Bill Maher: Bill O’Reilly, Republicans, Don’t Hear What Obama Says

On Friday’s Real Time on HBO, host Bill Maher compared President Obama’s statement on African-American men and crime with Bill O’Reilly’s statement about statistical evidence on blacks and homicide. One Friday earlier, President Obama said, “Now, this isn’t to say that the African-American community is naive about the fact that African-American young men are disproportionately involved in the criminal justice system.” Obama said this during his much talked about and unscripted remarks on Trayvon Martin, the Zimmerman not-guilty verdict, and race relations in America.

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Bill O’Reilly Says NBC News Is “Protecting The President” By Not Covering Drones

Last night Bill O’Reilly was even more dishonest than usual when he claimed NBC News was not covering the Obama administration’s drone policy. Never mind that Michael Isikoff broke the story for NBC. Never mind that MSNBC had ample coverage of the story on afternoon and prime time shows like The Rachel Maddow Show. And never mind that the “No Spin Zone” is actually a front for all spin, all the time. To be fair to O’Reilly, maybe he wasn’t dishonest, maybe he just didn’t care to check. On his way to fulfilling a pre-existing narrative, O’Reilly managed to fool himself.

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Post-Election: A Palpable Fear Of Change For Conservatives

I’m a big fan of routine, of knowing how things work, and not needing to constantly re-adjust my expectations. And I think this is true of most people. But post-election, it seems fear of change for many (white) conservatives is palpable. Conservatives see a rapidly changing America, and it scares them. Their fear is not based on a tangible threat, but rather a sense that America is heading to a different and unknown destination. I get it; change is scary. The unknown is scary. I get that people prefer the devil they know. — But should this fear of the unknown hold us back from embracing what makes America unique?

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Republicans Use “Bill O’Reilly” Logic On Taxation

Republicans and conservatives have this idea that until government stops wasting money, they aren’t going to pay anymore in taxes. Since when did people get the idea that they have a line-item veto when it comes to their tax dollars? This is an argument used to deflect away from their real position; they simply don’t want to pay more taxes. So why do the feel the need to clarify it with an illogical excuse?

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