Cameron and O’Reilly…Together at Last

It seemed inevitable: Bill O'Reilly, whose show went certifiably bonkers with a report of rampaging lesbian militias, follows up by trotting out long-debunked pseudo-science from anti-gay obsessive Paul Cameron, as Box Turtle Bulletin explains. Here at IGF (courtesy of Bay Windows), Rick Rosendall offers a useful refresher course on Cameron's agitprop and how to counter it.

18 Comments for “Cameron and O’Reilly…Together at Last”

  1. posted by Xeno on

    Was O’Reilly & Fox Co as harsh on Cameron as they were on Matthew Hale of the World Church of the Creator, when they invited that sad excuse of a human being on their show? If not, then O’Reilly, Bobby and NDT30 deserve all the rotten tomatoes thrown at them.

  2. posted by Bobby on

    Part of being fair and balanced is that you interview gays and people who hate gays. I’m surprised that Jonathan Rauch, the founder of Pink Pistols, doesn’t get that.

    Even Geraldo has interviewed people far more controversial than Cameron, such as neo-nazis and klansmen. But I guess some of you people don’t like free speech.

    Frankly, I’m glad O’reilly is interviewing Cameron, I’m sure he’s gonna ask the tough questions he always asks.

  3. posted by Randi Schimnosky on

    Bobby, if you’re fair and balanced you don’t invite nutbar gay haters who praise Nazi approaches to gays onto your show. If you’re fair and balanced you accept gays for who they are given that they aren’t hurting anyone, you don’t give a platform to people who’s goal is to demonize gays

  4. posted by Lori Heine on

    This is yet another sad, pathetic case of hypocrisy on the Far Right.

    Gays are preached at, endlessly, to “be responsible” and “police the community.”

    Well, when the hell are these hetero conservatives going to start practicing what they preach?

    I’ve watched The Factor often enough to know that Bill O’Reilly not only disagrees with many of his more over-the-top guests, but is even obviously amused by them. He probably thinks Rod Wheeler is a horse’s ass, and I’ve no doubt he’d classify Cameron that way, too.

    Why, then, are these nutbags on his program? Because their “base” is the nutso Right, and they’ve got to throw them all the red, raw meat they possibly can.

    So much for “policing” your own. That advice only applies, evidently, to gays, African-Americans, women, Latinos and anyone else the statist, Right-Wing establishment wants to keep down.

    They want us to do their dirty work for them. We often do so, believing that when we do, these people will change their minds about us.

    Of course that doesn’t work unless we hold them to it. Seems to me they’re doing their best to ignore us.

    How’re we doing with that?

  5. posted by Bobby on

    Lori, O’reilly has interviewed Michael Moore, Rosie O’donnel, PETA spokespeople (several times), ultra-sensitive muslims, Black Panthers, Al Sharpton, and many many other liberals. You don’t understand us rightwingers well, it’s not that we hate hearing a liberal point of view, we only hate it when those liberal views are not challenged. If a gun banner comes to the O’reilly factor, he will have to defend his views, he won’t have some soft reporter that agrees with him or her on everything.

    “Bobby, if you’re fair and balanced you don’t invite nutbar gay haters who praise Nazi approaches to gays ”

    —Actually, not only you invite him, but you treat him with respect and let him speak. That’s being fair and balanced, it means putting on guests you may not agree with and letting them get their points accross, as long as they don’t spin or go into an endless monologue. Bill has even interviewed people from the adult film industry, the world of strippers, and others, and unlike Glenn Beck, he hasn’t condemmed them. That’s why millions watch the factor, and not just in Ameica but accross the world, because we get many points of view.

  6. posted by Lori Heine on

    “You don’t understand us rightwingers well…”

    Bobby, what color IS the sky in your world? I’ll bet it’s pretty.

    I’ve lived all my life with right-wingers, in one of the most conservative states in the union, yet somehow I don’t understand right-wingers! What a hoot you are!

    “It’s not that we hate hearing a liberal point of view, we only hate it when those liberal views are not challenged.”

    As I’m a libertarian — neither fish nor fowl, I think the whole damn bunch of you should be challenged, and as often as possible. That holds true regardless of whether you wear the “Tweedledee” jersey or play for “Tweedledum.”

    “If a gun banner comes to the O’reilly factor, he will have to defend his views, he won’t have some soft reporter that agrees with him or her on everything.”

    What are you trying to say — that I favor banning guns (???!!!)

    Are you totally out of your mind? What has this entire conversation been about? I have made it plain from the very beginning of it that I am a member of the Pink Pistols and own several guns.

    That established — AGAIN — why the hell would I want Bill O’Reilly to be soft on gun banners?

    You’ve got your little script and you’re sticking to it. Never mind the fact that when it comes to grasping reality, you have spun completely into orbit.

  7. posted by Randi Schimnosky on

    Bobby said “Actually, not only you invite him, but you treat him with respect and let him speak. That’s being fair and balanced”.

    No, being fair and balanced means that you don’t give airtime of any sort to psychotic gay bashers. To give airtime to this fool is to legitimize his viewpoints and that is totally unfair to a group as abused as gays. If you’re fair and balanced to blacks you don’t invite the KKK to speak and its the same for gays.

  8. posted by Jorge on

    Uh, wait a minute. The post in the link doesn’t talk about O’Reilly interviewing Mr. Cameron.

    The segment on O?Reilly?s program focused on the San Diego Padres? decision to hold a Gay Pride Night while giving away hats to children. Sandy Rios, formerly of the Concerned Women for America and currently of the Culture Campaign, took the anti-gay side. Ron Deharte of San Diego Pride defended the Padres? decision.

    Bill O’Reilly did not interview Paul Cameron at all. Can we start this discussion over again with the understanding that Bill O’Reilly did not interview Paul Cameron?

    Good. Because Jonathan Rauch’s post here is an even more deceptive hit job than Stephen Miller’s post a few days ago.

    I saw the interview with Sandy Rios and Ron Deharte and I do not agree at all with the way it is being characterized here. O’Reilly was not by any stretch endorsing her little diahrrea of the mouth.

    I will return to this later if I can find a transcript.

  9. posted by Jorge on

    Okay, let’s cut to the chase. Mr. Rauch here accuses Bill O’Reilly specifically of “trotting out long-debunked pseudo-science from anti-gay obsessive Paul Cameron”.

    Box Turtle Bulletin accuses that “O?Reilly?s program became a platform for another bogus statistic, this one from discredited ?researcher? Paul Cameron, whose comparison of homosexuality to smoking made it on the air without challenge”.

    Now Box Turtle Bulletin doesn’t do us the favor of giving us a full transcript. Here’s one that’s fair

    http://blog.radioleft.com/blog/_archives/2007/7/12/3088340.html

    In particular, it’s very important to note the entirety of what Bill O’Reilly said after Sandy Rios gave this line:

    Well, what people don’t understand is that the homosexual lifestyle, especially for men, is deadly. It takes their life 10 to 20 years earlier than straight men.

    Box Turtle Bulletin only gave Mr. O’Reilly immediate response “But that’s their decision.” But the exchange went on a little longer than that, with O’Reilly being almost filibustered (that’s from my memory) and ultimately saying “I don’t think the Padres are promoting homosexuality, Sandy. I disagree with you.”

    Did O’Reilly challenge the lifespan statistic? Nope. And neither did his other guest. But did O’Reilly cut this wacko guest short and level a firm stand against her hysteria? Absolutely.

    Now, you can view that interview however you like, but making verifiably deceptive statements about what O’Reilly did or did not endorse completely distracts from the legitimate and clear and present question of why is Bill O’Reilly being critical of gay night at the Padres.

  10. posted by Craig2 on

    I thought Cameron *was* a nutbar pseudo “academic” gay basher, and closet neofascist. Do some digging and you’ll find him on the same platforms as Canadian white supremacists…

    Craig2

    Wellington, NZ

  11. posted by Lori Heine on

    Bill O’Reilly can be very entertaining. I suppose the nuts and gasbags out there in home-hate-land will take him the way they want to no matter what he says. I also guess the Far Lefties will make him seem like a character straight out of Hell.

    I’m not in either camp. Again, he can be entertaining. I can’t defend everything he’s done, but he isn’t as bad as many people think he is.

    Maybe he needs over-the-top people to be guests on his program if he wants to keep the high ratings he boasts about. If I have a gripe with Fox, it isn’t just the insane people he keeps interviewing, it’s the whole network’s preoccupation with people like Paris Hilton.

    Paris Hilton, however, has no direct impact on my life. She isn’t trying to get me murdered or to take away my right to defend myself. It is only natural that gay people are going to be more exercised about guests like Wheeler and Cameron, who in my opinion are trying to do those things.

  12. posted by Lori Heine on

    I meant “homo-hate-land.” Darn keyboard.

  13. posted by Bobby on

    “To give airtime to this fool is to legitimize his viewpoints and that is totally unfair to a group as abused as gays.”

    —What you propose isn’t fair and balanced. You want only people you agree with to be interviewed. That’s rather boring.

    “If you’re fair and balanced to blacks you don’t invite the KKK to speak and its the same for gays.”

    —So blacks have to be protected from being offended. Give me a break. Blacks like most people, want to be informed. You go the anti defamation league website and you’ll find where the klan meetings are taking place, what are their leaders saying, what are their policies, what do they think, etc.

    As a gay man, I’m not a pussy. I’m not afraid of homophobes, I’m not afraid of people who disagree with my sexual orientation. I’m not afraid of being judged, criticized, condemmed, being told that I’m going to hell. You know why? Because in the great tradition of rightwingers, I’m right about everything. So if I believe my sexual orientation is right, and that God supports me, then who can intimidate me? Nobody.

  14. posted by Jorge on

    You know why? Because in the great tradition of rightwingers, I’m right about everything. So if I believe my sexual orientation is right, and that God supports me, then who can intimidate me? Nobody.

    I’ve never looked hard enough that I’ve ever been afraid of homophobes, but I have looked at white supremecist sites a few times, and that’s scared me out of my mind. When you get to the KKK level, that’s pretty extreme and sick stuff.

    I don’t see many anti-gay equivalents of the white supremacists. Times are different for us, though.

  15. posted by Bobby on

    Here’s the funny thing about the KKK, they are heavily monitored by the feds, they can rarely move without the government knowing where they are and what they’re planning.

    But if you’re talking about unaffiliated violent homophobes 15 to 25, those are the ones you should be the most scared of, nobody’s monitoring them.

    All the KKK and the neo-nazis and aryan nations can do now is talk and have parades. This people are not going to get any sympathy by neither the courts nor juries. Of course, if a 18 year old beats the crap out of you, he’s not a klansman or neo-nazi and he happens to be the school’s athlete and an honor student, good luck getting a conviction, most likely the little bastard will only get probation.

    What we must do in any case is fight for free speech, even when it benefits our enemies. If Cameron goes on TV, he doesn’t become a martyr or a victim, so he won’t inspire many people to join hate organizations. But if he becomes a victim, if he is censored, then he goes online, people feel sorry for him, are more likely to believe his wacky theories and join his cause.

    Also, I’d advise to fight for the second amendment. Because if the culture war ever becomes violent and gangs of nuts start roaming gay areas looking to kill as many gays as possible, you’re gonna need all the guns and ammunition you can carry.

  16. posted by Lori Heine on

    “Also, I’d advise to fight for the second amendment. Because if the culture war ever becomes violent and gangs of nuts start roaming gay areas looking to kill as many gays as possible, you’re gonna need all the guns and ammunition you can carry.”

    Absolutely. I’ve already begun wearing my .38 special, in a hip holster, when I go out for my nightly walk. The rest of the year I can walk in the daytime, but when it’s 115 degrees in the shade, there’s no other time to walk except at night.

  17. posted by Brian Miller on

    Why, then, are these nutbags on his program?

    Ratings.

    Anyone who thinks that O’Reilly is a “balanced journalist” probably also subsists on a diet of Ann Coulter books and gives generously to the Christian Coalition. It’s a self-feeding circle, the subintelligent version of mental masturbation.

    If one can subsist in his FOX Fantasy World, he never has to deal with reality as it comes up and challenges his assumptions. O’Reilly’s job is to keep that fantasy as complete and uncorrupted as possible, while also positioning himself as a “bold iconoclast” for occasionally criticizing the KKK and other bonkers organizations.

  18. posted by Bobby on

    “Anyone who thinks that O’Reilly is a “balanced journalist”

    —Do you watch him or do you read about him? Because most of his haters only read about him in liberal websites that hate him.

    He is a balanced journalist, I’ve seen him interview all kinds of people and as long as they don’t start giving speeches instead of answering questions, he’s quite nice.

    There is no FOX Fantasy World, Fox keeps us informed of what’s really going on, like Jet Blue sponsoring haters like the people from DailyKoss.

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