media matters

NEW YORK (AP) ― Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly said Wednesday his critics took remarks he made about a famed Harlem restaurant out of context and "fabricated a racial controversy where none exists."

He criticized the liberal group Media Matters for America as "smear merchants" for publicizing statements he made on his radio show last week.

O'Reilly told his radio audience that he dined with civil rights activist Al Sharpton at Sylvia's recently and "couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference" between the black-run restaurant and others in New York City.

It was just like a suburban Italian restaurant, he said. "There wasn't any kind of craziness at all," he said.

O'Reilly told The Associated Press that Media Matters had "cherry-picked" remarks out of a broader conversation about racial attitudes. He had told listeners that his grandmother ― and many other white Americans ― feared blacks because they didn't know any and were swayed by violent images in black culture.

"If you listened to the full hour, it was a criticism of racism on the part of white Americans who are ignorant of the fact that there is no difference between white and black anymore," he told the AP. "Circumstances may be different in their lives but we're all Americans. Anyone who would be offended by that conversation would have to be looking to be offended."

His radio show was a conversation with Fox News contributor Juan Williams, author of a book about the coarseness of some black culture. Williams defended O'Reilly during a Tuesday appearance on "The O'Reilly Factor."

"It's so frustrating," Williams said. "They want to shut you up. They want to shut up anybody who has an honest discussion about race."

Sharpton, appearing on O'Reilly's TV program Wednesday, acknowledged that he found accounts of what O'Reilly said "disturbing and surprising," but added that he had not heard the radio broadcast.

"You and I have gone to dinner before in Harlem, and I've never heard you say anything offensive," said Sharpton, speaking from Baton Rouge, La. "I'm going to listen to the tape and I'm going to give a judgment."

The controversy was similar to one that enveloped presidential candidate Joe Biden last winter. When Biden praised rival Barack Obama as "articulate" and "clean," many saw this as a way of conveying those were unusual characteristics for blacks.

Sylvia's manager Trenness Woods-Black told the New York Daily News that O'Reilly's remarks were "insulting" and showed he has little knowledge of the black community.

At one point on the radio show, Williams mentioned that too many people see little else in black culture beyond profane rap. "That's right," O'Reilly said. "There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming, 'M.F.-er, I want more iced tea.'"

Karl Frisch, spokesman for Media Matters, said it is typical for O'Reilly to criticize his group for merely reporting what he says.

"We didn't call him a racist," Frisch said. "We said his comments were ignorant and racially charged, and we stand by that."

O'Reilly said that the Williams conversation was carried on more than 400 radio stations and that there wasn't one complaint from a listener.

"This isn't about a racially insensitive remark," he said. "Anybody can listen to the unedited version of the conversation on Billoreilly.com. You want to think I'm insensitive to race, you go right ahead."

The real story, he said, was about the "corrupt media culture" in which outlets like CNN and MSNBC do stories about his remarks "because they're getting killed in the ratings."

"The O'Reilly Factor" is seen by more people ― 2.2 million average this year ― than its direct competitors on MSNBC and CNN combined. MSNBC's "Countdown" with Keith Olbermann averages 721,000 viewers in the time slot while CNN's 8 p.m. show averages 611,000, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Summary: While discussing Bill O'Reilly's controversial comments about his visit to Sylvia's restaurant in Harlem, Michael Savage once again called Media Matters for America a "gay, fascist website." He added, "[T]hey attack me, O'Reilly, or whoever they can get their hands on that's a conservative because they think that we're anti-gay. They're psychotic. They're off their medication most of the time."
On the September 26 edition of his syndicated radio show, Savage Nation, Michael Savage once again called Media Matters for America a "gay, fascist website." He made the accusations while discussing Fox News host Bill O'Reilly's controversial comments on the September 19 edition of Westwood One's The Radio Factor about his visit to Sylvia's restaurant in Harlem. Savage was talking with a caller about O'Reilly's comments when he said, "They [Media Matters] are simply a gay, fascist website without any guts whatsoever." He added, "[T]hey attack me, O'Reilly, or whoever they can get their hands on that's a conservative because they think that we're anti-gay. They're psychotic. They're off their medication most of the time."

Later in the show, Savage urged African-American listeners to call into his show to voice their opinion on the O'Reilly issue. He followed this request by telling his listeners that the controversy would soon subside, saying, "It's gonna go away, you know, this is a gay, fascist website that's never had so much fun in their life. They're a bunch of punk coward psychotics, so -- I'm not on their side, don't get me wrong. They're vermin. They're utter vermin."

As Media Matters previously documented, on the September 18 edition of his radio show, Savage responded to a Media Matters item that noted his website used the following headline in linking to an article: "BULL-DYKE FASCIST TASERS STUDENT WHO ASKS KERRY TOO MANY QUESTIONS." Savage asserted that "a fascist, gay website named Media Matters has attacked me for pointing out that it was a so-called feminist type who tasered the student who asked [Sen. John] Kerry too many questions." In fact, Savage has attacked Media Matters on several occasions calling the organization a "hate group," a "group of gay Mafiaso," "the homosexual Mafia," and "a gay smear sheet."

In attacking Media Matters, Savage appears to have abandoned his commitment "not to even read" Media Matters' "name anymore."

Of O'Reilly's comments, Savage said: "But let's be fair to the issue here. To go to a black restaurant and say, 'Wow, they ate just like we -- they behave just like we do'? Good God, that's awful."

From the September 26 edition of Talk Radio Network's The Savage Nation:

CALLER: Yeah, I just wanted to give you a call. I watched O'Reilly last night, and that interview, those comments that Media Matters referred to, was an interview that he had done with Juan Williams from NPR [National Public Radio]. And Juan Williams was on there last night, and basically that whole conversation that O'Reilly had, and those statements, were totally taken out of context.

SAVAGE: Well, I know. Media Matters is a gay, fascist website. It's well-known to be a gay, fascist website. They rip me on a daily basis. I know who they are. I know who they are. They are simply a gay, fascist website without any guts whatsoever. Instead of attacking [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad or the Islamofascists, they attack me, O'Reilly, or whoever they can get their hands on that's a conservative because they think that we're anti-gay. They're psychotic. They're off their medication most of the time.

[...]

SAVAGE: I want to hear what black people think. What's the difference what white people think? We can't have the same sensibility on an issue like this. It's gonna go away, you know, this is a gay, fascist website that's never had so much fun in their life. They're a bunch of punk coward psychotics, so -- I'm not on their side, don't get me wrong. They're vermin. They're utter vermin. WOR New York, Stephen, you're on The Savage Nation.

[...]

CALLER: Hey Michael, I don't think that Bill O'Reilly seems to have learned anything from Black History Month. We have it every year, ad infinitum. And this guy goes and makes such a bummer? What does he --

SAVAGE: Well during Black History Month, do you show blacks eating with knives and forks? Maybe he didn't see that part of the Black History Month presentation.

CALLER: Ya think?

SAVAGE: I mean this is -- Catherine, come on, what do you really think about this? I mean, now, look, let's start with the reality of it. The group that is doing this to him is a gay, fascist group: Media Matters. They're insane. And they are very, very evil. There's no question about it. But let's be fair to the issue here. To go to a black restaurant and say, "Wow, they ate just like we -- they behave just like we do?" Good God, that's awful. I don't know. I don't know, people. We can talk about bears if you want. That's not -- we can't get in trouble for talking about killing bears in New Jersey. Can we? Stick to that one.
George Soros is after Bill O'Reilly, and he's enlisted the help of CNN and NBC.

This is the fabricated flap over some benign remarks Bill made on his radio show. But it has been turned on its ear by George Soros' Media Matters, a Web site that was funded by Soros and is dedicated to discrediting conservatives and folks like Bill who don't toe the Soros line. They do this by the purposeful misinterpretation of one's words.

It isn't just Bill. Media Matters has done it to me, too.

NBC News has been using Media Matters as a script service for some time now, with certain anchors over there just lifting misinterpretations wholesale from the Web site and sending the Media Matters words directly to the teleprompter.

Yeah, great journalism at a place with names like Russert and Williams. And now CNN has joined in.

Why? O'Reilly is the big kahuna of cable news, and neither of those networks can break out of tenth place in a three-network race unless they bring him down.

RelatedColumn Archive
Media Matters vs. Bill O'ReillyKevin Spacey Meets With Hugo Chavez in VenezuelaNew York Times Admits Mistake Over MoveOn AdFriday Finals: Week's Winners and LosersSenate Vote Reveals Who's in Bed With MoveOn.orgFull-page My Word Archive

John Gibson's Bio My Word Archive Interview Archive Remember the name Soros. His Open Society Institute has just released its 2006 report on the way it has spent Soros' money: $74 million this year.

Did you know that in addition to funding groups to try to kneecap Bill O'Reilly and me, Soros' stooges have also cut a $720,000 check to the so-called NASA whistleblower who claimed the U.S. government was covering up global warming?

The Investor's Business Daily has outlined all of this in a series of recent editorials after checking the records. Soros money has also funded lawyers to defeat President Bush on his efforts to track terrorists' cell phone calls and matching airline passenger lists with names of known terrorists.

As the IBD asked its readers: Do you feel safer now that you live in Soros' world? I would think not.

I also think you would want to think about the way George Soros has funneled his millions into the bank accounts of groups dedicated to sliming and destroying people. Soros' money is behind MoveOn.org, too, and you've seen what they do.

Soros doesn't like Bill and Soros doesn't like me. I can't speak for Bill, but as for myself I am proud to be on the Soros hit list. discoverthenetwork.org has excellent articles on a lot of leftist individuals and Groups
such as Media Matters.

"But in March 2003, the Cybercast News Service (CNS) detailed the copious links between Media Matters and several Soros "affiliates"―among them MoveOn.org, the Center for American Progress, and Peter Lewis."

Peter Lewis Article here.

"There has been no one quite like Howard Hughes in some time. But one man comes close as a "bashful billionaire" or reclusive powerbroker: leftist Peter B. Lewis. A graduate of Princeton University and chairman of the Cleveland-based Progressive Corporation, Lewis oversees the third-largest automobile insurer in the United States and is worth an estimated $1.1 billion, according to Forbes magazine.

The 70-year-old Lewis holds the distinction of being the second-largest donor during the '04 election cycle to the non-party groups known as "527s" (after a section of the tax code that permits these huge donations). In fact, Lewis donated nearly $23 million to such organizations, including $16 million to the Joint Victory Campaign (created by combining the three largest 527s dedicated to President Bush's defeat), $2.9 million to America Coming Together (ACT), and $2.5 million to Move On.Org. He is a close friend and associate of the billionaire financier George Soros.

A further study of the Peter Lewis story may lead one to believe that the Progressive Company may not be a best bet for insurance needs if one does not want to contribute to leftist
causes.

The efforts that the leftists are making to hide who is funding what leftist causes is obvious, if one starts to look at the various leftist groups and individuals. It could be time well spent to take a serious looks at those efforts, if one cares about the future of America.

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