Bill O'Reilly -- Dumb Ass?

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
by M.L. Baxter

The following email was sent to Bill O'Reilly at oreilly@foxnews.com on June 15, 2004:

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Mr. O'Reilly---

I must ask: For the record, are you truly a dumb ass, or do you just play one on TV? There seem to be no other possibilities.

Tonight, for example, with some degree of drama, you shared with your audience that the latest Al Qaeda atrocity, releasing a videotape of captive Paul Johnson, was of course "a violation of the Geneva Conventions."

Like all conservative Bush supporters, you seem continually to defend unacceptable behavior by the Bushies by pointing out that Saddam Hussein or, in this case, Al Qaeda is just as bad or even worse. That is, generally, undoubtedly true.

You and the other Bush defenders seem satisfied by this comparison, but I doubt that most Americans or the rest of the world view this as the minimum standard for America to aspire to.

In this case, however, your remark and the implied comparison is even dumber than usual.

Mr. O'Reilly, this Al Qaeda action does not in fact violate the Geneva Conventions because Al Qaeda, unlike my country, the United States of America, is not signatory to the Geneva Conventions. I assume you are smart enough to know this but, once again, you choose to mislead your audience in order to advance your partisan agenda.

No wonder polls repeatedly show that Fox News Channel viewers are the least informed or the most ignorant when compared with viewers of all the other sources of news and information.

You and the other Fox News personalities provide a daily ration of false and misleading or incomplete information, so those who primarily watch Fox News should not be entirely blamed for their shortcomings. Please, stop the madness!!

Thank you for your consideration.

M.L. Baxter
Dover, Ohio

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION