Bill O'Reilly and "The View"

So, by now we've all seen this blow up between Bill O'Reilly and Whoopi and Joy on "The View". It all began with a conversation about why Obama's poll numbers are falling. O'Reilly, as he has said on his show cited the example of supporting the Mosque near Ground Zero. He made the point to demonstrate that Obama has made decisions that are contrary to public will.

O'Reilly further cited polling that 70% of Americans oppose its construction as a matter of sensitivity. Joy Behar did not believe his citation. The fact that she is unaware of clear opposition to the mosque's construction suggest that she must be living in a cocoon. We can only hope, however foolishly that a butterfly emerges.

Whoopi blew her top at O'Reilly on the Mosque citation and pressed him further at which point he said it was insensitive because Muslims killed us on 9/11. Whoopi and Joy, clearly exasperated said it was fanatics, not Muslims. Long story short, Whoopi and Joy walked off the set. Whoopi walked out after pointing out that Timothy McVeigh of Oklahoma City was a Christian.

Ok, now. Let me address this simply. Whether O'Reilly should have attached "fanatics" as a prefix to "Muslims" is immaterial. The very notion that the lack of such a prefix is an indictment of all Muslims is frankly, demagogic. The significance of 9/11 is that for the first time in American history we were attacked by people who did so as an article of faith. Their faith was Islam. They willfully conducted an act of mass murder based on a radical interpretation of "jihad", a critical tenet of Islam. No rational person concludes that nineteen radical Muslims are indicative of all Muslims.The failure to include "radical" or "fanatical" to the comment is unnecessary.

Then there's the invoking of Timothy McVeigh as a Christian. I am unaware of Mr. McVeigh's faith. There is a reason for that. Mr. McVeigh's murderous action in Oklahoma City was driven by an irrational hatred of authority, represented by the Federal Government. He did not conduct himself with an eye towards paradise as an expression of faith. The nineteen hijackers on 9/11 did conduct themselves on faith, however barbaric their interpretation. The comparison to McVeigh is specious. However, it should be noted that in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombings that conservative talk show hosts were accused of inspiring the act with anti government rhetoric. The failure to distinguish between anti government and limited government was overlooked as a pretext to shift blame. In fact, recently, the head of the Southern Poverty Law Center on Chris Matthews' show suggested that the origins of the Oklahoma City tragedy could be traced back to Ronald Reagan in the 1980's. You must love the double standard.

The broader point is that no rational person holds all Muslims accountable for 9/11 anymore than they would hold public figures responsible for a lone bomber in Oklahoma City. The act in Oklahoma City was secular in nature, whereas 9/11 had clear religious overtones.

Joy Behar, on her show tonight called O'Reilly's musings "hate speech". First of all, in a republic such as ours there is only one kind of speech and it is free. "Hate speech" is code for "they shouldn't be allowed to say that". Ironically, she was making this allegation while Jesse Ventura, who has accused George Bush of orchestrating 9/11 was on the set. I guess "hate speech" is relative. Behar is wrong in any case. We all must recognize why and who we are at war with. Like it or not, a radical fringe of Islam is killing in the name of Islam. It is by no means indicative of all Muslims by pointing it out. O'Reilly is right. Whoopi and Joy are in denial.