Media -- Stop The O'Reilly Harassment Machine

March 27, 2009

by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, Ali Frick, and Ryan Powers

MEDIA

Stop The O'Reilly Harassment Machine

Last Saturday, March 21, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly sent two of his employees to stalk, ambush, and harass ThinkProgress.org Managing Editor Amanda Terkel. Upset over a ThinkProgress report that noted O'Reilly's insensitive comment towards a rape victim, O'Reilly dispatched his producer Jesse Watters, along with a cameraman, to stake out Amanda's home in Washington, DC, follow her for two hours across state lines, and ambush her while she was on vacation in Winchester, VA. O'Reilly then used a small portion of highly edited footage he obtained from Watters's ambush interview to falsely claim that Amanda was bringing "a lot of pain and suffering" to rape victims. Unfortunately, Amanda is just one of roughly 40 different victims of these kind of ambush tactics. Indeed, O'Reilly has hired producers whose primary job is to track, harass, and intimidate anyone whom O'Reilly perceives as an opponent or an enemy. That's not journalism -- that's a mafia-style intimidation operation, and we need to put an end to it. ThinkProgress has launched a campaign asking O'Reilly's major sponsors to issue a clear statement opposing O'Reilly's Harassment Machine. Please consider joining this campaign here.

THE ANATOMY OF AN AMBUSH: O'Reilly's ambush of Amanda was sparked by a short piece that she wrote on March 1 highlighting O'Reilly's invitation to speak fundraiser for a rape-victims support group, the Alexa Foundation. Amanda noted in response, "O'Reilly has made controversial comments about an 18-year-old woman, Jennifer Moore, who was raped and murdered, implying that it was partially her fault." "Indeed, O'Reilly called Moore "moronic" for being assaulted, raped, and murdered after going out drinking in "a miniskirt and a halter top with a bare midriff." Nowhere in her piece did Amanda comment on the Alexa Foundation itself. O'Reilly, however, couldn't stand to see Amanda highlight his offensive commentary, so he sent Watters after her. Last Saturday, Amanda left her Washington, D.C. home for a weekend trip to Winchester, VA. After driving two hours, Amanda checked into her lodgings and then decided to take a walk. As she left the hotel, Watters approached Amanda with a cameraman in tow and demanded that she explain why she had caused "pain and suffering" to rape victims and the Alexa Foundation. Amanda had told no one where she was going, so she concluded that Watters and his cameraman had "staked out my apartment and then followed me for two hours" (Amanda recalls that a tan SUV had been tracking her car). O'Reilly then spliced footage from the Watters's ambush interview to characterize Amanda as "evil" and "certainly a villain." O'Reilly never showed his audience what Amanda actually wrote and never played what he said about Moore, nor did he explain how his henchmen tracked her down.

O'REILLY'S BULLYING TACTICS: In August 2007, O'Reilly defended his ambush tactics, claiming that they are "a vital tool in holding public servants accountable for their actions" and that "we do not go after people lightly." "We always ask them on the program first or to issue a clear statement explaining their actions," he said. In Amanda's case, no one at the O'Reilly Factor or Fox News attempted to contact her for comment or a chance to appear on O'Reilly's show before stalking and ambushing her in rural Virginia. In all, O'Reilly's ambush tactics have been used on nearly 40 different individuals. Some are public servants, but many are private citizens who work at non-profit foundations, while others work as journalists, priests, actors, and authors. A woman who wrote an op-ed for Newsday suggesting that shock jocks could in some cases be inspiring violent acts, was ambushed by O'Reilly's henchmen in her driveway. Michael Hoyt, executive editor for the Columbia Journalism Review, was ambushed as he tried to board a public bus, while Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of General Electric, was ambushed in a restaurant while having dinner. "O'Reilly's ambushes are indistinguishable from those by the paparazzi O'Reilly calls the scum of the earth.

STOPPING THE MACHINE: We need to Stop O'Reilly's Harassment Machine. Therefore, ThinkProgress has launched an e-mail campaign asking O'Reilly's major corporate sponsors to issue a clear statement opposing O'Reilly's "ambush journalism." As Amanda explained to MSNBC's Keith Olbermann last night, "This is not a liberal or conservative issue." Olbermann agreed, saying in reference to ambush journalism tactics, "It's inappropriate. There are some rules here and they apply in both directions to everybody." At least some of O'Reilly's sponsors appear to agree as well. In the 48 hours since ThinkProgress first launched its campaign, over 5,000 e-mails have been sent to O'Reilly's advertisers. Ford, AT&T, UPS, and Capital One have all responded. UPS said in a statement, "We are sensitive to the type of television programming where our messages and presence are associated and continually review choices to affect future decisions. Further investigation is underway related to this placement." Similarly, Capital One said, "We regret that you found the Bill O'Reilly programming during which one of our ads was aired to be offensive. ... Capital One in no way endorses the views/opinions portrayed during the news broadcasts in which we advertise." Despite this, a number of prominent advertisers including Audi, Hyundai, Johnson and Johnson, Bayer, and Proctor & Gamble have yet to respond. O'Reilly complained on air about the campaign, calling ThinkProgress "insects" for "going after" his sponsors. If you want to help get under O'Reilly's skin and put an end to his ambush and harassment tactics, ask his advertisers to express their disapproval. Click here to help Stop the O'Reilly Harassment Machine.

RADICAL RIGHT -- KRISTOL LAUNCHES PROJECT FOR A NEW AMERICAN CENTURY 2.0: 'THE FOREIGN POLICY INITIATIVE': After Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and his neoconservative foreign policy were soundly defeated at the polls last year, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol told right-wing talker Hugh Hewitt that he was considering putting together a refashioned version of the Project for a New American Century (PNAC). "A little bit of a political organization" for "the Fred Kagans and Bob Kagans and Reuel Gerechts of the world" wouldn't "be bad," said Kristol. His new "political organization" for neoconservatives is now a reality. "The blandly-named Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI) -- the brainchild of Weekly Standard editor William Kristol, neo-conservative foreign policy guru Robert Kagan, and former Bush administration official Dan Senor -- has thus far kept a low profile," wrote Daniel Luban and Jim Lobe for IPS News on Wednesday. Though it's not mentioned on their Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI) bio page, Kristol and Kagan were co-founders of PNAC in 1997. The Wonk Room's Matt Duss writes that Kristol and Kagan seem to be re-naming their old organization because it became "inextricably bound in the public's imagination to one of the worst foreign policy blunders in American history" -- the invasion of Iraq. Noting that FPI's first public event next week, Afghanistan: Planning For Success, features a heavy representation of Iraq war advocates, Duss suggests that a far better title for the event would be, "Afghanistan: Dealing With The Huge Problems Created By Many Of The People On This Very Stage."

ECONOMY -- REPORT: OBAMA'S BUDGET WILL HELP SMALL BUSINESSES: A common attack refrain by conservatives on President Obama's budget proposal is that tax increases will hurt small businesses. Beginning in 2011, Obama's plan would slightly increase taxes on households earning more than $250,000 and individuals earning over $200,000. In defending the Republican's alternative budget proposal that offers a large tax cut to businesses, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) said, "Republicans know that raising taxes on small businesses will only result in more workers losing their jobs." However, a new study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities finds that "under the Clinton Administration, when the tax treatment of high-income families was very similar to what President Obama has proposed, small businesses generated jobs at twice the rate as under the Bush tax code." During the Clinton years, small businesses generated 756,000 new jobs, versus only 367,000 new jobs under the tax conditions set by Bush, which Republicans seek to replicate. Further, "more small business owners would receive tax cuts" under Obama's plan because they do not fall into the $250,000-plus tax bracket. "Most small business owners aren't in the top two marginal tax rates," said Benjamin Harris of the Tax Policy Center. "In my opinion, there's some misunderstanding in these political debates that the people who'll be affected are middle-income Americans who run mom-and-pop stores."

JUSTICE -- ASHCROFT: 'I THINK HISTORY WILL BE VERY KIND' TO BUSH: Earlier this week, former attorney general John Ashcroft spoke at the University of Texas at Austin on the differences between the Obama and Bush administrations. Although "[m]ost in attendance were respectful of Ashcroft's right to speak," he was greeted by a group of protesters who waved "signs of dissent" and booed when he first appeared. During his speech, Ashcroft launched a vociferous defense of both Bush's career and his own, saying that history will judge Bush well: "I think history will be very kind to [him]." While Ashcroft, the chief architect of the invasive Patriot Act, admitted that Bush made some mistakes during his presidency, he claimed to have no regrets about his own tenure as attorney general. "I don't have a mark on my conscience," he said. He also defended his decision to approve waterboarding in 2003, saying, "There are things that you could call waterboarding that I am firmly convinced are not torture. There are things that you could call waterboarding that might be torture." But as Keith Olbermann and former White House counsel John Dean discussed on MSNBC last night, all waterboarding is torture. "I think waterboarding is waterboarding. Maybe this is a defense we haven't read about that John Yoo came up with, or the memo hasn't been released yet that says maybe how much water you pour may make it waterboarding or not waterboarding. But this is pretty silly," Dean said.

Immigration advocates are launching a new strategy to push immigration reform through Congress. They want millions of undocumented workers legalized now, while a new independent commission would study the number of foreign workers allowed to enter the U.S. in the future -- a provision they hope will gain the backing of America's unions.

This morning, President Obama will announce a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan that "plans to further bolster American forces" and "for the first time set benchmarks for progress in fighting Al Qaeda and the Taliban there and in Pakistan." In addition to the 17,000 combat troops Obama ordered to Afghanistan last month, he will add 4,000 more troops to train Afghanistan security forces.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) called the use of a budget reconciliation process -- which requires only simple majorities -- "the best prospect" for passing health care reform this year, something she said was "absolutely essential." Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) also "refused to rule out" the use of reconciliation, saying, "Let's see what happens in the next three weeks, in the next month."

Thousands of buildings at U.S. bases in Iraq and Afghanistan "have such poorly installed wiring that American troops face life-threatening risks." Of the nearly 30,000 buildings the Army examined, more than half "failed miserably." A "majority…were wired by contractor KBR."

The Senate Budget Committee yesterday approved President Obama's "ambitious budget blueprint" giving the president "a symbolic endorsement of efforts to boost clean energy, fight global warming and improve access to health care." The party-line vote "sets the stage for floor debate next week, where moderate Democrats unhappy with deficits wield more influence."

The Obama administration plans to raise fuel efficiency standards for passenger cars to 30.2 mpg for the 2011 model year, which is "the first increase in passenger car standards in more than two decades." President Obama's new standard is "slightly less stringent" than the 31.2 mpg proposed by the Bush administration, but officials are working "on a more comprehensive set" of rules for vehicles through 2015.

"The former finance chief of a Texas company controlled by Nasser Kazeminy, a close friend of former Sen. Norm Coleman, said in a deposition last week that Kazeminy ordered $100,000 in fees be paid to a Minneapolis insurance agency where Coleman's wife was employed. The deposition is the first corroboration of claims that Kazeminy funneled payments to Hays Companies aimed at benefiting the Colemans.

And finally: Yesterday Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) spoke at the Heritage Foundation, making clear he had no illusions about what happened in the 2008 presidential election. "God bless" all the people who voted for me, said McCain, adding, "Over 50 million people voted for me and Sarah Palin -- mostly for Sarah Palin.” The audience "erupted" in laughter.

The Senate approved the Edward Kennedy Serve America Act, expanding community service programs by "increasing the number of positions to 250,000 from 75,000 and creating new cadres of volunteers focused on education, clean energy, health care and veterans."

THINK PROGRESS: Former House speaker Newt Gingrich warns that President Obama's financial regulation plan will create a "dictatorship."

WONK ROOM: Take Action by April 9: Overturn former President Bush's rule blocking access to contraceptives and other health care services.

YGLESIAS: Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) doesn't know what the deficit would be if Pence's budget were implemented.

FEMINISTING: Announcing blog for Fair Pay Day 2009.

TEXAS: Social conservatives "succeeded in requiring teachers to evaluate critically a variety of scientific principles like cell formation and the Big Bang."

NEW HAMPSHIRE: New Hampshire House votes to allow same-sex couples to marry.

MISSOURI: "A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court's ruling that Missouri officials must issue license plates that read 'Choose Life.'"

"Will Obama Administration Abandon Dollar for a Multi-National Currency?"
-- Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), 3/25/09

VERSUS

"Asked if he foresaw a change in the dollar's centrality, [Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said,] 'I do not.'"
-- Politico, 3/25/09

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