Howie Kurtz commented on the article written by David Corn at Mother Jones. Corn wrote about Bill-O's very own slew of lies, such that would have also earned him a suspension without pay. Kurtz writes,
The adversarial tone of the story he co-authored is telegraphed in the headline: “Bill O’Reilly Has His Own Brian Williams Problem.”
--In a Washington panel discussion, O’Reilly said: “I've covered wars, okay? I've been there. The Falklands, Northern Ireland, the Middle East. I've almost been killed three times, okay.”
“He covered a protest,” Corn said. “It might be a minor point, but the war was over. If Mr. O’Reilly wanted to make that case, he certainly could have. I would have gladly put it in the story. Instead of responding to the substance, he’s out there just calling names.”
But Corn’s own piece largely backs up O’Reilly’s account of the dangerous situation, except for O'Reilly's recollection that there were fatalities:
Kurtz of Reliable Sources, along with his Hollywood Reporter guest, Melissa Guthrie, were giving O'Reilly a complete pass on his lies. Kurtz asserts the numerous fallacies told by O'Reilly were a far cry from William's nearly shot-down helicopter story from 2003 Iraq.
"That’s a far cry from a bogus claim of having been shot down in a helicopter, the explicit comparison made by the headline."
Numerous as they are, O'Reilly's lies are, for some odd reason, far less consequential than the disingenuous claim made by NBC's Williams. Guthrie said,
"There's a much different threshold for an entertainer and a news anchor... Bill has furiously debated his critics. He's doing what he does best, he's doing battle."
Guthrie may as well just come out and say it, Fox News is a bogus source of news and it's perfectly acceptable for the hosts of the programs to lie, unchecked, without consequences. Kurtz adds that O'Reilly's ratings have actually gone up, so any time he has to defend his lies, he will turn a negative into a positive and draw a bigger audience. According to Fox News, there's no double standard here, so the viewers can rest assured, Bill-O is right on the money.
