# Bill O'Reilly says he wants to be just like Saddam **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 26, 2006, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-says-he-wants-to-be-just-like-saddam/362226 "2006-06-26T16:58:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2006, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-says-he-wants-to-be-just-like-saddam/362226/21 "2006-06-26T23:46:48Z")
And here I was thinking “What? He wants to sit around in his underwear eating Doritos all day?” Because I could get behing that. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2006, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-says-he-wants-to-be-just-like-saddam/362226/22 "2006-06-27T00:14:00Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > Using 1 of Saddam’s “evil tactics” for several months wouldn’t mean that we had suppressed the Iraqis in a manner equivalent to Saddam. Probably wouldn’t feel all that different to someone who was shot dead because his car got a flat tire right before curfew and he had to change it to move on. To a victim, I would imagine that a bullet to the head for being out at night doesn’t feel much different from a bullet to the head for disagreeing with your leader. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2006, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-says-he-wants-to-be-just-like-saddam/362226/23 "2006-06-27T00:22:36Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > I didn’t read your other post that way, but if that’s what you meant, it still doesn’t undermine the rational for the war. Using 1 of Saddam’s “evil tactics” for several months wouldn’t mean that we had suppressed the Iraqis in a manner equivalent to Saddam. In fact, I don’t even know that Saddam used curfews (with shoot-to-kill orders for violators) to control his people, but if he did, that wasn’t the most brutal of his practices. Ok, I see what you’re saying, but I still think that using methods similar to Saddam’s when part of the rationale was saving/liberating the Iraqi people is a contradiction; I do agree that even if this policy was used, it’s not as bad as a lot of things he did, but to my mind “liberation” suggests _no_ methods such as these, not just their use sparingly or as long as they’re “less bad” than under Saddam. > [@](#): > > Please note that I’m not trying to defend either the war or O’Reilly’s suggestion. I’m just pointing out that you haven’t made a case against the rational that Bush used in going to war. Don’t worry, I got what you were arguing against. No broad-brushing from me! 😉 ---
**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:** [June 27, 2006, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-says-he-wants-to-be-just-like-saddam/362226/24 "2006-06-27T00:52:59Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > Probably wouldn’t feel all that different to someone who was shot dead because his car got a flat tire right before curfew and he had to change it to move on. To a victim, I would imagine that a bullet to the head for being out at night doesn’t feel much different from a bullet to the head for disagreeing with your leader. And that still wouldn’t establish an equivalency between the two regimes, if that’s what you’re implying. I never understand it when someone brings up that argument. Not to minimize the loss of life that would happen in your hypothetical, but so what if it doesn’t feel different to one individual? ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2006, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-says-he-wants-to-be-just-like-saddam/362226/25 "2006-06-27T03:31:24Z")
I’m just popping in to ask, why does anyone give a shit what the Loofah Boy / Falafel King says anymore? If everyone stopped watching him, his ratings would plummet and he’d go bye bye. Starve the beast and all that. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2006, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-says-he-wants-to-be-just-like-saddam/362226/26 "2006-06-27T04:55:35Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > I’m just popping in to ask, why does anyone give a shit what the Loofah Boy / Falafel King says anymore? If everyone stopped watching him, his ratings would plummet and he’d go bye bye. > > Starve the beast and all that. Because we like to marvel at the number of people stupid enough to still believe him and take him seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2006, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-says-he-wants-to-be-just-like-saddam/362226/27 "2006-06-27T05:04:08Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m just popping in to ask, why does anyone give a shit what the Loofah Boy / Falafel King says anymore? If everyone stopped watching him, his ratings would plummet and he’d go bye bye. I asked a regular O’Reilly viewer if he didn’t find a logical contradiction in a person saying Saddam should have been overthrown for running a country the way he did and then saying he considered those same methods effective and would use them if he was in the same situation. The viewer responded by saying, “Hey, I’m a regular O’Reilly viewer. I’m immune to logic.” ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2006, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-says-he-wants-to-be-just-like-saddam/362226/28 "2006-06-27T05:10:36Z")
> [@](#): > > **Originally posted by “Mr. Bill”** That’s how I’d run that country – just like Saddam ran it. Saddam didn’t have explosions. He didn’t have bombers, did he? Because if you got out of line, you’re dead. _Meet the new boss Same as the old boss_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-oreilly-says-he-wants-to-be-just-like-saddam/362226.md?page=1)