Judging from the needle on Bill O’Reilly’s Venom-O-Meter last night, his buddy Donald Trump must be deeply smarting from his inability to find any A-list celebrities to perform at his inauguration. So, O’Reilly reacted just like any right-wing bully: by blaming others and in this case, coming up with new smears for those who don’t want to support the least popular president-elect in recent history.
O’Reilly couldn’t or wouldn’t consider the fact that entertainers are acting on their consciences and principles. He insisted, without any evidence, that there is some kind of “un-American” “reverse McCarthyism” in the entertainment industry intimidating them.
It was a classic case of projection. O'Reilly proceeded to try to browbeat and shame the performers as not being pro-America enough to perform for Trump. (transcript excerpts via Media Matters):
O'REILLY: The harsh truth is that there is reverse McCarthyism going on in the entertainment industry. Remember that in the 1950s, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy started accusing people in Hollywood of being Communists. That led to a black list where people were not hired because McCarthy smeared them.
Today, it seems anti-Trump zealots may be doing the same thing. If you are a Trump supporter, you are a bad person, and a number of entertainers believe their careers will be harmed, should they associate with the new Trump administration. Again, that is terrible, an awful state of affairs. Talking Points believes enough is enough of the anti-Trump movement. The man won the election, give him a chance. Respect the process. Stop the nonsense.
Fortunately for us, conservative Charles Krauthammer, a Fox News conservative and an O’Reilly Factor regular, set O’Reilly straight:
“You know, I find it hard to get exercised over the fact that we may be short a Rockette at the inaugural celebration,” Krauthammer told O’Reilly. He also pointed out that O’Reilly had “shown no evidence” that there was McCarthyism going on.
But O’Reilly insisted otherwise:
O’REILLY: Oh, stop. The evidence is there’s nobody booked. That’s the evidence, there’s nobody booked, two weeks away.
KRAUTHAMMER: They don’t want to play for Donald Trump.
O’REILLY: Bull.
KRAUTHAMMER: This is a republic.
O’REILLY: Bull.
KRAUTHAMMER: You are not summoned to perform for the king or for the dictator. In some places, if Kim Jong-un calls you to sing, you better show up, because otherwise you’re not gonna make it to the morning.
O’REILLY: You—you don’t know anything about the Hollywood industries. They will perform for Joseph Stalin, okay, if they think it is going to help their career. Okay?
Of course, it can't be Trump's fault he's so despised. That "personal responsibility" thing that O’Reilly lectures African Americans about doesn't seem to apply to a lying, sexual-assaulting, racist white guy!
Watch it above, via Media Matters.
Crossposted at Newshounds.us
