One of the richest bits:
“I didn’t like the line in the speech about we don’t have to compromise our values to protect ourself. Ummm. I think sometimes we do.”
–Bill O’Reilly
If you’re going to compromise your VALUES, then why bother having any? If we are the Christian nation Bill O’Reilly and so many people would have me agree we are, then it should be presumed we are a nation of Christian values. I don’t recall Jesus, when he was setting forth the values by which Christians were expected to conduct their lives, to ever suggest these values were variable and could be cast aside for any reason whatsoever.
The O’Reilly comment goes on [transcripted from The O'Reilly Factor]:
“I think sometimes we have to do things that aren’t Army Field Manual polite. We can’t give the Lazy Boys to the captured terrorists. We can’t give them the ice tea and the windchimes. Sometimes. And I think that that was over-simplifying and that was kind of a cheap shot at the Bush Administration, which was successful in number one protecting us and number two really damaging Al Qaida. It’ll be interesting to see, in four years, if the Obama Administration can damage Al Qaida. So, if I’m a rookie, and I walk in and I haven’t damaged anybody, ever, I don’t know if I’m saying that kind of stuff. You know what I mean?”
–Bill O’Reilly, Miller Time, The O’Reilly Factor, 1/21/09
Anyway, watch the Daily Show clip. It’s worth it just to see the handwaving antics of TV news talking heads.
I don’t think that O’Reilly has even read the Army Field Manual re: Interrogation aka Human Intelligence Collection. If you would like to read it, I have a copy (yes, that much is unclassified). The biggest thing in the FM is that the Geneva Convention trumps all and I sincerely believe that is where O’Reilly’s issue comes from.
Already read it. Pretty sure he hasn’t. You’re probably right that the fact we signed a treaty agreeing to play by rules not necessarily set exclusively by us sticks in his craw.
All I know is my head almost split wide open when I saw him say that on the Daily Show clip. With all his blather about Christianity this and that and Christian nation blah blah, you’d think he’d understand what values ARE. No sense pretending to have any if they are just going to be tossed to the curb whenever they aren’t convenient or it gets hard to stick to them. I mean, some people actually choose to die rather than give up on their values. Just ask Jesus.
Gods, I can’t stand O’Reilly. We tried to watch his show one night, and it took about 60 seconds before we had to change the channel. Just the bits I see on the Daily Show and Olberman are enough, thank you.
Orb, I think I sent you this, if not…well here it is.
In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem. One day one fellow met the great philosopher and said, Do you know what I just heard about your friend?. Hold on a minute, Socrates replied. Before telling me anything I’d like you to pass a little test. It’s called the Triple Filter Test.. Triple filter?. That’s right, Socrates continued. Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you’re going to say. That’s why I call it the triple filter test. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true? No, the man said, actually I just heard about it and…. All right, said Socrates. So you don’t know if it’s true or not. Now let’s try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good? . No, on the contrary…. So, Socrates continued, you want to tell me something bad about him, but you’re not certain it’s true. You may still pass the test though, because there’s one filter left: the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me? No, not really. Well, concluded Socrates, if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all? :thumb:
Just another reason not to watch TV, especially cable. The man’s borderline personality is practically universal in adult children of ‘devout’ (read ambitious, superstitious, etc.) Roman Catholic parents, particularly the mother, after a successful altar boy stint in early adolescence. Successful in the sense of “the priest really likes me, I think.” Upon reaching late adolescence and confronting the reality that the ‘secret stuff’ that went on with the priest wasn’t so unique and special, but rather just plain shameful and embarrassing, the young man invents all manner of subterfuge to divert attention from the obvious. He also obsesses over control issues. A large number of those sissy-bullies who rant on about war but have never served in the military are satisfied to let the public speculate on their motivations, while the truth of the matter in most cases is that they were rejected on the basis of their psychological inventory. Believe it or not, the military wants normal people.