O'Reilly makes me sick.
Even as he is getting on Fox news and demanding 25 year mandatory sentences for child abusers in Vermont, he is questioning the motivation of a kidnapped boy, Shawn Hornbeck, who didn't try hard enough for Bill O'Reilly's taste to escape from his captivity.
Of course you know the story- it is in the news for the last week. Outcompeting Bush and Iraq for morning news coverage. CNN didn't mention 4 soldiers died yesterday and over 100 Iraqis in Baghdad this morning. But the kidnapped boys on Oprah- well.
Fellow diarist creeper wrote a diary on January 15 that many on CBS and other sites were accusing the young many of enjoying his sexual relationship with his captor, since he didn't use a cell phone to call home. I did post part of this in the excellent diary by mikey666 tonight, but I think this deserves some wider readership and comment.
Apparently on January 15, O'Reilly and Greta VanSusteren were chatting about this case. And from the mouth of Bill O'Reilly came the most bizarre and unsympathetic comments. Even conservatives have been appalled at these unsympathetic remarks.
There are several versions of the comments out there. Media Matters reports some of the text here.
And a fairly conservative crime blogger, Steve Huff of True Crime Blog reports more of the transcript of the show here.
O'Reilly is upset this young man didn't run away- and questions whether or not he was just having fun with his captor.
BOR: The difference in the Smart case, and correct me if I am wrong, was this guy was always around the little girl and she wasn't gone for the long period of time as this guy was. Now what we have learned -- and this is why I don't believe in Stockholm -- this guy Shawn Hornbeck gone four years from 11-15. Authorities actually say that he taunted his own parents on his website. He's got these piercing this is a troubled kid in my opinion --
GVS: The piercings, a lot of kids do the piercings. As far as the taunting goes on the website I think what can be established is that someone on this particular login taunted the parents. Was it done from this particular computer? If it was done from this particular computer that means that Michael Devlin did it, or Shawn did it or someone with access to the computer... let's not forget he is a kid.... He may be 15 now...
BOR: No, I am not buying this if you're 11 years old or 12 years old or 13 and you have a strong bond with your family. Even if the guy threatens you this and that. You're riding your bike around, you got friends -- the kid didn't go to school. There's all kinds of stuff, if you can get away, you get away. If you're 11 --
GVS: Bill it seems bizarre to me, I agree it seems bizarre. Why not run, why not yell, why not scream? But the thing I keep going back to is, what was Patti Hearst's story...
BOR: I didn't buy that Patti Hearst story for a second.
GVS: Why was she so willing to sign up with her kidnappers and like wise Elizabeth Smart, she had opportunity -- nice kid, nice family, why was she unwilling to run...?
BOR: Let me answer your question. This is what I believe in the Hearst case and in this case. The situation that Hearst found herself in was exciting. She had a boring life, child of privilege. All of a sudden she's in with a bunch of charismatic thugs and she enjoyed it. The situation here with this kid is looks to me to be a lot more fun then when he had under his own parents. He didn't have to go to school, He could run around and do what he wanted.
GVS: Some kids like school --
BOR: Well I don't believe this kid did. And I think when it all comes down what's going to happen is there was an element here that this kid liked about his circumstances...
creeper pointed out in the diary title, it was "blame the victim" time and questioned those who would do so. I can only conclude O'Reilly is one who would do so. Maybe he believes in some version of "man-boy love". This is a pederast group (not gay, pederast!) who claim the boys like the sex, and it is great for them.
So O'Reilly thinks an 11-year-old kidnap victim was bored with his old life and having a great time with his new, fun dad....who was probably abusing him.
And he thinks a message on a board that everyone else thought was a pathetic call for help was a taunt.
Right. Like those Katrina victims are doing great with all that help from Texas- made out like bandits.
Is O'Reilly so hung up on never approving of gay sex that he doesn't get the difference between that and pederasty? This was a young boy vs. an angry, large, armed captor. The loud, overly eye-made-up stand-in on Nancy Grace show at least understood this was a child molester of some sort. Wonder why a kid wouldn't go home after being abused? Maybe his captor told him you would criticize him for staying.
And O'Reilly wants to run some Vermont judge out of town for not being harsh enough on the molester. Right. I believe you, Bill.