Bill O'Reilly eyes post as commissar of Newspeak

Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points (5/19/05) begins, "The battle over Newsweek's bogus Koran story continues." He then cites "elite media" stories which document the systematic abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and elsewhere, claiming that these are just desperate attempts to reclaim lost esteem and place blame on the Bush administration.

No, no, no. The Bush administration isn't culpable in any of the dozens or hundreds of documented incidents of torture and abuse around the world (according to Alberto Gonzalez), and wouldn't in any event ever knowingly, say, send a person to Uzbekistan to take a dip in boiling oil without being charged with an offense. Oh...that thing called the Constitution? That's just some outdated liberal rag written a couple hundred years ago.

O'Reilly then remarks on how he'd deal with journalists who don't bow down to the Bush administration, as in the exchange in the White House press room between Scott McClellan and ABC correspondent Terry Moran (emphasis added):

These editorials sound like they're all written by the same person who says, hey, forget about the bogus story that may have killed people, the Bush administration caused everything. And that mindset is echoed by some in the electronic media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With respect, who made you the editor of "Newsweek"? Do you think it's appropriate for you at that podium speaking with the authority of the president of the United States, to tell an American magazine what they should print?

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I'm not telling them. I'm saying that we would encourage them to help...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...pressuring them

MCCLELLAN: No, I'm saying we would encourage them. Look, this report caused serious damage to the image of the United States abroad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'REILLY: Now that was an ABC News correspondent. I would have slapped him. If I were McClellan, I would have went down and whacked him. All right? Don't use that tone with me.

Well, why stop with a slap? Why not send him to a gulag, or see if he doesn't improve his attitude after a little waterboarding?


Update:

Here's what O'Reilly isn't revealing about that McClellan/Moran barrage:

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, it's what I talked about yesterday. This report, which Newsweek has now retracted and said was wrong, has had serious consequences. People did lose their lives. The image of the United States abroad has been damaged; there is lasting damage to our image because of this report. And we would encourage Newsweek to do all that they can to help repair the damage that has been done, particularly in the region.

And I think Newsweek can do that by talking about the way they got this wrong, and pointing out what the policies and practices of the United States military are when it comes to the handling of the Holy Koran. The military put in place policies and procedures to make sure that the Koran was handled -- or is handled with the utmost care and respect. And I think it would help to point that out, because some have taken this report -- those that are opposed to the United States -- some have taken this report and exploited it and used it to incite violence.

Q With respect, who made you the editor of Newsweek? Do you think it's appropriate for you, at that podium, speaking with the authority of the President of the United States, to tell an American magazine what they should print?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm not telling them. I'm saying that we would encourage them to help --

Q You're pressuring them.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I'm saying that we would encourage them --

Q It's not pressure?

MR. McCLELLAN: Look, this report caused serious damage to the image of the United States abroad. And Newsweek has said that they got it wrong. I think Newsweek recognizes the responsibility they have. We appreciate the step that they took by retracting the story. Now we would encourage them to move forward and do all that they can to help repair the damage that has been done by this report. And that's all I'm saying. But, no, you're absolutely right, it's not my position to get into telling people what they can and cannot report.

1) I take Moran's reaction as one of astonishment that the White House should believe it has a role in telling the press what it should say, although it's certainly possible, given the complete capitulation of the press to the Bush administration's lies, that McClellan takes for granted the press will do what it's told.

2) Shouldn't the press turn this around and ask what the Bush administration is going to do to repair the damage that has been done by all the legitimate reports of abuse and torture? Those photos of Abu Ghraib, for example, will haunt American diplomacy in the Middle East for generations to come, yet the Bush administration still refuses to accept any blame for not defining the terms of engagement to ensure that civility in, and off, the battlefield is exercised. And what about the damage to U.S. credibility caused by the Bush administration's fixing the facts to justify an invasion of Iraq? Shouldn't there be a response to this criminal act which has caused the countless tens of thousands of Iraqis, over 1600 American soldiers, and over 12,000 American wounded?