BILL-O BASHING THE VETS

by Steve Young

He began simply enough, complaining about a newspaper columnist's stand on military recruiters on campus. That theme developed into his familiar harangue on the far left and the hateful liberal media wanting the U.S. to lose in Iraq. "Does anyone think these intense Bush-haters would be glad to see the tide turn in Iraq?" He asked, with disgust. But he wasn't finished. He turned an ugly question into an even uglier accusation: "How on earth could you root against our troops?"

That's when he decided to take one of those troops and root against him.

I realize that many of the elderly viewers of Bill O'Reilly are veterans. I wonder how many of them watched as nine-year service veteran (including thirteen months with Operation Iraqi Freedom), Geoffrey Millard, a member of Iraqi Veterans Against The War, was undeservedly skewered on Wednesday night's O'Reilly Factor.

Bill supplied his typical interruptive, have- you- stopped- beating- your- wife- give- me- a- yes- or- no- answer interview style. Normally it's just obnoxious. Wednesday night it was wholly contemptible.

Trying to nail Millard as a troop hater, Bill ended his final, long-winded setup by asking if this veteran would be disappointed if everything turned around in Iraq and it became a full-fledged, battling-alongside-us-against-the-terrorists democracy. Each time Millard tried to answer by saying the loaded question needed something more than a yes or no, Bill would interrupt.

"You're sounding like an anti-military person."

Millard would try again: "I don't think disappointment comes into..."

O'Reilly: "You do want to hurt the military."

And when an incredulous Millard tried to point out that he was, in fact, a nine year veteran, Bill cut him off, not with a "thank you for your service," but with a dismissive, "Alright. Fine."

This to a war veteran; a man who fought in a war so carelessly entered; a man who served and won the right to speak out against that same war, treated with such a shameful display disdain by this punk of a bully. Disgusting.

If you are a veteran or know anyone who ever served, you had to be have been nauseated. If you were also a fan of O'Reilly's, in the least, you must have been disheartened by your hero.

But this would not be the first time that Fox's hit man hasn't stood up for the troops he cheerlead into war. Like when he came late to the table on the Bush White house and Republican congress tried to cut Veteran Administration benefits.

It's about time that veterans should call O'Reilly for what he is: a petty and gutless chickenhawk cloaked in "I'm a behind the troops tough guy" clothing, who can't even take a real military veteran getting in a full sentence, let alone serve his country.

Please ask every veteran you know to watch this. (LINK) Tell them to have a barf bag at the ready.

Those of you who wonder how I can spend so much time writing about the horrors of Bill. It is what happened Wednesday that makes exposing how this sad excuse for a human thinks so little of America and those who place their lives on the line for our country -- something that he chose to sidestep when he had the opportunity. .