Bill O’Reilly’s Videogate

Published on June 15th, 2005

PERRspectives Blog: Bill O’Reilly’s Videogate — Hmmm… looks like O’Reilly has some ’splainin’ to do.

Now, having worked in TV I know enough that I doubt O’Reilly (no matter what he says) writes his own show. It’s possible that after his sexual misconduct allegations and possible staff disgruntlement that this situation is a set-up to get embarrass him, rid of him. or make him eat crap over the incident. He just read the whole thing off the teleprompter like a robot and bingo!

I would be surprised if he’s in the edit room calling for such a specific edit on Biden. He hasn’t got the time.

Less than a year after savaging Dan Rather over his use of dubious documents in the Bush National Guard case, The O’Reilly Factor massively – and without disclosure – doctored video to distort comments by Senator Joe Biden.

As reported on The Al Franken Show, O’Reilly butchered tape of an appearance on June 5th by Biden on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopolous. In that interview, Biden discussed legislation he had proposed to calling for an independent investigation of Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and the entire U.S. network of detention camps. Biden continued that while he personally believed the U.S. ultimately should close Gitmo, he felt that the President needed an independent investigation to drive a consensus conclusion.

That exchange is not what O’Reilly’s viewers saw on June 7th in a segment called “The Truth About Guantanamo Bay.” The Factor spliced Biden’s comments, leaving out all mention of the legislation and his call for independent investigation. O’Reilly then not only savaged Biden for joining “the abuse chorus.” He went on to claim as his own the very idea that “the Bush administration should set up an independent commission to investigate American detainee policy across the board.”

found on the Perrspectives Blog

8 users responded in " Bill O’Reilly’s Videogate "

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# 1 JimK said, on June 15th, 2005 at 9:17 pm

WTF?

Uhh, the edited clip doesn’t actually take anything out of context. Biden in fact said, REGARDLESS of the investigation, that he believed the end result is he thinks “we should end up shutting it down.”

Why is that being overlooked? Biden has already formed an opinion BEFORE any investigation??? How is that OK with people?

O’Reilly is a jerk, no doubt, but this is a stretch, pure and simple. Biden did EXACTLY what O’Reilly accused him of doing and Biden’s own words prove it.

# 2 gregallen said, on June 16th, 2005 at 4:59 am

Why am I not surprised by this? O’Reilly is an intellectually dishonest commentator and this is just another example of it.

# 3 ink said, on June 16th, 2005 at 5:41 am

O’Reilly simply removed the CYA politician BS!!! There is nothing taken out of context, but rather the “clip” presents exactly the point that ding-a-ling Biden was making without the obfuscation Biden always throws into what he says.

It’s obvious from what you say is your take on this that you don’t like O’Reilly, or his work. It’s less clear whether you’ve let your slightly twisted view of things internet (which is the reason I follow and enjoy your blog) simply lead you blindly into dangerous social and political territory, OR that some part of you is a wannabe liberal bomb thower. If your motivation is more the latter, than the former, you are entering a frey where you cannot win, and could lose big. Just ask Tim Whatshisname and his wife Susan Sarandumb.

# 4 Matt Livingstone said, on June 16th, 2005 at 5:54 am

I can not believe that the US Congress is making massive cuts to public television funding, while programs like this waste of airtime abound…

Oh wait maybe this is part of W’s no idiot left behind program. But we really don’t want news and information. We want the Jerry Springer approach to news and information.

O’Reilly is a huge waste of flesh and airtime!

# 5 AB CD said, on June 16th, 2005 at 9:49 am

It’s bad to cut quotes if they lead to a different conclusion like Maureen Dowd’s editing of Bush(Something like “Al-Qaeda … they’re not a problem any more.” vs “Hundreds of Al-Qaeda have been killed or arrested, they’re not a problem anymore.”) However, in this case, I think what they showed is fairly in line with what Biden said. He said he wants Guantanamo shut down, because of its visual impact around the world.

Several former detainees hafve been caught fighting troops a second time. Some terrorists put in regular prisons have tried to escape and killed guards. There’s a reaason why they’re kept out of the regular justice system. Perhaps we should put the detainees in a minimum security camp in Maryland, and see how Biden does in his next election.

# 6 Milo said, on June 16th, 2005 at 6:17 pm

The dishonesty is O’R taking Biden’s idea and making it his own.

# 7 Pat said, on June 17th, 2005 at 3:10 pm

AB CD

Once again you have made unsupported, irrational accusations. Could you please give some reference to the detainees that have been released and then re-caught fighting troops? Then, could you give some reference on the terrorists that have tried to escape and have killed their guards?

BTW, Senator Biden is from Delaware, not Maryland.

There have been multiple reports of torture and abuse happening in Guantanamo Bay for way over a year. Through blatant disregard for the Constitution and the rule of law, the Bush Administration has lowered the status of the US throughout the world. Biden, and many others, want to clean off the tarnish that Guantanamo Bay gives the US.

The issue is that the taped comments were taken out of context, altering the meaning of what was said. Then O’Really took credit for what Senator Biden had proposed. O’Really has castigated, belittled, insulted, slandered so many people that he has no credibility. His tactics and audience hit a low suitable to the likes below that of the Jerry Springer crowd. He is a hypocrite of the meanest sort.

# 8 AB CD said, on June 18th, 2005 at 4:35 pm

Pat, OK, let’s put the detainees in Delaware then. It appears I was wrong abotu prison guards being killed. It was just one guard. http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nys/Press%20Releases/May04/SALIM%20SENTENCING%20PR.pdf

Here’s the Wahsington Post talking about recaptured inmates:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52670-2004Oct21.html

I see no disregard for the Constitution or the rule of law in what has happened there. The Constitution certainly doesn’t forbid torture in a military context. US law does, and that’s not what’s happening at Gitmo. Abuses are being investigated and punished. Even the Abu Ghraib pictures came out months AFTER the Army started its investigation. Even if you get rid of Gitmo, you would get the same problem. Al-Qaeda trains its detainees to claim abuse. That is actually helpful if people believe it. Maybe they’ll think twice before attacking.

As for O’Reilly, the clip played seems in line with what Biden was saying. I had missed that he then took the rest of it himself, but as you say that wasn’t the issue. Of course, Bill would apologize if Biden comes on his show. That’s his primary bias. He would probably even praise Hillary if she came on his show. Until then, he’ll just keep bashing her.

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