by James Buchanan

Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly has always been annoying. His positions on issues appear to be chosen almost completely at random– occasionally taking a right wing stand and other times coming out moderate or slightly liberal. By being “all over the map” he considers himself superior to people like Pat Buchanan, who would consistently put religious beliefs and America’s sovereignty first.

O’Reilly would brag that he wasn’t one of those “religious extremists” which apparently means he’ll repeatedly talk dirty with a female co-worker, who wants nothing to do with him. O’Reilly unfortunately is riding high on a wave of moderate gutlessness (a popular philosophy in today’s society) and Fox News chose to pay off a victim of his unwanted sexual advances rather than fire the lecherous old creep.

In a preview for one of his recent shows, O’Reilly said to watch his show to hear about “More deceit surrounding Cindy Sheehan.” –dishonestly implying that there’s something deceitful about Cindy. Now wait a minute –as long as Mrs. Sheehan actually lost a son, how is she being “deceitful” by asking to talk to the President about that loss??? There is absolutely nothing deceitful about Mrs. Sheehan.

O’Reilly had said on an earlier show “Some military families consider her actions treasonous.” Oh please. Most American families (military or not) are sympathetic to Cindy. Only the most rabid neocons would use the term “treasonous” to describe a bereaved mom. Military families are fearful of losing their own sons in Bush’s pointless war. It would have to be one very sick-minded member of a military family to call a mom who lost her son “treasonous” and it was just as sick for O’Reilly to repeat that smear (assuming O’Reilly didn’t invent that “military family” and that quote out of thin air).

The “More deceit…” remark that the O’Reilly promo made (which ran about a dozen times) turned out to have NOTHING to do with anything Cindy Sheehan said. The alleged “deceit” concerned two newspapers, who had stated that O’Reilly called Sheehan “treasonous.” O’Reilly of course didn’t call her treasonous directly. He claimed that (possibly imaginary) military families (whom he didn’t name) had called her treasonous. So Bill O’Reilly did not say that –directly. And I’d like to note that some military families consider Bill O’Reilly a sexual pervert and a neocon sell out who couldn’t care less how many US soldiers die in a bad war.

Much like the rest of middle America Cindy Sheehan has seen the news stories about the Downing Street Memos and the uranium yellowcake story. To her horror she has discovered that we were lied into war. Her mission today is extremely noble and honorable. She is taking a stand to SAVE THE LIVES of other American soldiers so they don’t die in a bad war and so that other mothers don’t have to go through the horrible suffering that she has endured. She is protesting today in miserably hot conditions in the middle of a Texas summer to pressure Bush to talk to her about her son and the Iraq War. If America had more people like Cindy Sheehan and fewer people like Bill O’Reilly, America would be a far more honorable and peaceful nation.