Are You An Extremist?

[DOGS THAT BARK]

Are You An Extremist?

Thursday, August 25, 2005

By Bill O'Reilly



Are you an extremist? That is the subject of this evening's "Talking Points Memo".

The loony left is furious that we have outed Cindy Sheehan (search) as a radical, diminishing her credibility. Ms. Sheehan's latest is calling foreign terrorists, who infiltrate into Iraq freedom fighters. Very nice.

And the loopy right is mad because I said Jesus might not be down with Reverend Pat Robertson (search) putting out a contract on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

There are no shortage of extremists here in the land of the free. However, there's a problem with labeling someone an extremist. And that is they may be rational in most areas, but off the wall in a few.

But I think we can safely establish some rules for the road here. An extremist is someone who rejects facts and holds on to opinions no matter what. Millions of Americans wanted Richard Nixon (search) to stay in office despite overwhelming evidence he covered up a felony. That was an extreme position.

Millions of others thought it was perfectly fine for President Clinton to lie under oath in the Paula Jones (search) deposition. Another extreme position.

Extremists aren't born. They evolve. Baby Brandon doesn't pop out of the womb, demanding to watch "The 700 Club" or "Fahrenheit 911."

In my opinion, extremists have a neurosis. They really don't want to hear anything other than the conclusion they've arrived at, no matter what the evidence suggests.

So are you an extremist? "Talking Points" has devised a short list of indicators:

? If you think Michael Moore reports accurately, you're an extremist.

? If you think the documentary "Outfoxed" tells the truth about this network, you're in the extreme zone.

? If you agree with Reverends Falwell and Robertson that gays and abortionists caused God to allow 9/11, you're an extremist.

? If you still think Terri Schiavo (search ) is aware of her surroundings, this extreme is for you.

? If you believe an open border is good for the USA, you have entered extreme territory.

? If you feel foreign terrorists have constitutional rights, and convicted child sex offenders should not serve long prison terms, say hello to the extremist label.

? If you agree that Allah is OK with slaughtering civilians, you're extreme.

? If you admire the philosophy of the Third Reich (search), you're there.

? And if you agree with everything President Bush has done, you're an extremist.

? And if you think everything he's done has been wrong, put a big 'E' on your forehead as well.

? And finally, if you applaud when Barbra Streisand (search) talks geopolitics or when a right wing talk show host urges a nuclear strike on Iran, welcome to the wonderful world of extremism.

And that's "The Memo."

 

[DOGS THAT BARK]

Yep have to agree its nothing your born with but aquired as you go through life--peronally I think the media has a lot to do with it---

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

In an online report on wounded veterans, ABC News reported Wednesday that 68,000 American soldiers in Iraq have sustained injuries serious enough to keep them from returning to duty.

That, of course, is nearly five times the total number wounded in Iraq.

But when a Department of Veterans' Affairs spokesman called ABC to say the correct number of wounded unable to return to duty was fewer than 7,000, he was told that network policy prevented him from speaking to anyone involved with the story.

The distorted figure was still on the ABC website Thursday morning, but has since been quietly removed ? without a correction.

Success Story? Or Is It?

Col. Thomas Spoehr (search), the Army's Director of Materiel, recently told The New York Times that the Pentagon is providing troops in Iraq with enhanced body armor that can stop special armor-piercing rounds ? even though there's no evidence insurgents in Iraq are using such rounds. Spoehr said the new vests were being delivered to troops faster than ever before. So how did The Times report that story?

An August 14th article begins: "The Pentagon is struggling to replace body armor that is failing to protect American troops from the most lethal attacks of insurgents," adding "...tens of thousands of soldiers are still without the stronger protection because of a string of delays in the Pentagon's procurement system."

AP-parently Not Anti-War at First

The AP is reporting that anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan (search) was moved to oppose the war in Iraq only after hearing reports of faulty pre-war intelligence following her meeting with President Bush last year.

But in fact, Sheehan told the website DemocracyNow.org that she and her family had been against the war from the beginning and that she'd offered to take her son Casey to Canada or "run over him with a car" to keep him out of Iraq.

The AP has reported that Casey joined the Army "never imagining he would see combat." But Casey Sheehan actually re-enlisted after the start of the Iraq war. His mother says he felt he had to go to Iraq to help protect friends in his unit.

Protesting the Troops

Anti-war demonstrators organized by a group backing Cindy Sheehan's Crawford vigil have taken their protests to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., home to hundreds of soldiers wounded in Iraq.

Code Pink (search) and others have camped out across from the hospital's main entrance once a week since March chanting, "George Bush kills American soldiers" and lining up caskets to represent the dead in Iraq.

The demonstrators say their protests and signs with slogans like "Maimed for a lie" are less offensive than the war itself.

But recent patient Kevin Pannell tells Cybercast News that fellow patients can't help but notice the protesters antics, calling them "the most distasteful thing I had ever seen."

 

[smurphy]

O'Reilly appears to be positioning himself as a centrist. Does he plan to run against Hillary?

 

[JCDunkDogs]

I think I recognized myself in a couple of those. :scared

 

[danmurphy jr]

Why would anyone pay attention to what a sexual predater thinks? He had millions to pay her off. Anyone else would be in jail. Only in America.
PS: The audio tapes got the Gold.

 

[djv]

I alway say never again will I have a black car. But they look so good when clean. So mind gets cleaned twice a week.
Extremest or just fanatic.

 

[ocelot]

Bill Oh-Really? - I cannot say I don't agree with him on occasion but he is still a rude jackass.

 

[AR182]

dan,

do you feel the same way about clinton ?

 

[Marco]

"And if you think everything he's done has been wrong, put a big "E" on your forehead as well."

I wouldn't say everything he's done has been wrong.....then again I don't know if I really have the time to stop and think and come up with things he's done right.....that could take a while..

I'm pretty sure he's an accomplished bicycle rider...

But then again....on second thought.... :mj14:

 

[StevieD]

Bush was very good in the days after 911. He was very good going to New York and going to Ground Zero and throwing out the first ball. They were all things the country needed at the time. He was a little slow in going in Afghanistan in my opinion other than that I can't think of much.

 

[DOGS THAT BARK]

I alway say never again will I have a black car. But they look so good when clean. So mind gets cleaned twice a week.

DJV-- All vehicles I have owned in past 15 years have been black

"dan,
do you feel the same way about clinton ?"

----A CLASSIC
---My vote for epitomy of extremist

"O'Reilly appears to be positioning himself as a centrist. Does he plan to run against Hillary"

---he is definately conservative--but calls the way he sees em on both sides of the fence.

 

[kosar]

DJV-- All vehicles I have owned in past 15 years have been black

Same here. I'm definitely an extremist when it comes to that.