Displaying a hostility to President Bush and the Iraq war similar to that expressed by Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart, on Tuesday’s Late Show David Letterman went further than I’ve ever heard him in revealing his derision for President Bush’s decision to launch the Iraq war and contempt for anyone who dares to criticize Cindy Sheehan. [This node, first posted at 10:45pm EST Tuesday based on a limited video clip preview of the show, was updated and substantially revised at 2am EST Wednesday.]
Letterman normally tries to make the guest look as good and entertaining as possible. But he greeted FNC’s Bill O’Reilly with disdain. When O’Reilly urged an end to tagging Bush as a “liar,” scolded Cindy Sheehan for calling the insurgents “freedom fighters” and urged people to be “very careful with what we say" in disparaging others, Letterman took him to task: "Well, and you should be very careful with what you say also." Letterman demanded: "How can you possibly take exception with the motivation and the position of someone like Cindy Sheehan?" And he tried to discredit O’Reilly’s contention: “Have you lost family members in armed conflict?" When O'Reilly conceded that "no, I have not," Letterman castigated him: "Well, then you can hardly speak for her, can you?"
Letterman mockingly recalled: "The President himself, less than a month ago said we are there because of a mistake made in intelligence. Well, whose intelligence? It was just somebody just get off a bus and handed it to him?" Letterman demanded: “Why the Hell are we there to begin with?" When O’Reilly pointed out that the British, Russians and Egyptians also presumed Iraq had WMD, Letterman retorted: “Well then that makes it all right?" Turning unusually serious, Letterman soon lectured: “I'm very concerned about people like yourself who don't have nothing but endless sympathy for a woman like Cindy Sheehan. Honest to Christ. Honest to Christ." That prompted O’Reilly to contend: “No way a terrorist who blows up women and children is going to be called a ‘freedom fighter' on my program." To which Letterman fired back: “I have the feeling about 60 percent of what you say is crap.”
Video excerpt (3:35): Real (5.8 MB) or Windows Media (6.8 MB) Transcript follows.
Letterman regularly has on guests from the mainstream media, but I’ve never heard him raise liberal bias with them, yet with O’Reilly he took the time to ridicule FNC’s motto: “This 'fair and balanced.’ I'm not sure that it's, I don't think that you represent an objective viewpoint." O'Reilly requested: "Well, you're going to have to give me an example if you're going to make those claims." Letterman then admitted he hasn’t bothered to watch the program he felt comfortable criticizing: "Well, I don't watch your show so that would be impossible."
A transcript I put together of O’Reilly’s appearance on the January 3 Late Show with David Letterman on CBS, picking up after Letterman dismissed O’Reilly’s examples of hostility to Christmas:
Bill O’Reilly: “I think that the Iraq thing has been full of unintended consequences and it’s a vital thing for the country and it's brutal, it’s absolutely brutal. We should all take it very seriously. This simplistic stuff about hating Bush or he lied and all this stuff, does the country no good at all. We've got to win this thing. You have to win it. And even though it's a screw-up, giant, massive, all right, right now, for everybody's protection, it's best for the world to have a democracy in that country functioning and friendly to the West, is it not?”David Letterman: “Yes, absolutely.”
O’Reilly: “Okay, so let's stop with the lying and the this and the that and the undermining and let's get him. That is putting us all in danger. So our philosophy is we call it as we see it. Sometimes you agree, sometimes you don't. Robust debate is good. But we believe that the United States, particularly the military, are doing a noble thing, a noble thing. The soldiers and Marines are noble. They're not terrorists. And when people call them that, like Cindy Sheehan called the insurgents 'freedom fighters,’ we don't like that. It is a vitally important time in American history. And we should all take it very seriously. Be very careful with what we say.”
Letterman: “Well, and you should be very careful with what you say also.” [audience applause]
O’Reilly: “Give me an example.”
Letterman: “How can you possibly take exception with the motivation and the position of someone like Cindy Sheehan?”
O’Reilly: “Because I think she’s run by far-left elements in this country. I feel bad for the woman.”
Letterman: “Have you lost family members in armed conflict?”
O’Reilly: “No, I have not.”
Letterman: “Well, then you can hardly speak for her, can you?” [applause]
O’Reilly: “I’m not speaking for her. Let me ask you this question.”
Letterman, referring back to O’Reilly’s examples of a war on Christmas: “Let’s go back to your little red and green stories.”
O’Reilly: “This is important, this is important. Cindy Sheehan lost a son, a professional soldier in Iraq, correct? She has a right to grieve any way she wants, she has a right to say whatever she wants. When she says to the public that the insurgents and terrorists are 'freedom fighters,’ how do you think, David Letterman, that makes people who lost loved ones, by these people blowing the Hell out of them, how do you think they feel, waht about their feelings, sir?”
Letterman: “What about, why are we there in the first place? [applause] The President himself, less than a month ago said we are there because of a mistake made in intelligence. Well, whose intelligence? It was just somebody just get off a bus and handed it to him?”
Bill O’Reilly: “No.”
Letterman: “No, it was the intelligence gathered by his administration.”
O’Reilly: “By the CIA.”
Letterman: “Yeah, so why are we there in the first place? I agree to you, with you that we have to support the troops. They are there, they are the best and the brightest of this country. [audience applause] There’s no doubt about that. And I also agree that now we’re in it it’s going to take a long, long time. People who expect it’s going to be solved and wrapped up in a couple of years, unrealistic, it’s not going to happen. However, however, that does not eliminate the legitimate speculation and concern and questioning of ‘Why the Hell are we there to begin with?’”
O’Reilly: “If you want to question that, and then revamp an intelligence agency that’s obviously flawed, the CIA, okay. But remember, MI-6 in Britain said the same thing. Putin’s people in Russia said the same thing, and so did Mubarak’s intelligence agency in Egypt.”
Letterman: “Well then that makes it all right?”
O’Reilly: “No it doesn’t make it right.”
Letterman: “That intelligence agencies across the board makes it alright that we’re there?”
O’Reilly: “It doesn’t make it right.”
Letterman: “See, I’m very concerned about people like yourself who don’t have nothing but endless sympathy for a woman like Cindy Sheehan. Honest to Christ.” [audience applause]
O’Reilly: “No, I’m sorry.”
Letterman: “Honest to Christ.”
“O’Reilly: “No way. [waits for applause to die down] No way you’re going to get me, no way that a terrorist who blows up women and children.”
Letterman: “Do you have children?”
O’Reilly: “Yes I do. I have a son the same age as yours. No way a terrorist who blows up women and children is going to be called a ‘freedom fighter’ on my program.” [mild audience applause]
Letterman: “I’m not smart enough to debate you point to point on this, but I have the feeling, I have the feeling about 60 percent of what you say is crap. [audience laughter] But I don’t know that for a fact. [more audience applause]
Paul Shafer: “60 percent.”
Letterman: “60 percent. I'm just spit-balling here.”
O’Reilly: “Listen, I respect your opinion. You should respect mine.”
Letterman: “Well, ah, I, okay. But I think you’re-”
O’Reilly: “Our analysis is based on the best evidence we can get.”
Letterman: “Yeah, but I think there’s something, this fair and balanced. I'm not sure that it's, I don't think that you represent an objective viewpoint.”
O’Reilly: “Well, you’re going to have to give me an example if you're going to make those claims.”
Letterman: “Well I don’t watch your show so that would be impossible.”
O’Reilly: “Then why would you come to that conclusion if you don't watch the program?”
Letterman: “Because of things that I’ve read, things that I know.”
O’Reilly: “Oh come on, you're going to take things that you've read. You know what say about you? Come on. Watch it for a couple, look, watch it for a half hour. You'll get addicted. You'll be a Factor fan, we'll send you a hat.”
Letterman: “You’ll send me a hat. Well, send Cindy Sheehan a hat”
O’Reilly: “I’ll be happy to.”
—Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Gee georgedubyabush, you sure
January 4, 2007 - 11:45 ET by Ruths husband BenGee georgedubyabush, you sure got your panties in an uproar. I think the point was that the guy was from a foreign country and probably being paid to make an anti-American post. I agree we shouldn't have insulted him by calling him a liberal, in fact he is probably very conservative, although Islamic.
Oh, by the way, although I don't believe the world is 4k old (because I don't believe the Bible says it is), I do believe that the Bible is fundamentally accurate about who made the universe. You obviously subscribe to the belief system that says everything came from nothing. Somehow that makes more sense then the belief system that says every beginning requires a beginner. My College biology text had an entire chapter devoted to explaining why they used the word designed, such as "the lymph system is designed to.." but that doesn't mean there is a "designer." I personnally think atheist work way too hard at trying to prove their point.
Australia, isn't that in Canada?
January 1, 2007 - 04:21 ET by Travis GibbyAustralia, isn't that in Canada?
Thank you very very much for offering a voice of reason. How is it that so many Americans can be so arrogant to demand that the rest of the world comply with the wishes of the international community while we ourselves thumb our noses at them.
What we have done is sent a clear message to Iran and North Korea and the rest of the world that it's OK to go invading any country that is perceived as a threat, regardless of what the U.N. or anyone else says. How can we expect the rest of the world to comply with the U.N. when we have not? And isn't the best way to promote peace to in fact be peaceful?
I strongly believe that attempts to "liberate" other countries by force are likely doomed to failure. The people of a country must be in charge of their own revolution, we may help, but we can't lead it for them. However, I'm not convinced liberating the Iraqi people was the reason for the invasion anyways and I have seen no evidence that Iraq had anything to do with 9-11.
Travis
Josh Strike says:
January 4, 2007 - 12:28 ET by acaiguanaJose Strike says:
"The fact is, a central part of the middle east that posed no real threat before (no WMDs, no money) is now the world's biggest theme park for jihadis."
Court Jester to Saddam: "Let's see, Kuwait anyone? Let's invade Kuwait, how's that sound Saddam baby?"
Saddam to Jester: "Um, yeah. I'm tired of gassing Kurds. What the Hell, running out of the excess stockpile of that WMD, it'll take a while to rebuild it. I dunno, it worked on Iran."
Jester: "Saddy Baby, Iraq was a real gas. Remember those battles, you know the individual battles, where over 100,000 were killed in a single day, and the gas opportunities were even better than with the Kruds."
Saddam to Jester: "Call my generals. Have my people set up a meeting with their people. We're going to Kuwait. Next stop, Saudi Arabia..."
Fade to grey.
Only somebody who lived in a shack in a Utah canyon with no electricity would make such a statment as the one you just typed, Josh my Joshing man.
ACA
...
Acaiguana says: "Which city is next?"
So, dude, where do you get all these wonderful numbers?
January 4, 2007 - 12:30 ET by acaiguanaSo, dude, where do you get all these wonderful numbers?
Is that sort of like, 2 in 3 women will get Breast Cancer?
ACA
...
Acaiguana says: "Which city is next?"
anonymous nitwit
January 4, 2007 - 12:40 ET by tumbler_2007Wow; this dope actually found one true thing to tell us:
Our beloved leader, George W Bush --! --He gets it!
In what way has this war been
December 31, 2006 - 18:12 ET by Travis GibbyIn what way has this war been good for the Iraqi people? We got rid of an awful dictator, but now there is an awful lot of violence and turmoil in Iraq. Forgive me for saying so, but it seems like we've done more harm than good.
Travis
Do you have a source for this drivel, or is it what you heard?
January 4, 2007 - 12:33 ET by acaiguanaDo you have a source for this drivel, or is it what you heard?
Sorta like Letterman. He doesn't watch the show but he 'knows' all about it?
ACA
...
Acaiguana says: "Which city is next?"
Why Are Liberals On Here?
January 4, 2007 - 11:21 ET by emjem24Stop being a troll, dumbass!
The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer. Air Force Motto
Troll Alert
January 4, 2007 - 11:57 ET by emjem24Why are you on this site, hater? Didn't get the thrill you wanted from the liberal blogs so you need to bother us here? There are not a lot of funny comedians anymore, among them Letterman and Stewart. Since you seem to get all your talking points from them as well as news of course you would think that all funny people hate Pres. Bush. My gosh, man, you really are stretching. It's pretty sad and pathetic of you to simply make statements with no allusion to support or evidence. However, it's pretty hard to laugh when people like me ( a military spouse) and my husband (military member) feel betrayed by people like you who don't support our country, our troops, or our president because of partisan pettiness but then this all just stems from sour grapes now doesn't it?
The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer. Air Force Motto
Troll Alert
January 4, 2007 - 11:45 ET by emjem24Are you a regular watcher of O'Reilly? Do you know of what you speak? I'm sorry, he's not an entertainer, so please, be intellectually honest. Your bias is really showing, dear. If O'Reilly is an entertainer then Letterman is a journalist (oh, I mean former weather dude, my mistake). Just because he worked on Inside Edition doesn't mean he wasn't a journalist (please get your facts straight if you want to debate on this forum). He's also been a reporter for CBS and ABC before the move to Fox. Sometimes I find his show hard to watch because he doesn't take sides (which is the opposite of the MSM). I honestly think (which I believe you don't) that Bll believes in what he's saying or he wouldn't have pursued Jessica's Law in the first place. Can you say the same, or have you become so cynical that all you stand for is nothing?
The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer. Air Force Motto
You're a troll
January 4, 2007 - 11:36 ET by emjem24I found your statement hard to believe. Why don't you go back to blogging on Daily Kos like all the other liberal children?
The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer. Air Force Motto
Barry Is A Troll
January 4, 2007 - 11:28 ET by emjem24Hey Barry,
Been sniffing Keith Olberman's butt lately? Seems like either you're his new butt boy or a Pelosi congressional aide. Oh, and Barry, Fox is beating the crap outta CNN and MSNBC combined! How do you explain that? Is it just a little aberration on your part? Bitter much? The majority watch Fox not the other way around and you can't stand it. Plus, Fox will stand up for the military and America whereas CNN, MSNBC, and all the hater MSM'ers (with you as their spokesperson) can't seem to find anything to like. Now, why is that? Why don't you be intellectually honest like the other liberal trolls on this forum, or is that too much for ya, Barry baby.
The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer. Air Force Motto
David Letterman Is An Idiot
January 4, 2007 - 11:17 ET by emjem24I can't believe this man is still alive and taken seriously. You know what really ticks me off about Letterman? He likes to lecture others (like Bill O'Reilly) about how he's so right about stuff he has no clue about such as, Cindy Sheehan the great anti-war heroine - gee, I wonder what her son would think about that, the military (was this guy ever in the military), and the Iraq War (he gets his liberal talking points from Keith Odd Man Out). I'm sorry, but as the spouse of a military member, I gotta say, this man is a baffoon. He talks about how concerned he is for others, but at home he can't be bothered to marry the mother of his bastard son. Some family values. I tune him out on a regular basis unless he's brought up in forums like this. I can't believe we, the American people, support and put up with a slimeball like him who couldn't be a role model to others if he tried. He's the real bastard, not Bill O'Reilly. He cares about the military? Yeah, don't make me laugh.
The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer. Air Force Motto
I'm having a deja-vu here.
January 4, 2007 - 11:56 ET by Jack BauerI'm having a deja-vu here. Either that, or this is a Letterman re-run!
And this is a thread rerun.
Didn't we have these posts and arguments already?
UPDATE. Just seen the date! D'oh!!
Proud member of the all-powerful and vast militarist/industrialist/capitalist/zionist-bagelist complex
Bull shit, real is hear!!!
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