I do not watch Bill O’Reilly because I think he’s full of himself. But I saw this story today and thought that it was despicable to see Mr. Culture Warrior himself accuse a nine-year military vet. Read for yourself, they even have a video:

News Hounds: O'Reilly calls nine-year military vet "anti-military"

Being in the military doesn't make a person exempt from accusations of being anti-military or not being patriotic. The military is an all volunteer (recruited) force made up of normal everyday people from everyday society, who decided for one of a million different reasons to join up and serve. But that doesn't mean that everyone who serves is doing so for pure and patriotic reasons.

I understand that Mr. O'Reilly didn't serve in the military, but not serving in the military doesn't make someone anti-military or unpatriotic either.

I agree that Mr. O'Reilly does like to badger his guests on the 'yes no' issue of question and answer time, but anyone invited to be a guest on that show should know that is coming. It's not like Mr. O'Reilly surprises people with his badgering; it's a part of his personality and his show. No excuses for not being able to answer yes or no to something...there's only so much time in a segment of television, and it is HIS show. Almost all media and talk-show hosts have their own varying degree of aggression and ownership of the program, and badgering takes place in more shows than just O'Reilly's.

The subject at hand is that a 9-year vet is 'anti-military' for agreeing with a group wanting to decrease or get rid of recruiters’ access to information on students. I don't agree it is anti-military as an idea by itself, but trends, history and statistics show that where there is one great idea for limiting the military, there are usually thousands. Trying to block recruiters' access to student information is just one of the many ways that the anti-Bush/anti-War fronts have made their stands; especially since the Congress/Senate hasn't been able to pull off a mass-exodus of troops from Iraq.

O'Reilly has seen and interviewed (and badgered) his fair share of the anti-this, that, and the-other-things. I know he is passionate about supporting the troops, and supporting certain administration decisions. Just like I'm sure the 9-year vet is passionate about his cause(s). But a lot of times when you dig deep to the root of these causes, you'll find a lot of money, power, and popularity struggles.

I would be willing to venture a guess that this guy and this group are just one of the plethora of the extreme anti-war left groups who have found that they need to make pin-pricks into the war/military/administration/right-wing, because they end the war or impeach the president.

Why have some ROTC & JROTC programs been banned in some states? Why have groups tried to get rid of recruiters around schools? Why have groups tried to 'bring the troops home', when they haven't even asked 'the troops' if they are ready to come home? Why doesn't the anti-war/anti-Bush left listen when the Generals on the ground and troops in the AOR say that they are doing a worthy mission and fighting the good fight? Riddle me that Batman.