101 Comments

• PolinDeB | Jul 22, 2010, 08:15 PM EDT

  Omigawd.....how awful.. I never thought anyone would think he was anything to do with us.. Maybe we need a Irish de-heritage certificate rather than an Irish heritage one ;)

• hancock | Jul 22, 2010, 07:12 PM EDT

  Sanity, and not liberal, childish college age hysteria.

• MAnicShiocain | Jul 22, 2010, 11:01 AM EDT

  To complete the analogy, I should have mentioned that the NYC Draft Riots, which were called the Irish Riots at that time, were quelled by "NY's Finest," the city's police forces that were 90% Irish. So I'm surprised that there is not an Irish-American outcry against Bill O'R. When we identify with a public figure, we lose our capacity to think critically about what the public figure represents. So I ask again, what is it that you identify with in Bill O' Reilly?

• MAnicShiocain | Jul 22, 2010, 10:48 AM EDT

  I missed the O'Reilly show that Brendan writes about. Heck, I'm happy to miss O'Reilly anytime! Reading about it here, I think it sounds as though BO'R was doing a verbal replay of mid-July 1863 (the NYC Draft Riots, in which Irish lynched African Americans from lampposts, destroyed their homes and neighborhood shops, burnt their churches and orphanage, etc.). That's the kind of history that BO'R should have learned something from. Brendan is certainly right that BO'R makes "Irish American males look like racially insensitive pinheads." But this is America, where we do not accept guilt by association. I do believe, however, in guilt by default. And to let BO'R spout his thinly-veiled racism without responding would be to default on moral responsibility. BO'R is both devious and incredibly sloppy in his thinking. He cannot think his way out of the proverbial paper bag. Why aren't more Irish Americans responding by pointing out the sloppiness? What is it about BO'R that Irish Americans identify with when they defend him and refuse to acknowledge the racism and classism in his words?

• Monsoonman | Jul 18, 2010, 09:02 PM EDT

  OK Sean, I won't pick on the Kennedys, however this is the Irish Central site, so I though it appropriate...OK I'll single out George Soros then, ya happy now?...But there's not one billionaire worth his/her salt who won't employ the smartest personnel to shield them from taxes. Just ask Bill Gates, Ted Turner, Warren Buffet or Oprah.

• seanomelbourne | Jul 18, 2010, 08:08 PM EDT

  I never mentioned Gretta or Geraldo in my piece. I find Geraldo at times reasonable in his argument. I mistrust crossover political pundits regardless of their beliefs.What is their agenda?.It's certainly not principals or a core belief. Why do you choose only the Kennedy's as an example. Are you giving conservative billionaires a pass? as if they are entitled to scam the system,now let's be fair Moonsoonman .

• Monsoonman | Jul 18, 2010, 01:41 PM EDT

  The income tax needs to be eliminated. That is the most evil, manipulative, unfair way of controlling the populace. Make a small sales tax, tax imports and shrink govt. to fit, because the "rich" will always find a way to avoid their income taxes. Anybody ever see any of the Kennedys tax returns? You probably won't see the millions funneled into them from their offshored trusts.BTW: Gretta van sustern used to be a liberal commentator on cnn, along with Geraldo. They both are allowed and encouraged on fox. Gretta had a stroke a few years back, that is why her face is disfigured....Hola Sean!

• WoundedKnee | Jul 18, 2010, 07:38 AM EDT

  Is there any less attractive shrew on TV than that woman Gretchen on Fox?

• BrendanPKeane | Jul 18, 2010, 07:05 AM EDT

  I have nothing against rich people that earn their money and pay their taxes. I think making a fortune is a human right and one of the great things about America. I abhor communism. The problem is that a super-rich elite avoid taxes, and manipulate our government extra-democratically. This has destroyed our infrastructure and burdened us with costly wars unnecessarily. The super-rich profit from this misery.

• hancock | Jul 18, 2010, 01:01 AM EDT

  You need a diaper and a rattle you bleeding heart crybaby.

• seanomelbourne | Jul 17, 2010, 11:56 PM EDT

  The only "no spin zone" on cable is "judge Judy". Hancock needs some Kool Aid.

• seanomelbourne | Jul 17, 2010, 11:53 PM EDT

  I've come to the conclusion the only "no spin zone" on cable is judge Judy

• seanomelbourne | Jul 17, 2010, 06:53 PM EDT

  As a Retired millionaire I agree with Brendan and Denis I must not forget McNamara. It amuses me that O'Reilly and his ilk demonise the president because he was educated in an ivy league university and the good old "folksies" at Fox O'Reilly/Coulter/Kelly/Ingraham and Gretchen attended the same institutions.

• irishwxman | Jul 17, 2010, 05:49 PM EDT

  SO basically Mr. Keane you are among the many looney moonbat leftys that think the wealthy are the reason for everybody's problems? Those horrible, evil stinking rich people? I think you are a chicken little. You are part of the problem.

• BrendanPKeane | Jul 17, 2010, 05:22 PM EDT

  I believe in infrastructure. I believe taxes should be spent in-house. I believe the super-rich exploit our lobbying system, and that system threatens the Republican system established in the Constitution. I believe the super-rich escape taxation, and exploit harmful laws that has created a corporate welfare state that pays the resources which would have built our national infrastructure into the coffers of private and secretive interests. I believe O'Reilly focuses our attention on small fries, while covering and making excuses for his paymasters, that class of super-rich that routinely bankrupt our economy to secure more wealth and power for themselves.

• hancock | Jul 17, 2010, 02:31 PM EDT

  What puppet show do you cheer for?

• BrendanPKeane | Jul 17, 2010, 12:09 PM EDT

  O'Reilly is a sock puppet for Murdoch. His defenders are children cheering the puppet show.

• hancock | Jul 17, 2010, 10:58 AM EDT

  The fact he drives you crybabies to drink is good enough for me.

• McNamara31 | Jul 17, 2010, 10:39 AM EDT

  Given4AZ President Obama is in the White House because 53% of Americans voted for him. The majority of criticism he has rec'd is mainly due to the wars, mass debt and financial deregulation left to "him" by the prior administration.

• DennisQ | Jul 17, 2010, 07:38 AM EDT

  O'Reilly had dinner in Sylvia's, a soul food restaurant in Harlem, and expressed amazement that Blacks know how to behave themselves. "There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who [was] screaming, 'M-Fer, I want more iced tea.' ... [T]here wasn't any kind of craziness at all.' " These gauche remarks were received as poorly as if a Black guy had eaten in an Irish restaurant and commented, "Would you believe it? They're not all drunks." O'Reilly then played the victim card as if every other white male is a racially insensitive pinhead. "Who knew?" said O'Reilly. "I couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia's restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City."

• seanomelbourne | Jul 17, 2010, 04:23 AM EDT

  Wiley O'Reilly his soup is so thin even bugs bunny could see through it.Hey 4AZ I sent G.Bush a ball of twine for Xmas to help him string some words together.

• McNabb1966 | Jul 16, 2010, 07:29 PM EDT

  Hey Keane, you couldn't stand up to a debate with O'Reilly. You can't even write a coherent article. Cut your losses and pick a less challenging topic. You're out of your league.

• BrendanPKeane | Jul 16, 2010, 05:09 PM EDT

  I would very much enjoy the opportunity to debate Mr.O'Reilly.

• Given4AZ | Jul 16, 2010, 04:35 PM EDT

  Clearly you haven't a clue. The best example of Racial tolerance in the US is the fact that the Obamas occupy the white house. What is unfortunate is that Obama wouldn't have even been a candidate for President if he were not black. He has absolutely no experience in the private sector and has no executive experience. He has done moredamage tothe US and the world in 18 months than any President before him.

• ritmomente | Jul 16, 2010, 02:58 PM EDT

  Why don't you challenge O'Reilly on his show, Brendan? As far as American Irish prominance, I'll take O'Reilly over Ted Kennedy, John Kerry and O'Bama anyday.

• irishwxman | Jul 16, 2010, 01:57 PM EDT

  Perfect response Mr. Sinatra.

• irishwxman | Jul 16, 2010, 01:55 PM EDT

  Seriously maryjeandc? You're going to use Chris Dodd and and O'Dowd as your examples of Irish America representatives? Well, you just lost all credibility.

• BurrRobson | Jul 16, 2010, 01:48 PM EDT

  Get a grip, people. Bill O'Reilly has a right to his opinion. Black people in America have opportunities galore. I myself started with nothing and mowed lawns and baked bread along with student loans to get through school and give a good life to my children and me. This article smacks of Irish entitlement thinking; boo hoo my problems are here because the government is not giving me enough. Well, I implore you to look at these entitlement cultures; the BIG advances come from these so called bad societies like the US....countries where individualism flourishes, where anyone can make it if they want it badly enough. Shame on you and shame on Michelle Obama for suggesting it is the government's role to micro manage its citizens. But then the folks on the east side of the Atlantic might not know that; they live on the government's whim.

• Celtica43 | Jul 16, 2010, 12:03 PM EDT

  Are we listening to the same O'Reilly. The man is the most fair commentator on TV. Not to mention, deliberately showcasing both sides of any issue. Of course, many who are invited snub him and refuse to be on his show b/c they BELIEVE people like you!

• MrSinatra | Jul 16, 2010, 11:38 AM EDT

  what a stupid article. talk about no context. Bill O'Reilly is a great American of Irish descent, and you shouldn't blast him just b/c you disagree with his views. i disagree with yours, but i wouldn't say you're a liability "to the irish" ...no, rather just to your readers.

• Monsoonman | Jul 16, 2010, 10:08 AM EDT

  Sen. Dodd passed a comprehensive financial regulatory bill??????? Him and barney franks are probably the two most responsible crooks to cause the financial systems to teeter on the verge of collapse. They should be in the penitentiary rather than still in the senate and congress making more mischief. Where are the Woodward and Bernsteins of the press to investigate these scandals?

• maryjeandc | Jul 16, 2010, 09:59 AM EDT

  Bill O'Reilly is an embarrasement to himself but I hope most people don't see him as representing irish Americans. Irish Americans actually poll more tolerant than others in terms of race and other civil rights issues. Sen Chris Dodd just led the US Senate to pass a comprehensive financial regulatory bill. Maureen Dowd leads on commentary. There is just so many of us, we aren't going to let one retrograde race baiter lead, are we?

• DennisQ | Jul 16, 2010, 07:13 AM EDT

  Try again, guys. San Francisco voters would have to be nuts to vote out the Speaker of the House. However, Nancy Pelosi did not question Cindy Sheehan's patriotism - as a conservative Republican certainly would have. Incidentally, it should be obvious that it's easier to get into a pointless war than it is to get out of one. As soon as we leave Iraq - where we never belonged - there will be high fives all around the world celebrating America's defeat. That could easily have been avoided by not invading Iraq in the first place. Saddam was not a threat to us, but now that he's gone, Iran has become the regional power. That was yet another boneheaded move by George Bush, who is well on his way toward recognition as the Worst. President. Ever.

• IrishAndProud | Jul 16, 2010, 05:06 AM EDT

  oh and btw Cindy LOST to Pelosi, in that race -- so apparently the majority of voters in one of the most liberal congressional districts in the nation (San Fran, itself) aren't very sympathetic to Cindy or her cause or her son, either (of course seeing as this is an area where the military was flatly told it wasn't welcome in their schools, that's hardly a shock). Will you criticize this district's voters too, Dennis?

• IrishAndProud | Jul 16, 2010, 04:53 AM EDT

  And if you'll recall, Dennis (or did you even know this?), Cindy Sheehan ran against NANCY PELOSI for her congressional seat in '08...and criticized her intensely, and still does. She doesn't have much good to say either for the left-wing Dems who (for now) run the statist ship in Washington DC. Just google her comments about Nancy Pelosi, and see where that takes you.

• IrishAndProud | Jul 16, 2010, 04:48 AM EDT

  And neither, apparently, do the liberals. Cindy is still protesting the wars (she never stopped) as the libs (meaning, Obama) continue the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and have taken ownership of them; they are now completely ignoring Cindy. Besides, so many liberals seem to suddenly 'care' about American troops dying in harm's way only now that OBAMA is the guy...while they were CHEERING their deaths under Bush, because they thought it hurt him politically at the time.

• DennisQ | Jul 16, 2010, 02:35 AM EDT

  Bill O'Reilly is one of these phony-balonies who believes in sending other people's children off to die in silly wars. He's not a veteran; he never put on a military uniform. But that didn't stop O'Reilly from impugning the patriotism of Gold Star Mother Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey died in Iraq. O'Reilly tried to defend his lack of sympathy when he appeared on the Letterman program. Letterman told him he was full crap. It's on YouTube. Incidentally, knocking Cindy Sheehan is a staple of the right wing media. Like O'Reilly, they don't have any sympathy either for a mother who lost her son.

• IrishAndProud | Jul 16, 2010, 02:28 AM EDT

  Also, Conjoly...you might wish to inform Brendan that Bill O'Reilly is 'not' Irish, but American -- perhaps that way he won't be getting himself so all worked up into a fit about O'Reilly being the face of the Irish, in this nation.

• IrishAndProud | Jul 16, 2010, 02:25 AM EDT

  Now you're getting there, Conjoly...I'm an American of Irish descent, and I am proudly Irish by descent, like most Americans of that descent would say. You have a tremendous grasp of the obvious, I must say; virtually all of my posts on this thread to Brendon (if you bothered to even read them) as well as most other ones I post here are quite openly written from an American perspective. Now of course by your definition, Bill O'Reilly, Tip O'Neill and Teddy Kennedy were/are also not Irish, but Americans. Now, let's see you all-of-a-sudden try to split hairs on that one.

• Conjoly | Jul 16, 2010, 01:08 AM EDT

  He's not Irish. He's American.

• BrendanPKeane | Jul 16, 2010, 01:03 AM EDT

  IrishAndProud: of course the "left" makes propoganda. All corporate "news" is corporate propoganda teaching us to be good consumers that support spending our treasury on war and other stupid wasters like that. The American left waged most of the tax-wasting wars of the 20th century.

• IrishAndProud | Jul 15, 2010, 08:37 PM EDT

  And btw Brendan...do you believe that LEFT wingers can be propogandists? Do you even believe there IS such a thing as left-wing propoganda?

• IrishAndProud | Jul 15, 2010, 08:36 PM EDT

  Brendan, I don't even watch O'Reilly (unlike you, apparently). Did you even read my posts?

• manhattan | Jul 15, 2010, 07:49 PM EDT

  YAH MaryM232, well said.

• BrendanPKeane | Jul 15, 2010, 06:58 PM EDT

  IrishAndProud: I see what you're saying, you're frustrated by the propagandists on the other channels, and so you turn to O'Reilly as an answer to them. The fact that he's Murdoch's sock puppet--just another propagandist--doesn't seem to bother you.

• BrendanPKeane | Jul 15, 2010, 06:51 PM EDT

  MaryM232: You've confused out-sourcing and off-shoring. Off-shoring is when you de-industrialize America and build up the manfacturing sector of China to take its place. Most Irish and Blacks were employed in this unionized industrial America that was destroyed in the 1950s. The urban decay that followed is directly rooted in that unemployment.

• mairdemalone | Jul 15, 2010, 04:07 PM EDT

  Bill O'Rielly is an embarrassment to the human race!

• MaryM232 | Jul 15, 2010, 03:47 PM EDT

  Umm, sorry, but Brendan is a moron if he thinks he's taken seriously when he's shown he doesn't even begin to know what he's writing about. Perhaps to the Mr. & Mrs Pudadoh-heads he's talking to, either new here or back in the old sod, who don't have the vaguest idea about US history, or our economy, short of which that portion writes out the welfare checks when they're hear illegally. Firstly, the "racially sensitive" country is Ireland, the news of the racism, and hate crimes over there o make it across the pond. Secondly, O'Reilly might be a tool, but he's nothing to your lot, let's start with Bertie "let's talk about trading human beings like chattel" Ahern, and then that idiot with the bad hairpiece, Niall O'Dowd. I can't claim to have seen the show, but given the other lies and exagerations written by Keane, I can't take him seriously. Mr. Keane needs to tell us all about this mysterious outbreak of outsourcing that began in the 1950s, he wrote about, because that one is news to all of us. I don't believe Keane even knows anything about the black community, he only wants to exploit them, as the Irish have long attempted to do.. Ireland was heavily involved in the slave trade, from the 1600s onward. And the racism that exists in Ireland today is appalling. I know an anti-American when I listen to, or read them. What might work over in the land of the fiddly diddlies, doesn't work here, and my own Irish grandmother would have knocked you on your pampered behind.

• MaryM232 | Jul 15, 2010, 03:47 PM EDT

  Outsourcing began, in the 1990s, under the democrat, and of Irish descent, Bill "drunken sexual harasser" Clinton, when he illegally signed NAFTA into law. Won't go into detail on it's illegality, none of you understand the constitution, so it'd be a waste of bandwidth. It sent millions of jobs out of the US into Mexico, and that destroyed entire communities of American citizens, black and white. Outsourcing hasn't hurt anyone who is affluent, irregardless of skin color, Mr. Keane, you ignorant buffoon. Clinton also pushed through MFN status with China, which deprived more Americans, black and white of their jobs, and illegal immigation, has deprived more American citizens, black and white of their jobs, and irregardless of whether those illegals are from south of the border, or from Ireland, American citizens, black and white are fed up and angry about it, nor do we cotton to asses like yourself attempt to spin the facts for your own agenda.

• MaryM232 | Jul 15, 2010, 03:46 PM EDT

  Incidently, I have a video tape from an old news report from Boston's channel 7, from during the busing flap that a friend got hold of years later, where you have a group of Irish illegals attacking a black man, one of the Irish illegals is holding an American flag as a spear an is thrusting it at the chest of the black man. The Irish illegal with the pole, was later interviewed by the reporter, and his accent is as thick as his mind is narrow and racist. Reading the several articles I have here today that display the arrogance and ignorance of your lot, I've decided to have that video transferred to a dvd, and put up on youtube to show black Americans just how racist the Irish, fresh off the plane actually are. I'll include links to articles in the Irish and UK press about the racism in Ireland, how African immigrants are treated in the old sod. We really need to start discussing the ignorance and racism of the Irish in Ireland.

• manhattan | Jul 15, 2010, 03:44 PM EDT

  Right on Irishandproud. Wonderful articulate comeback..

• IrishAndProud | Jul 15, 2010, 02:57 PM EDT

  Oh, and Brendan...if you come back at me with something like 'well, I don't like it that a man like O'Reilly is sitting there with that kind of approach and persona and giving the Irish a bad name,' then your beef is with the conservative American majority, since it is they -- the little people and the common folk in your flyover country -- who are empowering O'Reilly by watching him in the numbers that they do.

• IrishAndProud | Jul 15, 2010, 02:52 PM EDT

  (continued) O'Reilly and Fox are hugely successful, and you, Brendan, apparently just can't stand that it's happening, so you feel compelled to watch them and to sit there and HATE them...and then come on here and write silly columns about it. And...what, exactly, is your ultimate goal, anyway? I mean...what? To produce a groundswell movement, perhaps, that will write to O'Reilly and ask him to change his mannerisms? To ultimately drive Fox off the air so you can have your FOUR other liberal networks, unchallenged on the airwaves? For conservatism itself to just 'go away'? I mean, come on....I'm not following you, here, and I'm curious. What exactly is your ultimate aim, on this matter -- with all of these diatribes and all of this complaining? What is it you even want, ultimately? What's your ultimate goal? Do you even have one?

• IrishAndProud | Jul 15, 2010, 02:49 PM EDT

  Bill O'Reilly is not an embarrassement to the Irish. Brendan P Keane is an embarrassement to the Irish...more like an affront. On a related note what is also an embarrassement to the Irish is the silly, dated notion that you cannot be both truly conservative and truly Irish. Only a handful of whacko's on a (comparatively) little-read site like this would think so. Such a notion is not only flat-out wrong, but it's also flat-out bigoted. Race and class-envy are literally all that guys like Keane apparently have, to further their points. Keane, you're so hung up on a single episode of O'Reilly that you're using it to broad-brush and paint anyone else who happens to see things politically as he does, whether they share his personal style or not, or whether they even WATCH him or not (as I don't). I also noticed in your post below that you now seem to be trying to wriggle away from your earlier assertion that O'Reilly may have been flat-out WRONG in what he said; rather you're now trying to shift the focus onto HOW he said it. Well, my advice to you: change channels, or just turn off the stupid tv. That's certainly not difficult, is it? Unless, of course, you just cannot stand that O'Reilly (and by extension Fox) are even there at all.

• BrendanPKeane | Jul 15, 2010, 02:29 PM EDT

  RiverAveGuy: and your (sic) capable of seeing that the left/right game is good-cop/bad-cop on a bigger scale. Bill reps Murdoch. RebelForce: I don't have fragile racial sensibilities at all. America does I said. When I speak my mind on matters of race I'm sure to consider that the language is all corrupted with knee-jerk meanings, and fragile feelings, and its best to show empathy on matters of race and not set off red flags. It's basic courtesy really. I'm talking about the showmanship or sportsmanship of that particular July 13th performance. He was contemptuous and rude, no matter the validity--no context given--of his statistics. Diplomacy or respect in this world is not to be a wilting lilly, it's to be smart in how you say things. O'Reilly's irresponsible manners make Irish American men look like bullying closet racists, and that only serves O'Reilly's paymasters--the war profiteering class--in their divide and conquer strategy employed amongst us here in America. Dividing the working white stiff against the demonized Black guy is among the oldest of American ethnic paradigms.

• irishwxman | Jul 15, 2010, 01:49 PM EDT

  Fez you are out of your head.

• RiverAveGuy | Jul 15, 2010, 01:28 PM EDT

  Brendan your an idiot. Typical biased left wing writing. Bill is a great rep.

• irishfez | Jul 15, 2010, 01:00 PM EDT

  Nice piece - all so true, We need a better rep for Irish America

• Woodkern | Jul 15, 2010, 11:04 AM EDT

  Honest to God. Some of you need to step outside of Nassau County sometime.

• Woodkern | Jul 15, 2010, 11:04 AM EDT

  Honest to God. Some of you step outside of Nassau County sometime.

• Monsoonman | Jul 15, 2010, 10:36 AM EDT

  Instead of invading Afghanstan after we were hit on 911, we should have just bombed them back to the stone age.

• Rebelforce | Jul 15, 2010, 10:30 AM EDT

  You're changing the subject Brendan. I agree with you 100% about these idiotic, bankrupting Wars the US is fighting against Muslims and Arabs. But in the article you wrote you basically said that Bill O'Reilly, as an Irish-American man, shouldn't be free to talk openly about race in America---atleast not in a way that you or others might find "insensitive". That's just plain drivel and downright un-American.

• irishwxman | Jul 15, 2010, 10:19 AM EDT

  Dennis they are only con men to you because you disagree with them. You are a far left loon, and until far left lunacy becomes popular (which it NEVER will) you will always be miserable. God help you this November when your glorious majority slips away.

• Rebelforce | Jul 15, 2010, 10:18 AM EDT

  Brendan, if you want a program that will never be "insensitive" and offend your fragile Politically Correct racial sensibilities, maybe you should go back to watching Sesame Street (or CBS News).

• Monsoonman | Jul 15, 2010, 10:13 AM EDT

  Dennis:, So you think the voice of reason can be heard where? Rachel Maddow? Jeanine Garrofolo? Perhaps Ed Schultz?..Specifically, we need your guidance to lead us to where the real unvarnished truth emanates from. Or is it best to just go direct to the horses mouth and believe everything that comes out of the whitehose(not a typo) press secretary robert gibbs?

• manhattan | Jul 15, 2010, 10:11 AM EDT

  Brendan, stick to playing your fiddle and take a deep breath and a tranquilizer. I would love to see you and Bill in a debate. He would shut you up for sure.

• BrendanPKeane | Jul 15, 2010, 10:05 AM EDT

  We need a peace movement in the United States. Obama is a war president. O'Reilly is a war monger. They're on the same team. We need our nation's taxes spent in building America, not Iraq. Left and right are war parties in America, because the politicians are owned, like the talking heads on TV--employees, employed to distract us into thinking there's real debate happening. Meanwhile, our country is being looted by bailouts supported by both O'Reilly and Obama.

• irishwxman | Jul 15, 2010, 09:57 AM EDT

  So sad. Yet another left wing lunatic screaming racism because somebody disagrees with the anointed one. My parents are Irish immigrants, and I loathe Obama. Does that make me an embarrassment to the Irish community?

• BrendanPKeane | Jul 15, 2010, 09:56 AM EDT

  RebelFarce: Bill O'Reilly stands up for Murdoch. DennisQ: cartoon for adults, I love it. citizen69: lucky for you all, he was on Irish TV and all he could do to answer concerns by Pat Kenny that he was a racist was declare all such quotes from his show as defamation, regardless had he said them or not. IrishAndProud: Both the "left" and the "right" are corporate whores selling us war (taxes). I'm not being a snob by understanding how the owners above the fray use the left right puppet show to distract us from them--the owners who profit from wars.

• DennisQ | Jul 15, 2010, 09:46 AM EDT

  The problem with O'Reilly is not that he's a conservative; it's that he's a phony. His demeanor suggests he's just one working guy laying out what he believes is the truth. But O'Reilly's plain speech is a facade - he's a slick talker like that other guy Sean Hannity. These guys are con men.

• Rebelforce | Jul 15, 2010, 09:18 AM EDT

  How silly and childish to believe that an Irish-American man shouldn't stand up for what he believes in because "others" might find him "insensitive". Since when are the Irish afraid of what other people think? Irish-America is a large enough community to run the gamut from popular liberals like Phil Donahue to popular conservatives like Bill O'Reilly. And judging from O'Reilly's ratings he is indeed what you call popular.

• DennisQ | Jul 15, 2010, 06:35 AM EDT

  Uncle Bill runs a cartoon show for grownups. He clearly identifies the good guys from the bad guys so that viewers never experience the anxiety of uncertainty. People who know very little of politics and economics come away from the O'Reilly experience believing that they know a great deal. It's a junk food diet for slobs who can't be bothered learning about our world. Yes, his dumbed-down message is popular. Right wing good, left wing bad.

• citizen69 | Jul 15, 2010, 05:18 AM EDT

  We don't get much of O'Reilly here in Ireland but what i've seen of him on the 'Daily Show', he sounds like a mug.

• IrishAndProud | Jul 15, 2010, 12:21 AM EDT

  Brendan, you're trying to sound like you're above the fray from either side...and then you challenge others to 'get above it' by viewing things as the left wing sees it. You then seem to question the Irishness of certain people on 'that channel' (re: Fox News, the most popular news network in the USA) because they don't see things YOUR way. Well, in a sense you're right: they're not one of you, if you mean the LIBERAL side of the aisle. And as for Murdoch...whew, you're really, REALLY hung up on that guy. But who cares? Personally (and I speak for the majority of Americans, nowadays) I'm just a wee bit more concerned with the utterly fly-in-the-public's-face Barack Obama, and this completely unresponsive, arrogant U.S. Congress and U.S. government that we currently have -- and the utter havoc they're wreaking on the U.S. economy and social fabric -- than I am with the boss at a private-enterprise network that's providing literally the only outlet for majority-conservative viewpoint out of all FIVE major networks, there are. Can you not be satisfied with four out of five networks being liberal, Brendan? What is this hang-up, this gripe you have with even the slightest bit of dissent? Do you not think that ANY of the other anchors and/or commentators on ANY of the other networks are 'sock puppets' for their LIBERAL CEO's? You cannot pretend that only Fox has all the corruption and ideology, but of course wherever you get YOUR news from does not. Liberalism is not just 'the way things are.' It's just an opinion, too. Lastly, are you saying that O'Reilly only pretends to be with the conservative majority (in which case you're admitting that they are indeed the majority), or are you saying that the populace is really not conservative (and if so, what stats can you cite, on that)?

• BrendanPKeane | Jul 14, 2010, 09:06 PM EDT

  I think it would be great if we could all just concentrate our clever quips and spite on the financial engineers that are looting our national treasuries, and on those using Depression to gain greater control over the people by means of austere deflation. It would be great, but we can't escape the dumb left/right game, nor can we think, it seems, outside the propoganda that poses as news. O'Reilly is a blatant sock puppet for Murdoch. So are all the Irish faces on that channel. Winking and nodding like they're one of us, meanwhile they're making distraction so we don't get mad at their paymasters for stealing the nation's taxes with fake crashes and illegal wars. We should be mad at the fat engineers on top of the system who are starving the rest of the population. O'Reilly pretends to be with the rest of the population, when he's really a lap dog for his betters.

• hancock | Jul 14, 2010, 06:56 PM EDT

  Irish Americans are like all Americans, are pretty much split down the middle politically. From what I see of the a lot of Irish, at least on this site, is that they are quick to cry about anybody that doesn't agree with their world view. Its pretty immature and sad.

• WoundedKnee | Jul 14, 2010, 06:22 PM EDT

  People like Hannity and O'Reilly are not a credit to their Irish ancestors, who suffered oppression and poverty.

• PhlutiePhan | Jul 14, 2010, 05:50 PM EDT

  I would say that Brendan Patrick Keane is a bit to the "left of center". Maybe, O'R overemphasized the obvious but unfortunately, it was the obvious that anyone with "keen" eyes can see.

• IrishAndProud | Jul 14, 2010, 05:24 PM EDT

  But Brendan...you seem to be saying that the conservative majority in the USA are just thoughless, mind-numbed robots who cannot/do not think for themselves but rather simply seek out a bunch of parrotting sound-alikes (and that attitude toward them is not exactly a good way to ingratiate yourself to them, btw...as I've already said it's precisely that attitude amongst the left-wing elite that has made them so resented and unpopular, with the public). But has it ever occurred to you that maybe -- just maybe -- the common, ordinary folk HAVE INDEED thought things through, and know EXACTLY where they stand, on the issues...and maybe that's EXACTLY why they oppose the other side's agenda so ferociously? If anyone, it's the modus operandi of the LEFT wing for the public to just accept what THEY say without question (and to condescend against them if they don't), and further, it seems, to get all bent out of shape if they even suspect that anyone, anywhere disagrees with them. And further, to insinuate that it's only the RIGHT side of the aisle that goes by sound bites and slogans is not only inaccurate, it is dishonest. The left wing has lived by little more than touchy-feely platitudes and pure emotionalism for as long as I've been alive (case in point: their approach to the illegal alien issue 'Oh but they work so haaaaarrdd! Think of the childreeen!' -- like that has anything to do with the actual issue, which is that they're illegal trespassors). Brendan, you know all of this.

• Woodkern | Jul 14, 2010, 04:56 PM EDT

  I've repeatedly heard O'Reilly say, "I'm an Irish guy!" and the same about Hannity. It is understandable that any thoughtful individual who identifies or is identified as Irish would be concerned and seek to distance himself from these two noxious media celebrities.

• BrendanPKeane | Jul 14, 2010, 04:51 PM EDT

  Mother Jones was a fine Cork woman. People judge thought in this country by who the thinker "sounds like" rather than point-by-point discussing. O'Reilly does this same kind of name-calling without any substantive rebuttal. It's dissatisfying for thoughtful people, and dangerous for those Americans who don't want to end up living in the manner to which Chinese citizens are accustomed.

• manhattan | Jul 14, 2010, 04:42 PM EDT

  Oh Mcnamara, Bill's family came with nothing during the famine. It took hard work for his father to buy a house in Long Island. Thats what the Irish earned buy hard work and giving there kids a good education so they can grow up to be as successful as O'Reilly is. By the letters and Kean's comment about him maybe he is right to not show any pride to be Irish.

• manhattan | Jul 14, 2010, 04:33 PM EDT

  Irish and proud, GOOD JOB..

• hancock | Jul 14, 2010, 04:00 PM EDT

  How does he use the Irish?

• IrishAndProud | Jul 14, 2010, 03:48 PM EDT

  Brendan, you sound like a far-left, kook-conspiracy theory buff, from Mother Jones magazine. Do you even hear yourself? Your post got wilder and crazier with each passing sentence. Face it, Brendan (and I'm assuming you are indeed the same Brendan who wrote the above article) -- you're in a nation that's not only conservative but is INCREASINGLY so by the day, thanks in no small measure to the likes of Barack Obama, the U.S. Congress, and attitudes such as yours. Whether you personally like Bill O'Reilly's politics or persona (and I myself don't even watch him) are irrelevant. The man's obviously struck a chord with viewers, othewise he wouldn't be so widely-viewed, and Fox wouldn't be the most-watched network in the USA, hands down. Whether O'Reilly gave the actual stats or not it's pretty hard to argue with his sum-up of the state of blacks, today...a state which anyone with eyes, ears and a brain already knows full-well. I noticed you didn't mention a single, solitary WORD about the racist New Black Panthers, whose leader in Philadelphia said he hates white people and wants to kill their babies. Sounds just a wee bit worse than the already-known facts that O'Reilly merely mentioned, don't you think?

• BrendanPKeane | Jul 14, 2010, 03:34 PM EDT

  Fox uses the Irish to sell a sick message of tax-wasting war to enrichen those who profit from war. O'Reilly is nothing more than a conduit for Murdoch's will. Murdoch serves an establishment that does not have the best interests of the American Republic or any Republic at heart. O'Reilly is the worse kind of socialist, the kind that preaches giving tax money to banks and corporations.

• hancock | Jul 14, 2010, 03:02 PM EDT

  I said what I said, didn't say anyone was a loser. I just find it a little odd with the obseesion with Bill O and Fox from the Irish.

• 2BorNot2B | Jul 14, 2010, 02:27 PM EDT

  Sez hancock: "Bill O is an American, one of the most successful at that. He doesn't need validation from socialist, know it all, Irish hipsters behind a keyboard." -- Got that one sooo right, hancock, and the ones on this website that don't cease to bring up his name and berate him are nothing more than socialist-sympathizer jealous losers.

• hancock | Jul 14, 2010, 02:18 PM EDT

  Bill O is an American, one of the most successful at that. He doesn't need validation from socialist, know it all, Irish hipsters behind a keyboard.

• Woodkern | Jul 14, 2010, 01:18 PM EDT

  The fact is that the Culture Warrior from Levittown represents a demographic, which for the most part never held a passport. After all, a passport is not needed by people who never leave Lawn Guyland. Sadly, he and Hannity are telling the rest of the country how the rest of the world works and should be ordered.

• Reilleyfam | Jul 14, 2010, 01:10 PM EDT

  The problem is he doesn't have the "e" on the end of the name. It caused some sort of mutation from good Reilley to bad Reilly - the "O'" is for Oh No not him again! I cannot tell you how many people think I'm like him just because my name is Reilley, it's a curse. The viewers are the problem. People like Bill only matter if you watch, listen, and agree.

• McNamara31 | Jul 14, 2010, 12:39 PM EDT

  Manhattan, "So has Bill" Bill O grew up in a brand new Levitt home, alongside a golf course, within blocks to pools and community parks. He attended one of the best elementary schools and Chaminade H.S. So, Pleassssseeeeeeee don't tell me what Bill O encountered during his life. His parents provided him a great life, the only thing they failed to do was teach Bill empathy which makes him perfect for FOX.

• pat52rk | Jul 14, 2010, 10:10 AM EDT

  imagine if mel gibson was some left wing liberal that would be the lead story on o reilly's show , but because gibson is a conservative o reilly ignores the story ..

• maryosullivan | Jul 14, 2010, 09:04 AM EDT

  O'Reilly liability to Ireland pales in comparison to his liability to the United States; he dishes out disinformation nightly with his cadre of blond talking heads. His constant lies and misrepresentations is a blatent attempt to bring down this government. He is and was always silent on Bush's shameful performance , yet, he misses no chance to discredit Obama. Thank God Olbermann and Dylan Ratigan on MSNBC does a very credible job of showing O'Reilly massive anti-Obama bias.

• manhattan | Jul 14, 2010, 08:51 AM EDT

  O'Reilly doesn't profess his being Irish American because he is American first. I thought so many of you REAL IRISHMEN hate when we call ourselves Irish American so, what's your beef?

• kelley1962 | Jul 14, 2010, 08:49 AM EDT

  Keep fightin the good fight my Irish brother! Racism is alive and well here in the good ole U.S. of A. Bill O'Reilly and Fox news are a cancer on our society. I work as a hairdresser and I have to listen to all these Fox loving republican woman talk about how Fox news is the only real news source. It takes every bit of my patience to not show my Irish temper!

• davidoconnell | Jul 14, 2010, 08:41 AM EDT

  Awful nonsense. O'Reilly is as Irish as Obama.

• GeorgeDillon | Jul 14, 2010, 07:53 AM EDT

  O'Reilly is not Irish, so how is he a liability? I am not an expert on him, but I don't see him as ever expressing interest in interest in Irish culture, history or language. A similar Irish-American who has no interest in his cultural heritage is Sean Hannity. I find this guy more obnoxious than O'Reilly. Hannity has no sense of humor or grace with words. He's a whiner. And a total warmonger. A traitor,to the US, too, because he puts the interests of a foreign countrry--Israel--above those of the US. And his big star is Margaret Thatcher...; Some weird Irish-American!! I remember when we Irish Americans protessted Thatcher when she came to the US!

• Southernpride | Jul 14, 2010, 07:25 AM EDT

  Bill O'Reilly is a very successful Irishman. His secret to success is : hard work and self responsibility. Take note Mr Keane and stop the 'victim mentality' because you come across as being very weak and a loser

• Realist | Jul 14, 2010, 04:15 AM EDT

  What part of Ireland was Bill born in then lol?

• manhattan | Jul 14, 2010, 12:51 AM EDT

  First I have to ask how old are you? were you born here or in Ireland? If Ireland ,what year did you arrive. You are totally ignorant about what Bill O'Reilly is talking about. Black crime is a fact and your excuses for that make me sick, I'm 71, grew up on the westside of manhattan. I have seen o much in my lifetime and so has Bill . You never lived it so shut the hell up.