You heard me right. O’Reilly admitted on air that he wanted to “whack” Jeremy Glick, the son of one of the people who was murdered on 9/11 because Jeremy Glick expressed views that didn’t agree with Bill’s determined effort to glorify President Bush and the Iraq War. Media Matters has all the sorry details:
During the May 28 edition of Fox News’ The Lineup, Bill O’Reilly, host of Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor, informed guest host Megyn Kendall that his 2003 interview of Jeremy Glick — whose father was killed during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center — was the interview he “got most offended by.” O’Reilly said the interview was “just revolting,” and made him “so angry and appalled” that, “[i]f I could have whacked him, I would have.” Glick appeared on the show to discuss his signing of the “Not in Our Name” petition, a statement that “call[ed] on all Americans to resist the war and repression that has been loosed on the world by the Bush administration.”
This is the type of person FOX NEWS trumpets as its leading opinion maker: a man so twisted that even now, 3 years later, he is still inflaming the passions of his viewers with homicidal fantasies against a man whose only “crime” was to oppose Bush’s senseless war to Bill’s blustering face. O’Reilly should be removed from his position at Fox. Any responsible news organization would have fired him long ago for his ethical lapses, on air and off.
More from the Media Matters report is below the fold. Be sure to note the admission by O’Reilly that’s he’s a sociopath.
While now professing the desire to “whack[]” Glick, O’Reilly has previously claimed that it was Glick who was “out of control.” As Media Matters noted, O’Reilly claimed that “security actually had to take the guy [Glick] out of the building, he was that out of control.” Yet, during the interview, it was O’Reilly who repeatedly told Glick to “shut up”; and ended the interview by saying, “Cut his mic. I’m not going to dress you down anymore, out of respect for your father.” According to Glick, as documented in the film Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism (2004), “The executive producer and the assistant encouraged me to leave the building because they were, quote, ‘concerned that if O’Reilly ran into me in the hallway, he would end up in jail.’ “
From the May 28 edition of Fox News’ The Lineup:
KENDALL: How about this: most offensive interview, the one that you got most offended by?
O’REILLY: Jeremy Glick. This guy comes in after the attack on 9-11. His father was killed in the World Trade Center, and he comes in. He signs an advertisement that says America is a terrorist nation. I get him in here, and then he says the “alleged attack” on the World Trade Center, implying the U.S. government had something to do with it. I was so angry and appalled, and the far left has made this guy into a hero, this Glick guy. And, it was just revolting. And if I could have whacked him, I would have. I got 29 people in my area in Long Island dead, and this guy is saying the U.S. government — implying, I should say — the U.S. government had something to do with this? It was just off the chart! I am glad I gave him what-for. I did give him what-for, you might remember that. I’m glad I did.
KENDALL: I do. That was one of the more watched interviews. What about — this last question: What about, you know, the one interview that stands out as sort of touching you — somebody who really got to you. You interview so many people, so many families of people who died in Iraq or 9-11. Is there anybody stand out like that?
O’REILLY: Well, first of all, I have no feelings, as everyone watching the Factor knows. I mean, just totally numb. I am a sociopath. Look —
KENDALL: You said that, not me.
O’Reilly, the only man with a permanent spot on Olbermann’s Worst Person in the World nomination list…but of course, he’s perfect for FOX, the hate TV network.
Well, IMHO, mr. bill has been out of control since he was in puberty. enough said. He has really some very sick issues he needs to address with a mental health professional. Would make his life a lot less frustrated.
Brenda, I read this diary right after reading yours this morning. Talk about timing! The ironies leave me speechless.
It’s all about drawing attention and inciting outrage, thereby achieving higher ratings and higher ad rates. Money, money, money. Limbaugh and Coulter do essentially the same thing. Drawing attention has worked well for Pat Robertson as well. It’s when the media stop looking for the memorable (and crazy) quote that you have to start worrying about your career.
Well, IMHO, being such as this, does make ones job easier. :o)
Regardless of what he thinks of himself. He’s almost definitely a narcissist, and more clearly insane than anyone else I can think of. I’m not excusing his horrible behavior in any way, but you can’t be as hyper-sensitive to criticism as O’Reilly is and be a sociopath. It’s just not possible.
This pathetic statement ranks right up there with his claims to have been in combat. It’s just one more part of his fantasy self-image as a tough guy.
Is it possible to suffer from both narcissism and other forms of metal illness simultaneously? Say, paranoia?
Yes it is…:o) I ask myself if he hears the same voices that his mentor does. I think we ought to ask him…:o)
But I have read hundreds of books on the subject. The presense of other mental and personality disorders in addition to the main one is known as comorbidity. It seems to be the rule rather than the exception, so yes, O’Reilly is probably suffering from a cornucopia of different illnesses.
His paranoia is as obvious on occasion as his narcissism, but we all suffer the symptoms of those disorders to limited degrees and it would take extended analysis by a psychiatrist to determine whether O’Reilly suffers from full-blown personality and mental disorders, and which disorder is his primary problem.
My guess from having known several narcissists and watching O’Reilly’s consistent behavior over time is narcissistic rather than paranoid personality disorder is the central problem, he rings all the stay-the-hell-away warning bells that I learned from painful experience, but I’ve never even met the man so take that guess with a large grain of salt.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder Symptoms
A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:
1. has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)
2. is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
3. believes that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)
4. requires excessive admiration
5. has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations
6. is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends
7. lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others
8. is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her
9. shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes
“[i]f I could have whacked him, I would have.”
I think I see the next Fox reality show on the horizon.
the irony is that if someone here or at dKos or one of the other members of the liberal blogosphere made the same statement about someone on the Right (say, Mr. O’Reilly himself), that statement would be repeated over and over about how out of control “those liberal moonbats” are…all the more reason we need the Patriot Act to protect us from the Evil Liberals…
Oh, but we all know that Bill’s joking, right?
Right?
Bueller?
Bueller?
The sad thing of all of this rhetoric is, he is not joking! He is very serious in his theater type rhetoric…:o(
“im cutting your mic… out of respect to your FATHER”????? So o’reilly somehow thinks he has more of a connection to this guys father than the son, then wants to KILL HIM for disagreeing?
OK that is straight-up PATHOLOGICAL. He is not just a smarmy asshole, he is a deeply, deeply disturbed individual.
I can usually dismiss his mewlings but I’m apoplectic over this one.
This disorder is characterized by a long-standing pattern of a disregard for other people’s rights, often crossing the line and violating those rights. This pattern of behavior has occurred since age 15 (although only adults 18 years or older can be diagnosed with this disorder) and consists by the presence of the majority of these symptoms:
* failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest
* deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure
* impulsivity or failure to plan ahead
* irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults
* reckless disregard for safety of self or others
* consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations
* lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another