Bill O'Reilly is a Putz!

I generally avoid anything having to do with Bill O'Reilly because you know, life is too short to be wasted on an asshole. But I was alerted to the fact that O'Reilly is calling for a boycott of the upcoming Brian DePalma movie, REDACTED -- without ever having SEEN it! I don't blame Mr. Reilly for not wanting to see the movie--the story revolves around a small group of American soldiers stationed at a checkpoint in Iraq who rape and murder a young Iraqi girl. DePalma won the Silver Lion award at the Venice Film Festival for the film which utilizes a variety of created source material (video diaries, produced documentary, surveillance footage, online testimonials, news pieces) to comment on the extreme disconnect between what is presented as reality and the truth, especially in times of strife.

But O'Reilly not only objects to the horrific and graphic subject matter, but feels the film will "incite anti-American hatred around the world." Uh, newsflash for you Bill--this film won't incite anything that hasn't existed for decades. Remember 9/11? Caused by a movie? I think not. The film is based on a true story, so it's absurd that O'Reilly thinks the film will cause MORE animosity than the actual stomach-churning brutality that was inflicted in real life. Furthermore, it's ironic that the very title REDACTED means to edit--which seems like what Mr. O'Reilly and the Bush Administration would like done with the truth.

O'Reilly calls the film "vile" and he's got a point--the actions that are depicted ARE vile. But they happened. This isn't a pure piece of fiction intended to be anti-war propagana, it's a factual examination of actual events. Since when did exposing ugly truths in hopes of educating the public and creating awareness constitute being "anti-American?" It's like saying that exposing pedophile priests makes one "anti-Catholic." It's not the film that incites anti-American attitudes, it's our continuing arrogance and hypocrisy. How horrified are we to catch a foreign spy in our midst--yet our own CIA and NSA gather intelligence on other nations? Or how we strong arm Iran and Korea into discontinuing their nuclear programs when we carelessly fly a dozen armed nuclear warheads across the country? Or chiding the Pakistani leader for imposing civil rights restrictions on his people while in America our phones are being tapped and our President forces all sorts of liberty reducing legislation through in the name of "homeland security."

Bill O'Reilly suggests that Mark Cuban, producer of the film, should be incarcerated--or perhaps have the tar slapped out of him for being anti-American. To that I quote:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

That comes from another well-known "Bill": The Bill of Rights.

Get over it, O'Reilly.