Even though I live in Austin, only an hour from Ft. Hood, I did not learn of Thursday's horror until I got home at 4:30 and saw it being covered by Chris on Hardball.
I fed the dog and cats, puttered around as I half-listened, then settled in to cable surf to try to learn more. The mass shooting was wall-to-wall on every channel.
As is often the case, Shepard Smith had information no other station had. I caught all but the very beginning of an interview Shep was doing by phone with a soldier named Terry Lee who once worked with and knew Maj. Hasan, the Virginia-born US citizen identified as the shooter. By this point in my surfing I'd heard he was of Jordanian heritage, (which today has been corrected to 'Palestinian' but not relevant here. He has a seemingly Middle Eastern name).
Lee spoke of Hasan's strong objection to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, his hopes that Pres. Obama would end them and of Hasan's efforts to avoid being deployed after hearing the news that he was due to ship out at the end of this month. Lee had seen Hasan get in verbal confrontations with other soldiers about the wars, though no quotes were offered, no details given about the altercations despite Shep's efforts to draw some out.
Lee ended the interview by suggesting there may be valuable information into understanding Maj. Hasan's state of mind by focusing on Hasan's transfer from Walter Reed to Ft. Hood earlier this summer. "Something happened at Reed," he surmised without saying what he thought that something might have been.
That was it. Hasan objected to the wars, didn't want to go, has a name that suggests his heritage is Middle Eastern and had gotten into arguments with other soldiers over US foreign policy in the region.
So imagine my surprise when I accidentally landed on Bill O's show and heard this: (paraphrased due to shock)
"This guy, Hasan, had big problems with the wars in the Middle East. Shep Smith had a soldier on earlier who knew him, a Mr. Lee, and he said that this guy Hasan thought that Muslims should rise up and resist the US over there."
(Apologies again for the paraphrasing, but I've captured the gist).
I just stared at the television wondering where in holy hell O'Reilly had gotten this 'news'. But he had clearly referenced Shep Smith's show, the interview with Terry Lee. He didn't mention any other source. He was declaring that he'd gotten this load of manure direct from the Shep Smith interview. WTF??? I'd just heard the same interview and knew BO was full of BS.
This morning I read that Hasan listed "No Preference" on military forms where the question asks about religion. At no point in Shep's interview with Lee was it mentioned that Maj. Hasan was a Muslim. At no point in the interview was it mentioned that he thought Muslims, in general, should resist anything. I don't recall the word 'Muslim' being mentioned at all.
Jeez - it reminded me of the junior high game where several of us sat in a circle, one person started by whispering a brief story into the ear of the person next to her and we all laughed at how distorted it became by the time it got back to the person who'd started it all.
BUT THIS WAS BEING REPORTED AS FACTUAL NEWS !!! This was verifiable by rerunning the interview Shep did with the soldier named Terry Lee. Bill O must have 'heard' what he assumed and without a leg to stand on based on a single fact in evidence he reported fictional BS as (fair and balanced) TRUTH !!!
This wasn't offered as an opinion. It was being reported as news.
And they wonder why we have a problem with them over at FOX.