Logo
ISSUE #34.33 • NEWS •
[ROGUE OF THE WEEK]

Bill O’Reilly


Pledge allegiance to the gasbag.

Recently in "Rogue of the Week"

June 10th, 2009
Brandon Caselman | An insurance agent who lost his license over his million-dollar “advice.”10 comments

June 3rd, 2009
Karla Keller | Worse than parking tickets: Drinking and driving.28 comments

May 27th, 2009
Ken Allen, Dan Clay, Tom Chamberlain | Look for the union label.20 comments

May 20th, 2009
Ed Kraus | Oy vey. Slapping down an open hand.3 comments

May 6th, 2009
Bakke Properties | Who’s the real vermin?6 comments

April 29th, 2009
Laurie Monnes Anderson | Wrong time to kill a watchdog.5 comments

April 22nd, 2009
Mayor Sam Adams | One deal too many.26 comments

April 15th, 2009
Portland Revenue Bureau | A wheel pain for local business.0 comments

April 8th, 2009
12 Lanes | We like these signs of dissent.6 comments

April 1st, 2009
Rev. E. William Beauchamp | Censorship isn’t a Christian value.10 comments


BY WW EDITORIAL STAFF | 503-243-2122

[June 25th, 2008]

For mischaracterizing a Portland school principal’s actions and deluging her with hate mail from his whack-job Fox TV viewers, ex-KATU gasbag Bill O’Reilly sweeps this week’s highest ratings from the Rogue Desk.

Last Thursday, O’Reilly devoted a segment of his The O’Reilly Factor to discussing a minor brouhaha over the Pledge of Allegiance at Capitol Hill Elementary in Southwest Portland earlier this month.

Principal Pam Wilson had decided her fifth-grade students should recite the preamble to the Constitution at their graduation ceremony June 10 instead of the Pledge. When one mom asked why, Wilson gave a clumsy answer about wanting the ceremony to be inclusive. She thought the pledge’s words “under God” were not. But the mom was enraged. So she shared Wilson’s response with the media.

First, Lars Larson took up the cause. Then O’Reilly went on national TV to say Wilson had “banned” the Pledge. Not really. But at least 60 angry emails landed on Wilson and Portland Public Schools anyway. “YOU SCUMBAG AMERICAN HATING BASTARDS,” one viewer wrote in all caps. “THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE IS NOT OFFENSIVE TO US AND IF IT OFFENDS ANYONE THEN FUCK THEM.... I WISH AN EARTHQUAKE WOULD REMOVE THE WHOLE LEFT COAST.”














icon Story continues below

advertisement

advertisement

A Fox spokesman said the broadcast was accurate. So we’ll end with O’Reilly’s own quote on the topic and replace “educators” with “cable news bloviators” and “kids” with “television viewers”:

“If you let the crazy educators [or cable news bloviators] run wild, which they are in many, many parts of the country, then we’re just going to lose the country, because the kids [and television viewers] are confused. They don’t know what the heck is going on.”

So true, O’Reilly. So true.

Rate This Story
4.09 average/22 votes

 
read all 35 comments | add your comment
 

RECENT COMMENTS ON “Bill O’Reilly”

32

When exactly was it that the religious right and, ostensibly, the Republican Party turned against public education? The founding fathers, to whom they on the right are so intent in referring, support...

Rick Mould, Jul 2nd, 2008 9:51am
33

I believe it would be helpful if everyone would first understand that Fox News isn't news. Fox News is entertainment. As entertainers then, the facts are irrelevant and ratings are everything. To g...

old warrior, Jul 2nd, 2008 10:15am
34

This is making a mountain out of a molehill. As one of the parents of a 5th grade students singing the preamble I was proud of my daughter and her classmates. Only one parent had an objection and im...

Capitol Hill Parent, Jul 2nd, 2008 12:42pm
35

The fact of the matter, as correctly reported in several locations, is that the administrator claimed that the word "God" might offend Muslims.

Which is exactly what SHE d...

Max, Jul 3rd, 2008 9:55am
 
 
 






Ad

Ad

Ad

Sponsored Links: WW Personals
Musician's Market
Snowboard Jackets
Legal Tips


Recently in Willamette Week
December 31st 1969Washington State | The Canada of Oregon has it all—a Stonehenge replica, a longboarder's concrete wet dream and dark, damp underground lava caves. Vive les rocks.
December 31st 1969Oregon's Outer Edges | Crater Lake. Hell's Canyon. Wallowa and Steens mountain ranges. Hell, yeah.
December 31st 1969Central Oregon/High Desert | No rain, plenty of snow, obsidian flows and great local beer. The folks from the real eastside know how to unbend outside.
December 31st 1969Great Cascades/Columbia Gorge | With plenty of room to roam—and hot springs for your weary feet—it's the place to ramble and relax for the weekend.
December 31st 1969Willamette Valley | Monks, tracks, tubing and wine make the fertile strip a virile place to play.
December 31st 1969Stumptown | Tons of public parks, an extinct volcano and nude beach volleyball to keep you jolly. Get out and collect those merit badges, without leaving the city.
December 31st 1969The Coast | The beaches are public. You own them. Go play—hike in the old-growth forests.
December 31st 1969Cycle Tour 101: Your on-bike guide to Highway 101 | To ride the greatest bike route in Oregon, you need to get out of Portland.
December 31st 1969Doggin' It | What happens when a Portland running club jogs with pooches from the pound?
December 31st 1969Over the Edge | Sam Drevo will paddle yr ass.