From the Irony Files

I have been unable to muster much interest in the battle between Bill O'Reilly and the Daily Kos. O'Reilly's penchant for distortion and slander has become so old hat, that most of the time I can muster neither outrage nor the belly laugh most of it deserves. This, however, is a riot. One of my dear friends from My Left Wing, dhonig, is the latest to be defamed by Bill-O and the underlying premise turns reality squarely on its head. The falafel lover (and, yes, that's a double-entendre) has accused dhonig of, hold on to your hat, anti-Semitism.

Let me back up and explain why that is hilarious, aside from the fact that dhonig is Jewish. I don't think I've ever encountered anyone more sensitive to the subteties of anti-Semitism than dhonig. I personally have accused him of seeing it where it just does not exist. In fact, I've told him that he begins to sound like this to me:



I can't think of a worse kossack to quote in trying to prove your case, as O'Reilly is, that anti-Semitism is rampant on Daily Kos. Here is dhonig explaining how Bill-O took a segment out of his diary and twisted it completely out of context:

Ever since the 2006 Lebanon war, anti-Semitism became a significant topic, particularly in the I/P debates. People on one side of the debate cried "anti-Semitism," and people on the other side (in my personal opinion far more) inserted prophylactic demands "don't call me an anti-Semite but ...." It got so heated that I decided to write a diary, ultimately several of them, to distinguish between criticism of Israel, even criticism with which I vehemently disagreed, and actual anti-Semitism. This particular diary was a response to claims that people were too quick to make the anti-Semitism accusation, and that there really wasn't any on Daily Kos. Rather, the theory went, there was just legitimate criticism of Israel, and Israel's supporters were trying to shut it down with false accusations.
Okay, let's go straight to the money quote, shall we?

If Jews love the US so much- how come their #'s in the US military are dismal? Instead of selling ones soul to be diamond brokers, investment bankers

Did I write that? Nope. Actually, that was one of the hateful quotes I was criticizing. It is, of course, also worth noting that it was troll-rating into oblivion, 0 to 15.

The punchline is that dhonig is an attorney and seriously considering a law suit. I think he should sue. As noted by dhoning here, you can make your own opinion on that known here.

Not surprisingly Keith Olbermann has picked up on the controversy. Enjoy:

Chicken-Hawk O'Reilly Cuts Off Colonel

If you can stand the sound of O'Reilly's blather, this clip is worth watching. As a study in cowardice I mean. O'Reilly always makes me think of nothing so much as one of those terrible profs who warns new students that his class is really tough, but if you get a good grade you've really earned something. Then spends the rest of the semester burying students in piles of useless, busy work and grading unfairly. I've had them. I think we've all had them. The ones who think unreasonably difficult equals academically challenging. I was always astounded at how many students bought into the bluster and thought they were actually learning something. And I continue to be astounded at O'Reilly's ratings. Sure he says he's cutting through spin, but all he does is shout down anyone who disagrees with him. In other words, a garden variety bully. And like all bullies, he's really a coward. Not news, but I needed to get it off my chest.

Sadly, I think he's probably quite proud of the abuse he heaped upon Colonel Ann Wright, because he seems to think cutting someone's mic is winning an argument. But anyone with an ounce of analytical skill will recognize that she buried him. And as News Hounds points out, the straw that broke O'Reilly's back was her pointing out that she had actually served in uniform, while he...

It seems the last straw that led to Bill O'Reilly cutting the mic of retired US. Army Colonel Ann Wright on The Factor last night 3/30/07 was her declaration of 29 years of service, and her questioning O'Reilly about how many years he served. This happened as she refused to let him silence her by overtalking, twisting her words and accusing her of blaming America for the Iran-Britain situation going on now. With video.

Wright,who taught the Geneva Conventions to troops at Fort Bragg, might just know what she's talking about, but O'Reilly didn't like the direction of her comments so overtalked with increasing agitation, accusing her of blaming America.