O'Reilly rants on shoeless homeless veteran being on "government assistance"

Bill O'Reilly has a history of slamming homeless veterans so it should come as no surprise that he came out against the officer helping Shoeless man in viral photo was homeless veteran because after all, Hillman is on government assistance that "you and me" pay for. Hey, must be easy to want to attack the down and out, mentally ill kicked to the streets when the mental hospitals closed down and the economy turned so sour that every charity is struggling to take care of more and more of them.

He is right and Hillman is on government assistance but then again, as a veteran, he assisted the government first.

O'Reilly Exploits Story Of Formerly Homeless Veteran To Call For Spending Cuts
December 7, 2012
TODD GREGORY

Bill O'Reilly seized on the story of a shoeless man who was helped by a New York City police officer to call for cuts to government programs that help the poor.

O'Reilly opened his Thursday show by recounting an incident in November in which Officer Lawrence DePrimo bought a pair of boots for Jeffrey Hillman, a man in Times Square who had bare feet. A tourist took a picture of the DePrimo giving the boots to Hillman, and the image was widely circulated on the Internet.

While Hillman was initially said to be homeless, it has since been reported that he has an apartment. O'Reilly presented this fact as if it were a devastating revelation -- "here's the sad truth," he said before informing his viewers that Hillman has a home. O'Reilly also claimed that Hillman "has enough resources to live his life in a dignified manner."

What O'Reilly did not tell his viewers is that Hillman was homeless prior to last year. Nor did O'Reilly mention that Hillman uses veterans benefits to help keep his apartment.

NBC New York reported, "Hillman used to be homeless, but entered shelter in 2009 before moving into an apartment secured by Veterans Affairs in 2011, city officials said. He pays his rent using a lifetime voucher for homeless veterans and his Social Security income."
read more here

As I said this is nothing new for O'Reilly. He's been on record going back to 2008 on this blog alone for talking trash about veterans after they were no longer of use in his mind.

O'Reilly's stance on homeless vets poses questions has a rather lengthy rant of my own following something else I read about this.

O'Reilly hasn't learned much since 2008. Looking back on some of my old posts makes me more angry that people still watch O'Reilly and believe him. How many times has he "gotten things wrong" or outright lied?

Here's another one.

O'Reilly now denies veterans are homeless too?
January 7, 2008
Excuse my language here but I can't help it. What the hell is wrong with this bastard? First he denies soldiers are being sent back into combat with PTSD and a pocket full of pills. Then he denies veterans are homeless. He went on to talk about illegal aliens sending money back home? What country deserves to have this bastard living in it because it certainly isn't this one? He gets paid how much to slander our troops and veterans? What is he trying to prove? Does he think if he says it isn't so, it suddenly goes away? What about his responsibility in all of this with his huge paycheck and audience?

Readers of this blog know what PTSD (is). They know how many suicides there have been because of PTSD. They know how many homeless people there are and they know what causes them to be homeless. They are aware! O'Reilly lives in a land of his own making.

I'm tired of this man saying whatever he wants and never, ever having to face those he attacks and denies their existence instead of helping them.

What if every service organization across the country dealing with the homeless veterans writes to FOX and demands he apologize for this? How about every family member who has had a son or daughter deployed back into combat with diagnosed PTSD and prescriptions do the same? What if the thousands upon thousands of family members who have had a son or daughter commit suicide because of PTSD and service to this country do the same? How about they get joined by the hundreds of thousands of people dedicating their lives to helping these people do the same? Can FOX news allow any of this bastard's ranting to go on unchallenged?

O'Reilly and FOX have a responsibility to their viewers. It is one thing to not report on what is going on which they do consistently but another to lie about it.

While I have managed to learn and control what I say, or in this case write because I hardly ever use that kind of language anymore, even though I think it, O'Reilly hasn't changed at all.