OpEdNews » WELL SLAP MY FACE AND CALL ME MARY: O'REILLY COMES OUT OF THE CLOSET

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Tag(s): RIght Wing Lies; Right Wing Hypocrisy; Right Wing Media
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May 30, 2007 at 15:30:02

WELL SLAP MY FACE AND CALL ME MARY: O'REILLY COMES OUT OF THE CLOSET

by Steve Young Page 1 of 1 page(s)

www.opednews.com

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Sometimes when a person makes a personal decision to keep their real identity in the closet or - in the case of Clark Kent - in the phone booth, it is a private affair. But when that person is a national icon who for years had professed to be someone completely different, then he is, then that becomes news.

Last night, Bill O'Reilly made news. Slap-my-face-and-call-me-Mary intensity level news.

Much of the reason to conceal who you are comes from the fear admitting who or what you're attracted to would affect what people think of you; that But sometimes, living with the lie can be more painful than accepting the very truth you've tried to hide. Certainly the last person who you'd think would be in fear or dishonest about who he is would be Bill. So you can imagine my surprise when Bill, a man's man if there ever was one, came on the Factor last night and displayed guts rarely seen on national TV, coming out, no hold barred, to the Folks™ .

Even today the words still ring as if Mt Helen herself had announced that she were really Mt Bob.

"I think there is some basic racism on the Right," admitted Bill, "We don't like Latinos..."

Okay, I'm not going to get into the "racism on the Right" That's for Bill to defend on another day. But what shakes the very foundation of Independents everywhere, Latino or Right, straight or gay, is that Bill admitted that he is "on the Right." The communal "We" declared loud and clear that Bill is no longer an Independent.

For years, that's what he's said he was. An Independent. Not on the Right. Not on the Left. And doggonit, we all know Bill has always tried to appear Independent, even-handed, attacking the Left, and readily going toe to toe with all those Righties whom he disagreed with. I don't have the list of those on the Right handy, but I'm sure there's over three or four of them.

Now Bill may say he was misquoted (it's on tape), or that he was joking (even Bill jokes better than this...though not much better). But one thing is for sure, once and for all, the con should be over. Bill is as much an Independent as is the site this column is being posted on. The only difference is, this site isn't trying to bullshit anyone. You know where they're coming from.

And from this point on, now that's he's outed himself, maybe Bill will also admit where he's coming from.

Then again, Rock Hudson never admitted he was a Rightie.

Disclaimer: Steve Young is author of "Great Failures of the Extremely Successful" (www.greatfailure.com) and his "All The News That's Fit To Spoof" appears in L.A. Daily News opeds every Sunday (www.dailynews.com/steveyoung), right next to Bill's...really.

www.greatfailure.com

A talk show host, author, columnist,award-winning television writer and filmmaker, his inspiring book, "Great Failures of the Extremely Successful" (Tallfellow Press) has been published internationally and has become required reading in the Wharton School of Business Masters Program. His "All The News That's Fit To Spoof " column appears every Sunday on the L.A. Daily News Oped Page. Steve has appeared all over national TV and radio with his unique brand of satirical punditry and social observations appearing in national periodicals from the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times, to his own weekly Internet column "The Lords Of Loud," at AlbionMonitor.net and The Huffington Post.

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2 comments

Psychologist, student of comparative religion, anthropology, general history, neurotheology, entheology, philosophy.Born and raised in the deep south, I served during the Vietnam war in the U.S. Navy Hospital Corps. I was also involved in the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement after I left the Navy. Became involved in the anti-nuclear movement in the early 80s.There is an old, well-known Chinese curse: "May you live in interesting times." I cannot remember ever insulting o...

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wintefire6Psychologist, student of comparative religion, anthropology, general history, neurotheology, entheology, philosophy.Born and raised in the deep south, I served during the Vietnam war in the U.S. Navy Hospital Corps. I was also involved in the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement after I left the Navy. Became involved in the anti-nuclear movement in the early 80s.There is an old, well-known Chinese curse: "May you live in interesting times." I cannot remember ever insulting o...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Independent does not, necessarily, mean moderate

Since I don't watch Bill O'Rielly, I have no idea whether he has claimed to be an Independent (an actual political party) or an independent (small "i"), which means that one prefers to not associate him/herself with any organized party.

Small "i" independents are not necessarily moderate, and certainly they are not moderate in all matters. Being a small "i" independent, myself, I can attest to that. The thing they have in common, usually, is that neither major party reflects their views in a way in which they are comfortable or they have become alienated from both for some reason.

Small "i" independents, contrary to what Karl Rove would have us believe (evangelicals), usually decide most important elections in this country and are largely responsible for the 2006 election going to the Democrats, in spite of the out-sized effort to disenfranchize minority voters by Rover and the GOP. (Imagine how big the Democratic victory would have been had the GOP not managed to render null and void the votes of millions before the lthe first vote was cast.)

From what I know of O'Rielly, he is and always has been a right-wing blowhard. He may be an independent, but he is in no way a moderate. Mostly he is a evil Bush Rethug.

by wintefire6 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 87 comments) on Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 5:54:37 AM