Bill O'Reilly comment today

[Eleven Mike]

The LA riots after the Rodney King verdict made a much bigger impression on me. That should have been the wakeup call for an entire generation. I'll never forget those Korean business owners on the rooftops protecting their stores with so-called "assault rifles".

I don't remember even hearing about that until a few weeks ago on a gun board. Chances are, there are a few million like me, who don't remember it either. I wonder how many heard about or remember the gun confiscations in New Orleans, or ever heard of anyone defending themselves with a firearm in the Katrina aftermath.

 

[jeep-2]

I listen to him all the time but dis agree with him most of the time, mostly because he only lets his guests say what he want to hear.

His new book-i think it's Culture Warrior is supposed to be a best seller,
he says that for every book sold, he is sending one over to the troops in Iraq..
i thought it was a big deal til someone said that by sending a book to Iraq, it would just mean more money he could keep because of the donation. he wouldn't have to pay taxes on the profits.

 

[ArfinGreebly]

Bill O'Reilly

Bill O'Reilly's biggest problem, from where I stand, is that he's a poor communicator.

Many talk show hosts have this problem.

They ask a question and then don't permit the answer to finish.

Sometimes, yes, you have to squelch the caller or the "guest" when they go psycho-motormouth, but that would be the exception rather than the rule.

A man who has to continually cut off speech from the other side of the conversation, who must be consistently dismissive of his callers/guests, is not communicating well.

That's bombast, not enlightenment.

For my money, that's the strongest indictment that can be leveled at a man in the communications business: he's a poor communicator.

For a comparison, listen to Tom Gresham on GunTalk. There's a guy who knows how to communicate.

 

[cheygriz]

It seems like this thread has deteriorated from a "gun control opinions" thread to a liberal "bash O'Reilly" fest.

No matter what positions he takes on gun control, the liberals here are going to attack him.

 

[vynx]

Hmmmm, a conservative for gun control reminds me of the "good" muslims in the middle east - they would never advocate violence against a different belief - but they also won't say anything against the terrorists and will dance around in joy when an American is being dragged thru the street on TV.

"With friends like that who needs enemies" comes to mind?

What would Bill do if the new assault weapons ban gets passed? Will he fight for the 2nd or dance?

Maybe what Bill said is better than what he said before - its a small step but if he doesn't learn and take a few more steps in the right direction then its really no good at all.

 

[DonP]

O'Reilly was openly for gun control up until the Katrina fiasco. He's a Long Island Hamptons guy now and has police to rely on everywhere he goes.

But watching the way that the law enforcement people, that he previously put all his faith in, bailed out on the population is what changed his mind I think.

His buddy on Fox, Shepard Smith, was stuck down there for a week and gave him a first hand account of how quickly the razor thin veneer of civilization vanished and the law of the jungle took over.

It might have been a little "aha!" moment for him. Unlike a lot of other folks I don't presume to read minds and tend to go by what they say and do instead.

In the first few weeks after Katrina O'Reilly made several statements on why he now felt it was important to allow people to have their own guns. No, he's not a true believer in the RKBA at this point nor is it a "Paul of the road to Tarsus" kind of conversion.

I think he was confronted with a situation he had never imagined and he saw and heard about individual citizens defending their homes and neighborhoods with privately owned firearms and it made him re-think his position.

I doubt he knows, or will ever know, an AK-47 from a 1911. I don't care. I also don't care if he's a empty suit, blowhard, phony populist, former liberal, weather vane, flip-flopper et. al.

He has the largest audience in Cable TV by a factor of 200% or more, actually approaching the numbers of CBS evening news. Every time he says "private gun ownership is a good and important right", millions of people hear it and a lot of them buy into it with out question.

Would you rather have Phil Donahue as the most popular talking head?

That's good enough for me for now.

FWIW, I could be wrong, but I think that 60 minutes interview was actually a re-run from before the Katrina disaster.

For the record, the original Bazooka was played by Ish Kabibble who later went on to be a fixture in Spike Jones orchestra. The anti-tank rocket launcher named after it really did look like the original musical instrument.

 

[Eleven Mike]

It seems like this thread has deteriorated from a "gun control opinions" thread to a liberal "bash O'Reilly" fest.

No matter what positions he takes on gun control, the liberals here are going to attack him.

Do you know that these people are "liberals," or do you just assume anyone who would criticize O'Reilly is left-wing? I'm about as conservative as it gets, and I just don't like O'Reilly or a number of other conservative talkers. Some I listen to religiously.

 

[Bruce H]

There is a hell of a difference between being an orator and knowing what the hell you are talking about. Bill is a high decible orator.

 

[Colt46]

I was turned off by his AK-47 rant as well

He seems to have changed his tune since Katrina. If so, great. I sense he's more politician than anything and will change fast as any chamelean whenever he see's a change in the public's perception.

 

[lamazza]

Well..he used to be no spin...
I tuned him out after watching him kiss Oprah's behind.
Bill's on the RINO list now.

 

[Grey54956]

Can I say that I would personally like to have a bazooka to defend my home as well. Rifles and pistols are fine and well, but if I am attacked by 40ft tall killer robots, a bazooka could be handy. A Ordnance QF 2 pounder would be good too...

 

[Atticus]

I'm glad to hear him support private gun ownership...but O'Reilly is still trying to redeem himself from the Zumbo-like comments he made on his show last year and got hammered for. Back then he was saying that the AWB should be renewed because it banned bazookas and machine guns....and he was always ready to bash the "gun nuts".

 

[Eleven Mike]

but if I am attacked by 40ft tall killer robots,

But that almost never happens...

 

[jeep-2]

It seems like this thread has deteriorated from a "gun control opinions" thread to a liberal "bash O'Reilly" fest.

No matter what positions he takes on gun control, the liberals here are going to attack him.
he has done some great things like going after judges who let sex offenders go free, helping push megans law.

I don't think anyone could attack O'reilly or his show, remember he has the fair and balanced no spin zone and to prove it's fair ,he always has the same guests to prove it---Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Newt Gingrich,Mary Matilin,
Laura Ingram, Tony Snow ect.

 

[pacodelahoya]

But that was in an age before guns were scary, an age before guns would get up in the middle of the night to kill little children and puppies.

I've noticed a lack of pink marshmallow clouds and cuddly kittens in my neighborhood also!!

Back to topic, I think Bill is 100% for Bill.

 

[gunsmith]

I've always liked his show

I'm glad he's coming around to our very reasonable, constitutional position

 

[chas_martel]

I find it funny that people think of Bill as conservative.
I reckon y'all mean in a new age RINO kinda way huh?

 

[nemoaz]

In the few times I watch him he often calls guests he doesn't agree with a "nut, idiot, lunatic, etc... because him and most Americans don't agree with the guest".

Personally, I watch O'Reilly a little. I've never heard him call anyone an idiot or nut who wasn't an idiot or nut... usually a Nambla type claiming they should be able to screw boys or a jihadi/apologist/enabler of some sort.

He's usually nice to everyone else, even people that I think are clearly nuts or idiots. He's always nice to ultraleftwing activists, judges, thinktank types, or politicians.

911 and Katrina combined to change many peoples minds. Suddenly, people didn't feel as secure and saw that there are threats both internally and externally that could require them to fend for themselves for a while. SHTF is more real. And people see that social order can break down quickly (though one can argue that there really isn't much social order in NO or many other large crime infested cities).

-Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Newt Gingrich,Mary Matilin,
Laura Ingram, Tony Snow ect.

You obviously don't watch the show. He has more libs than conservatives. If I want left wing claptrap, with guaranteed pro gun control coverage and every other Democratic speaking point, I can watch ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, pMSNBC, or NPR.

but O'Reilly is still trying to redeem himself from the Zumbo-like

Good. If he's feeling the pressure, then maybe the others are too.

Quote:Rush was the 1st to hop on the syndicated conservative band wagon
No. He's the tractor to which a bandwagon was subsequently attached.

For sure there was no syndicated conservative band wagon. Hard to imagine imagine now, but even though 35%-50% of America is conservative, ABC/NBC/CBS, liberal newspapers and others were able to completely quash any conservative commentators for many, many decades. There are no syndicated liberal commentators needed, see Scare America, because the liberal viewpoint already inundates the average viewer. No need to go shopping for libthink when you have ABC/NBC/CBS/CNN/NPR spewing libthink all day every day.

But the tractor was Reagan, IMO. Unfortunately he too was lukewarm on gun control issues.

 

[hksw]

Personally, I do think O'R did open his eyes about gun control after Katrina.

Whatever his views on other subjects, I really don't care. Not nearly as much as the 2nd A. Since he did have his lightbulb moment about guns, more power to him. His message will reach more people, pro, undecided, and anti alike, about the pro side of things than I ever will.

And, I certainly would label fellow American citizens who call for the downfall and death of the US, her government, and her people as well as people of power abusing their power as 'nuts, idiots, lunatics, a-holes, etc.' Those are the olny folks I can recall O'R has called by those names.

 

[Wire]

Reversal

We USE his words to advance our cause. If he flip-flops, then it only lessens his own credibility.

I'm having trouble deciding if this statement is wise or foolish.

Wise - When he agrees with us, his arguments gain support for our position.

Foolish - When he disagrees with us, the opposition recognizes the hollowness of his stance and we gain support for our position.

After all, he's apparently flip-flopped once - so the credibilty he's supposed to have lost is the respect from our opposition.

 

[.45Guy]

If I were down there during Katrina I'd want a bazooka to protect my family.

Well, I took Bill up on his advice. It's not much for home defence, but it makes one hell of a model rocket launcher at the park! It definately is an attention getter!

 

[gcerbone]

One thing to remember

Most, and I mean the vast and overwhelming majority, of non-gunnies are very ignorant about firearms. To them,*an AK-47 is an automatic weapon that they have seen spitting out bullets on the big screen and at the Hollywood bank robbery. When they say "No one needs an AK-47" what they are saying is "No one needs a machine gun." I happen to think that both statements are irrelevant, but you have to start somewhere.

Katrina opened a lot of people's eyes. We need to embrace these folks, even if they are not all the way there yet. The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. As a community, we need to make it safe to start down that road.