# 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:** 9
**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 28, 2015, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/161 "2015-02-28T18:00:13Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Has [this list of 99 lies](http://www.dailydot.com/politics/bill-oreilly-long-list-of-lies/) been linked here yet? Look up. (post 156) ---
**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 28, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/162 "2015-02-28T19:50:33Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Thanks for the entertainment. One would think that a writer would know the definitions of the words he uses. Particularly one he uses in the headline and is the point of the “article”. Extra thanks for showing the kind of sophomoric mindless partisan drivel you think has value. > > Sigh. Perhaps you’re unaware that this is a thread for debate. If the only thing you have to add is an announcement that you’re giggling, you might find MPSIMS more amenable to your needs. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/163 "2015-02-28T21:17:52Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Thanks for the entertainment. One would think that a writer would know the definitions of the words he uses. Particularly one he uses in the headline and is the point of the “article”. Extra thanks for showing the kind of sophomoric mindless partisan drivel you think has value. > > Sigh. Add me to the list of people who would like clarification on why you think the list has no value. To take just one item of the list, would you care to explain [this](http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/jun/05/bill-oreilly/bill-oreilly-called-george-tiller-baby-killer/), where O’Reilly claims he never personally called Dr. George Tiller a “baby killer,” when he in fact used that term many times — not while reporting what someone else said (as he claimed), but as his own characterization? Including this gem: “Now, we have bad news to report that Tiller the baby killer out in Kansas, acquitted. Acquitted today of murdering babies. I wasn’t in the courtroom. I didn’t sit on the jury. But this, there’s got to be a special place in hell for this guy.” Dr. Tiller was shot and killed by an anti-abortion fanatic two months later. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/164 "2015-02-28T21:25:02Z")
Missed the edit window, but see [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Tiller#Negative_publicity:_The_O.27Reilly_Factor) to get a better idea of O’Reilly’s possible influence in the Tiller murder. ---
**Author:** ![BOOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c4cdca/32.png) [@BOOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BOOM)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/165 "2015-02-28T22:40:10Z")
So is all this an opportunity to finally rid news culture of this bullshit and bogus news hero thing? It belongs in WW2 or somewhere. Just read the damn autocue aleady. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/166 "2015-02-28T23:17:32Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > The degree to which the left has rallied to shift the focus way from Brian Williams is impressive. Anything to protect one of their boys. Gotta love it. Is Brian Williams “one of ours?” I mean, I don’t watch a lot of network news. Before this scandal, if you’d asked me “Who is Brian Williams?” I’d have probably said, “Wasn’t he in the Beach Boys?” So, asking entirely out of ignorance, in what way is Brian Williams a liberal figure, other than being a reporter for a network other than Fox News? ---
**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 28, 2015, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/167 "2015-02-28T23:20:33Z")
> [@Elvis](#): > > Do please pay attention. I didn’t think you could. > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > It’s already been cited for you, but in case you missed it: And I [already responded to that.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18154311&postcount=16) In case you missed it. 😉 Can you quote the “choleric denunciation” part? ---
**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 28, 2015, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/168 "2015-02-28T23:35:37Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I didn’t think you could. > > And I [already responded to that.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18154311&postcount=16) In case you missed it. 😉 > > Can you quote the “choleric denunciation” part? Are you shitting me? I quoted several parts that comprised denunciation. Your response then and now amounts to nothing more than “nuh uh.” ---
**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 28, 2015, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/169 "2015-02-28T23:46:47Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Are you shitting me? I quoted several parts that comprised denunciation. Your response then and now amounts to nothing more than “nuh uh.” You quoted a whole bunch of text. What part of it, specifically, amounts to “choleric denunciation”. Surely you’re not claiming all of the stuff you quoted. Edit out the fluff and quote the choleric denunciation part. I’m just not seeing it. For instance, I assume you DON’t mean this part of your quote: > [@](#): > > “I know Brian Williams a little bit. I used to work at MSNBC and he was one of the first people who was, frankly, very nice and professional to me there. So he’s always been very kind to me personally. But I will say this—it doesn’t matter whether I watch, whether I want him to be fired, excuse me. It matters what the folks in Paducah, Kentucky think.” Isn’t that exactly what the issue is? He was let go mainly because he lost credibility with his audience. That’s a fact. As I said in my original response, it looks to me like pretty much a chronology of events. ---
**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 28, 2015, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/170 "2015-02-28T23:56:19Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > You quoted a whole bunch of text. What part of it, specifically, amounts to “choleric denunciation”. Surely you’re not claiming all of the stuff you quoted. Edit out the fluff and quote the choleric denunciation part. I’m just not seeing it. For instance, I assume you DON’t mean this part of your quote: > > Isn’t that exactly what the issue is? He was let go mainly because he lost credibility with his audience. That’s a fact. > > As I said in my original response, it looks to me like pretty much a chronology of events. That bit you quoted wasn’t what he said. It was what Ingraham said, and if you read the bit I quoted immediately after that, you’d see where he was saying you couldn’t trust Williams. Here’s what he said immediately following his quote of Ingraham: > [@O'Reilly](#): > > That’s right on. It’s all about what you guys think. > > If you can’t trust a news anchor or commentator, you’re not going to watch that person. In addition to saying that, he says–you know what? Forget it. I don’t trust that you’re asking this question in good faith. ---
**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:** [March 1, 2015, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/171 "2015-03-01T00:03:53Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > That bit you quoted wasn’t what he said. Are you fucking kidding me? No, he didn’t say it. He quoted it because he said he agreed with it. That is different, how? > [@](#): > > I don’t trust that you’re asking this question in good faith. See above, and look in the mirror. ---
**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:** [March 1, 2015, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/172 "2015-03-01T00:16:36Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Are you fucking kidding me? No, he didn’t say it. He quoted it because he said he agreed with it. That is different, how? Allow me to quote a wise man: > [@a wise man](#): > > if you read the bit I quoted immediately after that, you’d see where he was saying you couldn’t trust Williams. ---
**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:** [March 1, 2015, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/173 "2015-03-01T00:19:33Z")
**Lefty** : How is it “choleric denunciation” when O’Rellly says “if you can’t trust a newscaster you won’t watch him” when that is precisely why NBC booted him? He had become, through no one’s fault but his own, a punch line on late night comedy shows. If even a small percentage of his audience sours on him, he’s toast. That’s a fact, not “choleric denunciation”. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2015, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/174 "2015-03-01T00:57:55Z")
O’Reilly started the piece with: \*"But when hard news people deceive their viewers and readers to advance a political agenda, that’s when the nation gets hurt. Enter Brian Williams, the anchorman for the NBC Nightly News."\* Then spent 5-7 minutes linking Williams to some sort of left wing conspiracy to push an agenda: \*"With few constraints on the Internet, it is extremely important that the national media stop the corruption and begin telling the truth without an agenda. I get The New York Times every morning. That paper has tremendous resources, but over the years it has become a left-wing enterprise and that has crept into its hard news coverage."\* And he finishes with a suggestion that he exists on a bastion of honesty (contrasted with Williams): \*"We put together an honest broadcast and we take great pains to present you with information that can be verified. All Americans who love their country should think about what happened to Brian Williams … to think about other news agencies that are distorting the facts."\* Seriously, you can’t appreciate any sort of pretty intense criticism that he is leveling on Williams? Criticism that may be warranted if not offered by a guy who, it turns out, did the same goddamn thing? ---
**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:** [March 1, 2015, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/175 "2015-03-01T00:58:18Z")
> [@](#): > > it is extremely important that the national media stop the corruption and begin telling the truth without an agenda. and: > [@](#): > > All Americans who love their country should think about what happened to Brian Williams … to think about other news agencies that are distorting the facts. Ookay, is it fair to that testy? Sure. Impatient? Why not? It’s certainly accusatory, and those claims go way beyond the established facts. So much so that one might say they are bad-tempered. They certainly are not good tempered. > [@](#): > > We all should open that proverbial “Network” window and say, “We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore!” Ok, now we’re into a full blown rant. O’Reilly is even swearing during family hour! Extremely irritable? No: I’m afraid we’re beyond that. So I guess you’re right John: while O’Reilly’s remarks match [the synonyms and even definitions of choleric](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/choleric?s=t), I haven’t as yet secured testimony from any recognized usage panel. That the rant is an _unhinged_ denunciation though can’t be denied. Your humble correspondent, MfM ---
**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:** [March 1, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/176 "2015-03-01T01:17:12Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > and: Ookay, is it fair to that testy? Sure. Impatient? Why not? It’s certainly accusatory, and those claims go way beyond the established facts. So much so that one might say they are bad-tempered. They certainly are not good tempered. Ok, now we’re into a full blown rant. O’Reilly is even swearing during family hour! Extremely irritable? No: I’m afraid we’re beyond that. > > So I guess you’re right John: while O’Reilly’s remarks match [the synonyms and even definitions of choleric](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/choleric?s=t), I haven’t as yet secured testimony from any recognized usage panel. That the rant is an _unhinged_ denunciation though can’t be denied. > > Your humble correspondent, > > MfM I certainly agree that BO gets unhinged in his attempt to make the leap from BW to the rest of the media. But that isn’t about BW. That’s about, well, the rest of the media. I’m sure he’s trying to make the case that FoxNews is a bulwark against the fact-challenged, lame stream media as a whole. To me, that passage says: The MSM has a truth problem. Take BW, who was caught in the act of lying. He had to go. He was thought of as a good guy [hence the LI quote], but if people can’t trust him, he can’t be a news anchor. But that’s not the real story. The real story is all the other fact-distortion out there that hasn’t been exposed, but that you all know is there. You need to just shut them out, and tune into FOX!! ---
**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:** [March 1, 2015, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/177 "2015-03-01T01:28:10Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > **Lefty** : How is it “choleric denunciation” when O’Rellly says “if you can’t trust a newscaster you won’t watch him” when that is precisely why NBC booted him? He had become, through no one’s fault but his own, a punch line on late night comedy shows. If even a small percentage of his audience sours on him, he’s toast. That’s a fact, not “choleric denunciation”. Whether the charge is legitimate has nothing to do with denunciation. Is your problem the “choleric”? Because that word is wholly irrelevant and it’s the height of nitpickery to focus on it. Here are words that amount to denunciation: > [@](#): > > But when hard news people deceive their viewers and readers to advance a political agenda > … > those mistakes are eroding the confidence of Americans in the press. > … > it is extremely important that the national media stop the corruption and begin telling the truth without an agenda. > … > If you can’t trust a news anchor or commentator > > … > All Americans who love their country should think about what happened to Brian Williams … to think about other news agencies that are distorting the facts. > > We all should open that proverbial “Network” window and say, “We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore!” I’m not sure how you’re seeing this as anything other than denunciation. Edit: if you’re under the misapprehension that it’s only denunciation if it’s inaccurate, I don’t know what to tell you. And if you can read “we’re mad as hell” etc. as anything other than irritable, I also don’t know what to tell you. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2015, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/178 "2015-03-01T13:50:15Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Are you trying to say that O’Reilly didn’t lie at all? Or just not about the Falklands or nuns in El Salvador? This isn’t particularly important, but why shouldn’t we take a look at O’Reilly’s record and see if and when he lied? So far, it’s been a lot of fun to watch (and that seems like reason enough!). The list is ridiculous. Are there actual instances of lying pointed to? Possibly. But a lot of the stuff I glanced at are examples of him being _wrong_, not lying. I’ve seen similarly loose, lazy, unfair, and wrongheaded use of the word here on the SDMB many times, and have called people on it. The problem is that the rabid partisans aren’t satisfied to point out error, so they attempt to divine someone’s motivations so they can bend them with the moral failing of “LIAR”, making the target not just wrong, but a bad person. That this trick often requires being able to read someone’s mind and know what they actually knew. I guess the surprising thing is how comfortable people are imputing motives. That and how many have Kreskin-like mind reading abilities. Seriously, read through the list and judge the degree of fairness, dispassionate scrutiny and actual proof you think there is for these “lies”. Personally, before classifying a statement of a lie I’d need actual proof of it. Someone can be wrong day in, day out, but that doesn’t make him a liar. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2015, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/179 "2015-03-01T13:58:29Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Is Brian Williams “one of ours?” I mean, I don’t watch a lot of network news. Before this scandal, if you’d asked me “Who is Brian Williams?” I’d have probably said, “Wasn’t he in the Beach Boys?” So, asking entirely out of ignorance, in what way is Brian Williams a liberal figure, other than being a reporter for a network other than Fox News? I was alluding to the thread on Brain Williams and what the lefties did there, which prompted the creation of this thread. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2015, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359/180 "2015-03-01T14:10:07Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > Add me to the list of people who would like clarification on why you think the list has no value. To take just one item of the list, would you care to explain [this](http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/jun/05/bill-oreilly/bill-oreilly-called-george-tiller-baby-killer/), where O’Reilly claims he never personally called Dr. George Tiller a “baby killer,” when he in fact used that term many times — not while reporting what someone else said (as he claimed), but as his own characterization? > > Including this gem: “Now, we have bad news to report that Tiller the baby killer out in Kansas, acquitted. Acquitted today of murdering babies. I wasn’t in the courtroom. I didn’t sit on the jury. But this, there’s got to be a special place in hell for this guy.” > > Dr. Tiller was shot and killed by an anti-abortion fanatic two months later. I don’t know if the list has “no” value. I do know that it, in it’s entirety, is suspect. I read through quite a few of these “lies” and they qualify as such only in the synapse-challanged minds of hyper-partisans. So, because so many of them are either lies themselves or just wrongheaded mistakes and mutterings, I don’t trust any of it. If you’re going to try to tell me that Person A _lied_—uttered a falsehood that he knew to be false when he said it—you need an airtight case. Otherwise you’ll probably lose me after showing the statement was, in fact, false. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-and-his-falklands-war-experience/713359.md?page=10)