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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsO'Reilly displays major case of projection on 50/50 lib/conserv split
ThinkProgress
Fox News Host Has Outrageous Reason Progressive Ideas Are Getting More Popular
For the first time since Gallup pollsters began tracking, the country is evenly split between those who identify as liberals versus conservatives. Its a major drop for conservatives, who in 1999 outweighed liberals two-to-one. Analysts have cited many factors for the steady, multi-decade rise of self-identified progressives in the U.S., including increased acceptance of same-sex marriage and legal marijuana, but Fox News host Bill OReilly has his own theory.
Only about 50 percent of the American people take the time to understand important issues, he said on his show this week. Half the country does not; they are simpletons, unwilling and unable to discipline themselves into formulating a philosophy of life. (emphasis added)
OReilly added that those who supported President Obama in 2008 and 2012 must not have grasped his policies, and only cast their votes for him because of his charisma and his historic position as the first black man to achieve the White House.
The comment is just one in a long line of conservatives attempting to rationalize the groundswell of support for the President by questioning the intelligence of Democratic voters. Mitt Romney infamously quipped that 47 percent of Americans vote Democrat only because they want handouts. Georgia Republican lawmakers justified cutting early voting which Democratic voters disproportionately use by suggesting that those who vote before Election Day are ignorant about the issues and candidates on the ballot.
http://thinkprogress.org/election/2015/05/28/3663499/oreilly-progressive-ideas-gaining-popularity-simpletons/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tptop3&elqTrack=true&elqTrackId=d21df1ab5fda40adb13de3b12d71f507&elqaid=25653&elqat=1
yellowcanine
(35,702 posts)I plead "Guilty" Mr. O'Reilly. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. May I go now?
Johonny
(20,913 posts)I'd love to listen to a Bill O'Reilly-Norm Chomsky debating their formulation on the philosophy of life... After I got mine what else is their to Bill's grasp of philosophy in general?