Tag Archives: Fox News Channel

media news, national news

Should ‘Bill O’ accept Trump endorsement?

This is not an original thought from yours truly … it comes from a friend of mine.

My longtime pal Gary wonders whether Bill O’Reilly is smart enough to reject an endorsement from Donald J. Trump, who calls him a “good person.”

You see, O’Reilly — the loudmouth Fox News talk show host — is fending off accusations of sexual harassment from several women. O’Reilly has settled many of the complaints already; so has Fox News. The women have gotten a lot of money. The accusations have triggered many advertisers to pull their ads off of O’Reilly’s nightly program.

Trump weighed in recently with a defense of O’Reilly, who he has known for many years.

My friend’s question, though, concerns Trump’s own history with women. After all, the president actually admitted to grabbing women by their private area. If you think about it, the president of the United States has admitted to committing sexual assault.

This is an endorsement that Bill O’Reilly should welcome?

I’m waiting for O’Reilly to reject the president’s overture. I figure it’ll be a long wait.

legal news, national news

Sexual Assailant in Chief weighs in on O’Reilly

Donald Trump has declared to the world that Bill O’Reilly is a “good person.”

O’Reilly and Fox News Channel are fighting off allegations that the media star and his employer have engaged in sexual harassment against several women who have filed complaints.

So, what does the president of the United States think? He says O’Reilly is getting a bum rap, that he shouldn’t have settled those complaints for millions of bucks, that he should have taken the accusers to court to make them prove what they have alleged.

All this comes from someone who in 2005 was heard to say how he groped women, how he grabbed them by their private parts, how his star status enabled him to start kissing women.

To be fair, O’Reilly’s settlements with the women, along with what Fox News has shelled out, does suggest there’s fire under all this smoke.

The president of the United States, though, has a lot more important matters to ponder than whether his buddy O’Reilly is guilty of doing things to which Donald Trump has already admitted doing himself.

Stick to matters of state, Mr. Sexual Assailant in Chief.

media news

Why is it only you, Mr. O’Reilly?

I keep circling back to a single question as I ponder the growing controversy surrounding Fox News talking head Bill O’Reilly.

The commentator has been accused of sexual harassment by a number of women. O’Reilly has settled many of the complaints, shelling out several million dollars; Fox News Channel has kicked in several more millions to these women.

O’Reilly says he is a target because he is rich, famous and controversial.

Really? Why, then, haven’t other rich, famous and controversial news commentators been hit with the kinds of allegations have been leveled against O’Reilly?

O’Reilly says the women are looking for money. I heard at least one of them say this week she doesn’t want a dime; she wants to hold O’Reilly accountable for the harassment he has leveled at her.

If he’s a target, then why haven’t scores of women targeted other men who also occupy high-profile public figure jobs in the national media?

From my vantage point, the only thing these complaints have in common is one man: Bill O’Reilly.

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O’Reilly costs his employers a lot of dough

Hmmm. Let’s see how this goes.

Bill O’Reilly, the controversial and garrulous Fox News Channel talk show host, has been accused by several women of sexual harassment. None of the cases has gone to court; no one has proven anything against Bill O.

But he has settled many of the cases for a total estimated at $13 million. Some of those millions have been paid by the network where he has worked for the past two decades.

These types of “settlements” always trouble me where they regard the person against whom complaints are made.

If he’s truly innocent of sexual harassment, why doesn’t take the accusers to court and force them to prove what they have alleged? O’Reilly isn’t doing that. He and his bosses at Fox are shelling out a sizable chunk of cash to bring these episodes to an end.

How come?

I get that O’Reilly is employed by a private, for-profit news organization. Thus, he’s not a public official. He is, however, a public figure, given his status as a cable TV news star — someone who, I should add, is unafraid to remind us of his exalted status.

I guess that’s what makes these sexual harassment matters the public’s business in the first place. Indeed, O’Reilly contends he’s being targeted because he is rich and famous. Really? So are, say, George Stephanopoulos, Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose, Jake Tapper, Chris Wallace, Wolf Blitzer … and any number of other high-profile broadcast journalists. Have any of them faced this kind of accusation?

I just am left to wonder about two related matters: Why settle these cases when you’re innocent of any wrongdoing? And why is Fox still keeping this guy on its payroll?

media news, national news, political news

At least O’Reilly apologized

Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly made a crass joke about U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters’ appearance, referring to her hair style and comparing it to a “James Brown wig.”

He thought he was being funny. He wasn’t.

The blowback was immediate and harsh, as it should have been.

O’Reilly then apologized.

His apology sounds sincere. Indeed, I’ll give him credit for refraining from one of those lame “If I offended anyone … ” non-apologies one hears from people in public life.

The incident reminds me a bit of the way a former colleague of mine used to refer to Rep. Waters. He was prone at times to ridicule her appearance as well.

To my knowledge, he’s never said he was sorry for being so crude and crass.

Hmmm. I’m tempted to write him and demand an apology. Then again, maybe he’ll see this blog and take the initiative.

As for O’Reilly, how about showing some manners?

media news, political news

Sean Hannity ‘bad for America’?

I feel the need to take issue with legendary newsman Ted Koppel, who believes a notable Fox News commentator is “bad for America.”

The target of Koppel’s epithet is Sean Hannity, the well-known conservative provocateur and gabby apologist for Donald John Trump.

Koppel scolds Hannity

Koppel told Hannity to his face — on a “CBS Sunday Morning” segment — that he is a bad influence on listeners to his radio show and viewers to his TV show. Hannity’s response was on target, in my view. It was that viewers/listeners know when they’re listening to opinion or straight news.

Given that Hannity is not a journalist by training, he spouts opinion on the air. I get that. As I’ve always said … and this is the clean-up version: Opinions are like certain body orifices; everyone has one.

Do I think he’s “bad” for the country, that he somehow poisons Americans with his right-wing dogma? Not really.

You see, we all have choices. I’ve made my own as it regards Hannity. I don’t listen to his radio show or watch him on TV. I know what he thinks. I disagree with him. I choose instead to listen to more thoughtful conservatives. A number of them come to mind.

If I want to hear an analysis from a smart conservative, I’ll look elsewhere.

Hannity? He’s simply a blowhard.

national news, political news

Yep, 2 + 2 still equals 4

Let’s try to add a couple of things up and see if we agree on the result.

Donald J. Trump puts a tweet out Saturday morning after he and congressional Republicans fail to enact a repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

In the tweet, the president encourages Americans to tune in to the Fox News Channel and watch former prosecutor — and current Fox host — Jeanine Pirro’s show.

Pirro goes on the air and demands the resignation of House Speaker Paul Ryan.

But wait! Didn’t the president praise his new best friend Ryan for working so very hard to push through the ACA repeal legislation? And didn’t the speaker return the compliment by telling us that Trump busted his butt to close the deal with balky conservative GOP lawmakers? Aren’t these fellows friends for life now?

The way I interpret Trump’s tweet, however, I have discerned quite another point of view from the president about the speaker.

He implored Americans to watch a TV talk show in which the host calls for the speaker to quit. Hmmm. That doesn’t sound like much of a “bromance” to me.

The sum of what happened adds up to what many of us believe: The president wants to blame the speaker for the two men’s joint failure to make good on their No. 1 campaign promise.

legal news, media news

So long, Judge Napolitano

Readers of this blog know that I am not likely to offer many compliments to the Fox News Channel.

I am about to break tradition and declare that Fox has done the right thing by taking a loudmouth “legal analyst” off the air for blabbing something utterly irresponsible.

Andrew Napolitano has been yanked off the air indefinitely by Fox for declaring on the air that a British intelligence agency was complicit in wiretapping Donald J. Trump’s campaign office in New York City. The agency, according to the former judge, was working at the behest of former President Obama; Napolitano, therefore, was giving credence to the scurrilous charge leveled by Trump that Obama had ordered the wiretap at Trump Tower.

FBI Director James Comey debunked Trump’s tweet today in a congressional hearing.

Fox gives judge the boot.

Meanwhile, we have this (so-called) judge keeping this lie alive by suggesting that the Brits played a role in an event that — according to Comey — did not occur.

I hope Fox boots this clown off the air for keeps, even though he most likely would end up somewhere else spouting such reckless right-wing bile.

national news, political news

Palin? … Palin? … Palin?

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I am risking getting some grief from readers of this blog by mentioning it … but where is Sarah Palin?

We all remember the former half-term Alaska governor, the 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee, the former Fox News “contributor,” the former reality TV celebrity.

She was an ardent and vocal critic of the Affordable Care Act. You remember that, too?

She was out there yapping about “death panels” and how bureaucrats would determine who gets to live and who must die.

Palin also was an equally ardent supporter of Donald J. Trump’s candidacy for president and was thought to be a possible selection for veterans affairs secretary when the president was picking his Cabinet.

With all the debate and discussion about “repealing and replacing” the ACA, I keep waiting for Palin to weigh in. I await her pearls of wisdom about the best way to replace the ACA.

Where in the world is she? Has she retreated to Wasilla, Alaska, from where she emerged in 2008 to become U.S. Sen. John McCain’s running mate?

I know what you’re thinking about yours truly: You’ve trashed Palin incessantly; you cannot contain yourself every single time she opens her mouth; you don’t take her seriously. Why do you want to hear from her?

My answer? I don’t know. I just do.

She did become a major political figure, if only for a brief period. Running for VP on a major-party ticket made her a big deal. The McCain-Palin ticket did garner more than 59 million votes in the 2008 election — which ain’t bad, man!

Palin did become a darling of political conservatives, even as she went “rogue.” Her Fox colleagues welcomed her, as did those who watch the cable channel. I am going to presume, moreover, that she retains a considerable fan following among those very conservatives.

I’m not one of her fans. However, she bitched up a storm about the ACA when it was being debated in Congress and then enacted into law.

Here’s your chance, Sarah. Speak up! Tell us how we should provide a better health insurance plan for Americans.

International news, national news, political news

Now the Brits have tapped Trump? C’mon, Mr. President!

The hits just keep coming.

Donald J. Trump has accused Barack Obama of wiretapping his office. He has no evidence of it. Congressional intelligence committee chairs can’t find it, either. Trump stands by his lie.

Now he’s gone after the United Kingdom. He said the British wiretapped him, too. The president’s source for that whopper? Fox News commentator Andrew Napolitano, a former judge who’s become a right-wing shill for the “fair and balanced” network.

Trump didn’t back off the accusation about the British. He hasn’t backed off his assertion that President Obama tapped his phones.

The British are rightfully quite angry.

Trump’s justification for the British wiretapping allegation is a beaut. He said he wasn’t offering any “opinion” on the matters, just repeating the statement that Napolitano made.

OK, Mr. President. That makes it all better. How silly of me or anyone else to assume you were fomenting a lie by repeating it.

The president is unfit to hold the office he occupies. Unfit, I am telling you!