Bill O’Reilly and Fox News called out
I was not sure if it was too soon to go from grieving to admonishing those responsible for the genesis of the terrorist acts by the likes of Dylann Roof. There are many who do listen to Fox News under the false belief that the likes of Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, and other Fox News anchors provide news. Many times what they provide is cleverly wrapped, designed, and engineered hate speech with a touch of the subliminal.
When Fox News and their cohorts elevated Cliven Bundy, it sent an encapsulated message of hate. When one of Ronald Reagan’s trusted advisers, Bruce Bartlett, said Fox News was ‘self-brainwashing’ Republicans into a radical fringe, he was onto something. And the something is dangerous. It may not be politically correct to call this out so close to the Emanuel AME church massacre, but it is essential that it is done.
Fox News was instrumental in driving the narratives of lies questioning the President’s citizenship, lying about death panels in Obamacare, lying about the creation of concentration camps on US soil to intern Americans, and recently lying about President Obama sending troops to Texas and the southwest to do harm. Is it any wonder many low information Fox News listeners are paranoid? Instead of educating their listeners they are inciting a carnal fear in their listeners which can activate those with the mindset of Dylann Roof.
It was refreshing to listen to South Carolina State House Minority Leader Rep. J. Todd Rutherford (D) hold his own against Bill O’Reilly after O’Reilly brought him on with the intent to take back his critique of Fox News on CNN recently. The leader would have none of it. He stood with what he said, terrorists like Dylann Roof are incited by the hate speech that Fox News and other networks regurgitate day in and day out, hour by hour. When O’Reilly realized he was getting nowhere, he ended the segment. The congressman at least got some time to educate Fox News viewers on a few issues as he did not allow Bill O’Reilly’s bullying to be effective.