Tomorrow, PBS will broadcast a documentary by committed leftist Bill Moyers that charges the American media, especially the conservative media, gleefully embraced war with Iraq and smeared anyone who disagreed with the action.
Moyers takes a special pride in denigrating FOX News and talk radio in his presentation. Now I supported the action against Saddam because the Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Secretary of Defense under Bill Clinton, William Cohen, the CIA, British intelligence, and a variety of other intelligence agencies all told me Saddam was making dangerous weapons in violation of the first Gulf War cease-fire. We did our own original reporting here.
Now I based my decision on the best available information, not on any ideological belief. I was wrong in my assessment, as was everybody else. But it was an honest mistake.
Moyers, who is not only a commentator but an active financial supporter of far left causes, is using me and some other people he doesn't like to promote his program. He has repeatedly bashed me and refuses to come on “The Factor” to talk with me face-to-face.
So our policy now is to confront these kinds of attacks, which we did last weekend when "Factor" producer Jesse Watters caught up with Moyers in New York City:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: Why are you attacking Bill, now?
MOYERS: I'm not attacking Bill.
WATTERS: Well, didn't you give an interview where you said he was part of a slime machine and trying to discredit other journalists?
MOYERS: I didn't say that.
WATTERS: Yes, you did. You said that's to Rolling Stone.
MOYERS: No, I didn't say that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
To echo Jesse, yes, you did, Bill. Roll the tape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOYERS: The FOX News, the talk radio, The Weekly Standard have not only mongered for war along with the administration, not only embraced the administration's policies because they were "conservative", including going to war, but also mounted a slime machine to discredit any journalist who dared to stand against the official view of reality.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
And Jesse then continued to interrogate Bill Moyers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: You said that Bill spews venom.
MOYERS: No, I didn't.
WATTERS: You did not say that?
MOYERS: I did not say that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Well, once again, let's go to the tape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOYERS: If a journalist tried to tell the truth about the intelligence the Hannitys and the O'Reillys and the Limbaughs and the Mike Savages would come down on them and you know slander them, discredit them. So that good reporting lost its power to break through because of this, this avalanche of opposition and venom directed at them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
I believe I heard the word "venom."
Finally, Moyers got a bit frustrated with Jesse, saying this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOYERS: Bill O'Reilly does not have the courage to come on my show and answer the questions I wanted to ask him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Not true, Bill. And you know it.
We consented to the interview with Moyers provided to be taped on "The Factor" set, so we'd have a copy of the conversation. -- Not that we don't trust you, of course. Also we asked you, Bill Moyers, to come on "The Factor" the day after the documentary aired. It was you who said no to those terms. And we have the correspondence to prove it.
For a long time now, "Talking Points" has been telling you that the American media has become factually unreliable because it's so ideologically driven. Is Bill Moyers consciously lying? Does he not remember what he said? I don't know.
I do know that Moyers has, for years, been heavily involved with people like George Soros and the far left. Yet PBS is paying him to produce documentaries that are purported to be "objective." Bill Moyers is not objective, has a problem with the truth, and should no longer be receiving taxpayer money. And that is the truth.
And that is "The Memo."
Most Ridiculous Item
As you may know, Stuart Smalley, aka Al Franken, is running for a Senate seat in Minnesota. Of course, the far left is thrilled, sending the Small-man a lot of money. But his campaign doesn't have a slogan yet.
So here are some intriguing possibilities: "It's a small world after all, so why shouldn't Minnesota be a part of it?"
Or "Vote for Stuart Smalley. He'll do for Minnesota what he did for Air America."
Or "Smalley deserves your vote because many are Smalled but few are chosen." -- That's a play on a biblical reference, so it probably won't fit.
Anyway, in the interest of satire, if you have a slogan for the Small-man, we will pass it along to him. To not do so would be ridiculous.
—You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" and "Most Ridiculous Item" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the FOX News Channel and any time on foxnews.com/oreilly. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com
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