Local leaders unleash vitriol at O'Reilly / TV host should be fired for comments about city, Daly says
San Francisco was set to approve to ballot initiatives that Bill O'Reilly didn't like. One opposed military recruitment in public schools and the other would ban handgun ownership. Said O'Reilly on his radio show:
I suppose, to give him the maximum benefit of the doubt, that O'Reilly was trying to claim that these ballot measures were unconstitutional. Yet herein lies the dangers in the assumption that the conservative take on the constitution just is America and growing conflation in conservative circles of Democracy with conservative ideology as opposed to an open political process. The only way O'Reilly's comments could make sense is to say that violating the conservative interpretation of the Constitution is tantamount to seceding from the union.
It's hard to not see the dramatic parallels with the comments made by Pat Robertson after the citizens of Dover, PA voted out the school board members that had approved teaching "intelligent design" in science classrooms.
How dare you defy me! Now you must be punished, they seem to be saying. At it's root there is a sense of entitlement and supreme confidence is the essential correctness of their worldviews. Bill O'Reilly declares that rejecting military recruiters in high schools is a rejection of America so fundamental that San Francisco no longer deserves protection. Pat Robertson declares that teaching science only in science classes is a rejection of God so fundamental that Dover, PA, no longer deserves God's grace.
Is it just me, or is the arrogance of the Right spinning out of control?
SAN FRANCISCO
Local leaders unleash vitriol at O'Reilly
TV host should be fired for comments about city, Daly says
- Joe Garofoli, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Not everybody took Fox News host Bill O'Reilly's on-air comments this week about terrorists bombing Coit Tower as the hyperbole that fills the talk-radio ether. One of the ticked off was San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly, who Friday called for O'Reilly to be fired.
"For an anchor on a major station, Fox News, to be saying those kinds of things, it's just not OK," Daly said Friday. "It was just over the top."
Agreeing with Daly was San Francisco firefighters union president John Hanley, and not just because the hose-shaped tower is a tribute to firefighters.
"Who is this guy, O'Reilly?" said Hanley, who identified himself as both a third-generation San Franciscan and military veteran. "I've got guys fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. I'm a veteran myself. What's he talking about?"
A spokesman for Westwood One, which carries O'Reilly's program in 400 markets, declined to comment Friday. Fox News could not be reached for comment.
On Tuesday's version of O'Reilly's syndicated radio program, "The Radio Factor," the host vented his exasperation at two ballot measures that San Franciscans were in the process of approving on election day.
If city voters were intent on voting to oppose military recruitment in public schools and to ban handgun ownership, O'Reilly reasoned, then maybe it should be cut off from federal dollars. To illustrate his point, O'Reilly riffed on a vision of a San Francisco nation-state:
"Fine. You want to be your own country? Go right ahead," O'Reilly went on. "And if al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. We're going to say, look, every other place in America is off limits to you except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead."
Daly, who sponsored the handgun measure, could not dismiss the statements as hyperbole.
"When you have the privilege of being on the airwaves, there comes with that a certain amount of responsibility," Daly said. "If you want to disagree, fine, that's your right. But don't talk about blowing stuff up. There are people who live there and work there."
Perhaps there's only one way to settle this: On TV.
It would be a battle royal made in talk show heaven. Daly -- the activist turned San Francisco politician who's to the left of former Mayor Willie Brown -- sharing the split screen with O'Reilly, the conservative icon whom he wants to see canned.
"I've never been on a network show like that before," Daly said Friday. Former San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Angela Alioto knows what it's like to tangle with O'Reilly. She appears on his television show roughly every other month, defending liberal positions dear to many San Franciscans like medical marijuana and help for the homeless.
"He likes me because I'm the opposite of what he is," Alioto said. "But in San Francisco, I'm a moderate."
Still, she was surprised when she appeared on O'Reilly's program Monday night to defend San Francisco's handgun ban and military recruiting measure.
O'Reilly made a statement similar to the one he made on the radio Tuesday: "Why should we protect you from al Qaeda and terrorists if you're going to disrespect the military by passing this, even though it's symbolic, resolution?"
"When he went off on this al Qaeda thing, I was thrown off. And I never get thrown off," Alioto said. "We're an American city, and you shouldn't be talking about that in relation to any city.
"But I don't think Bill O'Reilly should be fired for saying that," she said.
And while she doubts that he will apologize, she thinks that he may back off if he realizes that his comments are being interpreted as inciting terrorism. "And that's his big thing, terrorism," she said. "It would affect his credibility if he appeared to be advocating that."
Perhaps Alioto is the person to be San Francisco's emissary to the No Spin Zone, which is the show's mantra. In fact, she said, O'Reilly is going to send her one of his "No Spin Zone" jackets.
So where can you wear one of those in San Francisco?
"Oh, I'll wear it everywhere, as long as it just says, 'No Spin Zone,' " Alioto said and then laughed. "But not if it says, 'O'Reilly.' "
Page B - 1
URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/11/12/COIT.TMP
Fine. You want to be your own country? Go right ahead. And if al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. We're going to say, look, every other place in America is off limits to you except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead.
I suppose, to give him the maximum benefit of the doubt, that O'Reilly was trying to claim that these ballot measures were unconstitutional. Yet herein lies the dangers in the assumption that the conservative take on the constitution just is America and growing conflation in conservative circles of Democracy with conservative ideology as opposed to an open political process. The only way O'Reilly's comments could make sense is to say that violating the conservative interpretation of the Constitution is tantamount to seceding from the union.
It's hard to not see the dramatic parallels with the comments made by Pat Robertson after the citizens of Dover, PA voted out the school board members that had approved teaching "intelligent design" in science classrooms.
I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city. And don't wonder why He hasn't helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I'm not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that's the case, don't ask for His help because he might not be there.
How dare you defy me! Now you must be punished, they seem to be saying. At it's root there is a sense of entitlement and supreme confidence is the essential correctness of their worldviews. Bill O'Reilly declares that rejecting military recruiters in high schools is a rejection of America so fundamental that San Francisco no longer deserves protection. Pat Robertson declares that teaching science only in science classes is a rejection of God so fundamental that Dover, PA, no longer deserves God's grace.
Is it just me, or is the arrogance of the Right spinning out of control?
SAN FRANCISCO
Local leaders unleash vitriol at O'Reilly
TV host should be fired for comments about city, Daly says
- Joe Garofoli, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Not everybody took Fox News host Bill O'Reilly's on-air comments this week about terrorists bombing Coit Tower as the hyperbole that fills the talk-radio ether. One of the ticked off was San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly, who Friday called for O'Reilly to be fired.
"For an anchor on a major station, Fox News, to be saying those kinds of things, it's just not OK," Daly said Friday. "It was just over the top."
Agreeing with Daly was San Francisco firefighters union president John Hanley, and not just because the hose-shaped tower is a tribute to firefighters.
"Who is this guy, O'Reilly?" said Hanley, who identified himself as both a third-generation San Franciscan and military veteran. "I've got guys fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. I'm a veteran myself. What's he talking about?"
A spokesman for Westwood One, which carries O'Reilly's program in 400 markets, declined to comment Friday. Fox News could not be reached for comment.
On Tuesday's version of O'Reilly's syndicated radio program, "The Radio Factor," the host vented his exasperation at two ballot measures that San Franciscans were in the process of approving on election day.
If city voters were intent on voting to oppose military recruitment in public schools and to ban handgun ownership, O'Reilly reasoned, then maybe it should be cut off from federal dollars. To illustrate his point, O'Reilly riffed on a vision of a San Francisco nation-state:
"Fine. You want to be your own country? Go right ahead," O'Reilly went on. "And if al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. We're going to say, look, every other place in America is off limits to you except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead."
Daly, who sponsored the handgun measure, could not dismiss the statements as hyperbole.
"When you have the privilege of being on the airwaves, there comes with that a certain amount of responsibility," Daly said. "If you want to disagree, fine, that's your right. But don't talk about blowing stuff up. There are people who live there and work there."
Perhaps there's only one way to settle this: On TV.
It would be a battle royal made in talk show heaven. Daly -- the activist turned San Francisco politician who's to the left of former Mayor Willie Brown -- sharing the split screen with O'Reilly, the conservative icon whom he wants to see canned.
"I've never been on a network show like that before," Daly said Friday. Former San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Angela Alioto knows what it's like to tangle with O'Reilly. She appears on his television show roughly every other month, defending liberal positions dear to many San Franciscans like medical marijuana and help for the homeless.
"He likes me because I'm the opposite of what he is," Alioto said. "But in San Francisco, I'm a moderate."
Still, she was surprised when she appeared on O'Reilly's program Monday night to defend San Francisco's handgun ban and military recruiting measure.
O'Reilly made a statement similar to the one he made on the radio Tuesday: "Why should we protect you from al Qaeda and terrorists if you're going to disrespect the military by passing this, even though it's symbolic, resolution?"
"When he went off on this al Qaeda thing, I was thrown off. And I never get thrown off," Alioto said. "We're an American city, and you shouldn't be talking about that in relation to any city.
"But I don't think Bill O'Reilly should be fired for saying that," she said.
And while she doubts that he will apologize, she thinks that he may back off if he realizes that his comments are being interpreted as inciting terrorism. "And that's his big thing, terrorism," she said. "It would affect his credibility if he appeared to be advocating that."
Perhaps Alioto is the person to be San Francisco's emissary to the No Spin Zone, which is the show's mantra. In fact, she said, O'Reilly is going to send her one of his "No Spin Zone" jackets.
So where can you wear one of those in San Francisco?
"Oh, I'll wear it everywhere, as long as it just says, 'No Spin Zone,' " Alioto said and then laughed. "But not if it says, 'O'Reilly.' "
Page B - 1
URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/11/12/COIT.TMP
posted by JimG at 2:08 PM
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