O'Reilly (Again) Fails To Check Facts Before Blurting Out (Another) Untruth

Yeah, yeah. The Devil made me do it: I wrote to Bill O'Reilly, pointing out his penchant for running off half-cocked. Here's what happened:

Chevy Chase called President Bush a "dumb f---" at an awards ceremony in Washington, DC.

Bill O'Reilly asserted on his December 16 TV show - The O'Reilly Factor - that "you don't see this kind of thing on the right. You don’t see prominent conservatives cursing out Democratic members of Congress, for example."

Wow. You almost had me fooled.....

You be the judge.

Is Dick Cheney a "prominent conservative"?
Is Senator Pat Leahy a "Democratic member of Congress"?
Is using the 'f-word' an example of "cursing"?
What color is the sky on YOUR planet?

Folks on our planet remember it well:

http://video.msnbc.com/id/5289848/
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/ 2004/06/25/politics/main626074.shtml
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ wp-dyn/articles/A3699-2004Jun24.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ wp-dyn/articles/A6025-2004Jun25.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1247766,00.htm
http://www.rushlimbaughonline.com/articles/expletives.htm
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,123710,00.html
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/24/cheney.leahy/
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,123810,00.html
http://news.bostonherald.com/national/view.bg?articleid=33254
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1250978,00.htm
... and Google had another 26,000 'hits' about this incident. Note that the news sources cited range from the ridiculous to the sublime.

Naturally, an intelligent fellow like you won't deny that you said what I quoted above. As you know, TV programs are archived, for example, http://mediamatters.org/items/leftsidefront/200412170005

But don't go changing, Bill. You - and Donald Rumsfeld - keep us entertained in these dark days in America.

Merry Christmas, Bill. Even if the truth eludes you, Jesus Loves You.

Saturday Night At The Movies

Ocean's Twelve did a huge box office on Saturday. It's a caper about burglars who pull off a huge heist in Europe to pay back a casino owner for a huge heist they made in Las Vegas.

The original title for the movie was Social Security Reform.
-- Argus Hamilton

Mandate? WHAT Mandate?

When the incumbent's margin of victory is the smallest margin in 88 years, the only logical mandate is to reach out and include... everyone.

Shopping: Some Good Guys and Some Bad Guys

Our goal here is to provide you information on who gave what to what political party this last election cycle. There are many factors which will eventually pertain to the "Blue-approved" label, however with buying season upon us, we quickly wanted to give people SOMETHING to go off of. Political donations and their effects are but one of many factors we will look at when a company is taken into consideration. We understand that there are Blue-contributors which have less than savory business practices, and we will be focusing on "the big picture" in the coming weeks.   Sometimes there is just no choice as to who to can buy from and we wholeheartedly encourage buying from local and independent businesses wherever and whenever possible. The long term goal is to help reduce corporate money from politics; this is not a geographical boycott.   Visit the downloads section to get your own "Blue Christmas" button.   Data sources are noted at the bottom of the list.
Businesses	2004 Political Contributions		Businesses	2004 Political Contributions
Retail Shopping			Retail Shopping
Walmart	$2Mil+ 80% to Republicans		Price Club/Costco	$208K 98% to Democrats
K-Mart	$524K 86% to Republicans		Barnes & Noble	$103K 98% to Democrats
Circuit City	$117K 96% to Republicans		Bed Bath & Beyond	$82.5K 93% to Democrats
JC Penney	$105K 81% to Republicans		Sharper Image	93% to Democrats
Sears	$268K 76% to Republicans		Borders	100% to Democrats
May Department Stores (Famous Barr, Filene's, Hecht's, Strawbridges, Lord & Taylor, Foley's, Kaufman's, L.S. Ayres, Marshall Field's, Meier & Frank, Robinsons-May, The Jones Store, Priscilla of Boston)	$103k 90% to Republicans		Electronics Boutique	100% to Democrats
The Limited Brand (Express, The Limited, Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works, White Barn Candle Company)	$263K 73% to Republicans
Saks	$115K 95% to Republicans
Home Depot	$677K 94% to Republicans (as reported by choosetheblue.com) More info from a longer time span
Target	$289K 72% to Republicans (as reported by choosetheblue.com) More info from a longer time span
Amazon.com	$100K 61% to Republicans (PAC Details)
Best Buy (Future Shop, Magnolia Audio Video)	$52K 86% to Republicans (Note: The majority of these came from the CEO and Chairman of the Board)
Clothing			Clothing
Dollar General	$54K 100% to Republicans		Nordstrom	66% to Democrats
Guess Inc.	$63K 83% to Republicans		Anne Klein Inc.	$66K 100% to Democrats
Fruit of the Loom	$19K 100% to Republicans		J Crew	100% to Democrats
Cintas (sportwear with logos ie Nike, Nascar, uniforms, college/university logo gear, etc.)	$340K 100% to Republicans		Calvin Klein	$78K 100% to Democrats
			Skechers	100% to Democrats
			Foot Locker	100% to Democrats
Spirits			Spirits
Coors	$174K 92% to Republicans		E&J Gallo Winery	$225K 90% to Democrats
Anheuser Busch	$872,716 56% to Republicans		Southern Wine & Spirits	$242K 54% to Democrats
Brown Forman Corp. (Southern Comfort, Jack Daniels, Bushmills, Korbelwines)	$393K 64% to Republicans		Astrale E Terra Winery	$53K 100% to Democrats
			Diageo * (Tanqueray, Bailey's, Captain Morgan, Cuervo, Guinness, J&B, Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff)	$53K 62% to Democrats
Restaurants			Restaurants
Outback Steakhouse	$641K 95% to Republicans		Hardrock Café Intn'l	$64K 100% to Democrats
Darden Restaurants (Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Smokey Bones, Bahama Breeze)	$121K 89% to Republicans		Triarc Companies (Arby's, TJ Cinnamons)	$45K 100% to Democrats
Tricon Global Restaurants (KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell),	$133K 87% to Republicans		Sonic Corp.	$45K 100% to Democrats
Brinker International (Maggiano's, Brinker Cafe, Chili's, On the Border, Macaroni Grill, Cozymel's, Corner Bakery, EatZis)	$242K 83% to Republicans
Cracker Barrel Restaurants	$84K 98% to Republicans (as reported by choosetheblue.com)
Hotels			Hotels
Holiday Inn	$24K 73% to Republicans Note: These numbers are from the Holiday Inn PAC - source		Loews Hotels	$49K 99% to Democrats
Hilton	$113K 61% to Republicans		Diamond Resorts International	$73K 90% to Democrats
Marriott	$188K 76% to Republicans		Hyatt Hotels and Resorts	$142K 87% to Democrats
Oil & Gas			Oil & Gas
Most major oil/gas companies supported Republicans with more than 80% of their donations. Shell is the closest we have to a Blue-Friendly company.			Phoenix Oil & Gas	$185K 100% to Democrats
BP	$188k 65% to Republicans		Shell Oil	$212K 56% to Democrats
American Gas	$179K 63% to Republicans
Exxon/Mobil	$560K 88% to Republicans
Chevron/Texaco	$391K 83% to Republicans
Groceries/Food			Groceries/Food
Most major chains are heavy Republican donors. Shop at smaller, local, independent grocery stores if possible.			Trader Joes	Basically apolitical for contributions but espouses progressive values.
Russell Stovers Chocolates	$96,800 100% to Republicans		Starbucks	100% to Democrats
Safeway	$146K 84% to Republicans		Whole Foods	$208K 98% to Democrats
Publix	$129K 97% to Republicans		Brown & Cole (Washington State local chain)	$32K 87% to Democrats
			Price Club/Costco	$208K 98% to Democrats
Holiday-Related			Holiday-Related
Hallmark Cards	$319K 92% to Republicans		Estee Lauder Companies (Fragrance & cosmetic lines for the following: Aramis, MAC, American Beauty, Aveda, Bobbi Brown, Bumble and Bumble, Clinique, Darphin, Donna Karan, Estee Lauder Makeup and Skin Care, Flirt!, Good Skin, Jo Malone, Kate Spade, La Mer, Michael Kors, Origins, Rodan + Fields, Stila, Tommy Hilfiger)	$123K 91% to Democrats
Airlines/Travel			Airlines/Travel
As you can see, most major air carriers contribute to Republicans. Use a smaller carrier if you have the option in your city.			Jet Blue Airlines	$14K 88% to Democrats
Continental	$230K 74% to Republicans		Alaska Airlines	$78.6K 55% to Democrats
Delta	$260K 64% to Republicans		Aloha Airlines	$7K 96% to Democrats
Southwest	$200K 73% to Republicans		Hawaiian Airlines	$9K 68% to Democrats
United	$215K 61% to Republicans
American	$495K 64% to Republicans
Entertainment			Entertainment
			Netflix	100% to Democrats

 

Data from


The Center for Responsive Politics and Federal Election Commission records.

 

The numbers on this page are based on contributions from PACs, soft money donors, and individuals giving $200 or more. (Only those groups giving $5,000 or more are listed here.) In many cases, the organizations themselves did not donate, rather the money came from the organization's PAC, its individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate families. Organization totals include subsidiaries and affiliates . All donations took place during the 2003-2004 election cycle and were released by the Federal Election Commission on Monday, October 25, 2004.

 

Patriotism

A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.
--Edward Abbey