# 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:** 6
**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, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/101 "2015-02-25T22:26:12Z")
Apparently he does both. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/102 "2015-02-25T22:47:52Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > Lie-o-meter: > > Brian Williams 8 > > Bill O’Reilly 4 How do you figure? They both grossly exaggerated the danger they were in. But unlike O’Reilly, Williams was actually in a war zone, with live ammo being fired. And he didn’t claim to do anything heroic, he just said he was a passenger, while O’Reilly further embellished his already embellished story with some apparent bullshit about rescuing a cameraman. And it’s [now coming out](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/25/bill-oreilly-el-salvador-murders_n_6754042.html) that Bill-O is also making shit up about El Salvador. ---
**Author:** ![A\_nice\_guy\_with\_an\_opinion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@A\_nice\_guy\_with\_an\_opinion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_nice_guy_with_an_opinion)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/103 "2015-02-25T22:54:43Z")
I’m just glad the former secretary of state and first lady was able to avoid sniper fire. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/104 "2015-02-25T22:58:02Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > D’oh! Yeah it was Peabodies he either misremembered or lied about, not a Pulitzer. He didn’t misremember. The Golden Globes are a hundred times better known than the Polk Award. How many people who won a Golden Globe would “misremember” and say they won an Oscar? He lied about winning a Peabody, several times. Franken was absolutely right to call him out about it. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/105 "2015-02-25T23:03:13Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > As I said in the other thread, one of his biggest lies is referring to himself as a “humble” correspondent. The guy is one of the biggest, self-promoting blow-hards on the face of the earth! There’s precedent: [QUOTE=Moses] Num\_12:3 Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![A\_nice\_guy\_with\_an\_opinion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@A\_nice\_guy\_with\_an\_opinion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_nice_guy_with_an_opinion)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/106 "2015-02-25T23:04:57Z")
I’m glad we don’t hold politicians to the same standards we have for Oh oh oh O’reily and Brian Williams. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/107 "2015-02-25T23:09:01Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > As I said in the other thread, IMO the key question - which seems to have been overlooked in the focus on the Falklands - is to what extent his description of the riot and his whereabouts relative to it are accurate. If he was in the midst of a thousand protestors storming the presidential palace and being fired on by the army, then the exact location seems to be of minor importance. If he was significantly exagerating that - as has been suggested by some - than it’s a BW-type deal. O’Reilly claimed that the police were firing into the crowd, and that several protesters were killed. Everybody else says the police fired only tear gas or rubber bullets, and that nobody was killed. It’s also notable that what the crowd was protesting was the surrender of Argentina to the UK. In other words, the war was over, so not only was he not in the war zone, there was no war anywhere in South America. ---
**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, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/108 "2015-02-25T23:17:06Z")
I think Fox News needs to rectify this situation immediately. Start sending him to war zones. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/109 "2015-02-25T23:20:11Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > I think Fox News needs to rectify this situation immediately. > Start sending him to war zones. 😃 Beheading at 11! ---
**Author:** ![A\_nice\_guy\_with\_an\_opinion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@A\_nice\_guy\_with\_an\_opinion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_nice_guy_with_an_opinion)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/110 "2015-02-25T23:23:50Z")
Remember when Faux news doctored the Trayvon 911 call? Or was that some other network? ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/111 "2015-02-25T23:39:18Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > 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. My mom adores him, because he has such a nice smile, and (he pretends he) is such a nice guy. One of these days, I’ll play this clip for her, where he (amazingly) doesn’t know what “play us out” means, blames it on his staff, and throws a profanity-laced fit (NSFW): [https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player\_embedded&v=O\_HyZ5aW76c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=O_HyZ5aW76c) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/112 "2015-02-25T23:44:57Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > My mom adores him, because he has such a nice smile, and (he pretends he) is such a nice guy. One of these days, I’ll play this clip for her, where he (amazingly) doesn’t know what “play us out” means, blames it on his staff, and throws a profanity-laced fit (NSFW): > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player\_embedded&v=O\_HyZ5aW76c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=O_HyZ5aW76c) Lends a whole new meaning to the word “unbalanced”! ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/113 "2015-02-25T23:45:24Z")
> [@A\_nice\_guy\_with\_an\_opinion](#): > > I’m just glad the former secretary of state and first lady was able to avoid sniper fire. > [@A\_nice\_guy\_with\_an\_opinion](#): > > Remember when Faux news doctored the Trayvon 911 call? Or was that some other network? Seriously, are you going to go through every one of these? When will you get to Dan Rather? If you want to make it interesting, I’ll give you the last ten years for ABC, NBC, and CBS, and you give me the last one year for Fox News. A buck a lie. How about it? ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/114 "2015-02-26T00:31:45Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > Seriously, are you going to go through every one of these? When will you get to Dan Rather? > > If you want to make it interesting, I’ll give you the last ten years for ABC, NBC, and CBS, and you give me the last one year for Fox News. A buck a lie. How about it? And subtract back that buck if the lie was acknowledged and corrected. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/115 "2015-02-26T02:27:20Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > How do you figure? They both grossly exaggerated the danger they were in. But unlike O’Reilly, Williams was actually in a war zone, with live ammo being fired. And he didn’t claim to do anything heroic, he just said he was a passenger, while O’Reilly further embellished his already embellished story with some apparent bullshit about rescuing a cameraman. And it’s [now coming out](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/25/bill-oreilly-el-salvador-murders_n_6754042.html) that Bill-O is also making shit up about El Salvador. [Also](http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/25/media/bill-oreilly-jfk-george-de-mohrenschildt/) about his investigation of the JFK assassination. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/116 "2015-02-26T03:18:13Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [Also](http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/25/media/bill-oreilly-jfk-george-de-mohrenschildt/) about his investigation of the JFK assassination. I’m guessing the next dominoes to fall will be that he falsified his interviews with Jesus and Lincoln. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/117 "2015-02-26T04:12:16Z")
It’s worth noting that at least one conservative journalist, Tucker Carlson, criticized O’Reilly over ten years ago for this and recounted a time when O’Reilly made a fool of himself at a press conference where he bragged about being “almost killed three times”. [https://books.google.com/books?id=3JoFL9epFbcC&pg=PT35&dq=bill+o%27reilly+falklands&hl=en&sa=X&ei=XpvcVJ-VNM7FgwS9\_4CICA&ved=0CD0Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=bill%20o%27reilly%20falklands&f=false](https://books.google.com/books?id=3JoFL9epFbcC&pg=PT35&dq=bill+o%27reilly+falklands&hl=en&sa=X&ei=XpvcVJ-VNM7FgwS9_4CICA&ved=0CD0Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=bill%20o%27reilly%20falklands&f=false) Interesting read. ---
**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 26, 2015, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/118 "2015-02-26T04:16:00Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > I’m guessing the next dominoes to fall will be that he falsified his interviews with Jesus and Lincoln. Did he claim to be there when Jesus freed the slaves? ---
**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 26, 2015, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/119 "2015-02-26T06:00:22Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > It’s worth noting that at least one conservative journalist, Tucker Carlson, criticized O’Reilly over ten years ago for this and recounted a time when O’Reilly made a fool of himself at a press conference where he bragged about being “almost killed three times”. > > [https://books.google.com/books?id=3JoFL9epFbcC&pg=PT35&dq=bill+o%27reilly+falklands&hl=en&sa=X&ei=XpvcVJ-VNM7FgwS9\_4CICA&ved=0CD0Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=bill%20o%27reilly%20falklands&f=false](https://books.google.com/books?id=3JoFL9epFbcC&pg=PT35&dq=bill+o%27reilly+falklands&hl=en&sa=X&ei=XpvcVJ-VNM7FgwS9_4CICA&ved=0CD0Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=bill%20o%27reilly%20falklands&f=false) Interesting and worth reading, but recall that conservative media stars are notorious for their professional jealousies. O’Reilly and Hannity have [an icy relationship](http://www.businessinsider.com/roger-ailes-biography-zev-chafets-fox-news-rush-limbaugh-sean-hannity-bill-oreilly-2013-3?op=1). They don’t speak with one another though they work on the same floor. Limbaugh refers to Bill O’Reilly as [Ted Baxter](http://www.mediaite.com/online/fox-news-disputes-report-that-limbaugh-oreilly-feud-bumped-biographer-from-airwaves/), the empty headed fictional newscaster on the Mary Tyler Moore Show from the 1970s. Hannity used to work for Limbaugh and was invited to the elder radioman’s wedding, but their relationship is… complicated. Limbaugh boasts to a reporter: “I have no competitors Hannity isn’t even close to me.” Hannity calls himself the most influential commentator. When asked about this, Limbaugh [bristles](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/magazine/06Limbaugh-t.html?_r=0&pagewanted=all) and severs his relationship with a reporter (albeit temporarily I understand). So I think it’s fair to say that conservative commentators don’t suffer from a surplus of grace. Some conservatives respect facts of course. But they tend to be academics and they tend to be passed over for hacks. Compare Gregory Mankiew or Gary Becker to Arthur Laffer, Chris Chocola or [Stephen Moore](http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/02/obamacare-hater-cant-find-single-true-fact.html). Or consider the sad case of Bruce Bartlett. Once the architect of the Kemp Roth tax cuts, he was fired from a right wing think tank when he dared question GW Bush’s fiscal policy. I saw some eyerolling in Carlson’s description, but not really any displeasure over O’Reilly’s tendency to screw up his facts. Carlson just argued that Bill was a blowhard. ---
**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 26, 2015, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/120 "2015-02-26T07:25:51Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > My mom adores him, because he has such a nice smile, and (he pretends he) is such a nice guy. One of these days, I’ll play this clip for her, where he (amazingly) doesn’t know what “play us out” means, blames it on his staff, and throws a profanity-laced fit (NSFW): > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player\_embedded&v=O\_HyZ5aW76c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=O_HyZ5aW76c) [Joe Muto wrote a tell-all autobio about his days working with Bill-O](http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/an-atheist-in-the-foxhole-joe-muto/1113599179?ean=9780142181010). He characterized Mr. O’Reilly’s behind the scenes level headed temperament and demeanor as follows: [INDENT]The issue with Bill wasn’t that he flew off the handle for no reason-- there was _always_ a reason. The problem was that he had no sense of scale. In his book, every foul-up, no matter how big or small, was an occasion for a shouting jag. He’d get just as mad at the producer who had failed to book a desirable guest as he would at his assistant if she forgot to get mustard on his sandwich. He’d get just as angry about being given a stat that turned out be wrong, leading to his embarrassing himself on the air, as he would about being given a research packet with the wrong font. And when he turned on the rage, all six feet four of him towering, red-faced, wild-eyed, and screaming, jabbing a finger in the face of whoever was unlucky enough to have provoked his ire, it was a truly terrifying experience. It was also oddly exhilarating --thrilling even-- as long as you weren’t the target. One of my fellow producers compared it to watching a tiger at the zoo mauling someone who’d wandered into its enclosure. “You’re powerless to stop it,” she said. “All you can do is watch and hope that he eventually loses interest and wanders away.” [/INDENT] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359.md?page=7)