Miami Police Use Jay-Z In Gang Activity Poster

But then who can blame them if they haven't heard about the millions of records he's sold or the tours he's sold-out worldwide or the 10 Grammy's he's won or witnessed the current cover of Forbes magazine that he's on or that he's married to a certain R&B songtress by the name of Beyonce? Once you're black some things never change (betcha this never happens to Perez Hilton):

The Miami Police Department has pulled a truly bizarre design move while trying to bolster a local anti-gang campaign on its website. In a plea to get the public to report gang violence, the department crafted a banner that provides a crime stopper phone number and an animated depiction of a local gang. Here's where the problems begin. The banner (at left) depicts five gang members -- two of which happen to bear an unquestionable resemblance to Jay-Z.



The central character is clearly a depiction of a well-known Jay photo where he's wearing a New York Jets jersey and hat while prominently displaying a watch. The second picture is one that was used for promotional purposes around the release of the original 'Blueprint.'

While Hov's camp hasn't commented yet, we find it highly unlikely that Jay-Z, an entertainer that just covered Forbes, would condone the police department using his cartoon likeness in such a negative way. It's also odd that the other three members depicted look straight out of the 'Grand Theft Auto' video game series. Maybe the graphic designer responsible needs to get out into the real world a little more.

Sharron Angle Surging, Harry Reid's Hopes 'Fading Away'

It's the one spot the GOP must win come November:

A new Rasmussen Reports poll showing GOP challenger Sharron Angle surging ahead of No. 1 Senate Democrat Harry Reid has prompted one Democratic pundit to declare: "This race is fading away from Harry Reid."

Rasmussen Reports published a poll Thursday of likely Nevada voters showing Angle has opened up a four-point lead over Majority Leader Harry Reid in Nevada, 50 percent to 46 percent. It was the widest polling gap between the two candidates since June, although still just within the survey's margin of error. 

Just one week ago, a previous Rasmussen poll showed Reid leading Angle 48 percent to 47 percent.

"This race is fading away from Harry Reid," Fox News commentator and Democratic pollster Douglas Schoen tells Newsmax.

He added that "Reid is sinking and the seat is in increasing jeopardy."

ABC Links Teen Bullying to 'Wedge Issues' Like Gay Marriage

Newsbusters.org:

According to ABC's Juju Chang, "wedge issues" like gay marriage can be linked to the bullying of homosexual teens. On Thursday's Good Morning America, the news anchor connected the subject in a piece on why a "seemingly accepting society" would allow harassment.


The reporter complained, "But despite the progress, gay issues are wedge issues in this country. 29 states effectively ban gay marriage." Effectively banned? Without explaining the connection, she added, "And there's Don't Ask, Don't Tell."


In a follow-up segment, co-host Robin Roberts interviewed Harvard professor William Pollack and Jesse Tyler Ferguson, star of ABC's Modern Family, to talk about gay bullying. (It's interesting that the network chose a gay actor from ABC to talk about this issue and not one from NBC or CBS. Was this a discussion of a serious topic or promotion of a network sitcom?)

GMA allowed no dissent on the subject. Guest Pollack insisted, "...Suicide and depression happens, not only because of confusion, but because of the message that our society is given. A homophobic message. That being gay is bad. Being gay is sick."


Is it possible that someone could oppose gay marriage or Don't Ask, Don't Tell and not support bullying? 

So predictable that they'd attempt to turn Tyler Clementi into Rosa Parks. They do it all the time.

Anderson Cooper Nails Rep. Alan Grayson Over Misleading ‘Taliban Dan’ Campaign Ad

Mediaite.com:

By now, pretty much everybody discredits and disdains the ‘Taliban Dan’ ad commissioned by Rep. Alan Grayson. Well, everybody except for Alan Grayson, who’s still defending his attack ad on cable news networks. The Democratic congressman first took his case to MSNBC’s unconvinced Contessa Brewer, and last night he visited Anderson Cooper, who was also tough on him. Cooper plainly accuses Grayson of misrepresenting his Republican opponent Daniel Webster, saying, “You can’t argue that.” The wily Grayson responded: “I don’t know why you keep saying I can’t argue this, that, or the other thing.”


The Florida congressman tells Cooper that his intent was “to point out in a vivid way that [Daniel Webster] is someone with an 18th Century name and a 13th Century conception of how women should live in America.” Cooper points out that Grayson had to twist words and edit footage to make his point, to which Grayson responds:

I don’t agree with that. … I’ve seen that speech, and I think that [my ad] reflects exactly what his conception of women actually are.

Cooper then cited the basic tenets of ethical journalism:

We wouldn’t be allowed to do that in news. What gives you the right to do that when you’re trying to get people’s votes?

But the unapologetic Grayson claims that “we’ve moved away from the whole subject of whether he was quoted in context or out of context,” as if it only takes a week for someone to get over being accused of being a Taliban sympathizer on national television. Cooper, too, found this to be disingenuous.

Alan Grayson is scum, any person who votes for this man should be slapped.

Liberal Comedian Sarah Silverman Tweets Crude Joke About 9/11 Widows

Another example of who they really are:

Standup comic and New York Times-bestselling author Sarah Silverman joked on Twitter that widows of the Sept. 11 attacks "give the best handjobs" on Oct. 6, attributing the quote to pseudonymous 19^th century author and satirist Mark Twain.

"‘9/11 widows give the best hand jobs.' -Mark Twain," wrote Silverman, adding the hashtag, "#notcooltwain."

Later that day, the star of Comedy Central's "Sarah Silverman Program," appeared to amend her outlandish comment.

"Have remorse about last tweet," Silverman wrote on Twitter. "I'm sorry. Meant to be silly not mean. Should've quoted [Civil Rights activist and poet Maya] Angelou."

Silverman's racy brand of humor and left-wing politics has often been a source of controversy. In 2001, the comedienne came under fire for using a racial slur for people of Chinese origin during an appearance on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien." 

The comic has also been an outspoken critic of the conservative movement. In her New York Times bestselling book, "The Bedwetter," Silverman wrote that, "The entire Fox News Channel is a twenty-four-hour-a-day racism engine, but it's all coded, all implied."

Meghan McCain Discovers Media's Obsession With Sarah Palin

Mediaite.com:

Sarah Palin ruined Meghan McCain’s book tour. In a piece on the Daily Beast today McCain reveals that her entire book tour to promote her memoir Dirty Sexy Politics about the 2008 campaign was “haunted” by the specter of Palin.

Palin started haunting my book tour from day one when on Good Morning America I interrupted my interview with George Stephanopoulos to tell him, “My book isn’t just about Sarah Palin.” It was a domino effect from there. Backstage at most shows, I would beg producers to keep the Sarah Palin questions to only a portion of the interview, instead of dominating the whole conversation. I found myself fighting to convince people interviewing me that my book was about things other than Palin and interesting for many reasons…I found myself more than anything just trying to separate myself and my story as far away from her as possible. Everyone knows there is a media obsession with Sarah Palin, but I don’t know if everyone has quite realized that the obsession has become a fetishization.

McCain also speculates that Palin is exerting a similar influence on the national news cycle.

It seems that the only thing that gets any kind of major media attention when it comes to women in politics is either Sarah Palin or her numerous impersonators. These are the people that are creating and dominating the political narrative for women in this country…Why are only women like Sarah Palin getting nominated for elected office and receiving all of the media attention? [cf.]

To add insult to injury Sarah Palin was apparently not happy with all the attention she was getting at the hands of McCain: “Sarah Palin made it known to me via an email to a third party that she was not pleased with me or what I wrote in my book.” Not that McCain, to her credit, appears to care all that much.

Doesn't seem that she gets the irony in complaining about Sarah Palin when no one would care about her if it wasn't for her last name.

Bashing Sarah Palin Doesn't Work For New CNN "Parker/Spitzer" Show, Finishes Dead Last

Really now, besides the fact that one of your co-hosts is a recently disgraced ex-governor who repeatedly cheated on his wife with hookers, did CNN execs really think that going the MSNBC route and bringing on idiot liberal B-listers to bash Sarah Palin was going to give your new show a boost?

No joke: Out of an hour’s worth of programming, this is the 90 seconds they’re touting on CNN.com. Because, after all, if you’re a Palin-hater itching to see her demonized, how many options do you have on cable news at 8 p.m.? Oh, right — Olbermann does this every night of the year. Good work, CNN.

Please to contain your surprise upon learning that last night’s debut finished … dead last in its time slot. Yes, even behind whatever it is that Headline News runs during that hour. Good lord. Not even a respectable third place for the premiere? No public curiosity to see Client Number Nine in, er, action?

Parker Spitzer finished 4th in total viewers and the A25-54 demographic. It also lost viewers from the lead-in at 7pmET, John King USA, in total viewers…

Parker Spitzer did improve on the lead-in in the demo, and was up week-to-week in demo as well. A CNN spokesperson tells Mediaite: “We are pleased with the quality of the show and over time we think viewers will be drawn to the more thoughtful discussion and lively debate that Kathleen and Eliot have to offer.”

Reuters has a brutal round-up of the opening night reviews but all you really need to read is the New York Post’s headline to get the flavor. In fact, among all the reactions I’ve seen, the only bit of contrarianism came from a certain conservative atheist — and for once, it wasn’t me. Exit question: Is it already time for a “Parker Spitzer” cancellation watch? Over/under is New Year’s, I guess.

S.E. Cupp And Kirsten Powers On New Christine O'Donnell Ad

I don't agree. It was clear to me that she was being sarcastic, even making light of the Left's No. 1 smear tactic. No biggie on the "I'm not a witch" line and a good ad in my book.

School Must Oblige Transgender 6th-grader

Onenewsnow.com:

The radical homosexual agenda is making itself known in Maine, where a human-rights group has ruled a school must accommodate the sexual preferences of a sixth-grader.


The Maine Human Rights Commission recently ruled that Orono Middle School erred by assigning a separate bathroom to the boy, who wants to live as a girl. The decision comes after the child's parents filed a complaint with the Commission, claiming their son -- who no longer attends school in the district -- experienced anxiety and depression during the 2008-2009 school year. The panel also made a similar ruling against the elementary school that the child had attended.

"I think this is an example of this whole individual rights agenda going completely amok," laments Janice Crouse, senior fellow at the Beverly LaHaye Institute of Concerned Women for America (CWA). She thinks the parents' objection to the school's action is revealing.


"I think it shows very clearly that their agenda is not to make sure that their son's needs are met; their agenda is to prove a point and to bring that point home for the whole school district that their son has to be accepted just as he is and that there will be no consequences to the things that they are allowing to go on in their own home," Crouse suspects.

Bakery Refuses Gays, Now Faces Eviction

Refuse to normalize homosexuality and there will be repercussions:

An Indianapolis cookie shop could be evicted from its longtime location for refusing a special order from a college homosexual group.


The bakery "Just Cookies" has operated in a city-owned market for over 20 years. The president of the board that oversees the market told the Indianapolis Star that he would "hate to lose them" as a tenant -- but that could very well happen because owner David Stockton took a moral stand and did not want to endorse homosexual activity.


Controversy arose this week after the owners of the bakery cited moral objections to a special-order request for rainbow-decorated cookies for next week's "National Coming Out Day" observance at a nearby university campus. Stockton told the caller he did not feel comfortable in supporting homosexual values, especially because it would not set a good example for his two daughters.


Micah Clark of the American Family Association of Indiana says there are reports the city might evict Stockton, citing a local "anti-discrimination" statute.


"Indianapolis passed a sexual-orientation city ordinance five years ago," Clark explains. "...We warned [at that time] that this type of thing would happen if they passed an ordinance elevating a sexual behavior to the same moral equivalent of race or skin color."

ABC Sanitizes Left Wing Rally, Excludes Communist and Socialist Signs

Newsbusters.org:

Good Morning America on Sunday recapped the liberal One Nation rally held on the nation's capital, Saturday, but skipped any mention of the socialist and Communist themed signs seen during the march.


These are some of the signs that were featured during reporter Tahman Bradley's segment: ""Peace, justice, equality, hope, change," "Fair trade, not free trade," "Educate every child," "Full and fair employment" and "Silence GOP lies." However, signs with the Communist Party USA logo, posters reading "Capitalism is failing, socialism is the alternative" and "Build a socialist alternative" were not.


Instead, Bradley repeated Democratic talking points: "Several speakers and people in the crowd noted the diversity at the rally. Their insinuation, the Tea Party movement has attracted only a narrow slice of Americans."

Gallup Findings For Democrats: Blacks Still Love Obama, Others Not So Much

For Black Americans it continues to be Stockholm Syndrome with Barry and the Democrat party

The good news for President Obama is his popular support among blacks is holding steady at 91%.

The bad news is no other group of potential voters likes him that much.

In fact, 29 days before his first midterm elections, the Democrat's approval ratings remain mired below 50%.

A new Gallup Poll this morning finds his approval rating for September was 45%, almost the same as August's 44%. Obama's not exceeded the crucial 50% level in a single month so far this year.

Since Obama's name is not on any ballot Nov. 2, the proportions of Americans who like or dislike the fellow on Oct. 1 of a midterm election year shouldn't matter, in theory. However, history indicates otherwise.

Presidents with approval ratings below 50% at midterm time see their party suffer substantial losses in its congressional membership, regardless of how much explaining and blaming the president attempts in the campaign leading up to what becomes, in effect, a referendum on the president.

Politiks As Usual: In The News 10/4/10

Rahm Emanuel Plans Run For Mayor Of Chicago

With Election Losses Certain, Democrats Discuss The Way Forward

Scientists Make Stem Cell Alternative Breakthrough

Obama Destroying The Democratic Party

Gay TV Characters More Than Triple Since 2007

Obama Prefers Some Minority Businesses and Punishes Others

ICE Won't Say If It'll Enforce Immigration Law Against Meg Whitman Maid

One-in-five Gay Or Bisexual Men In American Cities Infected With HIV/AIDS

David Gergen Compares Eliot Spitzer To MLK 

Frank Rich: Christine O’Donnell Is A ‘Useful Idiot’

‘One Nation’ Rally: Liberal Media Concludes Size Doesn’t Matter

Bishop Eddie Long to Congregation: Won't 'Be Pulled Into a Street Fight'

Obamacare Failing: High Costs, Red Tape Discourage Enrollment

Newsmax.com:

It's a centerpiece of President Barack Obama's health care remake, a lifeline available right now to vulnerable people whose medical problems have made them uninsurable.

But the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan started this summer isn't living up to expectations. Enrollment lags in many parts of the country. People who could benefit may not be able to afford the premiums. Some state officials who run their own "high-risk pools" have pointed out potential problems.

"The federal risk pool has definitely provided critical access, in some cases lifesaving access, to health insurance," said Amie Goldman, chair of a national association of state high-risk insurance pools. "That said, enrollment so far is lower than we would have expected." Goldman runs the Wisconsin state pool, as well as the federal plan in her state.

California, which has money for about 20,000 people, has received fewer than 450 applications, according to a state official. The program in Texas had enrolled about 200 by early September, an official in that state said. In Wisconsin, Goldman said they've received fewer than 300 applications so far, with room for about 8,000 people in the program.

While it'd be ridiculous to say that Obamacare doesn't have some perks, overall it's a huge failure.

Yes, Glenn Beck’s Rally Was Officially Bigger Than The One Nation Rally

Mediaite.com:

Rally numbers are the new sports statistics! According to every major media outlet yesterday’s big tent One Nation rally did not manage to draw as many people to the National Mall as Glenn Beck’s 8/28 Restoring Honor rally despite the fact they had media powerhouse Ed Schultz as a featured speaker! From the New York Times:


Noting that they began planning their rally in April, organizers said they were not responding to a march organized by Glenn Beck, which drew enormous crowds to the front of the Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 28. But they acknowledged that their hope was to draw an even larger crowd to Saturday’s event. Significant areas of the National Mall that had been filled during Mr. Beck’s rally were empty. In a broadcast on Thursday, Mr. Beck criticized the liberals’ march, saying his supporters paid their own way to drive to Washington, while labor unions chartered hundreds of buses to ferry demonstrators to Saturday’s rally. Mr. Beck’s rally resembled a religious revival, but Saturday’s event was overwhelmingly a political and policy pep rally, although it largely avoided partisan language.


And from the AP: “Organizers claimed they had as many participants as Beck’s rally. But Saturday’s crowds were less dense and didn’t reach as far to the edges as they did during Beck’s rally. The National Park Service stopped providing official crowd estimates in the 1990s.”

Greta Van Susteren Smacks Down Radically Feminist Lawyer Gloria Allred

Newsbusters.org:

Greta Van Susteren on Friday absolutely skewered Gloria Allred, the attorney representing California Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman's former housekeeper.

 In a fiery nine minute discussion on Fox's "On the Record," the host accused her guest of being "unthinkable" and "rotten" by bringing this issue to light, especially right before an election.


"You're getting your client deported by putting a big neon sign, 'Hey, I'm here illegally, I signed documents falsely, and I've done that under penalty of perjury,'" scolded Van Susteren. 

Stunned Fox News Executive On Obama: “We Are So In His Head”

Mediaite.com:

News Corp’s recent donation to the Republican Governors Association given editorial positions at, in particular, Fox News certainly turned heads among Democrats and gave President Obama even more fodder to challenge the company. Yet in light of all the criticism, it seems that the only thing they’re surprised about at Fox News is that the president cares about them at all.


Speaking with an unnamed executive while researching the motivations behind News Corps’ donation, The New York Times’ Jim Rutenberg mined a gemstone of a quote that expresses something quite far from the fear or concern a news organization in any other country would feel when the current White House administration is so preoccupied with what’s going in within:


An executive at Fox News who agreed to be interviewed on the condition of anonymity expressed “astonishment” over Mr. Obama’s focus on the network. “We are so in his head,” he said. “Can you believe with all the other things going on in this world he’s preoccupied with Fox News?”


This in light of a recent lawsuit entertained in court nearly two years after being dropped on the part of a Fox News employee citing discriminatory employment practices, and further reports that it’s not just News Corp that functions as a major political donor. It appears not only that Fox News is not worried that their business will be hindered by their political activism, but that their political activism as noticed by the White House is at the very least shocking and, at most, a bit of a badge of honor.


NBC owner General Electric, for example, has donated to the Democratic Governors Association, while Comcast, which is currently in the process of buying NBC, has given to both. This is all legal on both sides, despite the White House’s interest in News Corp’s activities in particular, as neither Governors Association has a right to channel funds into specific campaigns, but rather use them for general costs of functioning.

New York Times Smears Christine O'Donnell

They can't help Democrats win in November by bragging about anything Barry's done so they're left to degrade, insult and smear:

Christine O'Donnell, the surprise winner of Delaware's GOP senate primaries last month has been avoiding the press since her victory over party favorite Mike Castle shocked poll watchers. As the candidate's quirkier past incarnations and incantations began getting wide circulation, and Republican party officials distanced themselves from her campaign, political journalists have been getting stonewalled in their efforts to interview the Tea Party phenom. On Thursday, O'Donnell broke her undeclared boycott of mainstream media to talk the New York Times' Mark Leibovich about "her journey to conservatism," but by Friday her campaign managers were probably wishing she hadn't.

Leading with "liberal laughingstock and perhaps the embodiment of a can-you-top-this-for-bizarre," the paper of record used this first opportunity to question the candidate to note she displayed the "upbeat personality of an aerobics instructor." The column also introduced readers to O'Donnell's family (her father, Daniel, "worked a series of small television roles before scoring his signature gig - playing Bozo the Clown" and her sister, "Jennie, a lesbian who ... has moved temporarily from Los Angeles to help on the campaign," is a "self-described expert in the 'healing arts'").

 

In response to recent reports about discrepancies in O'Donnell's education and background, the Times informed readers that in her youth the 41-year-old unmarried candidate "planned to become an actress and had a series of romantic relationships" ("I by no means was a slut," she told Leibovich). She also experienced her political awakening as a College Republican ("What I discovered is that I have opinions.") 

Hard pressed, apparently, to write anything substantive about the elusive candidate, the Times closed the 1300 word interview with this reassuring tidbit: "She did surprisingly well on a chemistry exam, ... which emboldened her to take a class in Japanese, which she said she aced."

If it's not FOX, better off to just concentrate on your state and not talk to the lamestream media again Christine.

Immigration Lawyers Say Meg Whitman Did Nothing Illegal

Once again, the Left, afraid to address the issues facing Americans, is trying to smear a GOP candidate:

Whether or not Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman received a letter from the Social Security Administration saying her former housekeeper's false documents did not match its records, Whitman did not act unlawfully by keeping the housekeeper employed, immigration lawyers said Thursday.


In fact, had she gone ahead and fired Nicandra Diaz Santillan based on such a letter, she would have exposed herself to potential anti-discrimination violations, lawyers said.


Whitman says she wasn't aware of receiving a "no-match" letter.


Lawyers said an employer's obligation upon receiving a no-match letter from the Social Security Administration is to check their own records for typographical or other errors, inform the employee that the records do not match and tell the employee to correct them.


"There is no additional legal obligation for an employer to follow up or respond to SSA with new information," said Gening Liao, a labor and employment attorney at the National Immigration Law Center in Los Angeles, which defends immigrants.

Rick Sanchez Fired From CNN

Glenn Beck was right, this guy really was a moron:

CNN released this statement today:

“Rick Sanchez is no longer with the company. We thank Rick for his years of service and we wish him well.“

They will broadcast CNN Newsroom from 3-5pm for the foreseeable future.


Here’s more from the story earlier today:

CNN’s Rick Sanchez is not happy with being made fun of constantly on The Daily Show and Colbert Report. It is from this jumping off point that he absolutely unleashed on Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, and at times his own network, on Pete Dominick’s satellite radio show yesterday.
The big takeaway – Sanchez calls Stewart “a bigot,” then walks it back a bit, and he implies CNN is run by Jews.
Dominick was not just a radio show host – he is a CNN contributor who has a regular gig on John King, USA (more on that below), and he formerly was the warm up comic at The Daily Show. Which is why when Sanchez says “I think Jon Stewart’s a bigot” early in the interview, Dominick pushed back:
Dominick: How is he a bigot?
Sanchez: I think he looks at the world through, his mom, who was a school teacher, and his dad, who was a physicist or something like that. Great, I’m so happy that he grew up in a suburban middle class New Jersey home with everything you could ever imagine.
Dominick: What group is he bigoted towards?
Sanchez: Everybody else who’s not like him. Look at his show, I mean, what does he surround himself with?

Fox News Says Years-Old Discrimination Lawsuit Is “Politically Motivated” By Obama Administration

Mediaite.com:

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a complaint yesterday against Fox News for a gender and age discrimination case dating back to 2007.


The FNC correspondent, Catherine Herridge, is still an employee with the company, and the network is responding strongly today – calling the suit “politically motivated.”


Mediaite has a statement from Dianne Brandi, Executive Vice President, Legal & Business Affairs for Fox News. In part, she says, “The EEOC’s suspiciously timed press release is nothing more than a partisan statement about a politically motivated lawsuit.” (Full statement is below.) Here’s more about the backstory of yesterday’s EEOC release, from Politico:

According to the complaint, in 2007, she made several complaints to Fox management alleging she had been discriminated against for her age and gender. Fox investigated but found no evidence of discrimination. The next year, the company asked her to sign a contract including language that she would not pursue further discrimination complaints, which she refused.
The suit alleges that the language in the new contract was retaliatory, and Herridge’s subsequent status as an “at-will’ employee caused her “considerable stress.”

But according to Brandi, the case was resolved in March 2010, with the EEOC saying at the time, “there is insufficient evidence to establish a violation of the statutes as to these allegations.” Also, Herridge is clearly still an employee with the company – the image above is from her reporting on the network today. Also, A Fox executive tells Mediaite, “the EEOC’s press release omits the fact that Herridge demanded to be paid in excess of $900,000 (a 96% increase) in the first year of her proposed new contract with escalating salary increases thereafter, and that’s why her new deal was not signed until June 2009. When her salary demands became more reasonable, the contract was signed.” Sources in a position to know say Herridge is among the D.C. bureau’s highest paid correspondents, making more than $500,000 a year.

Rahm Emanuel Quits, But Is He Eligible To Be Mayor Of Chicago?

Funny that he didn't clear up this matter before he quit, that's if he's really running for mayor:

Attorney Burt Odelson, a noted elction-law expert, is predicting Rahm Emanuel will be ineligible for mayor because he is not a legal resident of Chicago.

Odelson told Roe and Roeper on WLS Radio that when Emanuel leased out his Chicago home he could no longer claim he is a resident.

“He rented his house out in Sept 09 and has not been back since and has no residency in Chicago,” Odelson said.

Odelson says he has been involved in several residency cases in Illinois that “the law is clear.”

Bill Maher On The Factor, Part II: The Two Bills Clash On Religion

Mediaite.com:

After a pointed but down-to-earth conversation last night, Bill O’Reilly and Bill Maher had a more spirited (and probably more compelling) discussion on religion on tonight’s O’Reilly Factor. The two probably have even more wildly differing views on religion than politics, and they got a bit louder than last night, but like their previous segment, showed a refreshing ability not to descend into complete chaos when they don’t see eye-to-eye.

Not that things didn’t get animated – it was clear things would when O’Reilly teased the segment by saying, “Calling religious people ‘morons.’ That’s what Bill Maher is doing, and we will challenge him.” Even if Maher didn’t quite do that literally, he implied something similar with lines like, “Faith is “the purposeful suspension of critical thinking,” and “If it’s your perfect holy book written by God, why is there stuff in there that makes no sense?”

O’Reilly disputed this point, saying the Bible “is allegorical…designed to teach a greater truth that apparently has eluded you.” A central theme to that greater truth? In O’Reilly’s words, “Don’t call [your neighbor] stupid because they don’t agree with you politically.” He was VERY pleased with himself on this line. Maher, though, got in a pretty good crack of his own when he said, “If Jesus was in charge of the country we’d probably have health care for everybody.”

There were some strikes against both: O’Reilly drastically over-generalized the theory of evolution, and when he said Maher is “not noble” for mocking people of faith, he had a point – it wouldn’t hurt Maher to tone down his anti-organized-religion rhetoric a tad every now and again.

But mostly, this was another entertaining discussion conducted more rationally than many like it. And despite that “not noble” critique, O’Reilly does seem to have a bit of fondness for Maher, saying you “have to give him credit for debating.” Indeed, the last two nights it’s produced some good television.