Wherein I Rant Against Bill O'Reilly And It's Not At All Political.

[Jester]

You know what I meant. I didn't use the word bad to imply unsafe. I used it as in "bad idea". And quite honestly, I feel my kids would be safer on Duval street at 11pm on a Friday night than at my local Publix in the middle of the day, even though it's not an appropriate place for them.

Oh, I know what you meant. The problem was that, the way O'Reilly framed it, it was made to look as if Key West IS a bad place for kids, as in dangerously bad.

It actually happens to be the safest place I've ever lived. For adults or children.

The cynic in me says because Ted Baxter and his cronies want to be able to visit Key West without it being crowded with other tourists.

He's gonna have one helluva time getting a drink here. I sure as fuck won't serve him. I think my boss is in agreement with me on that one, too.

[Jay 2K Winger]

He's gonna have one helluva time getting a drink here. I sure as fuck won't serve him. I think my boss is in agreement with me on that one, too.

I don't blame you.

But I think you mean to say you "won't serve him a drink." You absolutely would serve him... his head on a platter.

[Jester]

No, I wouldn't serve him. To anyone. That meat's gotta be rotten from all the toxic shit he's always spewing. No connoisseur I know would ever eat that, no matter how it was cooked.

Although, I must admit, the thought of seeing him trussed up on a giant platter and jamming a big ole apple right into his big ole mouth before I push that tray into a big ole oven is rather pleasant....

[Jester]

Very interesting development. A friend of mine who is just as angry as I am (and there are a lot of people down here who are just as angry as I am about this!) told me that she went and spoke with a couple local politicians. She found out that when Fox News was down here, "they interviewed the Mayor, business owners and more functioning members of our community" and led city officials to believe "that this would be a favorable presentation of the island." My friend suggested "exploring a commercial defamation lawsuit against Fox and O'Reilly." One of the city officials "mentioned that the city is considering drafting a Proclamation banning O'Reilly from Key West." Which I would DEARLY love to see. In my friend's opinion (and she's clearly better connected than I am), "either option could hopefully garner some positive press and mainstream network coverage."

Stay tuned, kids....this could get fun!

[lordlundar]

As I said before, don't expect a lawsuit to work. Fox News has been declared immune from legal action in such cases.

[Jester]

I don't expect a lawsuit to work either. Not, I suspect, do the city leaders. At least, not in the traditional sense. But it can work in the sense of bringing positive publicity and attention to the island. I'm pretty sure that's what they're aiming for.

This would not be new ground for Key West, by the way.

[Kaylyn]

I regularly listen to a podcast called Skeptic's Guide to the Universe. I seem to recall one of the hosts talking about being interviewed by O'Reilly for a skeptical point of view on some topic or another. He said that O'Reilly was actually very civil and nice off-camera. He went into the interview thinking "oh this isn't going to be so bad" and then as soon as the cameras rolled, O'Reilly got into character and started pulling his usual O'Reilly shit.

Yep. The guy you see on TV and who writes the books...that's actually an act designed for Fox News ratings (according to this particular host, anyway).

[Jester]

Considering he's the guy who's making a lot of the decisions, including how to portray Key West and how to attack certain guests, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say his nice face is the act, and the douche we see on tv is closer to his true self.

[Arcus]

Anyone remember his freak out? I think O'Reilly puts on any face he needs to so he can ambush someone on his show for ratings.

*note: the video is NSFW*

[AccountingDrone]

Oh, I know what you meant. The problem was that, the way O'Reilly framed it, it was made to look as if Key West IS a bad place for kids, as in dangerously bad.

It actually happens to be the safest place I've ever lived. For adults or children.



He's gonna have one helluva time getting a drink here. I sure as fuck won't serve him. I think my boss is in agreement with me on that one, too.

Very interesting development. A friend of mine who is just as angry as I am (and there are a lot of people down here who are just as angry as I am about this!) told me that she went and spoke with a couple local politicians. She found out that when Fox News was down here, "they interviewed the Mayor, business owners and more functioning members of our community" and led city officials to believe "that this would be a favorable presentation of the island." My friend suggested "exploring a commercial defamation lawsuit against Fox and O'Reilly." One of the city officials "mentioned that the city is considering drafting a Proclamation banning O'Reilly from Key West." Which I would DEARLY love to see. In my friend's opinion (and she's clearly better connected than I am), "either option could hopefully garner some positive press and mainstream network coverage."

Stay tuned, kids....this could get fun!

I found Key West a lovely place to visit. I would feel fine with having kids out with me walking around while fairly late [like after dinner on the way home] and I felt quite comfortable outside as late as we were.

And I would love to see him formally banned from Key West, is there really a chance every single hotelier would cooperate with the ban? And as suggested, I think a whole bunch of positive youtube videos would be great, maybe add some webcams as well.

[Sheldonrs]

There's a reason he's called "Bill O'LIElly".

[XCashier]

Sounds to me like someone in city government (or a local business) needs to put a little money aside to do a "All the reasons O'Reilly doesn't know what he is talking about" video. Make it funny and people will watch. It doesn't have to cost much at all. Just some tongue in cheek humor at O'Reilly's expense while showing the truth about Key West.

That would be really cool.

I've never liked Bill O'Lie-ly or Faux News. And those lawsuits that gave them the right to lie to the American public... I'm amazed that anyone believes them or takes them seriously anymore.

I'm sorry he trashed your city like that, Jester. I too hope that lying dirtbag gets his comeuppance, one way or another. The more humiliating to him, the better.

[mathnerd]

I found Key West a lovely place to visit. I would feel fine with having kids out with me walking around while fairly late [like after dinner on the way home] and I felt quite comfortable outside as late as we were.

I didn't mean to imply that it wasn't a lovely place and great for kids in general. I specified Duval Street at night. Key West is a wonderful place to visit. Recently I seem to be making my way down there roughly every other week, and once recently with the kids. We had a wonderful time exploring Ft. Zachary Taylor and the Key West cemetery, then headed over to Duval Street and the surrounding blocks to do some window shopping, eat dinner and say hello to a friend. After dinner, however, as the party atmosphere was kicking into gear, it was time to get the kids out of that very small area.

Back to the original topic, I wound up sending an email of my own to Bill O'Reilly. I'm sure it will go exactly nowhere, but I had to point out the irony of him demanding an apology for "creative editing" by another network just days after this piece ran on his own show.

[Victory Sabre]

I might generally agree with him politically, but, his know it all attitude really puts me off big time. This piece makes me likle him even less.

It makes me want to go and Visit Key West. Even more so now that it is so stupid cold here.

[Talon]

Bill O'Reilly [...] He's the guy I refer to as Ted Baxter.

There's a reason he's called "Bill O'LIElly".

Falafel man?
Mr. Paris Business Review?
The Frank Burns of news?

Those are the few polite names I can think of for the above waste of oxygen.