Wait…I agree with Bill O'Reilly? WTF?

Brianne Bilyeu, , ,

Me and Bill O’Reilly…woah. I feel weird.

However, this as I said, is a business deal. Ms. Degeneres is hired as a spokesperson by JCPenny. JCPenny has absolutely perfect right to do that, as you have in your belief system, okay? So there she is, earning a salary to represent the department store chain. And then the Million Moms say “Hey, because we feel a certain way about Ms. Degeneres’ lifestyle, you need to fire her. I don’t think that’s the spirit of America, Sandy, I gotta tell you.

O’Reilly goes on to compare calling for stores to not hire gays to the blacklisting of communist and communist sympathizers in the 1950s.

Sandy Rios plays the anti-gay stance. Bill continues to speak out for the rights of gay people in employment. What’s going on? – is this good cop/bad cop? Did I drink too much at Drinking Skeptically tonight? I’m so confused.

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Wait…I agree with Bill O'Reilly? WTF?

About the author

Thoughts from a Minneapolis-based nerdy, liberal, humanist progressive on topics such as science, skepticism, religion, atheism, critical thought, politics, and local and global humanitarian and equality efforts. Biodork <3's geek culture, groan-inducing puns, world travel, cultural exchange and sharing and listening to stories.
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142 thoughts on “Wait…I agree with Bill O'Reilly? WTF?”

  2. Johnny Oz
    Reply
    2

    I’m not so sure you agree with Bill. You may have both come to the same conclusion – that Ellen should not be fired – but Billo comes to that conclusion because for him business and profit trump everything. I suspect that you, like me, feel that she should not be fired because her sexual orientation should not be an issue. Please tell me I’m not wrong.

    1. Brianne Bilyeu
      Reply
      2.1

      This is, of course, spot-on accurate. Billo has a long history of spewing bile about the GBLT community, GLBT people, and legislation and policies that affect gay people. I think he just likes to argue with commentators and say controversial things to keep his viewers interested. “Oooo…what is that rebel Billo going to say next?”

  3. Smhlle
    Reply
    3

    I think as the Republican party has veered sharply to the right, Bill O just doesn’t seem as stunningly extreme as he used to seem. At least I have caught myself thinking a couple of times that his stance was, if not reasonable, then at least comprehensible. I agree that its an odd feeling.

  5. christophburschka
    Reply
    5

    It appears that the Republican party, even the hard-right part of it, doesn’t always agree on different aspects of what we normally lump together under “conservatism”. For example, O’Reilly supports gun control and opposes the death penalty.

    Note, he *does* generally oppose LGBT rights in (he sided with boy scouts refusing gay members, and opposes gay marriage) though he doesn’t hate them with the fervour of some of his colleagues (supporting civil unions, slamming the Westboro Baptist Church – though even the frigging KKK slammed the WBC, so yeah) He himself claims he doesn’t have strong views on this issue (Wikipedia quotes from his book that “gay marriage is not a vital issue”) so his homophobia may be influenced by populism (ie. he’s against gay rights because it’s the majority view).

    All of that may explain why when it comes to a clash between different conservative values (the right of corporations to do whatever the hell they want, versus the right of conservative Christians not to deal with gayness in public) he just feels more strongly about one than the other.

    It’d take more than that to make me re-evaluate my view of him as a bag of hot air. If you’re having some doubts, read his views on immigration and the war on terror…

  7. nemothederv
    Reply
    7

    My first thought when I heard about Ellen Degeneres vs. J.C. Penny was “J.C. Penny still exists?”. Seriously, I thought they went out of business a long time ago.

    I know the group claims to be a million moms but it feels to me like 4-5 people in a basement printing fliers.

  8. slc1
    Reply
    8

    Several years ago during the Raping Children Church scandal, Billo the clown was pretty adamant that Cardinals Law, Egan, and Mahoney should be in jail for facilitating the abuse of children by moving the pedophile priests around and covering up their crimes.

  10. nigelTheBold, Abbot of the Hoppist Monks
    Reply
    10

    O’Reilly goes on to compare calling for stores to not hire gays to the blacklisting of communist and communist sympathizers in the 1950s.

    This is odd to me. First is the association of GLBT folks with communism. It seems there’s probably a better source of analogy from the same time period. Second, it’s almost as if O’Reilly is defending communists.

    Something about all that is troubling. It’s as if the Tin Woodsman lent O’Reilly a heart for a few moments.

    Or, I could just be cynical and say that O’Reilly sees the inevitability of LGBT equality, and is jumping on the bandwagon early so he can claim he was “part of the cause.”

    1. Brianne Bilyeu
      Reply
      10.1

      Or, I could just be cynical and say that O’Reilly sees the inevitability of LGBT equality, and is jumping on the bandwagon early so he can claim he was “part of the cause.”

      Nope. No way. Mister No-Spin-Zone I’m sure could spin it this way if he chose, but I really don’t think that’s the case, especially with all of his previous anti-gay sentiment. I think that Johnny Oz hit the nail on the head – this is about business for Billo.

      1. nigelTheBold, Abbot of the Hoppist Monks
        Reply
        …

        This is the problem. I’m always out-cyniced. Even when I’m trying to look at the worst in people, I am not imaginative enough.

        And Johnny Oz is most likely correct. It’s all about business before social issues. If it’s not about business, then you can start oppressing the various out-groups.

        1. kim
          Reply
          …

          Bill didn’t say he would actually invite a gay person over for dinner or allow them to be seen in public with him. He just thought that firing them was wrong. If Ellen can help JCP make money, that is ok.

  11. Tony61
    Reply
    11

    O’Reilly is incorrect to compare this issue to Mccarthyism. Joe McCarthy was a US Senator who was using the apparatus of the federal govt to spy on and libel private citizens. That is unConstitutional.

    If a bunch of wingnut women want to boycott JCPenney and talk about it, it’s is their 1st Amendment right to do so. It’s game on, and I bet JCPenney gets even more customers because of this idiotic boycott.

    I get the feeling the Billo is trying to save the “million moms” from their own stupidity. When you need Bill O’Reilly to be the voice of reason, you’re way out there.

    1. Iain
      Reply
      11.1

      His position seemed to be that it was fine for them to call for a boycott, it’s their right to take their business wherever they want and encourage like-minded individuals to do the same. But it isn’t okay for them to call for firing Ellen. That really made no sense to me – what’s the point of boycotting if you don’t have a goal of changing behaviour? I’m not entirely sure that he was taking a different position from his “opposition”.

      2. pyrobryan
        Reply
        …

        I got the impression that Bill was saying that to boycott is their right, but what they want is wrong.

        They are saying, with no equivocation, “Fire her because she’s gay.” This is America, and that is against the law. Maybe I’m reading too much in to it, but I got the feeling that Bill was saying more than it just being illegal, but that it’s, for lack of a better word, morally wrong to ask that someone lose their job because you don’t like something about them. For example, imagine Ellen was a straight black woman and the million moms were saying she should be fired for being black. Suddenly, now they are a bunch of despicable, unamerican, closed-minded bigots. Would anyone encourage them to boycott the hiring of a black spokesperson? Very few. But because they hate her for being gay, by and large they get away with it.

  13. Boadinum
    Reply
    13

    I had to smack my own head as well. The laws of chance favoring Bill O’Reilly being correct are about as good as they favor an infinite number of monkeys, but still, being right on a social issue? All bets are off.

    You are a welcome addition to FtB, Bionerd, and I look forward to reading much more.

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    Reply
    24

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