Message to Oprah.. re: O'Reilly

[walldude]

I don't watch Oprah but my wife does. I heard she let O'Reilly strut his stuff on her show yesterday without questioning his appalling comments about Shawn Hornbeck. I had to drop her a line and let her know what I thought:

I believe you owe Shawn Hornbeck and his family an apology for allowing Bill O'Reilly on your show to defend the rights of children. O'Reilly's comments about Shawn "enjoying his life more with his kidnapper than with his parents" are well known and should have been taken into consideration before you allowed him to appear on your show as an "expert". The NCFMEC realized what O'Reilly had done and cancelled his speaking engagement. For you to allow him to come on your show and profess his "expertise" on this issue without questioning his apparent lack of understanding of the issue at hand was at best dishonest, and at worst insulting to all families of children who have suffered through something as horrible as this.
Thank you for your time.

Let them know what you think:
http://www2.oprah.com/email/tows/email_tows_main.jhtml

Remember it was a letter and phone call campaign that got the NCFMEC to drop Bill from speaking at their fundraiser. Oprah is a huge influence on millions of people, she should have been more responsible about this.

[hlthe2b]

1. done.... I find it unbelievable that he was on...

and that Oprah was either not informed, or elected not to confront him!

[AX10]

2. She also cut the Dixie Chicks short so that she could...

discuss Madonna's adoption. Oprah doesn't want controversy for some reason or the other. She has become too comfortable being an establishment mule. She also shilled for Arnie in 2003.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

10. She also had a show that built up the Bush case for the Iraq War

absoluteley sickening. It had Judith Miller spewing off all of her mistruths. They had no-one on to state the other side.

[AX10]

14. I remember that too. She also chastized Clinton for his affair..

and has remained dead silent regarding Bush's horrific crimes! As I said, Oprah is an ESTABLISHMENT MULE!

[helderheid]

3. I posted on the forum

Oprah hosted O'Reilly to discuss molestation without raising his remark that child had "fun" with his captor

http://mediamatters.org/items/200702220011

On the February 21 edition of her nationally syndicated talk show, Oprah Winfrey hosted Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly during a discussion about child molestation but failed to question O'Reilly about his suggestion that Shawn Hornbeck -- the young boy who was abducted at age 11, held for four years and then found by police in Missouri -- may have willingly remained with his captor because he was having "a lot more fun than what he had under his old parents."

Winfrey did note that O'Reilly had speculated about why Hornbeck did not flee, but did not explain to her viewers the extent and full content of O'Reilly's comments. During his February 21 appearance, O'Reilly told Winfrey that Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome "is the key to the Devlin case and the Shawn Hornbeck situation" and that the assertion by the "idiot media people" that Hornbeck suffered from Stockholm Syndrome is "a bunch of crap." Winfrey then asked: "Is that why you asked the question, 'Why he run?' " -- to which O'Reilly replied: "Right, right. Because people have to know how bad this is."

As Media Matters for America documented, on the January 15 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly asserted that "there was an element here that this kid liked about his circumstances" and that "he situation here for this kid looks to me to be a lot more fun than what he had under his old parents." On the January 16, 17, and 22 editions of his program, O'Reilly defended those statements and vowed to "apologize" if he was "wrong," as Media Matters also noted.

Additionally, as Media Matters documented, the Center for Missing and Exploited Children replaced O'Reilly as keynote speaker at a fundraising event, a detail that Winfrey ignored during her discussion with O'Reilly. As Keith Olbermann reported on the February 9 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, the Center for Missing and Exploited Children did not provide a reason for its decision to replace O'Reilly but issued the following statement:

In response to the numerous e-mails and inquiries we have received, we are providing the following update regarding the Collier County, Florida branch fundraising dinner scheduled for March 9, 2007 in Naples, Florida. Bill O'Reilly, host of The O'Reilly Factor, will not be a speaker at the dinner. The dinner will be held as scheduled. John Walsh, host of America's Most Wanted, will be the keynote speaker.

From the February 21 edition of The Oprah Winfrey Show:

WINFREY: Why do you think this country has not risen up with a united voice against this issue?

O'REILLY: Because it -- nobody wants to think about it. It's too grisly. Do you know what Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome is, Oprah?

WINFREY: No.

O'REILLY: All right. This is so horrifying and this is the key to the Devlin case and the Shawn Hornbeck situation. It is so horrifying what these pedophiles do to these kids. You heard from Todd --

WINFREY: Yeah.

O'REILLY: -- and I bet you Todd just told you 10-15 percent of what happened to him.

WINFREY: If that.

O'REILLY: OK. Right. OK. This Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome is basically a torture where these pedophiles -- and they learn this technique -- torture young girls and boys, little girls and boys, where they get them to a state where they are so confused they don't know what they're doing. OK. It's like -- and -- it's like if you were in a torture chamber in, you know --

WINFREY: Yeah.

O'REILLY: -- some kind of horror movie, all right, and then, when they break the kid down and the kid doesn't know what he's doing then they do what they want with the kid.

Now, America doesn't want to confront this. It's not Stockholm Syndrome. Remember, in the Devlin case, all these idiot media people run up, "Oh, Stockholm Syndrome, like Patty Hearst." What a bunch of crap. I'm sorry I had to use that word, but it is just garbage, all right. This is way beyond that. This is torture -- systematic torture.

WINFREY: Is that why you asked the question: "Why he run?" You asked --

O'REILLY: Right, right. Because people have to know how bad this is, all right. This is taking a human being, a little child, and in the worst possible way, torturing that child over months to break the child down and the child doesn't know what they're doing.

WINFREY: Yeah, Todd's here nodding, Bill, because he knows what you're talking about.

O'REILLY: Now, there's two ways to fight this, all right. Number one: with the law, which we just talked about. Anybody doing this kind of stuff, it's life in prison. Period. That's it. And the second thing is for parents to understand that you have to educate.

Contact:
Bill O'Reilly [e-mail]
Contact:
ABC ABC News
ABCNews
7 W. 66th St.
New York, NY 10023
Contact:
Fox News Channel FOX News Channel
1-888-369-4762
[e-mail]
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036
Contact:
The O'Reilly Factor The O'Reilly Factor

[walldude]

9. OMG! I didn't see the show and haven't been to MM yet today

It was worse than I thought! The guy actually pretended to be an expert at Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome, a term he had never even heard till a couple days ago. Damn, if I had seen this I might not have been as polite in my message..

[KingFlorez]

4. He doesn't care about missing and exploited children

He's a phony, he just wants to be able to have something to have something on his resume that makes him look like such a good person.

[Morgana LaFey]

24. Frankly, I think he's got Foley syndrome

Profess to "care" about sexually exploited children, allthe while having predilections in that direction of his own. His assertion that the kid "enjoyed" his captivity is just the kind of rationalization that perps might engage in.

[Liberal_Dog]

28. It's Not About Being A Good Person

O'Reilly is all about two things: fame and money. Child abuse stories = ratings and that is all O'Reilly cares about.

As for Oprah, she completely disgraced herself.

[Totallybushed]

5. Bill O'Reilly

is too full of himself, too cocksure, too arrogant, too smug too....you name it.

Did I mention he is also wrong??

[ShortnFiery]

6. The kindest thing I can say about Oprah is "she won't inherit the earth." n/t

[rodeodance]

7. just goes show you----ANYONE can be the 'expert"!!!

[verse18]

8. I left this message

From another thread:

As a Social Worker who evaluates families who's children have been abused and/or neglect, I am absolutely appalled that you would have Bill O'Reilly on your show. Bill O'Reilly, a known sexual predator, blames an exploited child for his situation insisting the child had "fun." Once the fact that Shawn Hornbeck was regularly sodomized by his capture, O'Reilly refused to retract his statements. I hope that you could understand that children who are being abused by adults have no power or control in their situation and are manipulated into complicity. The emotional and psychological trauma that a child abuse victims goes through is bad enough without high profile individuals telling them that they enjoyed what was happening to them or it was their fault. When I talk to adults of abused children who were abused themselves as children, they tell me that the worse part of their victimization was not only the act itself, but if they were blamed or not believed. Bill O'Reilly is a vile human being. Anyone who can defend a child sexual predator and instead, blame the victim of the abuse is a sick individual and I am sadden to see that you gave him a national spotlight on your show.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=266465&mesg_id=267325

[walldude]

12. Oh man, I forgot to mention his "sexual predator" status

in my message. I love DU'ers, once we are on the case, all angles are covered!

[Straight Shooter]

11. Wasn't Oprah molested as a child?

I'm sure she would not appreciate it if Bill had accused her of "liking it," or "why didn't she get away from the situation."

Oh how the mighty are fallen. Shame on you, Oprah, you have become a sellout.

[City Lights]

23. Yes she was, which makes her exchange with Billo all the more disgusting.

Oprah is just another sellout to the almighty dollar.

[Morgana LaFey]

32. That's the kind of thing that only someone who doesn't know a

damn thing about her would say.

You can't watch her show regularly, as I do and have for many years, and not know the opposite is true.

[Morgana LaFey]

25. Not just molested, raped

and not just once.

She understands the dynamics of sexual abuse very well -- she and her staff were just buffaloed by O'Reilly. I don't think there's a good excuse for that, but it's not callousness or indifference on her part, I can assure everyone.

[Straight Shooter]

29. Oh, jeez.

I thought I remembered something about an uncle that molested her, but I had forgotten that it was rape. It took place over some period of time, too, as I recall. That's why I am just dumbfounded that she would allow this creep Bill on her show.

Oprah was granting credibility to a man who possesses the same kind of twisted thinking that allows a person to rationalize such treatment of a child.

[Morgana LaFey]

31. I agree, and most of the time she's on the right page

On all this. Hell, she's got those $100K rewards for catching predators who are wanted by the law, and that's her OWN money, not the foundation's money. AND she wants to start a grassroots effort to get the laws in all the states changed so that predators go to jail forever, IIRC.

All I can say is she -- and/or her producers -- have had the wool pulled over their eyes re O'Reilly. In a sense, she was victimized all over again (manipulated and lied into trusting someone she shouldn't have).

[kerry-is-my-prez]

13. It's a total Bill O'Reilly hatefest on the Oprah message boards I'm LMAO

http://boards.oprah.com/WebX?14@@.f146261!skip=73&view=C

[City Lights]

15. Done. Thanks for the link.

:-)

[Strathos]

16. Apparently she trashed Rosie on the radio

listeners said she thought Rosie was "out of touch" and didn't have much nice to say about Rosie. Rosie on the other hand praises Oprah every chance she gets.

I'm disappointed in Oprah and wrote her too tell her how I thought she was giving into rumors instead of confronting Rosie.

[Sleepless In NY]

17. Oprah should be ashamed, O'Reilly reminds me of Mark Foley

2 Phoneys who claim to "work" on the behalf of children. Doesn't Oprah know the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children removed O'Reilly as their speaker & replaced him with John Walsh due to O'Reillys crude comments about an abducted Shawn Hornbeck? Oprah ever hear of Andrea Markis & O'Reilly's sexual abuse of her, his own employee? What a fool, Oprah is. I'm emailing her show.

[The Count]

18. Oprah helped Bush get - um...selected in 2000. His numbers went up after

she indulged him on her show helping him to impersonate a normal human being

[kerry-is-my-prez]

21. She got Arnie elected in Cali.

She's a wolf in sheep's clothing I'm afraid.

[Norquist Nemesis]

34. She was also the first to plead with Obama to run on her show

That's what I saw as the kickoff for him. I mean, hey...when OPRAH asks you to do it and all!

[lildreamer316]

19. I just finished watching her show on The Secret.

I can't believe this about-face (again!). But here's what just occured to me:

She said on the second show (Feb. 16th); that she was a Christian.

Well, does she not believe in the ten commandments?

"Thou shall not kill."

Says it all right there. Why does she support people who support killing?

Thanks for the memories and the show on the Secret. Bye now.


Or maybe one other thing:
The Secret reminds us of the age-old law: what you resist, persists.
So let's do another show screaming and yelling about child molesters and using horribly strident and negative people like Bill O.
HOw about a show about WHY this happens and HOW we can start to prevent it-totally?
Either you believe in something (christianity, the secret teachings) or you don't. She said she did.
I see how true that is. (NOT).

Sorry , had to get that off my chest. Now I'm gonna practice what i preach and focus on the positive.

[GCP]

20. My e-mail to her

Oprah, you have lost all credibility through your pandering to that megalomaniac hypocrite Bill O'Reilly by having him twice on your show.
Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.
I'll never watch your show again.

[EndElectoral]

22. It would have been fair to have the ACLU or the Vermont judge on to hear their POV.

[Ethelk2044]

26. This is Crazy

All of you have lost your minds. Talking about Oprah. Like she cares about what any of you think. Get a grip people.

[walldude]

27. Oh nobody cares what we think huh..

Maybe you ought to ask the Center For Missing and Exploited Children if they care what we think. Thanks to a letter writing and phone call campaign they pulled Bill-O as the speaker for their Florida fundraiser. Maybe it's you who needs to get a grip.. or jump on the train with us...

[Ethelk2044]

37. Train

I jump on my own train. I do not follow anyone. I make my own decisions. I do not like Bill's show. However, Oprah has a right to have whomever she wants on her show. I do not see any of us paying her salary. Not that she even needs a salary.

The nerve of people. Just like when she built the school, people were outraged because they felt she should have built the school in the US. She should build schools where she wants and when she wants.

She beats to her own drum. She does not let rappers or anyone else tell her what to do. She is her own woman.

[Straight Shooter]

30. Nice little broadbrush insult, there.

Grip yourself. :eyes:

[AlCzervik]

38. so i guess you think O'Reilly was correct. Get a grip.

[otohara]

33. Done

thanks for link

[Breeze54]

35. I saw that show but didn't know about the O'Liely comment...

What an asshole!!!

There are over 950 comments on this topic at Oprah!
The majority of them are villifying BO.

Great job people!!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[plcdude]

36. Done

I wrote her to tell her of my immense disappointment in not only not confronting O'rielly with his previous statements about the Missouri abduction and molestation case but of having him of all people talk about anything related to sexual misconduct. Let her know that she missed the mark by a great deal on this one. I personally do not believe that Mr. Orielly should even still be employed let alone be give a public voice.