Pinheads and Patriots

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by Bill O'Reilly


  AFTERTHOUGHTS

  It’s All About You

  SO WHAT DO YOU THINK? Not about President Obama and his policies, but regarding your place in your country. After all, that is the subtitle of this book. How are you feeling these days about being an American? I’d sincerely like to know.

  So if you would be kind enough to put together some thoughts and send them to O’[email protected], I will read them and highlight some of your musings on the Web site. Beginning in September 2010, we’ll post daily updates written by everyday Americans about this book and about how folks perceive their own personal situations.

  This will be fun and instructive. I want to know where you disagree me with me. If you see something in Pinheads and Patriots that strikes you the wrong way, let me hear it. I might even include some of your critiques in the paperback edition of this book. So let’s get on it, people!

  At the end of my books, I like to thank you, the reader. With all the options you guys have these days, it is a major compliment to me that you have taken the time to read what I have to say.

  Also, I hope the book has given you some clarity about your life and the country in which you live. We are still the most prosperous, generous people on the planet, but things are changing rapidly in America, and your voice is important to steer that change in the right direction.

  As you may know, I believe in the “power of the people.” But, unlike the crazy radicals of the 1960s, I actually understand who “the people” really are. The folks to whom I speak are largely traditional-minded, fair, hardworking, and respectful of their country. They understand that it is not government that has made America great; rather, it is Mary and John, who live their lives honestly, fulfilling responsibilities no matter how difficult they may be. The power of change lies with those folks, and that is the great hope of the United States.

  Things may not be the way we want them to be right now. Anger and discontent are in the air. But, always, the folks have prevailed and the nation has snapped back from hard times.

  That will happen again. The people will rise and correct the political chaos that has taken place. That will happen for one very simple reason: in America, there are far more Patriots than Pinheads.

  Bill O’Reilly

  August 2010

  Long Island, New York

  SEARCHABLE TERMS

  The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific passage, please use the search feature of your e-book reader.

  9/11

  Bush’s response to, 40, 47

  civilian trials, 42–46, 53

  Obama’s views on, 47

  Pet Goat moment after, 40

  A

  Aaron, Hank, 177–78, 178

  ABC news poll, 84

  Abdulmutallab, Umar, 50–52

  abolitionist movement, 144

  abortion, 84, 151, 152

  Afghanistan

  compared to Vietnam conflict, 180

  German presence in, 30–31

  life expectancy in, 54

  media’s effect on war, 162–63

  Obama/O’Reilly discussion about, 193–206

  Soviet Union invasion of, 149

  U.S. troops in, 30, 53–54, 199

  Africa, 86

  African Americans

  in baseball, 177–78

  civil rights movement and, 154, 155

  Agnew, Spiro, 150

  AIDS projects, 86

  Alamo, defending of the, 166, 167

  al-Qaeda

  Bush’s attacks against, 3, 31

  drone missile attacks on, 89, 201

  relationship with Taliban, 200

  terrorist trials, 42–46, 53

  alternative energy, 232–34, 235–36

  Anbar Awakening, 191

  Annie Get Your Gun (play), 168

  anti-Semitism, 172

  Arafat, Yasser, 30

  Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), 234–36

  Arizona immigration law, 20, 22–23

  Arlington National Cemetery, 163

  Ayers, Bill, 129, 224–27, 231

  Aykroyd, Dan, 149

  B

  Baier, Bret, 34, 48

  baseball, 168–69, 177–78

  basketball bet, Obama/O’Reilly, 49, 236–38

  Bayh, Evan, 73

  Beck, Glenn

  age jokes by, 36

  opinion of Obama, 17, 34, 129

  role in Tea Party movement, 55

  Bennett, Richard, 107

  Biden, Joe, 58, 59

  Big Brother and the Holding Company, 173

  Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity, A (O’Reilly), 2, 77, 179

  Bolton, Susan, 22

  Bono, 171

  Boston Globe, 93, 97

  Boston Red Sox, 168

  BP oil spill, 24–28, 48, 236

  Brokaw, Tom, 103

  Brooklyn Dodgers, 177

  Brooks, David, 90

  Brown, Scott, 94, 94–95, 97

  Buchanan, James, 139, 140, 144–45

  Buchanan, Pat, 88

  Buddhism, 110, 111–12

  budget deficits, 90, 216, 219

  Buffalo Bill, 168

  Bush, George H. W., 153

  Bush, George W.

  aid for Africa, 86

  antiterrorism accomplishments, 31

  criticism of, 130

  deploys National Guard to Mexican border, 21

  economic growth under, 207–9, 216–17

  federal deficit under, 216

  immigration policies, 21, 22

  lack of authoritarian posture, 116

  lack of concern about public opinion, 162

  Pet Goat moment, 40

  presidential accomplishments, 3

  presidential failures, 3, 116

  response to 9/11, 40, 47

  response to Hurricane Katrina, 25, 28

  response to shoe bomber plot, 50–51

  second term, 116

  Siena College poll ranking of, 134

  Butler, Frank, 168

  C

  Cagney, James, 164

  capital gains taxes, 212, 214, 218, 219–20

  Carter, Jimmy, 30, 75–76, 148–49, 151

  Carter, Rosalynn, 148

  Carvey, Dana, 153

  Carville, James, 25–26

  Catholic Church, 107

  Cavuto, Neil, 34

  CBS Evening News, 82

  Chaminade High School, 119

  Chancellor, John, 104

  Chase, Chevy, 150

  Chávez, César, 157–58

  Chavez, Hugo, 131

  Cherokee tribe, 138, 166

  Cheyenne tribe, 161

  children

  absentee fathers of, 19–20

  addiction to tech gadgets, 76–77, 80–81

  Christianity, 67, 110–12

  Christmas Day 2009

  terrorist plot, 50–52, 53

  Ciccone, Madonna Louise. See Madonna

  The Circle (student newspaper), 122–25, 124

  civil rights, 154, 155–57

  Civil War, 135, 161

  climate change, 49–50, 54

  climate conference, 49–50

  Clinton, Bill, 75–76, 209

  Clooney, George, 125

  CNBC interview with Barney Frank, 12–13

  CNN, 34, 37, 38, 45, 48, 56, 57

  Coakley, Martha, 93–94

  Cooper, Anderson, 57

  Copenhagen climate conference, 49–50

  corporate taxes, 216

  Couric, Katie, 102

  Cravens, Ray, 179

  Crazy Horse, 161

  Creek tribe, 166

  Crockett, Davy, 165–67

  Cronkite, Walter, 82, 119, 149

  Culture Warrior (O’Reilly), 69, 159

  Custer, Elizabeth, 161

  Custer, George Armstrong, 161

  Cutler, Robert, 146

  Czech Republic, 204–6

  D

  Daily Ko
s, 222–23, 227–28

  Davis, Lanny, 104

  Democratic Party, 90

  desegregation, 154–57

  Donaldson, Sam, 151–52

  Doocy, Steve, 34

  The Doors, 173

  Dowd, Maureen, 26, 51

  drug addiction, 173–74

  drug smuggling, 23

  Duke, David, 105

  Duncan, Allyson, 107–9

  Dunn, Anita, 33

  E

  economic growth

  Bush administration, 207–9, 216–17

  Clinton administration, 209

  Obama administration, 219–21

  economic sanctions, 189–90

  Edwards, John, 158–59

  Eisenhower, Dwight, 8, 145–48, 155

  Ellender, Allen, 154–55

  Emanuel, Rahm, 35

  energy crisis, in 1980s, 149

  energy policy, 232–36

  environmental policy, 143

  estate taxes, 220

  F

  family dinner conversations, 77–80

  Fannie Mae, 11–13

  farm workers, 157–58

  Farrakhan, Louis, 105–6, 106

  federal debt, 90, 216, 219

  Ferraro, Geraldine, 104

  financial reform, 130

  Flynn, Errol, 175

  Fonda, Jane, 120–21, 180, 181

  Ford, Gerald, 149–50

  Fort Hood massacre, 39–42, 53

  Fox News Channel

  America’s trust in, 37–39

  audience demographics, 37

  conservative commentators on, 103–4

  Democratic commentators on, 104

  financial success of, 103

  Hume-Woods confrontation on, 110–13

  ratings, 39

  survey results, 37–39

  White House war on, 32–39

  Frank, Barney, 11–15, 15

  Freddie Mac, 11–13

  G

  Gable, Clark, 170

  Gaga, Lady, 75

  Gage, Thomas, 136

  Gates, Horatio, 136

  Gates, Robert, 197, 206

  General Electric, 102

  Gerecht, Reuel Marc, 42

  Germany, 30–31, 196–97

  Gibbs, Robert, 33, 35–36

  Gibson, Mel, 172–73

  Gingrich, Newt, 103

  global warming, 49–50, 54

  Gore, Al, 30, 54

  Graham, Lindsey, 45

  Grant, Ulysses, 143–44

  Guantánamo Bay prison, 46

  H

  Hannity, Sean, 34, 63, 228

  Harding, Warren, 153

  Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, 116–17

  Hasan, Nidal Malik, 39–42

  Hastings, Michael, 163

  hatred, compared with dislike, 127–28

  health care costs, 69, 98

  health care reform. See ObamaCare

  health insurance companies, 98

  Helsinki Accord, 150

  Hendrix, Jimi, 174

  Hezbollah, 187

  high-tech culture

  effect on attention span, 71–72

  effect on clarity and creativity, 74–75, 80–81

  effect on communication industry, 81–83

  effect on family conversations, 77–80

  effect on political campaigns, 72–73, 75–76

  kids’ addiction to, 76–77, 80–81

  The Hill (newspaper), 32–33

  “hippie fascism,” 57

  Hispanic Americans, 22, 24

  Hoffman, Abbie, 120

  Holder, Eric, 43, 45, 96

  Holt, Lester, 104

  Hoover, J. Edgar, 154

  Horseshoe Bend, battle of, 166

  House Financial Services Committee, 11

  Hume, Brit, 48, 110–13

  Hunt, David, 159

  Huntley, Chet, 104

  Hurricane Katrina, 25, 28

  Hussein, Saddam, 197

  I

  Immelt, Jeffrey, 102

  immigration, illegal

  Arizona immigration law, 20, 22–23

  debate over, 157

  Obama’s views on, 20–24

  protests against, 56–57

  income redistribution, 61, 69, 130–31, 214–15, 217, 221

  income taxes. See taxes

  Indian Removal Bill, 166–67

  Indians. See Native Americans

  Ingraham, Laura, 49

  interceptor missiles, 206

  Iran

  nuclear weapons program, 187–90

  Obama’s policy on, 72

  sanctions against, 189–90

  threat from, 186

  Iraq

  unstable regime in, 198–99

  U.S. troops in, 30, 190–92, 198

  Islamic faith, 86, 186

  J

  Jackson, Andrew, 138–39, 166

  Jagland, Thorbjørn, 29

  James, LeBron, 178

  Jay-Z, 75

  Jefferson, Thomas, 134

  jihad, 42

  Jindal, Bobby, 27

  Johnson, Andrew, 134, 144

  Johnson, Lyndon, 120, 150, 180

  Jones, Van, 129

  Joplin, Janis, 173–74

  Joseph (chief of Nez Percé), 167

  Judeo-Christian tradition, 67

  K

  Kaiser Family Foundation study, 76–77

  Karzai, Hamid, 199

  Kelly, Megyn, 23, 108, 109, 117

  Kennedy, John F., 3, 154

  Kennedy, Robert

  accomplishments of, 154–57

  Eisenhower’s criticism of, 146–47, 155

  Kennedy School of Government, 116–17

  King, Robert, 107–9

  King, Steve, 44

  Klaus, Václav, 205

  Kuralt, Charles, 118–19

  L

  La Cosa Nostra, 154

  Lady Gaga, 75

  Landau, Carolyn, 121, 125

  Lassie (dog), 175–76, 176

  lawsuits, frivolous, 98

  Lee, Robert E., 144, 161

  Leno, Jay, 102–3

  Lieberman, Joe, 73

  Limbaugh, Rush, 17, 60–63

  Lincoln, Abraham

  accomplishments of, 134–35

  Buchanan’s comments to, 145

  Siena College poll ranking of, 134

  lobbyist, origin of term, 143–44

  Louisiana wetlands, 27

  M

  Madoff, Bernie, 66, 66–67

  Madonna, 170–71

  Mafia, 154

  malaria projects, 86

  Marcello, Carlos, 154

  Marist College, 119–25

  Massachusetts politics, 94–95

  Mays, Willie, 177–78

  McCain, John, 73

  Fox News coverage of, 104

  held as prisoner of war, 180

  presidential campaign, 35, 69–70, 72–73, 104, 105

  McChrystal, Stanley, 162, 163, 200

  McClellan, Scott, 9

  McKinley, William, 140

  Medicare spending, 60

  Medvedev, Dmitry, 205

  Melton, Dickie, 181

  Menkel, Angela, 30–31

  Mexico/U.S. border controls, 20–24, 57

  Microsoft Corporation, 103

  migrant workers, 157–58

  Minuteman movement, 56–57

  The Misfits (movie), 170

  missiles, 89, 201, 202, 204–6, 206

  Mississippi Burning (movie), 154

  Mitchell, Andrea, 104

  Mohammed, Khalid Sheikh, 42–46

  monopolies, corporate, 143

  Monroe, Marilyn, 169–70

  Moore, Michael, 148

  Morrison, Jim, 173–74, 174

  Mortenson, Norma Jeane. See Marilyn Monroe

  Mosey, Phoebe Ann. See Annie Oakley MoveOn.org, 159

  Moyers, Bill, 105

  MSNBC

  financial losses at, 19, 103

  left-wing bias at, 19, 57,
103–5

  response to Hume-Woods confrontation, 110

  support for Obama’s campaign, 104–5

  Murphy, Audie, 163–65, 165

  Musharraf, Pervez, 195

  Muslim terrorists

  Fort Hood massacre, 39–42

  Major Hasan, 39–42

  Obama’s views on, 47

 

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