Bill O'Reilly: Child Abuser.
"The situation here, for this kid, looks to me to be a lot more fun than what he had under his old parents. He didn't have to go to school, he could run around and do whatever he wanted…there was an element here that this kid liked about this circumstance."
-- Bill O'Reilly
After recounting some of his acts during testimony given just feet away Shawn's weeping parents Tuesday, Devlin faces additional charges in federal court Wednesday morning. He is expected to plead guilty to charges of videotaping himself torturing Shawn after kidnapping him, and transporting the boy across state lines.
-- AP
After the boy, then 11, was abducted at gunpoint while riding his bike in rural Washington County, Devlin took him to his apartment in suburban St. Louis and repeatedly sexually assaulted him. Days later, Devlin took Shawn back to Washington County in his pickup truck, apparently intent on killing the boy.
He said he pulled Shawn from his truck and began to strangle him. Shawn resisted.
“I attempted to kill (Shawn) and he talked me out of it,” Devlin said Tuesday.
Devlin stopped the choking, but then sexually assaulted the boy again. Prosecutors say it was at that point that Shawn told Devlin he would do whatever was asked of him to stay alive.
-- AP
How morally bankrupt, how degraded, is the nation that still allows this man on the air?
This entry was posted by Michael Reynolds, on
Wednesday, October 10, 2007.
You can leave your response.
12:13 AM
This has been all over the news here. The mom basically said, "Hanging's too good for him." It's hard to disagree.
Yet I was going to attempt some weak defense of O'Reilly here -- not because I like O'Reilly (I don't; I've never watched him), but because I find it hard to believe that there really are people who would say something like that. "This must be a misquote, something out of context," I thought. But right at the beginning, this:
"The Stockholm syndrome thing -- I don't buy it. I've never bought it."
Wow. Just, wow. This kid was eleven when he was kidnapped, threatened, and repeatedly abused.
Criminy. I mean, how desperate for something outrageous to say do you have to be to come up with this? I pray the boy and his parents don't hear this despicable filth.
7:15 AM
It is just beyond belief. The fact that no alarm bell went off in O'Reilly's head as these words were coming out of his mouth I think points to a disconnect from common decency and an utter lack of human empathy. There is just something wrong in the mind of a man who would sneer at an abused child. This is a sociopathic personlity.
2:41 PM
I don't know why his continuing on-the-air presence raises a question about us as a nation. It is a good question for his employers, and their answer is probably along the lines of "He gets good ratings." But even then, his ratings topped out at about 2.5 million and he's averaging about 1.7 million now. In a nation of 300 million, those aren't large numbers, provided others don't give him additional exposure (as we are doing at the moment).
That's why I tend to avoid talking about him or his program no matter what he does because any mention is good for him. In this instance, his comment is outrageous but not surprising considering the source. It sounds a lot like those who tend to believe any woman who was raped was "asking for it."
5:15 PM
I guess the question is whether one thinks that various cultural elements -- music, TV, movies -- can fairly be considered a reflection of the character of a nation. It's a big question. Not one I've decided on one way or the other. You don't think that -- for lack of a more precise way of putting it -- that we can be "blamed" for our cultural product?
11:41 AM
There's no supply if there's no demand.
The downside of mass media and modern communications is that fringe voices attract attention far beyond their actual appeal. Combine that with a 24/7 news media constantly looking for a story and almost anything can get blown out of proportion.
Meanwhile, the silent majority which minds its own business goes on trying to earn a living, raise kids, and live life.
O'Reilly et al. disproportionately magnify a small part of America (I hope a microscopically small part, in this case).