It seems that, by comparison, Bill O'Reilly's selective, self-aggrandizing memories seem a bit less transgressive than those of Brian Williams.
But really, let's cut the shit: O'Reilly could have done exactly what Williams did, right down to the very letter, and it wouldn't have mattered. O'Reilly doesn't care, his audience doesn't care. All they know is that some librul asshole did what those types do, and that's that. Bill-O the Clown just needs to create a glimmer of reasonable doubt, and the viewers will do all the heavy lifting for him.
People who rely purely on faith and conviction rather than empirical evidence have so much more skin in the game than people who rely strictly on evidence and knowledge, who are willing to change their opinions and observations as more evidence comes in. This is true regardless of ideology, though of course the preponderance of such folks tend to self-identify as conservative.
So when I read lengthy articles about the plight of poor conservatives, and then look at the animals they voluntarily take their Hoverounds down to the precinct and vote for (Buchanan County VA is in the 9th Congressional District of that state), I am at an impasse -- not an ideological one, but a logical one.
On the one hand, I suppose it's a nice thing that someone cares enough to provide medical care to impoverished areas of rural 'murka. But when these areas have voted almost 2:1 for shitheads like Ed Gillespie, and 3:1 for probable maroons like H. Morgan Griffith -- well, I'm not at all sure why I should be concerned with idiots who are sick primarily because they keep voting themselves sick. You wanna die, then fuckin' die already. The rest of the world does not have the time to read and interpret the news of the day to you.
These are the same exact people who believe the worst about Williams, and the best about O'Reilly -- as well as all the "librul media" imaginary baggage -- without bothering to think about it, to research it, even to look around for maybe a broader context to all these things, and the corporate media's role in them. I find them exhausting. You can't win them over, you can't convince them of jack shit. They'll show up for a free health care clinic or van or whatever, take their gubmint check that they "earned", and with the same breath begrudge every fucking nickel that might go to someone else.
To the extent that there is something resembling a genuinely liberal party in this country, let's hope that they don't look at all this and take it as yet another excuse to tack further right yet again. But as the late Chris Hitchens once said, some people don't learn because they don't intend to. So rest assured that once again, the Democrats will waste valuable energy trying to convince the usual genus of passionate, incoherent moron to vote for something tat they simply never will.
But really, let's cut the shit: O'Reilly could have done exactly what Williams did, right down to the very letter, and it wouldn't have mattered. O'Reilly doesn't care, his audience doesn't care. All they know is that some librul asshole did what those types do, and that's that. Bill-O the Clown just needs to create a glimmer of reasonable doubt, and the viewers will do all the heavy lifting for him.
People who rely purely on faith and conviction rather than empirical evidence have so much more skin in the game than people who rely strictly on evidence and knowledge, who are willing to change their opinions and observations as more evidence comes in. This is true regardless of ideology, though of course the preponderance of such folks tend to self-identify as conservative.
So when I read lengthy articles about the plight of poor conservatives, and then look at the animals they voluntarily take their Hoverounds down to the precinct and vote for (Buchanan County VA is in the 9th Congressional District of that state), I am at an impasse -- not an ideological one, but a logical one.
On the one hand, I suppose it's a nice thing that someone cares enough to provide medical care to impoverished areas of rural 'murka. But when these areas have voted almost 2:1 for shitheads like Ed Gillespie, and 3:1 for probable maroons like H. Morgan Griffith -- well, I'm not at all sure why I should be concerned with idiots who are sick primarily because they keep voting themselves sick. You wanna die, then fuckin' die already. The rest of the world does not have the time to read and interpret the news of the day to you.
These are the same exact people who believe the worst about Williams, and the best about O'Reilly -- as well as all the "librul media" imaginary baggage -- without bothering to think about it, to research it, even to look around for maybe a broader context to all these things, and the corporate media's role in them. I find them exhausting. You can't win them over, you can't convince them of jack shit. They'll show up for a free health care clinic or van or whatever, take their gubmint check that they "earned", and with the same breath begrudge every fucking nickel that might go to someone else.
To the extent that there is something resembling a genuinely liberal party in this country, let's hope that they don't look at all this and take it as yet another excuse to tack further right yet again. But as the late Chris Hitchens once said, some people don't learn because they don't intend to. So rest assured that once again, the Democrats will waste valuable energy trying to convince the usual genus of passionate, incoherent moron to vote for something tat they simply never will.
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