# Bill O'Reilly and his Falklands War experience **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 22, 2015, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359 "2015-02-22T18:08:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/81 "2015-02-25T00:36:17Z")
[Aaaaannnnnd things get even sillier and nastier.](http://www.salon.com/2015/02/24/i_am_coming_after_you_why_bill_o%e2%80%99reillys_train_wreck_has_the_right_unhinged/) ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/82 "2015-02-25T03:57:21Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > Police grabbing anyone. Shots being fired over protesters. The government led by a military dictatorship refusing to provide arrest figures. Reporters being injured. That would seem to support O’Reilly’s version of events and not Eric Engberg’s. _::snort::_ [Here’s how O’Reilly describes it](http://mediamatters.org/research/2015/02/20/bill-oreillys-combat-situation-reporting-in-his/202605): [INDENT]O’REILLY: Because I was in a situation, one time, in a war zone in Argentina, in the Falklands, where my photographer got run down and then hit his head and was bleeding from the ear on the concrete. And the army was chasing us. I had to make a decision. And I dragged him off, you know, but at the same time, I’m looking around and trying to do my job, but I figure I had to get this guy out of there because that was more important. [/INDENT] Last I heard Buenos Aires was not in the Falklands. A cop riot isn’t a war zone. Sorry. And was the army chasing Bill-O? I predict that Bill O’Reilly’s fans will continue to believe in him, _as they always have_, because O’Reilly fulfills their emotional needs in a way that no factual person ever can. But maybe I can try. I remember back in 'Nam when… well the shit was really going down. On my right were a platoon of Communists. On my left were a phalanx of armed secular humanists. My photographer was getting nervous. Well the commies could wait. “Christmas in August!”, I shouted. We got into our jeep and drove through the scattering seculars. They never saw it coming. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/83 "2015-02-25T04:00:15Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > Police grabbing anyone. Shots being fired over protesters. The government led by a military dictatorship refusing to provide arrest figures. Reporters being injured. That would seem to support O’Reilly’s version of events and not Eric Engberg’s. 😕 It most certainly doesn’t. There are specific things that O’Reilly said that are not false (for example, I believe he claimed that some people in Argentina were unhappy with the outcome of the Falklands war, and darn if he’s not right about that!), but the things he’s being called on the carpet for don’t remotely match that version of events. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/84 "2015-02-25T04:44:17Z")
New lie from O’Reilly from his book, “Killing Kennedy”: He claims that he was _on the scene_ when Oswald figure George de Mohrenschildt committed suicide. He claims to have heard the shot as he was knocking on the door of de Mohrenschildt’s house. O’Reilly was a local reporter in Dallas at the time. He was not sent to de Mohrenschildt’s house in Florida. > **[O'Reilly Lied About Suicide Of JFK Assassination Figure, Former Colleagues Say](https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-nation/oreilly-lied-about-suicide-jfk-assassination-figure-former-colleagues-say)** ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/85 "2015-02-25T04:55:41Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > New lie from O’Reilly from his book, “Killing Kennedy”: > > He claims that he was _on the scene_ when Oswald figure George de Mohrenschildt committed suicide. He claims to have heard the shot as he was knocking on the door of de Mohrenschildt’s house. > > O’Reilly was a local reporter in Dallas at the time. He was not sent to de Mohrenschildt’s house in Florida. > > [O'Reilly Lied About Suicide Of JFK Assassination Figure, Former Colleagues Say | Media Matters for America](http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/02/24/oreilly-lied-about-suicide-of-jfk-assassination/202655) And it’s almost the same distance from Dallas to Florida as from Buenos Aries to the Falklands. We have a pattern. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/86 "2015-02-25T05:47:31Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > [I predict that Bill O’Reilly’s fans will continue to believe in him, _as they always have_, because O’Reilly fulfills their emotional needs in a way that no factual person ever can. And, of course, wing-icing will bring pigs crashing down on the glaciers of Hell before Fox will fire O’Reilly for being dishonest. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/87 "2015-02-25T12:09:38Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > And it’s almost the same distance from Dallas to Florida as from Buenos Aries to the Falklands. > We have a pattern. 😃 I think we can solve this – O’Reilly is capable of astral projection, but only for a narrow range of distances (~1200 miles). ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/88 "2015-02-25T14:07:38Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I think we can solve this – O’Reilly is capable of astral projection, but only for a narrow range of distances (~1200 miles). How far is he from me right now? I want to minimize my risk. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/89 "2015-02-25T15:37:16Z")
[Sillier and sillier.](http://www.salon.com/2015/02/25/bill_oreilly_explains_fox_news_backlash_we_are_pressuring_obama_to_fight_the_terror_savages/) ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/90 "2015-02-25T16:53:49Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > New lie from O’Reilly from his book, “Killing Kennedy”: > > He claims that he was _on the scene_ when Oswald figure George de Mohrenschildt committed suicide. He claims to have heard the shot as he was knocking on the door of de Mohrenschildt’s house. > > O’Reilly was a local reporter in Dallas at the time. He was not sent to de Mohrenschildt’s house in Florida. > > [O'Reilly Lied About Suicide Of JFK Assassination Figure, Former Colleagues Say | Media Matters for America](http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/02/24/oreilly-lied-about-suicide-of-jfk-assassination/202655) IMHO this is a lot worse than the Falklands bit (if accurate). ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/91 "2015-02-25T17:48:39Z")
Not sure about that. It’s not “stolen valor” of the sort that originally got Williams and O’Reilly in trouble. ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/92 "2015-02-25T17:52:37Z")
Trust me on this: I am NO FAN of Bill O’Reilly’s but even I think this whole dust-up is stupid. Seriously, people? To me this is no more important than “blasphemous” images of Mohammed are. Seriously - there are WAAAAAAAAAY too many people on the planet who make mountains out of molehills concerning stuff that really shouldn’t matter to them in the least bit because it has no true bearing on their lives. Pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/93 "2015-02-25T18:12:11Z")
A cultural tolerance, or not, of lying by journalists (or people who are presented as journalists) seems like it would affect all our lives. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/94 "2015-02-25T18:52:26Z")
> [@racepug](#): > > I am NO FAN of Bill O’Reilly’s but even I think this whole dust-up is stupid. While I generally agree… Mr “No Spin Zone” is spinning like there’s no tomorrow. I’ll admit I can be petty, so I’ll enjoy the schadenfreude for the 10 seconds a day I pay attention to it. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/95 "2015-02-25T18:56:02Z")
I agree that this is not really a big deal, but it’s fun to see O’Reilly’s blatant hypocrisy and growing red-faced rage. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/96 "2015-02-25T19:45:03Z")
Oh I don’t have a problem with Bill O’Reilly any more than I have a problem with Bozo the Clown. They are both entertainers. It’s O’Reilly’s audience that I find hilarious. I mean you have to be pretty far in the tank to use a serial fabricator as an information source. Media Matters calls out Fox News for factual bungling and prevaricating on more or less a daily basis. Meanwhile modern conservative media commentators whine about bias which translates to, “You hurt our feelings.” It’s like I said upthread. O’Reilly’s viewership has such a sensitive disposition that they _want_ him to make things up, they _need_ him to make things up. Otherwise the clash between perception and objective reality would prompt too much vertigo. Give a factual newscast and you become the enemy: brag about your nonexistent wartime experiences and they consider you a modern conservative hero. All of this will only strengthen O’Reilly’s brand. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/97 "2015-02-25T20:01:01Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > It’s like I said upthread. O’Reilly’s viewership has such a sensitive disposition that they _want_ him to make things up, they _need_ him to make things up. You mean… they can’t handle the truth? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/98 "2015-02-25T21:40:27Z")
Apparently he also witnessed the [murder](http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/02/25/another-fabrication-oreilly-never-witnessed-the/202667) of four nuns in El Salvador a year before he went to El Salvador for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/99 "2015-02-25T22:18:08Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Not sure about that. It’s not “stolen valor” of the sort that originally got Williams and O’Reilly in trouble. But there’s a difference between exagerations and outright lies. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/100 "2015-02-25T22:25:42Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > But there’s a difference between exagerations and outright lies. Yeah, O’Reilly doesn’t exaggerate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359.md?page=6)