For O'Reilly, Torture's OK But A New York Times Cartoon "Brutalizes" America

Original Link: http://www.newshounds.us/2009/04/28/for_oreilly_tortures_ok_but_a_new_york_times_cartoon_brutalizes_america.php

In last night (4/27/09) Talking Points Memo on The O'Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly trumpeted, “Brutalizing America . . . a new low has been reached in the media – attacks on the USA.” With video.

O'Reilly showed a New York Times cartoon depicting the Statue of Liberty with a whip held overhead.

“Just look at this atrocity and tell me that newspaper is a fair media outlet.”

Okay, can we assume, Bill that you want this whole torture issue to be kept under wraps, to just, you know, fade away, like the good old days? I'm game, Bill – let's talk about this. Tell me, who's behind this evil conspiracy to destroy America?

The two men responsible are Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. and Editor Bill Keller, who are on a “jihad” to define America as a “gulag” nation, a country that “tortured helpless captives.”

Okay, Bill, check, the guys who allowed the whip-wielding statue of liberty cartoon to be published – I mean, who needs the First Amendment, right? Anybody else?

General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt and NBC boss Jeff Zucker “allowed their commentators to push a hateful, far-left agenda.”

Ahh, yes, we all do really hate news networks that push a hateful partisan agenda. That it?

ACLU leader Anthony Romero and, of course, George Soros are both “pouring money and legal challenges into telling the world that America is indeed a nation that abuses human rights.”

“These six men are doing an enormous amount of damage to this country but why? What is the real goal here? A liberal president is now in the White House and Barack Obama has already reversed many of the Bush anti-terror policies – so why are these guys continuing to whip their own country when they know the alleged torture stuff is harming our image all over the world?”

Well, Bill, I'm a little confused. Weren't we, under George Bush, a nation that did in fact abuse the human rights of detainees? And isn't President Obama someone who is setting out to repair our country's image? I mean, it's probably subject to debate, but if we weren't, like, doing anything wrong or illegal with the torture – oh, I'm sorry, “harsh interrogation methods” – why would our worldwide image be harmed from any disclosure? I'm just sayin'.

Okay, moving on. So, why is this all happening? What's the evil left-wing agenda?

“ . . . if show trials for the Bush administraiton happen, they will marginalize the Republican Party, national security hawks and conservative thinkers for decades.”

Ah, yes, that marginalization of the Republicans, couldn't happen without the dastardly work of the far left. Hmm, well, surely if the Republicans and lawyers and CIA order-followers who served faithfully under George Bush have nothing to hide then, you know, nobody should really be “marginalized,” hmm? Uh, Bill, are you sure there's no more well, evidence, that you need to tell us about?

“ . . . the Obama Administration will soon release photographs of military investigations into prisoner abuse! The pictures were taken in order to gather evidence in criminal cases against Americans! But that's not how the photos will be spun . . . .”

Okay, sure, I get it – no, Bill, I really don't. How do you “spin” an original photo that shows brutalities? Not to be disrespectful, but let's not forget that whole thing about a picture being worth a thousand words.

I'm just curious, though – the ACLU since, oh, about 1920 has been sort of the guardian of our liberty in America, working to uphold the Constitution, keep our civil rights intact. So, what's the motive for them to, what was it you said, tell the world we're a nation that abuses human rights?

“The ACLU, which sued to get the pictures released, wants to inflame the world against the USA. That, of course, will put our troops and diplomats in even more danger and make it harder for the Obama Administration to get cooperation from other countries.”

Wow, the ACLU really wants to do that, bring harm to our troops and diplomats, after championing American causes for almost 100 years. And, yes, of course, our troops and diplomats will certainly be in much graver danger when other countries discover that our intention going forward is to treat all of our prisoners humanely and that we're gonna dispense with the torture stuff. Hell, that's not the stuff cooperation is made of, no, sir. Our troops and diplomats were surely much safer back in the days when torture was our stock in trade and we treated our prisoners like pieces of meat. But hey, I'm sure with all the experts in our country, all the media pundits, all the politicians, someone is exposing this horrifying ACLU abuse of power for what it is?

“Few in the media are rebutting the scandalous charge that America is a torture nation, even though the facts say it's bull.”

Hmm, those facts that say it's bull . . . Bill, there are going to be pictures! Pictures! Do you understand that?

But believe you me, we do agree that something should be done about the partisan haters who throw false facts around, try to deep-six pictures that expose the horrors, try to bury the truth and protect the bad guys and rant and rave about witch hunts and, gosh, the unfairness of it all. So, tell us Bill . . .

“It's bad enough the world has to see this kind of garbage [the cartoon] . . . all of us should hold these America haters accountable.”

Exactly.