Fair and balanced: a story "compassionate" conservatives

[scottcsmith]

Hello all,

I'm Scott Smith and I'm new to DU forums. I am a regular visiter to the site to read the weekly list of Conservative Idiots. But I'm glad to have found a site where I can communicate with other progressive-thinking folks.

I wanted to post here an article I wrote on my web page about Bill O'Reilly's appearance in Portland last August and how his fans responded. The event was actually a debate sponsored by Portland's KXL radio station (one of many right-wing stations on the AM dial).

On August 18, Bill O'Reilly appeared in Portland, Oregon as part of an event sponsored by radio station KXL. The event was a debate style format, hosted by KXL's Ivan Scott. The panel included O'Reilly; KXL personality Lars Larson (right-winger); Oregon state senator Charlie Ringo (liberal) and former Oregon congressman James Weaver (liberal).

The format: a subject would be introduced, and the panel of four could bat it around for seven minutes and fifty seconds. The subjects included gay marriages, the war in Iraq, Bush's job performance, and a couple of others. We'll assume that O'Reilly was on the right-winger side with Larson. Who, by the way, operates in the same style as Sean Hannity.

Needless to say, the crowd of about 4,000 people were nearly all conservative. My guess would be 99% of the audience was conservative.

Conservatives hate liberals. How do I know this? Because the crowd would boo and heckle every single time one of the liberal panelists would say anything.

Oh, and by the way, James Weaver is a World War II veteran.

The right-wing jerks in the audience booed him. They heckled him. They yelled for him to "go back to Russia." That's right, the crowd of military-loving conservatives booed, heckled and mocked a war hero. When he was introduced, I was probably the first person to applaud him. Others in the crowd followed suit, although I got the impression they were doing so only because it would have looked bad for "World War II veteran" to be followed by catcalls and heckling.

At one point, the name Al Sharpton was mentioned. Mr. Weaver didn't know who he was right away. The friendly crowd of Compassionate Conservatives laughed at him. Isn't that fun? Laughing at a man in his 80s. Because of his memory. Oh, what a knee slapper.

Two points to consider: of the four men on the panel, two of them had served in the military. The two liberals.

When it was all over, I was pretty upset. I made my way to the stage, where O'Reilly and Larson were signing autographs. I found Mr. Weaver, introduced myself, (I'm a Navy veteran, also) and thanked him for his service. His handshake was firm and he had a twinkle in his eye. He loved the booing! He didn't care. I felt a little better about the evening.

And to think the conservatives couldn't put aside their petty political differences and show the man the respect he had earned and deserved. Assholes.

[La_Serpiente]

1. Thank you

for going up there and shaking his hand. I am sure he appreciated it.

Also, welcome to DU :hi: :freak: :bounce:

[Kamika]

2. What a mockary

Sad thing is that this is their idea of a "debate"

I long ago gave up any idea of a debate with these guys

[donotpassgo]

3. "Laughing at a man in his 80s. Because of his memory"

Just don't laugh at Reagan or God might come and punish you for laughing at his true savior sent from on high to be "THE ONE" and defeat the machines.

[commander bunnypants]

4. idjits

I tell ya idjits

DDQM

[denverbill]

5. And they all probably consider themselves Christians.

However, I can't say your story surprises me. Right-wingers are motivated by fear and hatred. Communism has disappeared as an enemy. Islam has partly taken it's place, but liberalism is a close second. If conservatives don't have someone to hate, they have nothing.