Keep It Pithy Part 19

On February 7, 2013, I debated my pal Bob Beckel on the subject of President Obama's drone program that targets terrorists, killing them from the sky on presidential order. At issue was how the liberal media responded to the president's use of lethal force against suspected terrorists, as opposed to the way the left-leaning press discussed how President Bush allowed waterboarding.

The point is clear: The liberal media, including many at NBC News, were hysterical over waterboarding but rather muted when it came to criticizing the drone strikes. The reason is clear: The national media love President Obama and loathed President Bush.

In the body of the debate, I remarked that NBC News had said little or nothing about drones up until the congressional hearings that featured national security guy John Brennan. Beckel did not dispute that. We both understood that we were talking about the waterboarding-drone comparison.

After the segment aired, the left-wing media went wild. A variety of loons pointed out that I had not mentioned that NBC News had broken the "drone memo" story, which reported that President Obama's legal counsel had justified the policy. That was true: NBC was given the memo and aired it. It was also true that I did not mention that fact.

The left-wing media howled that I should apologize.

I refused.

The reason is simple: We were not talking about reporting the drone situation. Beckel and I were talking exclusively about the a.n.a.lysis of waterboarding versus drones. On February 7, I pointed that out on The Factor, told the left-wing media to stuff it, and went my merry way.

Now, some might say that this is an example of O'Reilly never admitting to making a mistake. And they have a perfect right to see it that way. But I presented my case coherently and have the videotape to back it up. No apology or retraction was necessary.

The truth that every fair-minded person should understand is that NBC News and other left-leaning media operations have been extremely hypercritical in their a.n.a.lysis of American ant.i.terror activities in general. That is a fact.

Despite a fair amount of bl.u.s.ter on my part, the truth is also that I do change my opinions from time to time. I must point out, however, that before I bloviate on TV about an issue, my staff does heavy research on it. I always want to be armed with the facts because I well know that everything I say is fodder for my enemies. We must protect The Factor's flanks with solid research, and we do.

It also takes facts to induce a change of mind on my part. And here are three examples of where that happened (there are many more).

The presidential election of 2012

After the conventions, I was convinced that Mitt Romney would defeat Barack Obama. The governor was raising big money, the economy was weak, and the president looked to be exhausted by the stress of his situation.

Up until eight days before the vote, I still believed Romney would carry the day.

Then Hurricane Sandy blew Romney away.

For five solid days, the governor disappeared from the national news cycle. But not President Obama. He was everywhere in the Northeast. Running around with New Jersey governor Chris Christie, showing empathy, promising help. Casual voters saw an engaged president.

n.o.body saw Romney.

The Friday before Election Day, the polls were swinging the president's way. My producers were trying to convince both candidates to come on The Factor for extensive interviews. I actually talked with the head of the Obama campaign, David Axelrod, myself. He was honest: No way was the president going to interview with me because I would ask him about Libya. Also, Axelrod said, "we" were going to win. "We" didn't need to do a Factor interview.

Axelrod knew what I knew: The internal polling showed a solid shift toward the president.

The Romney people should have known that as well, but, apparently, they did not. I talked with a number of folks, including Ann Romney, and they gave me the runaround. They never said why the governor would not come on The Factor. He just never showed up, even though we would have given him a full thirty minutes the night before the election to make his case to the voters.

Armed with that knowledge, I told Factor viewers that I could not call the election even though guys like d.i.c.k Morris and Karl Rove were saying Romney would win big. I wasn't sure Barack Obama would win, but I was certain it would be close. So I declined to make a call.

In this case I changed my mind about the situation based upon facts. It was a smart and honest move.

The Iraq war

At first I supported the action based upon Saddam Hussein's defiance of weapons inspections. I had little problem telling the folks that I thought the USA had to remove him because he was a loose cannon (pardon the pun) in the vast world of terrorism.

But in hindsight, I had too much faith in the Bush administration's ability to think the Iraq campaign through. After the initial military victory by coalition forces, Iraq descended into ma.s.s chaos and the Bush people had no clue how to respond. When I traveled to Iraq in 2006, I saw that firsthand.

The U.S. military, of course, s.n.a.t.c.hed victory from the jaws of defeat, and for that I am extremely grateful-and you should be, too. The men and women who served in Iraq (and Afghanistan) are true patriots.

But in hindsight, the campaign was not worth the blood and treasure. We could have removed Saddam another way. The carnage that took place in Iraq should have been avoided. I hope we have learned from that awful situation.

Gay marriage

My basic belief is that the deity will sort out the personal stuff. If you are not hurting other people, you should be left alone to live your life. I don't care about the private lives of other individuals.

However, I do believe that there are certain societal stabilizers and that the traditional family unit is one of them. Nature dictates that men and women procreate, and together they are mandated to raise children in a responsible way. That is the optimum in my opinion.

Secular people see it differently. They believe that traditional marriage should be expanded to include gays, and if you don't do that, you are violating their rights. But marriage is not a "right." It is a sacrament in some religions and a category for the census.

Thus I was never on board the gay marriage train.

But after watching this never-ending debate, I have come to the conclusion that gay marriage should be left to the individual states to decide. There is no moral aspect to it that affects the country as a whole. Traditional marriage should remain the standard, but in our secular age, the legal system is not going to prevent gay marriage. Only a vote by the folks can do that, and even the will of the people will be subject to the Supreme Court.

I support all popular votes. The folks should always decide what kind of environment they want as long as it does not harm other folks or violate the Const.i.tution. I still do not see gay marriage as a "civil rights" issue. But I don't think it will harm America or the states that approve it.

Summing up, I am the exact opposite of Boy George's lyric "I'm a man without conviction. I'm a man who doesn't know." I do know. Not everything, but a lot. And my convictions have led to a satisfying career in journalism.

I hope reading this book has been entertaining and instructive for you. I know that sometimes I come off as "all about me." But I think you know that's not why I am in business. It's about you.

Thanks again for reading Keep It Pithy.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

For more than thirteen years, BILL O'REILLY has presided over The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel. O'Reilly is a three-time Emmy Award winner as well as the recipient of a Governors Award from the Boston/New England chapter of the prestigious National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Before becoming executive producer and anchor at The O'Reilly Factor, he served as a national correspondent for ABC News and as an anchor of the nationally syndicated newsmagazine program Inside Edition. He is the author of numerous mega-bestsellers. In total, more than five million copies of his books are in circulation. He holds master's degrees from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and from Boston University. Asked about his proudest professional achievement, Bill has said, "The millions of dollars we are able to give to charity."

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