What's a pugnacious political pundit faced with a teflon president to do? Well this week Bill O'Reilly sat down with Fox News' Bob Beckel, the conservative station's so-called token liberal host, to argue that NBC News has not been covering the controversy over President Obama's drones policy in the wake of the Justice Department recent memo obtained by the press.
'Heard anything on NBC about the drones?' O'Reilly asked Beckel Wednesday night. Beckel said he had not. O'Reilly continued, 'You haven't heard anything over there about this, neither have I, neither has my staff.'
According to the Huffington Post O'Reilly claimed that NBC News has not discussed the White House drone policy because the left leaning network is 'protecting the president.'
Apparently neither O'Reilly nor his staff noticed that it was NBC News' Michael Isikoff who obtained the copy of the memo discussing the legality of Obama's drones policy and then broke the story exclusively for the NBC network.
The memo was a major breaking news story for Isikoff and the network, but O'Reilly and his staff somehow failed to notice it has been a major topic of reporting and discussion on both NBC News and MSNBC every night this week.
The story led NBC News' website Monday night and on Tuesday. MSNBC's Rachel Maddow hosted Isikoff on her show Monday night to discuss his headline grabbing scoop in detail. Then NBC's Nightly News also reported on the drones memo on Tuesday night.
Hosts on MSNBC including Joe Scarborough, Rachel Maddow, Ed Schultz, Chris Matthews and the roundtable of The Cycle all devoted major portions of their own shows to the drones memo.
Fox News, O'Reilly's employer, has struggled to retain its credibility after its disastrous election season coverage consistently predicted a Mitt Romney landslide. Earlier this week the station fired Dick Morris, the polling guru who made himself a national laughingstock with his outrageously off the mark predictions.
Morris' departure follows Sarah Palin's and is being seen by some commentators as evidence that the network is increasingly concerned about its trustworthiness.
Meanwhile viewers will have to wonder if O'Reilly and his fair and balanced staff even turned on NBC News or MSNBC this week?
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.pinkdaylily | Feb 28, 2013, 08:45 AM EST
The heading, Bill NoReilly says it all..
eileend | Feb 20, 2013, 06:56 PM EST
The point is that once again, O'Reilly is living in his own hermetically sealed world. The drone policy question was actually raised by MSNBC, and it was at MSNBC's instigation that the congress actually stepped up its demands for the WH's legal standing on the drones. Not that O'Reilly has ever bothered to do any research before...
McNamara31 | Feb 19, 2013, 06:38 PM EST
Edward McDonald stated: "They gush and bat their lashes just thinking how wonderfully enlightened and progressive they are to have voted in a black leader."...Pure and simple "Dinosaur" thinking that you will only find on Bill O'Reilly Fox News. The majority of Americans viewed Obama as the superior candidate and he was elected to a second term. The world has moved beyond thinking like yours.
seanomelb | Feb 12, 2013, 09:07 PM EST
Moves like a butterfly stings like a bee.
Smyrnian | Feb 12, 2013, 02:51 PM EST
What mushroom clouds would that be?
maryosullivan | Feb 12, 2013, 10:29 AM EST
What amount of time/air has OReilly given to George Bush and his WMD. mushroom clouds etc? Obama's drone policy is a continuations of the wars Bush and his ilk have created. Shame on all of them
Smyrnian | Feb 12, 2013, 09:09 AM EST
'Chemical Ali' got that nick name from his parents when he was in secondary school as he was so good at chemistry. Nothing to do with him bombing Kurdish villages and asphyxiating thousands of innocent men, women and children with clouds of poison gas. Oh, I forgot; the Iraqis had no weapons of mass destruction!
Edward McDonald | Feb 11, 2013, 03:58 PM EST
"If a Repub. president were killing people via drones the media would be crying about baby killing fascist....oh, a Dem. president is bombing innocents? SShhhhhh........." SPOT ON FalconFlash. Sad to say, but that truly is the long and short of it. It's becoming ridiculous. The left leaning press has its hands right down Obama's knickers. They gush and bat their lashes just thinking how wonderfully enlightened and progressive they are to have voted in a black leader. The smug self satisfaction is becoming unbearble to witness.
WoundedKnee | Feb 11, 2013, 03:33 PM EST
McNamara31--Good posts. Keep arguing for a sane and moral foreign policy. In that respect, Obama is a flop. That's why I opposed his reelection, he's no better than the neo-cons. Shameful to see some pseudo-liberals still doing verbal contortions to defend foreign wars. Easy for us progressives to see where Obama is going wrong when we read right-wing posters like eiramach backing him.
WoundedKnee | Feb 11, 2013, 03:11 PM EST
The Commentator: "it is the targets who should be vilified for their cowardly acts and intentionally mingling with the innocent citizens". So you want people to parade with signs "Kill Me Now". You're an utter fool.
Smyrnian | Feb 11, 2013, 01:23 PM EST
So 'Chemical Ali' had no chemical agents after all and the thousands of Kurds were killed by weapons of mass destruction the Iraqis never 'really' had.
McNamara31 | Feb 11, 2013, 11:32 AM EST
Smyrnian Who is "they"?
Smyrnian | Feb 11, 2013, 11:22 AM EST
McNamara - stifle your lecturing. They started it, remember?
McNamara31 | Feb 11, 2013, 10:57 AM EST
Smyrnian, falconflash Someday you will get past the "labels" and look at the facts. Bush got us into two wars and this administration is attempting to get us out with the least amount of American carnage. Yes, all people do not want any "innocent" civilians hurt, but did you every think about the number of innocents killed with Bush's "Shock and Awe" bombing campaign of Iraq? A. the Oxford Research Group, attributed approximately 6,616 civilian deaths to the actions of US-led forces during the "invasion phase", of the shock-and-awe bombing campaign on Baghdad. Now we know, Iraq was a Bush war of "choice" (no weapons of mass destruction) Afghanistan was the was we had to fight because of 911. And Obama is carrying these wars left to him in the most strategic intelligent way. Instead of the Bush/Cheney bomb first ...think later, pay for much later.
McNamara31 | Feb 11, 2013, 10:26 AM EST
Bill here's the real story about drones. The cost of war on soldiers 6630 deaths.....Total Troops Killed in Iraq:4474,Total Troops Killed in Afghanistan: 2156. Deaths by year, before increased drone activity, and after 2003:531, 2004:900, 2005:942, 2006:918, 2007:1019,(after increased drone activity) 2008:466, 2009:461, 2010:559, 2011:469,2012 305. Drones are saving American lives until we can withdraw from wars in the middle east.
Smyrnian | Feb 11, 2013, 06:01 AM EST
Of course the lefties hate the drones; they work!
falconflash | Feb 11, 2013, 01:26 AM EST
If a Repub. president were killing people via drones the media would be crying about baby killing fascist....oh, a Dem. president is bombing innocents? SShhhhhh.........
seanomelb | Feb 10, 2013, 05:39 PM EST
In a recent poll NPR was voted the most trusted news source in the U.S.(52%),no other outlet came near them. O'Reilly knew that other otlets reported the drone but as usual he lied to maintain some sort of relevance in his diminishing popularity. Fox is loosing ratings and credibility.
bveritas | Feb 10, 2013, 03:21 PM EST
The airheaded editors of Irish Central quoting the airheads at the Huffington Post. The fact is MSNBC’S “coverage” has been more in the form of apologetics for the clown prince tyrant in the White House. And the remark about “seen by some commentators” is a coward’s way of making a point without taking moral responsibility, typical of this rag.
Eschetic | Feb 10, 2013, 02:17 PM EST
Bravo, "Nicomax"! Like Rachel Maddow, I do not approve of the current "drone" policy, even though over all I DO obviously approve of this President. The sad thing is that the right wing's "clown prince" (like most right wingers) undercuts their own GOOD case against the network in question by trying to twist it to be one more "anti-Obama" diatribe which the nation long ago stopped listening to (wonderful guest editorial column in yesterday's New York Times about "Suicidal Conservatives"). If the radical right would shut off FOX Non-news and listen to the real world occasionally, they might even find common ground with some people.
mayoman | Feb 10, 2013, 01:08 PM EST
Either O'Reilly is a bare-faced liar, orhe is outright incompetent.
Nicomax | Feb 10, 2013, 01:00 PM EST
On MSNBC, Rachel Maddow has been all over Obama like a wet suit on the drone issue. I believe she is being paid by NBC. For that matter, how much did the major networks climb all over Condi Rice when she obfuscated the 9/11 attack before the 9/11 Commission?
SeamusMor | Feb 10, 2013, 12:40 PM EST
Bill is always droning on about one thing or another!
joreilly | Feb 10, 2013, 12:32 PM EST
Poor Bill O'....he should watch some of the other newsworthy stations.An ideal target for a domestic "DRONE ATTACK" would be Bill O' and Hannity.We'd have one less pair 'DIVIDING " our great nation.God Bless The BUSH admin for introducing the drones and for OBAMA expanding the programme......look at how many less American troops have been lost.....just like "TRUMAN" and the World War 2 atom bomb. God Bless America and protect us from the likes of Bill O' and his followers. J.O' R.
porkheaven | Feb 10, 2013, 12:32 PM EST
what ever NBC says I take with a grain of sand the same holds for CBS and ABC the only time I tune into the stations is a ballgame and then I turn off the noise I consider them to be communistic.
The Commentator | Feb 10, 2013, 11:59 AM EST
I think it is much ado about nothing. The evil Don John was defeated in November 2012 and now the gay folks can marry as they will at least in some states. The Dogberry press recognized the evil of the GOP and exposed the charlatans. I believe O'Reilly doth protest too much. He cannot be what he proclaims to be. Money is the root of all evil and O'Reilly's god is money. He surely must have some good in there somewhere, but it is not apparent to date. Perhaps when he grows up intellectually, he will recognize the poor choices he has made and repent his sins. The drone debate is a waste of time. No matter what the USA government does, there will always be people who do not agree. If there were no "secrets" the USA would be at a disadvantage and would subject itself to greater harm by its' enemies.
PhlutiePhan | Feb 10, 2013, 11:38 AM EST
Compare the "middle-of-the-road" beliefs of JFK to the marxist vision of BHO. Come on! "The King has no clothes". The media is complicit in its attacks on organized religion for the purpose of creating tht elusive world religion of Marx and Lenin.
cillowen | Feb 10, 2013, 11:35 AM EST
o'reilly becoming more derranged as he might be the next ales dump.
CavanAncestor | Feb 10, 2013, 10:06 AM EST
"Hosts on MSNBC including Joe Scarborough, Rachel Maddow, Ed Schultz, Chris Matthews and the roundtable of The Cycle" are not "pugnacious political pundits" I guess. Thanks for the alliteration, but O'Reilly is practically a Trappist compared to that crowd. While the use of drones is perhaps the single policy of BHO I agree with, O'Reilly's point remains valid. The media carries his water and buries everything negative. Bush would have been hosted on his own proverbial petard with a similar policy and Uncle Gaff, were he Dan Quayle, would be the media's joke buzzer. While Matthews et al are probably getting fewer shivers up his leg, maybe the underlying problem is the dawning of the realization thst they, like half of America, have been had.
Porickseantuny | Feb 10, 2013, 10:04 AM EST
focus on the memo is a red herring. The question is where has the outrage been for years regarding execution of Amercin citizens in violation of the constitution. The press hasn't changed behavior. FDR's ill health and polio disability was hidden from the people by a collaborative fawning press.
crny925 | Feb 10, 2013, 10:02 AM EST
When will Irish Central remove their lips from Barack Obama's ass?
donal1951 | Feb 10, 2013, 09:55 AM EST
I favor the drone attacks as I supported the use of enhanced interrogation during the George W. Bush adnminisstration. I am surprised Bob Beckel may have been ill prepared. He is the major reason I watch "The Five" on FNC. I also find Dana Perino leaning rightward, but with a good dose of common sense.
The Commentator | Feb 10, 2013, 09:30 AM EST
I believe the drone attacks are justified and it is the targets who should be vilified for their cowardly acts and intentionally mingling with the innocent citizens. There probably is a mix of citizens who are intimidated by the drone targets and those who are sympathetic to the targets. Unfortunately some of the people killed and injured are not the targets, but it is difficult to know how many of the people with the targets are part of their group. I don't believe the public needs to know all of the business of the people responsible for protecting the USA. This irresponsible remark by O'Reilly is just political rhetoric that is more of the same $hit that he and other self serving anal orifices spout for money.
PiperMac52 | Feb 10, 2013, 08:46 AM EST
Well, O'Reilly is right. Could you imagine if Bush were in office and drone attacks were responsible for killing innocent men, women and children? Tell me it would be front page and in the news on a daily basis.