Media Matters Documents Some Of Bill O’Reilly’s Hateful, Dangerous Words About The Murdered Dr. George Tiller

Assassinated Dr. George Tiller’s blood may indeed be on the hands of conservative commentators like Bill O’Reilly of Fox News.

Media Matters for America has been out in front of this issue reminding O’Reilly and others of how his words were so dangerous.

Here are some of O’Reilly’s words (prior to the vicious assassination of Dr. Tiller by what appears to be a right-wing anti-abortion extremist).

• “In the state of Kansas, there is a doctor, George Tiller, who will execute babies for $5,000.”
• “For $5,000, ‘Tiller the Baby Killer’ – as some call him – will perform a late-term abortion for just about any reason.”
• “Tiller has killed thousands, thousands of late-term fetuses without explanation.”
• “No question, Dr. Tiller has blood on his hands.”
• ” ‘Tiller the Baby Killer’ out in Kansas, acquitted, acquitted today of murdering babies.”
• “This guy will kill your baby for $5,000, any reason. Any reason.”
• “If we allow Dr. George Tiller and his acolytes to continue, we can no longer pass judgment on any behavior by anybody.”
• “If we allow this, America will no longer be a noble nation.”

Hateful words can inspire unstable people to commit violent acts. What O’Reilly did and said, over and over again, went beyond just being an anti-abortion person who opposed Dr. Tiller’s work.

Read between the lines of those comments to see the hate and anger.

I am not saying O’Reilly wanted Dr. Tiller murdered. I am not saying that at all. But, look at O’Reilly’s actions since the murder of Dr. Tiller. He hardly seems bothered by the fact that the man, who performed legal medical procedures for women, was murdered in cold blood by what appears to be an act of domestic terrorism. In fact, O’Reilly has spent even more time aggressively bashing the assassinated Dr. Tiller (albeit with far-less volatile language).

Bill O’Reilly is continuing to bash a dead man.

Why is he continuing to bash Dr. George Tiller?

Is he trying to shake himself off the hook of responsibility, or is he motivated by something else?

Media Matters:
http://mediamatters.org/columns/200906090004

Are Pro-Lifers Callously Exploiting Dr. George Tiller’s Murder For Political Gain?

Fox News has a story on its Web site with a headline that reads: “Pro-Life Leaders Denounce Murder Of Abortion Doctor George Tiller.”

But, it’s the sub-headline that interests me: “Opponents of abortion condemned the murder of abortion provider George Tiller but used a platform outside the Supreme Court Monday to blast President Obama’s abortion policies and strongly question the beliefs of his high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.”

First, how about the lack of respect to not refer to him as Dr. George Tiller, but instead refer to him as “abortion provider George Tiller.” I know it was used in the headline, but I find it a little interesting that label him as “abortion provider” rather than “doctor” or along with “doctor.” So, the pr0-lifers are exploiting the death of Dr. George Tiller to take cheap shots at President Barack Obama and U.S. Supreme Court justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor. That is plain disgusting.

Here are a couple of head-scratching quotes from the story:

“It is immoral and it is unchristian,” Rev. Rob Schenck of the National Clergy Council said of Tiller’s murder. He said the reaction to it “becomes a greater setback to the pro-life movement than anything the so-called pro-choice movement could do.”

“We call on President Obama and the [congressional leaders] not to use this tragedy for political gain,” added Rev. Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalitions. 

That takes a lot of nerve for a man to speak to the media and call on someone else not to use the tragedy for political gain. Talk about a hypocrite.

Here is another excerpt and quote from the Fox News story:

The group’s former president, Randall Terry, said that, despite Tiller’s murder, abortion opponents must not retreat from calling him a “mass murderer.”

“The pro-life movement must not be browbeaten by Obama or the child-killers into surrendering our best rhetoric, actions and images. We hold absolutely no responsibility for his death,” Terry said in a written statement.

Again, Terry exploits this heinous murder of Dr. George Tiller for his own selfish and radical political agenda by attacking President Obama. It just goes to show how nutty some of these individuals are when you get right down to it.

Fox News:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/01/abortion-opponents-discouraged-doctors-murder/

SIDE NOTE: The story, which in the eyes of many casts a negative light on far-right conservatives, is no longer getting as high a positioning on the Fox News Web site.

Is Fox As Concerned With Murdered Doctor As It Is With Black Panthers?

Dr. George Tiller, a doctor who performs abortions, was murdered in a Kansas church on Sunday where he was serving as an usher.

Here is an excerpt from a story on the Fox News Web site:

Fox News has been going nuts about an isolated case that involves three members of the New Black Panther Party allegedly intimidating voters at a polling place. Based on the racial angle, it’s obvious to me why Fox News would focus on such a story.

WICHITA, Kan. —  Dr. George Tiller, who remained one of the nation’s few providers of late-term abortions despite decades of protests and attacks, was shot and killed Sunday in a church where he was serving as an usher.

The gunman fled, but a 51-year-old suspect was arrested some 170 miles away in suburban Kansas City three hours after the shooting, Wichita Deputy Police Chief Tom Stolz said. 

Here is an excerpt from the story posted on the Fox News Web site:

Charges brought against three members of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense under the Bush administration have been dropped by the Obama Justice Department, FOX News has learned.

The charges stemmed from an incident at a Philadelphia polling place on Election Day 2008 when three members of the party were accused of trying to threaten voters and block poll and campaign workers by the threat of force — one even brandishing what prosecutors call a deadly weapon.

The three black panthers, Minister King Samir Shabazz, Malik Zulu Shabazz and Jerry Jackson were charged in a civil complaint in the final days of the Bush administration with violating the voter rights act by using coercion, threats and intimidation. Shabazz allegedly held a nightstick or baton that prosecutors said he pointed at people and menacingly tapped it. Prosecutors also say he “supports racially motivated violence against non-blacks and Jews.”

I wonder if Fox Nation and Fox News will be as outraged about a doctor being murdered at church for doing a job as it is about three thugs at a polling place. We’ll see how the outrage over this murder matches other outrage over far less significant issues.

I don’t condone either, but if there is outrage about these three Black Panthers then even the far right should be going nuts about a doctor murdered in church forhelping women exercise their constitutional rights.

There is no justification for this cold-blooded murder.

Fox News (Dr. Tiller’s murder):
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,523581,00.html

Fox News (Black Panthers):
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2009/05/29/charges-black-panthers-dropped-obama/