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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