS fascism.

I love it when hypocrisy is exposed. The ability to do that is smaller and smaller as fascism gains more and more power in this country. It IS happening and those who name it are called crazy and marginalized.

The joy of Hillary's campaign is that she can withstand this silencing by both the corporate male left and corporate male right and come back over and over talking to the center where the people who are not fooled are standing.

I think OReilly also talks to the center. True, he is angry, can be hostile, veers to the right too often, but I think he tries to be fair and kind. I do not see any kind of fairness from the boys on the left.

Do you know what they are doing to Tammy Baldwin now because she will not abandon Hillary? Do you know what they are saying about the Clintons? They are saying the Clintons are homophobic although it is BO who has the Baptist homophobic on the stage with him.

I will come back or just point you to Uppity WI's blog to read it.

If you can point out an innocent that OReilly ridicules, I would be offended with you but generally I think he goes for hypocrites. I think it is educational because hypocrisy is one of the devils used to blind the people.

Greenconsciousness said...

Here is the cite to the left boys on the Clinton's gay people hatred with even hints that they deliberately did "nothing" about AIDS. Read the left boys lies posted as facts and ask yourself if such hysterical, desperation is not being PAID for by some very big money - left progressive money. Ask yourself if it sounds like Democrats or big money talking through the Daily Kos?

http://www.uppitywis.org/pressure-building-lone-wisc-clinton-declared-superdelegate-offic

Lou Kaye said...

You've brought a lot of issues into the picture on this one, and I'd rather stay on O'Reilly.

I don't believe he is a good representative of centrist views. In fact I believe he is far right and merely panders to the center for the $$$$. I won't even touch the reasons you've given why BillO is entitled to bashing ANYBODY, but yet criticize me for doing the same.

I'm not about to list the episodes of guests he ripped on his show who didn't follow his dance steps. Most were previously unknown and gullible people (not wealthy elitists) who were looking for their 15 minutes of fame only to be fodder for his self-styled feeding frenzy. Even after his interview with Hillary Clinton, BillO said "she probably thinks I'm a pinhead" as if to make light of his own darkness and draw her into a name-calling fight.

But I also have a broader definition of hypocrites than yours. They're not just wealthy elitists. I believe we all are hypocrites to some extent or another. Some are more obvious than others. To think that supporters on the left (populists) must be phonies if they are wealthy is another falsehood designed to split "the people." We can "move on" without the org.

I agree that the Clintons are being repeatedly stabbed in the back. Obama and Hillary are standing up to all attacks from all directions on their own. To tear into their supporters will only divide more. We have to let it all shake out, the process isn't over. We must stay on course to defeat McCain, there's just too much at stake.

Greenconsciousness said...

"To think that supporters on the left (populists) must be phonies if they are wealthy is another falsehood designed to split "the people." "

If i said this it is not what I meant. I believe the corporations run certain men who appear to be progressives the way the right wing organizes think tanks to run their propaganda. That is why so much policy that is against the working class is presented as progressive and anti-racist.

Oh well, we can disagree here. I don't accept the fact that I have to condemn certain people in order to be accept by the PC crowd. There is too much silencing. I am sorry if you thought my criticism was an attempt to silence you. I did not know you thought of OReilly and Rush as the same.

Lou Kaye said...

No - no. Your criticism (if I may call it that) is well accepted. I think life and all it's interactions are meant to be. It's a beautiful never-ending learning process. I can never know or learn too much. I've learned something here in our conversation that I would never learn reading an anonymous column.

I've placed Coulter, Rush and Billo in the same category not only because of their anti-left rhetoric, but I believe because of their huge exposure and seeming authority, they owe the people a higher level of discourse.

Greenconsciousness said...

I learn from you too. I just love your thoughtfulness, bright light - shine on!

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