Bill O’Reilly, silly pundit and man of poor reasoning skills, is back at attacking atheists. This time it’s especially fun because all he does is set up strawmen and make other dumb arguments.

Once again we are in the Christmas season, and the coal-in-your-stocking crowd is back at it.

This sounds like a negative, militant bunch! I have to imagine they have just an awful, awful message. Right?

This year, the American Humanist Association is putting up bus ads in selected cities that say: “No God? No Problem! Be Good for Goodness’ Sake.”

Hang on. This sounds like a positive, upbeat message. (It’s also a minor change to a previous bus ad.) How does this constitute wanting to put coal in anyone’s stockings? It sounds like this atheist group is promoting a positive message imploring people to be upstanding, good individuals. And isn’t it interesting how virtually all atheist groups seem to do this? It’s like reason and rationality lead to better people in general.

The picture accompanying the text shows a group of young people wearing Santa hats. Ho, ho, ho. The virulently anti-God group “Freedom from Religion” has launched a second front. It is celebrating Christmas in Las Vegas with ads that say: “Yes, Virginia, there is no God.” Nice.

Oh, excuse me. It appears Billo has utilized his thesaurus. These atheists are virulent, not militant. Maybe we can start calling all those negroes haughty instead of uppity, too.

The question is: Why bother? Why spend money at Christmastime (sic) to spread dubious will among men? The reason, I believe, is that atheists are jealous of the Yuletide season.

Wow, this one should be fun.

1) Atheists bother because they want to get their message out there. Religion is a stain on society and needs to be put back in its box so that we can all enjoy more liberty.

2) Atheist groups have spent money on these sort of ads all year long. Christmas time, however, is a period when religion’s profile is raised more so than during other times of the year. It makes sense to counter this by intentionally raising atheism’s profile, too.

3) Billo believes we are jealous of this season. Once again, we see a non-rational religious individual going on faith alone; he has no evidence for his silly little belief. See #1 and #2 for real reason why atheist groups are putting out ads.

While Christians have Jesus and Jews have the prophets, nonbelievers have Bill Maher. There are no Christmas carols for atheists, no pagan displays of largesse like Santa Claus. In fact, for the nonbeliever, Christmas is just a day off, a time to consider that Mardi Gras is less than two months away.

Unlike Billo, I make no arrogant claim to be able to speak for all atheists. However, I do know that most still celebrate Christmas. They obviously have little to no interest in the whole Jesus part, but the holiday has come to mean far more than that. Christmas is when family from all over tends to get and come together to enjoy each others’ company. It’s a festive time that does not require any god for it to mean something.

And is Billo suggesting that Mardi Gras is an atheist event? Last time I checked it had its root in religious tradition, since being co-opted by dozens of cultures as a secular celebration – sort of like how Christmas can be and is secular for many. But maybe Billo wants to start claiming the fourth of July or St. Patrick’s Day as atheist holidays next.

But there is a serious side to this, and the American “Humanists” should listen up. Christmas is a joyous time for children, the big upside of celebrating the birth of Jesus.

Spectacular. First Billo spends his time arguing that Christmas is not to be done without God, then he sets up this contrast. First Christmas is a lot of fun for children, however and in edition, it is also a time when people can celebrate the birth of Jesus. Does he not get it? He just admitted that Christmas tends to be celebrated without regard to Jesus. It’s almost like there’s a secular component to the season – one that “is a joyous time”, and not just for children.

Of course, Billo is playing fast and loose with implications here. He’s trying to say that atheists don’t want children (or anyone else) to enjoy Christmas. This is a complete strawman, and an ugly one at that. This guy is just another mudslinger who has no interest in hearing the rational messages of atheists.

Why, then, do people who want to “be good” spend money denigrating a beautiful day?

Again, the denigration is directed at this myth that one needs God to be good, not the idea of Christmas. And again, most atheists celebrate the Christmas season – they just do it by staying connected with reality (i.e., spending time with family, not magic sky fairies).

Could it be that the humanists are not really interested in good at all?

No.

The head Humanist, Roy Speckhardt, says the anti-God signs are worthy because they send a message that atheists shouldn’t be vilified as immoral.

Billo’s slimy article as People’s Evidence 1.

Well, old Roy needs to wise up. The signs actually create resentment and hostility toward atheists. Here’s a bulletin: Many parents don’t want their children to see bus signs proclaiming that God is a big hoax.

Haha. Really? It’s the signs that have created resentment and hostility toward atheists? It has nothing to do with the smear pieces that get published?

As for what parents do and do not want their children to see, it is antithetical to rationality to try and block a child from a harmless message. In fact, parents should be encouraging a dialogue with their children about these ads. They present an important point of view, one which actually seeks to alleviate children of the burden of being told they may burn in hell for eternity for minor transgressions over a roughly 80 year period.

That message may be constitutionally protected, but it is not going to engender much good will among believers.

The broader point here is to start people talking. That has happened as we see here in People’s Evidence 1. As for encouraging good will among believers, I would hope it would do that. It obviously isn’t going to get Billo to do any good because that isn’t in his nature, but rational individuals may be invigorated to do something positive.

Of course, Speckhardt knows that and is being disingenuous with the “just looking out for atheists” posture his group takes.

Speckhardt’s point is that atheists are not inherently immoral. We want to see good things done just as much as the next guy. This is the bulk of what he has said. I don’t see where Billo has any grounds for calling him a liar.

What many nonbelievers enjoy doing is mocking those who embrace theology. I guess that makes some atheists feel better because there is no other reason to run down Christmas. It is a happy day for most human beings.

Non-sequitur alert! Non-sequitur alert!

Why the sudden new charge about mockery? How does that have anything to do with the ad? And “no other reason to run down Christmas”? Didn’t Billo just spend his entire article talking about how jealousy was the reason for these ads?

The latest Rasmussen poll on the season says that 72 percent of Americans like saying, “Merry Christmas,” while just 22 percent prefer the greeting “Happy Holidays.”

So the evidence suggests that despite the American Civil Liberties Union, atheist groups and a politically correct media, Christmas is actually gaining in relevance and, perhaps, reverence.

Here’s another good example of why Billo is not a rational person. He cited a single poll and then claimed it was evidence for a trend. I don’t think I need to go any further on that point.

Most folks know a good thing when they see it, and the converse is true, as well. They know these anti-God signs at Christmastime are dumb and unnecessary.

See People’s Evidence 1 again.

Ya gotta love the way the right wing media stick to their talking points en masse.   These people really DO want President Obama to fail.  They whine and moan about everything he does. 

Media Matters:

President Obama never had a chance …

It didn’t matter what decision he came to regarding troop levels in Afghanistan, or what he said about the ongoing conflict there, because Fox News and the rest of the conservative media had already reached two conclusions. First, he took too long. Second, he was wrong.

Since the Bush administration stuck him with the untended-to mess in Afghanistan, Obama had to make a choice — more troops, fewer troops, withdrawal. When Obama signaled that he actually wanted to consider his options before making a decision, the Fox News followed the lead of Dick Cheney — one of the primary authors of the Afghanistan debacle — in accusing the president of “dithering” and “inaction.” Glenn Beck, never one to be subtle or reasonable, accused the president of “letting our troops literally bleed and die” and said Obama would “pay for it” in the hereafter.  

Much more here.

It’s that glorious time of the year again, when Bill O’Reilly starts whinging on about how Christians are under fire and hotly persecuted in their own country.  Personally, I didn’t know that Bill O’Reilly lived in Vatican City.  Here in the States, however, we seem to have a bizarre split personality thing going on with the winter holiday season.  Half the time, we’re going on about the great Melting Pot that is our country, and the rest of the time we’re bitching about how immigrants are trying to take our country away and why do we have to push #1 for English and how all the Founding Fathers were Christians.

[As a side note, you may surmise that I have some dislike for Bill O'Reilly.  Consequently, I am amused that he's losing some of his right-wing hate-squad fans to Glenn Beck, who's even more loopy. ]

That, essentially, is the biggest problem with this country.  We have the highest of ideals paired with the lowest of common denominators.  We want the government to protect us from everything, but we don’t want to give them the money or power to do so.  We want everyone to respect out beliefs without anyone infringing on us with their beliefs.  We want to rule the world, but we hate paying attention to anyone else.  And so forth.

And so naturally the holiday season brings our contradictory nature into sharp focus.  Charity and goodwill and all that touchy-feely stuff, so long as everyone is celebrating Christmas.  If you suggest that maybe a school pageant shouldn’t glorify Christianity at the expense of the muslim or jewish kids, then the knives come out.

Ah, believers.  I love ‘em when they actually live up to their beliefs.  The rest of the time, they suck as much as everyone else.

So here’s a few things I like to toss into the mix in the War On Christmas.

1)  Christ wasn’t an asshole.  You should follow his example.

2) White middle-class Christians never sound convincing when they whine about being persecuted.  Mostly, it’s just pathetic.

3) NOBODY KNOWS when Jesus was born.  Early sources put it in the sprintime.  It wasn’t celebrated in December until sometime around 350 AD, when Rome started making a real push to spread its influence and co-opt pagan groups.  Consequently, the “Reason For The Season” is the same as every other Winter Festival that developed in every other social group that had both agriculture and winter:  “we’ve got enough grain stored away to last us until springtime, so let’s party!”

Thank you, and good night.

What is your favorite annual Christmas tradition?  I think Bill O’Reilly’s is battling it out with supposed Christmas haters in the secular battle ground of the holiday season. It’s that time of year again: War on Christmas time.

“Why believe in a god?  Just be good for goodness sake.” That is the message of the American Humanist Association’s (AHA) ad campaign on buses in some cities in America.  And those two questions really bother O’Reilly.

O’Reilly has always billed himself as a “culture warrior.” He believes he must stand up against secularists who fight against the Judeo-Christian roots of American culture. I have no problem with O’Reilly fighting that battle, but sometimes I have a problem with how he does it. His most recent skirmish with the AHA doesn’t do Christians any favor, in fact, I believe he demeans us.

“Why do they loathe the baby Jesus?  He’s just a baby…How do you sell atheism by running down a baby?  It’s just a baby.” – Bill O’Reilly

O’Reilly goes on to say that atheists attack Christmas because they are jealous of the fun Christians and Jews (with Hannukah) have this time of year. They are so jealous that they must attack a little baby Jesus.

Well, Bill, here’s a little tip for your culture war: don’t defend Christianity by calling its Savior God “just a baby”.  Let me give you a quote from a classic American comedy:

Ricky Bobby: Dear tiny infant Jesus…
Carley Bobby: Hey, um… you know sweetie, Jesus did grow up. You don’t always have to call him baby. It’s a bit odd and off puttin’ to pray to a baby.

Do I think the AHA is attacking Jesus, because they are jealous of Christians during Christmas time? Of course not. The AHA wants everyone to believe you can be good without God. Do I believe the AHA is attacking Christianity with their ad? Of course. The AHA wants to remove the Judeo-Christian worldview from our society.  That’s obvious in everything from their ads, their public statements, and annual selections for Humanist of the Year. Recent winners include an anti-intelligent design activist (PZ Myers), Congressman Pete Stark (seemingly anti-Israel), and Richard Dawkins (whose career goal may just be to defeat Christian thought).  O’Reilly is right in seeing these ads as part of the culture war, but wrong and unhelpful in his response to them.

Christians do not want to convince people to our side so they can have more fun on Christmas. And we do not think of Jesus as simply some helpless, cute little baby.  During Christmas, we do remember God coming in the flesh as a baby.  But we believe so much more than that.  The Prophet Isaiah said it well:

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this. Isaiah 9:6-7

We celebrate the Almighty God when we celebrate the birth of Jesus.  He is the One who is ruler and creator of the world.  That is the opposite worldview of the humanist and atheist.  It deserves real discussion and not watered down antagonistic ads by AHA or silly statements by O’Reilly.

O’Reilly can’t be good for goodness sake, he needs reward… which he thinks gawd will give to him for being a pain in the ass.
Happy solstice.. or festivus, remember that the christians are the one’s who placed Jebu$ birthday on this date, to kill pagan festivals.
It’s the christians who are jealous, selfish and crazy; It’s like they have a christmas tree up their ass

To accurately and sufficiently summarize the Aughts, we at NPI have compiled and organized what we believe to be the defining list of quotes from this decade. Some of these were soundbytes, some were entire news cycles, some were quoted ad nauseam, some are poignant, some are sad, and most are hilarious.

“Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.”

–President George W. Bush, September 20th, 2001

“There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says: Fool me once, shame on… shame on you… You fool me we can’t get fooled again.”

–President Bush, 2002

“Our enemies never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”

–President Bush, August 2004

“I actually did vote for the $87 million before I voted against it.”

–Senator John Kerry, 2004

“Yes We Can!”

–Senator Barack Obama, Repeated

“She is a monster!”

–Samantha Power on Senator Hillary Clinton, 2008

“Shut up! Cut his mike”

–Bill O’Reilly, Repeated, Most Famously to Jeremy Glick, February 4th, 2003

“I’m gonna let you finish in a minute, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time!”

–Kanye West, September 13th, 2009

“I apologize for calling you a slut. I shouldn’t have done that and I was real angry. I didn’t even mean like ‘you’re a slut’ like that. When I get up and start yelling at a girl, that’s one of the first words that comes out: You’re a slut. You’re a whore. You’re…. a cunt, twat. There’s a bunch of other words to say to girls to get them pissed off. So I just wanted to apologize for calling you a slut. You can apologize for throwing water on me anytime you want…..Apology accepted. This was a good talk.”

–Isaac, Real World: Sydney

“I want to forgive you…and I want to forget you”

–Lauren, to Heidi, The Hills

“Welcome to the OC, bitch!”

–Luke, The OC

“Dad, you can’t take revenge on an animal. That’s the point of Moby Dick.”

“Lisa, the point of Moby Dick is ‘Be Yourself.’”

–The Simpsons

“Dad, how can Wal-Mart afford to have such low prices?”

“It’s simple economics, Stan: I don’t understand it at all. But God I love it”

–South Park

“Her?”

–Arrested Develpment, Repeated

“I’ve made a huge mistake.”

–Arrested Development, Repeated

“Pret-ty, Pret-ty, Pret-ty, Pret-ty Good”

–Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Repeated

“Redick is now 2 for 16!” ”Wow! That’s 1 for 8! Cuz you double 1 and you double 8…”

“Duke is outscoring BC in the paint 16-2!” ”That’s 8 to 1! Cuz you double 8 and double 1!”

–Dick Vitale in two isolated games that occurred nearly a year apart

“But they are who we thought they were! And we let ‘em off the hook!”

–Dennis Green, October 2006

“We talkin’ ’bout practice.”

–Allen Iverson, May 10th, 2002

“Playoffs? Don’t talk about playoffs. You kiddin’ me? Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game.”

–Jim Mora, November 25th, 2001

“I could give a shit about North Carolina right now.”

–Coach Roy Williams, April 7th, 2003

“I just have to tip my hat and call the Yankees my daddy.”

–Pedro Martinez, September 2004

“When I look at Boris Diaw, I think of Beethoven and the Age of the Romantics.”

–Bill Walton

“I’ll say one thing, she is attractive, oh baby.”

–Brent Musberger on Beyonce

“I’m hunting for little Mexican girls.”

–Karl Malone

“I’m not here to talk about the past.”

–Mark McGwire, March 17th, 2005

“I have noticed that many Internet people share a specific writing style: They tend to be bombastic and ironically detached at the same time. They really love certain things and they really hate certain things, but they always manage to remain outside the emotional investment that normally accompanies strong feelings. As such, I intend to do the opposite: I am going to be an earnest, emotionally vulnerable pragmatist. I won’t love or hate anything, but I’ll be hyper-intense about my apathy. As such, expect sentiments along the lines of, ‘Oh my God! Oh my dear Jesus who died for our sins! Mike Conley Jr. had an unassuming workmanlike performance this evening! He went 6-of-13 from the field with two turnovers! I respect his father’s triple jumping ability! Is love merely a human construction?’”

–Chuck Klosterman

“Everything that’s born has to die, which means our lives are like skyscrapers. The smoke rises at different speeds, but they’re all on fire, and we’re all trapped.”

–Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

“You really want to know what being an X-Men feels like? Just be a smart bookish boy of color in a contemporary U.S. ghetto. Mamma mia! Like having bat wings or a pair of tentacles growing out of your chest.”

–Junot Diaz, The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

“…thinking all the while that this man was not only irritating but ridiculous, with the particular ridiculousness of self-dramatizers and poor fools convinced they’ve been present at a decisive moment in history, when it’s common knowledge, thought Archimboldi, that history, which is a simple whore, has no decisive moments but is a proliferation of instants, brief interludes that vie with one another in monstrousness.”

–Roberto Bolaño, 2666

“We all disappoint, eventually.”

–Joseph O’Neill, Netherland

“Money don’t got no owners, only spenders.”

–Omar, The Wire

“Deserve ain’t got nothing to do with it…”

–Snoop, The Wire

“All in the game…”

–Traditional West Baltimore, The Wire

“A man must have a code.”

–The Bunk, The Wire

“Why so serious?”

–The Joker, The Dark Knight

“It’s all part of the plan….”

–The Joker, The Dark Knight

“I…drink…your…milkshake! I drink it up!”

–Daniel Plainview, There Will Be Blood

“It’s time to prove to your friends you’re worth a damn. Sometimes that means dying, sometimes that means killing a whole lot of people.”

–Dwight, Sin City

Frodo: I can’t do this, Sam.

Sam: I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.

Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?

Sam: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo… and it’s worth fighting for.

–Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Creedy: Die! Die! Why won’t you die?… Why won’t you die?

V: Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr. Creedy, and ideas are bulletproof.

–V for Vendetta

“You forgot one thing, mate: I’m Captain Jack Sparrow.”

–Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Jack Sparrow: [Wakes up and sees Elizabeth burning the rum] No! Not good! Stop! Not good! What are you doing? You burned all the food, the shade… the rum!

Elizabeth: Yes, the rum is gone.

Jack Sparrow: Why is the rum gone?

Elizabeth: One: because it is a vile drink that turns even the most respectable men into complete scoundrels. Two: that signal is over a thousand feet high. The entire royal navy is out looking for me, do you think there is even the slightest chance they wont see it?

Jack Sparrow: But why is the rum gone?

–Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

“I’m pretty sure there’s a lot more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking. And I plan on finding out what that is.”

–Derek Zoolander, Zoolander

“SHUT UP! Enough already, Ballstein! Who cares about Derek Zoolander anyway? The man has only one look, for Christ’s sake! Blue Steel? Ferrari? Le Tigra? They’re the same face! Doesn’t anybody notice this? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills! I invented the piano key necktie, I invented it! What have you done, Derek? You’ve done nothing! NOTHIIIING! And I will be a monkey’s uncle if I let you ruin this for me, because if you can’t get the job done, then I will!”

–Jacobim Mugatu, Zoolander

“60% of the time, it works everytime.”

–Brian Fantana, Anchorman

“I don’t really know how to put this. I’m kind of a big deal….I’m very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany.”

–Ron Burgundy, Anchorman

“You’re my boy, Blue! You’re my boy.”

–Frank, Old School

“I wanna go to the rooftops and scream ‘I love my best friend Evan!’”

–Seth, Superbad

“It was pimp. I’m like– I feel like a pimp right now. Like one of those pimps.”

–Evan, Superbad

“She likes you. She wants to suck on your penis. That’s a good thing.”

–Evan, Superbad

“Marriage is like a tense, unfunny version of Everybody Loves Raymond, only it doesn’t last 22 minutes. It lasts forever.”

–Pete, Knocked Up

“Listen, Coop – last night was really great. You were incredibly romantic and heroic, no doubt about it. And that’s great. But I’ve thought about it, and my thing is this: Andy is really hot. And don’t get me wrong, you’re cute too, but Andy is like, cut. From marble. He’s gorgeous. He has this beautiful face and this incredible body, and I genuinely don’t care that he’s kinda lame. I don’t even care that he cheats on me. And I like you more than I like Andy, Coop, but I’m 16. And maybe it’ll be a different story when I’m ready to get married, but right now, I am entirely about sex. I just wanna get laid. I just wanna take him and grab him and fuck his brains out, ya know? So that’s where my priorities are right now. Sex. Specifically with Andy and not with you.”

–Katie, Wet Hot American Summer

“Sometimes in the middle of the night, I think of something that’s funny, then I go get a pen and I write it down. Or if the pen’s too far away, I have to convince myself that what I thought of ain’t funny.”

–Mitch Hedberg

If only I were more like Bill…

Bill O’Reilly that is.

Even if I could only get a show on the public access channel I’d do it.

Just so I could get pinheads like Schenectady County Court Judge Polly Hoye to come on my show.

(Dream sequence)

Hello everyone and and welcome to “The Larry Factor” here on SACC Channel 16 in beautiful downtown Schenectady.

With me tonight in the no stupid zone is Schenectady County Court Judge Polly Hoye who recently ruled that an estimated $120,000 in cash seized from former city schools facilities director Steve Raucci’s Niskayuna home should be returned to him claiming there has been nothing to show it is connected to any of the crimes alleged.

(HT Daily Gazette-)

Judge with all due respect Raucci was a glorified janitor and yet he had over 120K in cash at his house.  Don’t you find that a little odd?

Judge Hoye :  “Well you know, legalese speak etc etc etc.”

Me:  JUDGE JUDGE!  THE MAN HAS A 26 COUNT INDICTMENT AGAIN HIM

Judge Hoye: If you’d just let me . .

Me: HE’S PLANTED FOUR BOMBS!!!!   TWO OF THEM WENT OFF  (THANK GOD NO ONE WAS HURT)  BUT SOMEHOW YOU CAN’T CONNECT THE DOTS

Judge Hoye: The law states . .

ME:  LAW SHMAW    THE MAN’S A MENACE!!!

Judge Hoye : Well gee I dunno!

ME:  Alright judge thank you for coming on   Next as the factor moves along we’ll have Steve and Jackie from WROW along Uncle Vito from PYX 106 and of course veiwer mail.

(And then the alarm went off)  SIGH!

Last night on The O’Reilly Factor, Glenn Beck responded to O’Reilly’s stupid idea for a two percent “temporary” national sales tax by proposing an even more asinine idea.  Beck suggested a two percent Value Added Tax (VAT) instead, apparently feeling a need to one-up O’Reilly’s ridiculous and naïve idea.  After taping the show, they probably left the studio to go play chicken with each other in fast cars on some quiet suburban street full of children.

Clearly, anyone who is not watching the turnip truck drive away while picking gravel out of their posterior can see the flawed logic on display here.

In O’Reilly’s case, the notion that any national sales tax would be temporary, or held at 2% for that matter, is simply ludicrous and is an insult to the intelligence of anyone who has observed politics for more than a month.  Furthermore, the very notion of adding a tax like that with the expectation that it will generate any real revenue demonstrates a lack of understanding of how the tax system influences behavior, particularly in a recession.

Glenn Beck’s proposal is equally stupid but has the added feature of making the taxation far more insidious and dangerous.  Value Added Taxes, like the corporate income tax so beloved by statists and the myrmidons with whom they play simplistic and dishonest class warfare games, add the far more dangerous reality that the taxes simply get hidden in the prices of products and services, allowing the levitation government to covertly connect yet another tick to the neck of productive America.  At least O’Reilly’s idea involves a tax that we can see, though the notion of any tax being “temporary” ranks right up there with the ludicrous idea that ObamaCare will help with the deficit and the economy.

I propose a simpler idea, one that may be too clear for smart guys like O’Reilly and Beck.  Let’s stop the spending.  At a time when so many Americans are struggling to pay their mortgages or keep their old cars running long enough to get back in the black with their personal finances, a proposal to raise taxes on any Americans is patently absurd.  Bill and Glenn, like so many American politicians, sit up on their ivory pedestals without any memory of what it is like to be a regular middle class American.

Furthermore, we need to reduce subsidies to those who were getting a free ride before the recession hit.  How much money could we save by canceling the euphemistically named Earned Income Tax Credit and any other tax credit programs that simply transfer money from the productive to the non-productive?

I submit that any increases in taxes right now would only hurt the economy and the Americans who fund our system, and are the equivalent of treating a hangover by imbibing a little “hair of the dog”.  Additionally, I humbly submit that since we have so many people hurting who were not societal parasites before this recession, we can longer afford the luxury of continuing to subsidize the lifestyles of people who were living off of us before the economy tanked.  For a deeper discussion of which groups get a free ride and which groups are societal parasites in America, check out a piece that I wrote for my other blog titled On Taxes and Socialism.

Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly could really stand to read Milton Freidman’s Free to Choose.  They would learn a lot.

Hey Bill, your gawd approves, he hates religious symbols, commandment number 2.
So Bill and christians also hate gawds rules, they hate everything and everyone except themselves, that’s the core of christianity

Misery and Mystery Undergird Two Plays by Bill O’Reilly

Curious Theatre presents:

Two Plays by Bill O’Reilly

by Bill O’Reilly
thru January 3rd (ticket info)

review by Paige Listerud

Program notes handed out for Curious Theatre’s latest production at the Center Portion Gallery tell you nothing typical regarding the plays performed. They give a bit of history about their creation process–but nothing so conventional as actor biographies or promotional material about the company itself. Instead, playwright Bill O’Reilly writes about getting knocked out of commission at an unexpected moment:

I woke up on Wednesday with “No Longer a Rock” completely in my head and wrote it down . . . Celebrating, I got on a bike and headed down the dirt road . . . I was knocked unconscious, woke up to . . . a feeling of disassociation, which included watching language blend, dissolve, and wander away as if it was someone else’s province . . . rescued from the brain trauma unit by my friends, I did go to the theatre festival, but efforts to move on stage with lumpy grace were replaced by spinning vertigo . . . I sat instead in an armchair and told a half-remembered story, watching my mouth paraphrase my paraphrases as words would float away . . .

Serious misery accompanies incapacitation. Both No Longer the Rock of the World and Dead to the World reveal lives of emotional and mental disability. Despair over what has been lost and won’t be recovered dwells side by side with miraculous possibility–the healing of longstanding wounds and the opening up of new worlds. Forgiveness and the recovery of humanity–heck, even the recovery of a reliable daily routine–allude to chance, fate, or the mystery of existence lying behind material reality. Is O’Reilly aware that he has written little mystery plays for the modern world?

Never mind. In No Longer the Rock of the World, Kelly Ann Corcoran and Guy Massey strike a nice dueling sardonic pair as Carol and Charles. Both are defensively mourning the death of Walter, an idiosyncratic performance artist who was Carol’s lover and also Charles’ brother. Walter’s dying wish brings them together, as much as they wouldn’t stand each other under any other circumstances.

Charles hurts from his own unfinished business with Walter, as well Carol’s limited judgments of him. Guy Massey immaculately conveys Charles’ brittle spirit, especially when he returns fire with, “You’re a snob, Carol.” But nothing frames their scene together like the black despair Carol sinks into when alone. Who needs who the most becomes the predominant question. O’Reilly’s original music, sung live by a character named Elsie, provides eerie accompaniment to the scene, performed on opening night by Sophie Sennard and Julian Berke. (Jenny Magnus will alternate with Sennard during the run.)

Dead to the World is essentially one long monologue about a man suffering unpredictable attacks of narcolepsy. Already living on the edge, his life’s journey is an uninterrupted dreamscape that, in its own grungy way, represents a descent into hell. Certainly, the building he lives in, with its gangsta-style vandalism and creepy neighbor lady, is a familiar renter’s hell. How survival happens at all for this guy is as much a mystery to the audience as to him. We are left to presume the kindness of many unmentioned strangers. It’s here where O’Reilly’s writing could use an editor’s eye, since the work threatens to devolve into a shaggy-dog story. But it’s a strong stroke of realism when his character’s escape from narcolepsy is as unpredictable and enigmatic as the rest of his experience.

Kate Teichman adroitly navigates the ups and downs of O’Reilly’s text. Thankfully, the writing exercises her full, versatile range. She’s an actor who gives quirky roles grounding and respect, avoiding clownishness, even while wearing oversize glasses and engaging in a few acrobatics. It’s a performance worth seeing, even with a text that could be tightened up. Not only do we buy her performance as a man, we believe the moments of epiphany along with the dips into despair and disorientation.

Rating: ★★★

November 27 – January 3
Fridays & Saturdays 8 PM
Sundays 3 PM

Note: No shows Christmas week or New Year’s Day.

@ Center Portion
2850-1/2 West Fullerton Ave
in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood

$15 or pay what you can at the door
$12 in advance online

Reserve advanced tickets at: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/90439

Fox News right-wing talker Bill O’Reilly, who remains consistently dishonest about his political bias, already had his talking points prepared before President Obama’s speech at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. O’Reilly was already prepared to attack the leader of our nation before even hearing a word the man had to say about the war effort in Afghanistan.

Here is how Media Matters documents what O’Reilly said as he hosted a show to supposedly analyze the president’s speech on Afghanistan:

Following President Obama’s speech at West Point addressing the war in Afghanistan, Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly criticized Obama for supposedly not “saying, ‘Look, these are bad guys. We’re fighting evil” and for not warning Americans that “[i]f we lose, this is going to lead to more bloodshed all over the world.” In fact, Obama referred to Al Qaeda as “extremists who have distorted and defiled Islam … to justify the slaughter of innocents,” he called the Taliban “a ruthless, repressive, and radical movement,” and he warned that withdrawing from Afghanistan now “would significantly hamper our ability to keep the pressure on Al Qaeda and create an unacceptable risk of additional attacks on our homeland and our allies.”

This is crazy even by Bill O’Reilly’s standards. Additionally, it proves he is a right-wing hater who will never be satisfied with much of anything this president does (after mostly kissing George W. Bush’s ass for eight years). He hammers the president for not using the exact language he wanted him to use (even though the president’s message was clear and strong).

Check out how Media Matters breaks it down and illustrates how O’Reilly’s prejudice paralyzes him in pretty much any discussion about President Barack Obama.

This is from Steve, who authors The O’Reilly Sucks Blog:

FACT: Obama referred to Al Qaeda as “extremists who have distorted and defiled Islam to justify the slaughter of innocents,” he called the Taliban “a ruthless, repressive, and radical movement,” and he warned that withdrawing from Afghanistan now “would significantly hamper our ability to keep the pressure on Al Qaeda and create an unacceptable risk of additional attacks on our homeland and our allies.”

OBAMA: We did not ask for this fight. On September 11, 2001, 19 men hijacked four airplanes and used them to murder nearly 3,000 people. They struck at our military and economic nerve centers. They took the lives of innocent men, women, and children without regard to their faith, or race, or station.

Were it not for the heroic actions of passengers on board one of these flights, they could have also struck at one of the great symbols of our democracy in Washington, and killed many more.

As we know, these men belonged to Al Qaeda — a group of extremists who have distorted and defiled Islam, one of the world’s great religions, to justify the slaughter of innocents.

Al Qaeda’s base of operations was in Afghanistan, where they were harbored by the Taliban — a ruthless, repressive, and radical movement that seized control of that country after it was ravaged by years of Soviet occupation and civil war, and after the attention of America and our friends had turned elsewhere.

O’Reilly also claimed that Obama didn’t put any urgency behind his words, like, ‘If we lose, this is going to lead to more bloodshed all over the world. Let’s wise up everybody and get in there and win it.’ “I didn’t see any of that.”

FACT: Obama said “new attacks are being plotted” from region, and withdrawal now would “create an unacceptable risk of additional attacks.”

OBAMA: I make this decision because I am convinced that our security is at stake in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is the epicenter of violent extremism practiced by Al Qaeda.

It is from here that we were attacked on 9-11, and it is from here that new attacks are being plotted as I speak. This is no idle danger; no hypothetical threat. In the last few months alone, we have apprehended extremists within our borders, who were sent here from the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan to commit new acts of terror.

And this danger will only grow if the region slides backwards and Al Qaeda can operate with impunity. We must keep the pressure on Al Qaeda, and to do that, we must increase the stability and capacity of our partners in the region.

Of course, this burden is not ours alone to bear. This is not just America’s war. Since 9-11, Al Qaeda’s safe havens have been the source of attacks against London and Amman and Bali. The people and governments of both Afghanistan and Pakistan are endangered. And the stakes are even higher within a nuclear-armed Pakistan, because we know that Al Qaeda and other extremists seek nuclear weapons, and we have every reason to believe that they would use them.

These facts compel us to act along with our friends and allies. Our overarching goal remains the same: to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and to prevent its capacity to threaten America and our allies in the future.

To meet that goal, we will pursue the following objectives within Afghanistan: We must deny Al Qaeda a safe haven; we must reverse the Taliban’s momentum and deny it the ability to overthrow the government; and we must strengthen the capacity of Afghanistan’s Security Forces and government, so that they can take lead responsibility for Afghanistan’s future.

Basically O’Reilly only saw what he wanted to see, and he was dishonest about that. As he claims to be fair to Obama, while him and Rove sit there and lie about everything he said in the speech.

Again, we see that O’Biased had a predetermined attack ready to unleash and it barely mattered what the president said. It’s kind of like when the President gives the State of the Union and the opposing party already has a predetermined counterattack ready to go. O’Reilly and others want to portray the president as being tough on terrorists in Afghanistan. Even as he pledged to send more troops to Afghanistan, the conservatives were all ready with new attacks.

You can’t please these right-wing nuts so don’t even try.

Media Matters:
http://mediamatters.org/research/200912010047

The O’Reilly Sucks Blog:
http://www.oreilly-sucks.com/

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, who hosts “Hardball” on the network, made what a large number of people considered to be a highly offensive and inexplicable statement about President Obama’s speech at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Matthews said that the president went into “the enemy camp” for his speech at West Point. Obviously, you don’t need advanced college degrees to know and see the offensive nature of such a statement. Matthews, rightly, came under fire for those comments.

Here is what Matthews originally said:

MATTHEWS: I didn’t see much excitement. But among the older people there, I saw, if not resentment, skepticism. I didn’t see a lot of warmth in that crowd out there that the President chose to address tonight and I thought that was interesting. He went to maybe the enemy camp tonight to make his case. I mean, that’s where Paul Wolfowitz used to write speeches for, back in the old Bush days. That’s where he went to rabble rouse the ‘we’re going to democratize the world’ campaign back in ‘02. So, I thought it was a strange venue.

That is reprehensible and just plain stupid. At the very least, it was a poor choice of words.

Wednesday night, Matthews was back on the air to issue what could arguably be considered an apology:

MATTHEWS: But first. I’ve gotten some very tough calls from parents of cadets and from former cadets at West Point and about my saying last night that the President going to speak up there to maybe the “enemy camp.” I was talking about the skepticism I saw on the faces in the crowd as President Obama spoke also of course about how West Point was where President Bush went in 2002 to make his most hawkish speech before the Iraq war.

Now I’ve heard too many politicians say things like, “oh that was taken out context” to explain something they wish they hadn’t said let me just say to the cadets, their parents, former cadets and everyone who cares about this country and those who defend it: I used the wrong words and worse than that I said something that is just not right and for that I deeply apologize.

As those who watch me regularly probably got right away, my point was that the military up at West Point was probably a skeptical audience for President Obama given his strong position against the war in Iraq and generally more dovish image. I was wrong to make that conclusion based on the lack of applause or apparent enthusiasm in the ranks of officers and cadets last night. Cadets, one former cadet and a friend of mine just told me, aren’t supposed to show that kind of reaction to a speaker.

He, a former cadet, reminded me that soldiers, including those now in training to face the enemy, want wars to be fought effectively and ended as quickly as possible. I had no reason to assume that the cadets at West Point or their officers who were present last night are more hawkish than the president. People who have watched me over the years know, I think, of my strong devotion to this country and strong gratitude toward those who serve in the military. It’s because our military is so good and true I want the civilians that make the policies and set the missions to get them right, in this country’s best possible interest. And by the way, it’s something we’re allowed to argue about in this country. Whenever I meet someone with a service record I always say, “thank you for your service.” They know I say it, and I hope they know I mean it.

It’s good that Chris Matthews apologized for his comments. He could have done what Bill O’Reilly would do and make excuses, blame the victims and bring on someone like Juan Williams to defend him against a charge. Fortunately, Matthews did not do that and issued a solid apology for his words.

Mode 7 Things I Hate About You

FANTASTIC! ANOTHER BASKETBALL GAME! Man, it’s like Christmas came early this year and I got every single thing I wanted, assuming I wanted to get dizzy watching pixelated dudes throw a poorly-rendered basketball at one another while the screen rotated like I was spinning in a circle. If this game was what real basketball was like, the court floor would be covered with my vomit; I’d try to eat entertaining foods to make this as pleasant as possible for everyone involved. Hey look! Whole Gummi Bears! Bouncing here and there and everywhere! The contents-of-my-stomach-covered adventures beyond compare!

Great, now I’m hungry.

So apparently NCAA stands for National College Athletic Association, which I technically did not know but certainly could have guessed if I’d bothered. That means that I’m not even poorly controlling real basketball players* but merely their yet to evolve incarnations—I’m controlling them in their formative years, and their formative years are leading them to be stumbling, ball-losing motards. I’m sorry dudes, but your scholarships are on the line, and so now you will have to learn a trade. From what I’ve seen welding looks really amazing. Heat! Sparks! Sweet masks! It’s like being a really warm knight.

At some point I need to talk about the game, and this is that point: I never really felt as if I was in control of the players. I was aware that I was moving people around and maybe influencing their actions, but it was influence in the same fashion that Bill O’Reilly is influencing my opinions on anything. Like, I’m aware of what he’s saying, and I recognize them as words in my language, but they make so little sense I have trouble putting them into any meaningful context. My basketball players treat me like a drunk Bill O’Reilly, screaming at them from the sidelines about how I didn’t sort of maybe ok kinda implied they should shoot an “abortion doctor” (or some hoops).

This game makes full use of that POWERFUL TEXTURE MAPPING JUGGERNAUT known as Mode 7; I’ve never liked Mode 7, not even a little. I think it looks like crap now, just like I thought it looked like crap back when I was a kid, and will likely think it looks like crap in the exciting future of SNES games. I’ve no doubt it’s a technical achievement of some sort, I just don’t care. Personally, I’d prefer some nicely rendered static backgrounds; this is my personal opinion, but don’t let that stop you from telling me I’m wrong, since the person who first said “opinions can’t be wrong because they’re opinions” was a complete moron.

I’m the wrong person to review sports games. You probably like this game and think it’s a lot of fun—I don’t. I’m sorry, I’ll make it up to you by reviewing a game I enjoy as if I hate it, and then we’ll be even and you can stop sending me death threats that you never bother carrying through since you’re too busy playing Madden or NHL 8K7B/6.

*Dear college basketball players, I totally respect you or whatever so please don’t beat me up for denigrating your game, lives, and general intelligence.

I find myself  often not in agreement with Dr. Boyce Watkins on a few issues, but this is an excellent  op-ed  authored by him.  It  is 100% spot on in terms of how African-Americans need to be thinking with respect to financial independence.    

Dr. Watkin’s op-ed focuses on African-Americans as individuals achieving financial independence, but our thoughts really need to go deeper than that and consider the financial independence of  major African-American organizations in general and various African-American “leaders”.   I’ve done the research and what you’ll find is the same thing that affects us individually on this question–the organizations and  “leaders” who purport to represent us are no more financially independent than the average individual African-American employee and like Watkins says, he who controls the purse strings controls the agenda.  It’s our lack of control of  the agenda that leaves us powerless both individually and in the collective.

3 ways to find financial freedom as unemployment rate rises

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

They say that if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.

Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but that whole statement is silly. First of all, we know that women eat fish too. But more important, the person who really has power is the one who owns the fishpond, who rents it out to people teaching each other how to fish.

America is a capitalist society, and where there’s wealth, there is almost always power. The problem for African-Americans is that we have not yet learned how to harness this power and we consistently find ourselves dependent on fragile and ethically-challenged corporate structures to help us get the things we need. We know everything about consuming our incomes, but know nothing about how to actually grow and create true wealth in an independent fashion. Economic education becomes a critical commodity in a racist society, since a firm understanding of wealth and institution building can go a long way toward creating the kind of intergenerational empowerment that allows one to control the destiny of his or her community.

When I became a black public scholar, I knew that my work would be controversial. I also knew that once I became controversial, two things would happen: Someone would steal my platform away from me, and someone would threaten my financial security. These tactics of academic imperialism are logical, given that the easiest way to control another person is to remind that individual that you’re the reason his children get to eat everyday. So, in order to prepare myself for the coming volatility, I made sure that my income didn’t come from one source. I also made sure that I owned a piece of the very institutions that fed the belly of my success. So, as my campus buckled under the pressure of Bill O’Reilly calling for me to be fired from Syracuse University, I was able to stand strong in the face of the backlash. The fight for civil rights is not just about being brave; it is also about being in a position where it is easy to be brave.

The lack of financial independence of African-Americans often undercuts our ability to advocate for honest social change on behalf of our people. When injustice calls for us to stand up, our financial situations force us to quickly sit down. That is when the long list of excuses starts to emerge, from having bills to pay, to being worried about finding another job. The pressure of being muted takes a huge toll on the physical and psychological health of an oppressed population.

I’ve always believed that every black child in America should be taught the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, even if they don’t plan to become entrepreneurs. When they learn where babies come from, they should be learning where jobs come from. That way, they can earn income during tough economic times such as the ones we are experiencing right now. Here are some quick entrepreneurial lessons to learn from our current economic downturn:

1) There is no such thing as financial security when you’ve only got one job: The economy has changed drastically since the advent of globalization and even more during the recent financial crisis. Your home is not going to automatically increase in value, and the seemingly solid company you work for may not be so solid tomorrow. You are usually safer financially when earning multiple streams of income.

2) In order to change something, you must own something: An athlete has no power if he doesn’t own the team. An attorney with a high income can still end up living from paycheck to paycheck. As you age, your money should be working for you, and you should not be solely reliant upon your own human capital (i.e. labor) in order to get the things you need.

3) Financial freedom can have almost nothing to do with money: Money is obviously a critical tool for financial freedom, but for some, freedom is simply about being liberated. Money is a wonderful thing, but having what you need can be far more important than having what you want. Imagine how much your day-to-day behavior would change if you could suddenly live life without worrying about money. Money is one of the keys to freedom in a capitalist society, and a critical step in the ability of African-Americans to firmly pursue meaningful social change.

http://www.thegrio.com/2009/12/three-ways-to-find-financial-freedom-as-unemployment-rate-rises.php

by Snidely Whiplash

I finally figured out why Progressives and the rest of us never agree on the facts – because Progressives get their news from sources that while near and dear to them, are suspect in terms of factual reporting sans agenda.

Of course they scream “Fox is the propaganda wing of the Republican Party,” which I in fact love. If Fox is presenting pure unadulterated facts on their NEWS, not opinion their programming, then if they are the “propaganda” wing, does that not mean that Republicans are forwarding facts in their news presentations, again, NOT in their opinion programming? Seems so to me.

Think about that. It’s a great “gotcha” to use on Progressives cause they are the ones screaming Fox is bogus, yet Fox is the source of the widespread dissemination of the ACORN scandal, Climate Gate, and various other major news events that MSNBC, NBC, ABC, CNN, etc., seem to totally miss reporting upon. Those are undeniable factual events, yet MM forgot to mention any of it ’til the weight of embarrassment grew too much for even their arrogant butts to handle.

As well there is some truth to the concept that Progressives believe Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann present news and not opinion. See, we Fox viewers know Beck, Hannity, O’Reilly and yes even Limbaugh are largely opinion programming presentations. Sure they use facts in the news to form their opinions, but it is still opinion programming.

There’s the fundamental disconnect for Progressives – they cannot seemingly separate opinion from hard factual news. Or if they can intellectually grasp the difference they are just lying when they claim “Fox is propaganda.” I love this friends.

Each new day the events expose them and their Progressive ideology for what it is – a snow job of Siberian proportions. If their ideology could withstand the scrutiny of fact they would not behave in this manner. But as it’s a house of cards built upon hopeful desire, yet displays a totally failing implementation, they have to ignore the factual data that exposes the ideology. Can an observant reader see this clearly? It’s as plain as the nose on your mug.

To continue reading Snidely’s article, click here.

She is SUCH a hypocrite!

How could we not publish the turkey slaughter on Tnanksgiving?

Sarah Palin’s Magical Mavericky Tour ran into a road-block when it stopped in the college town of Rochester,  New York a week or so ago. This was one of the first non-rural hamlets that Sarah Palin dared venture into in an attempt to hawk her ghostwritten memoir. The problem however, was that inasmuch as a large portion of the Rochester citizenry is comprised of educated college students, Palin was not surrounded by an overtly friendly audience. Rochester, New York is not one of those rural backwater villages populated with uneducated, uninformed extras from the film Deliverance. Consequently, Palin was faced with vocal protesters. Please watch the video below.

Can you imagine the warm reception Palin would receive if she dared hawk her book in say, Boston where there are over 120 colleges and universities? It is very sad to think that Sarah Palin must troll for her support not from the highly educated, but from those unfortunate people that either did not have the opportunity to advance their education (thanks to the Republican Party’s efforts to curtail publicly backed student loans) or did not have the intellect to advance their education. Her remark to Bill O’Reilly last week that common sense is to be revered rather than an Ivy League education, instead of recognizing that common sense can be enriched with an Ivy League education, is quite telling, indeed.

Today’s song parody was inspired by a television commercial for a mop that airs numerous times on every channel every night. The parody serves as a message that other college towns might send to Sarah Palin should she venture within their city limits. Please enjoy.

Remember to click on the song link below to familiarize yourselves with the tune and to have more fun singing along with the parody.

Baby Come Back song link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn-enjcgV1o&feature=related

PALIN GO BACK

(sung to the Player song “Baby Come Back”)

Spending all her nights
All their money traveling from town to town
She’s a stupid thing with an uneducated mind
And when the morning comes
She’s right back at the bookstores again
Signing those books to grab every one of those dimes

Palin go back, any kind of fool could see
There is nothing in everything about you
Palin go back, please get out of our city
You belong with those fools that never doubt you

All day long you sound just like Ricky Ricardo
Butchering the English language like a deer
You roam from town to town
In your painted coach made of tin
How I hope to God you’re leaving here

Palin go back, up north to Mat-Su Valley
They found something endearing there about you
Palin go back, open up your eyes and see
You’re so wrong, and we all can live without you

Waiting in lines in the bad weather
Just for the chance to meet Barbie
They don’t see that big black hole in your heart
You’re there for the fee
Won’t do nothing if it’s free

Palin go back, you’re just not that “mavericky”
You’ve got nothing but simpletons around you
Palin go back, (listen to me) please get out of our city
Before long, we will all forget about you

Run along, we just can’t forgive