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.

Savage agenda demands to dismiss

Savage to Media Matters: "I stand by my words"

And nobody has personally suffered more from a sibling, in my case, my brother, who was born brain-damaged. So please, I don't want to hear that I'm insensitive from people who are making these false accusations, because many of them have no children of their own and they're connected with the homosexual mafia group Media Matters, none of whom have children of their own. They're a fascist, homo-- goes out of their way to misquote me, take me out of context, and try to get me in trouble with people who love me. I stand by my words. Media Mat-- and that's it. And that's where I'm going to leave it.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200807210006?lid=462335&rid=11389868

In this quote, Savage proves that his agenda is not about kids needing help with autism, but about going after the "homo" Media Matters. He goes after Al Gore as well in this article. Just once, wouldn't it be great if people could remember they are humans first and understand that when they have the kind of attention Savage gets, he is talking to some people who may believe him. I can just picture a parent with a child being treated for autism taking the kid off of medication just because Savage said what he did. There are some very simple minded people listening to Savage and this could happen. Will Savage take responsibility for what happens when a child is taken off medication? What is he doing even talking about this?

Michael Savage says "Autism is a brat, fraud and racket"

One more example of free speech and an ass who gets paid to prove it.

On July 16, the No. 3 syndicated radio talk show host in the country, Michael Savage, made the following statement on autism:
"Now, you want me to tell you my opinion on autism? ... A fraud, a racket."
Savage went on to say:
Now, the illness du jour is autism. You know what autism is? I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is.
What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, "Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot."

Autism -- everybody has an illness. If I behaved like a fool, my father called me a fool. And he said to me, "Don't behave like a fool." The worst thing he said -- "Don't behave like a fool. Don't be anybody's dummy. Don't sound like an idiot. Don't act like a girl. Don't cry." That's what I was raised with. That's what you should raise your children with. Stop with the sensitivity training. You're turning your son into a girl, and you're turning your nation into a nation of losers and beaten men. That's why we have the politicians we have.

During the same broadcast, Savage also attacked those in "the minority community" who suffer from asthma. He stated: "[W]hy was there an asthma epidemic amongst minority children? Because I'll tell you why: The children got extra welfare if they were disabled, and they got extra help in school. It was a money racket. Everyone went in and was told [fake cough], 'When the nurse looks at you, you go [fake cough], "I don't know, the dust got me." ' See, everyone had asthma from the minority community."
Michael Savage's mean-spirited comments are disgusting and are an affront to basic decency.
Find your local Savage Station, log into our calling tool and tell your Savage station manager what you think of Savage's tirade.

The Savage Nation reaches at least 8.25 million listeners each week, according to Talkers Magazine, making it one of the most listened-to talk radio shows in the nation, behind only The Rush Limbaugh Show and The Sean Hannity Show.

Your voice is critical in holding Savage accountable for his comments. I hope you take the time to call and tell those running the station exactly what you think of Michael Savage.
Find your local Savage Station, log into our calling tool and tell your Savage station manager what you think of Savage's tirade.

A question for Rush Limbaugh

Correction: many questions for Rush Limbaugh. Begin with who pushed to have the GI Bill? Was it a Republican or was it a Democrat? Who was it who fought against this Bill because it was "too generous" for the troops? Was it a Democrat or was it several Republicans?

Limbaugh: Democrats will not say "We honor your service" to troops returning from Iraq
Rush Limbaugh asserted that troops returning from Iraq "will not receive anything from the Democrat [sic] Party along the likes of 'Job well done. We're proud of you.' And this is highly distressing. Not only will Democrats not say, nor leftists, say to any returning troops from Iraq, 'Good job. Job well done. We honor your service.' No, they did just the opposite. They sought to secure defeat of the U.S. military in Iraq." In fact, many Senate Democrats recently honored the service of U.S. troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Read More

Now I'm not saying the Democrats have hallos above their heads when it comes to the troops and our veterans but they are a lot closer to obtaining them than most of the GOP in office. Bush and McCain fought against the GI Bill Jim Webb, a Democrat fought to provide the troops.

It was not a member of the Republican party fighting to make sure the VA was fully funded to take care of the wounded veterans. It was not a Republican holding hearings on the fact VA had less doctors and nurses working for them with two active occupations producing more wounded than they did during the Gulf War, but it was the Democrats.

It was not the members of the GOP wanting accountability from the Administration but it was the Democrats. They wanted to know how we ended up pulling troops out of Afghanistan in order to send them into Iraq without any factual need to do so or why the occupation of Afghanistan has ended up costing more lives every year since 2001. They wanted accountability from the defense contractors when the troops were being electrocuted. They wanted it when the treatment they were receiving at Walter Reed was deplorable and worse treatment than they would have received as an inmate in any of our prisons. That's right Rush, there are rules on how prisoners can be treated but apparently with the GOP in charge, there were none on how our wounded troops could be treated.

When it comes to the troops coming home and having to wait over a year to have a claim approved so they can have some income to make up for their lost incomes, it isn't the GOP caring. It isn't the GOP caring about National Guards and Reservists families living on food stamps because they lost income with their spouse deployed. It wasn't the GOP caring about the fact the Army found that the redeployments increased the risk of PTSD by 50% or the fact they were not getting enough rest in between deployments. Everything done since the occupations began and was allowed to continue was due to the GOP holding all the cards. Everything done for the troops has been begun when the Democrats took control. Now they will be held accountable.

Plus you seem to have forgotten that while the vast majority of Americans are against the occupation of Iraq because they paid attention to the facts, they do support the operations in Afghanistan because that was due to the attacks against us, we all support the troops. It's not their fault they were sent into Iraq and they do receive the full support of the American people. We all care about them. That includes Republicans and Democrats and Independents and Green Party and every other political affiliation. You seem to have forgotten that in order to fully support the troops you have to support the truth and the facts as well. You have to hold those who send them to risk their lives are held accountable for the decisions they make and for the results. If people like you had your way, Rumsfeld would still be in charge of the Department of Defense. While we do say they are doing a great job, we also care if they have jobs when they are no longer in the military, when they need income, need their wounds taken care of and do not end up homeless. You seem to think a pat on the back is fine and then send the wounded back into combat. To really care about the troops is to take care of them when they are also veterans.

While there are some in the GOP who do in fact support the troops when it really counts, too many of them are just like you. All talk and not much action to back it up.

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

Propaganda of generals "media Trojan horse"

Military analysts named in Times exposé appeared or were quoted more than 4,500 times on broadcast nets, cables, NPR

Summary: A New York Times article detailed the connection between numerous media military analysts and the Pentagon and defense industries, reporting that "the Bush administration has used its control over access and information in an effort to transform" media military analysts "into a kind of media Trojan horse -- an instrument intended to shape terrorism coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks." A Media Matters review found that since January 1, 2002, the analysts named in the Times article -- many identified as having ties to the defense industry -- collectively appeared or were quoted as experts more than 4,500 times on ABC, ABC News Now, CBS, CBS Radio Network, NBC, CNN, CNN Headline News, Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC, and NPR.

On April 20, The New York Times published an article by investigative reporter David Barstow that detailed the connection between numerous media military analysts and the Pentagon and defense industries. Barstow reported that "the Bush administration has used its control over access and information in an effort to transform" media military analysts, many of whom have clients or work for companies with an interest in obtaining Pentagon contracts, "into a kind of media Trojan horse -- an instrument intended to shape terrorism coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks."

A Media Matters review found that since January 1, 2002, the analysts named in Barstow's article -- many identified as having ties to the defense industry -- collectively appeared or were quoted as experts more than 4,500 times on ABC, ABC News Now, CBS, CBS Radio Network, NBC, CNN, CNN Headline News, Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC, and NPR in segments covering the Iraq war both before and after the invasion, as well as numerous other national security or government policy issues.

A spreadsheet listing each of the analysts' appearances documented by Media Matters is available here.

The following chart lists 20 analysts included in Barstow's article, the network or networks on which each analyst appeared, and the number of appearances made by each analyst since January 1, 2002, as tabulated by Media Matters:
http://mediamatters.org/items/200805130001?f=h_latest

Bill O'Reilly calls Florida's Homeless veterans "sex offenders"

First O'Reilly claims there are no homeless veterans and they are not sleeping under any bridges. That wasn't bad enough for his bosses to slap him upside the head with the report from the government.

Then he says, "they are all drug addicts and alcoholics" never wondering why homeless veterans would drink or do drugs after the nation abandoned them, leaving them without medical care, incomes from wounds connected to their service, or even managing to come up with some kind of plan to get them back on their feet. This does not even approach the fact that veterans with PTSD turn to self medication to kill off flashbacks, nightmares and twitches because their nerves are jumping out of their skin.

This was not enough for his bosses to make him admit he was wrong. Lord knows he doesn't have a conscience telling him to do it. It wasn't enough for his bosses to get him to either drop the subject altogether or report the truth. It wasn't even enough to get him fired.

Well then comes the homeless veterans to his studio. He couldn't be bothered to go out and meet these veterans. He sent someone to try to trap them up by asking them if they had heard what O'Reilly said or saw him on cable. Considering the dope couldn't figure out homeless people don't have radios or TV sets to get to watch, they proved once again, the homeless veterans are fair game and they would stoop to new levels that would make Scrooge proud. This wasn't enough either. The tape they shot that day was used on his program to attack them once again.

Who would have thought this maniac would sink even lower? Who would have thought his sponsors, viewers and bosses would have tolerated any of this? He did because he just went even lower by linking the homeless veterans to sex offenders in Florida.

BillOReilly.com link to story of "sex offenders living under a bridge": "Those weren't veterans John Edwards, they were sex offenders"
Summary: A link on BillOReilly.com, the website of Fox News and conservative radio talk-show host Bill O'Reilly, was titled "Those weren't veterans John Edwards, they were sex offenders," and linked to an Associated Press article about Florida's efforts "to dissolve a community of sex offenders living under a bridge." Media Matters for America has documented the back-and-forth between O'Reilly and former Sen. John Edwards over homelessness and homeless veterans.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, "Current population estimates suggest that about 195,000 veterans (male and female) are homeless on any given night and perhaps twice as many experience homelessness at some point during the course of a year." The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reported on October 15, 2007, that according to information reported by applicants to the department's Continuums of Care (CoCs) Homeless Assistance Programs, the local CoCs reported a "point-in-time count" of 29,785 "unsheltered" homeless veterans. The "point-in-time count" occurred in January 2006. HUD currently defines "an unsheltered homeless person" as a person who "resides in: A place not meant for human habitation, such as cars, parks, sidewalks, abandoned buildings, or on the street."

The Miami/Dade County CoC reported 117 unsheltered homeless veterans in its January 24, 2006, point-in-time count.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200802070009?lid=44841&rid=3168460


It's not bad enough he is waging war against war veterans. The creep is actually trying to make them look like drug addicts and criminals hell bent on committing rape. Naturally O'Reilly cannot understand common human decency. He has proven this time and time again when he has had more than ample time to reconsider his stance and tell the truth. He had all this time to admit he was wrong. He had more than enough time to actually prove his rants about caring about anyone but himself. He allowed his huge ego to kill off every sense of human kindness he had left in his soul. How twisted his mind must work for him to turn around and try to link homeless veterans to everything he can come up with instead of being a human. Shame on him. Shame on his viewers. Shame on his sponsors and a bigger shame on his bosses. All of them will forever be linked to the suffering of homeless veterans when they all had the opportunity to help them.

I think the sponsors of his radio show and cable show should value their advertising dollars more wisely considering whenever their products are purchased they will not leave a very bad taste and people will regret supporting them when they support someone who slanders veterans who were abandoned by the government. Nice work for a piece of shit that cannot understand we have two occupations already producing homeless veterans to add to the veterans who came before them.

20,000 War Vets Living On Florida Streets; 1,400 In Central Florida

POSTED: 5:42 pm EST January 23, 2008
UPDATED: 10:58 pm EST January 23, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. -- More than 20,000 military veterans in Florida are homeless, living in a kind of war zone they had never imaged -- on the streets and in the woods.

A former U.S. Marine named Pete who once lived in Cocoa Beach with a great view of the ocean is now one of Central Florida's 1,400 homeless.

Pete lives in the woods.

"I got a tent in the woods. I'm not going to a shelter," Pete said. "I'm a carpenter by trade and I just need to get back to work."

Pete said the housing market crisis put him out of work.

Another homeless veteran, Curtis, worked heavy machinery repairing dams and sinkholes after leaving the U.S. Air Force.

His company stopped operations in the United States, leaving him homeless.

"Right now, I would like to find out some information about getting a home," Curtis said. "I need a permanent shelter."

Curtis has been staying at the Rescue Mission in downtown Orlando.

"I have no support system as far as family is concerned," Curtis said. "I am the only one here."

Statewide there are fewer than 470 beds in the Veterans Administration for shelter and treatment, Cooper reported.

According to Brent Trotter, Chief Executive Officer of the Coalition for the Homeless, beds are in short supply.

"We try to take everyone in who comes into our doors, we're at capacity," Trotter said.

"These people got there because of a series of life circumstances and the fact they did not have kind of safety net that you and I might have," Executive Director of Homeless Services Network Cathy Jackson said. "They didn't have caring family or sufficient income or perhaps education."

Local 6 is planning a phone bank on Friday, Jan 23, at WKMG studios.

No I know how they become homeless. I've met a few and researched this for 25 years. Most of these veterans are the most wonderful people on the planet. This quote will give you a hint of how vial and contemptible O'Reilly has become.

"These people got there because of a series of life circumstances and the fact they did not have kind of safety net that you and I might have," Executive Director of Homeless Services Network Cathy Jackson said. "They didn't have caring family or sufficient income or perhaps education."

Right here in Florida we have 20,000 homeless veterans. O'Reilly is saying they are sex offenders. 20,000 veterans who served the nation. Did he call them that when they were risking their lives for the sake of people like him to be able to shoot off their mouths? 20,000 this nation had no problem paying for them to risk their lives with all that entailed from providing them with bullets, weapons, shelter, clothing and food while they were risking their lives, but found it too difficult to do the same because they were wounded, couldn't support themselves, became so wounded emotionally they found no comfort or human kindness and were then too expensive to support in the same way they were when they were risking those lives. O'Reilly is the worst kind of citizen. One who cares nothing about the men and women so noble and brave they are willing to lay down their lives even for the likes of him. Pathetic!

"At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge," said the gentleman, taking up a pen, "it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir."
"Are there no prisons?" asked Scrooge.
"Plenty of prisons," said the gentleman, laying down the pen again.
"And the Union workhouses?" demanded Scrooge. "Are they still in operation?"
"They are. Still," returned the gentleman, "I wish I could say they were not."
"The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?" said Scrooge.
"Both very busy, sir."
"Oh! I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course," said Scrooge. "I'm very glad to hear it."
"Under the impression that they scarcely furnish Christian cheer of mind or body to the multitude," returned the gentleman, "a few of us are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the Poor some meat and drink, and means of warmth. We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices. What shall I put you down for?"
"Nothing!" replied Scrooge.
"You wish to be anonymous?"
"I wish to be left alone," said Scrooge. "Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. I don't make merry myself at Christmas, and I can't afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned: they cost enough: and those who are badly off must go there."
"Many can't go there; and many would rather die."
"If they would rather die," said Scrooge, "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population. ... It's enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other people's. Mine occupies me constantly. Good afternoon, gentlemen!"
— Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol.

http://libertariannation.org/a/f12l1.html

AKA Bill O'Reilly He is anti-warrior, anti-veteran and anti-Christian!

Bill O'Reilly proves once again he doesn't give a shit

O'Reilly inconsistent on role of government in addressing vets' homelessness
Summary: Bill O'Reilly took inconsistent positions during the January 17 edition of The O'Reilly Factor on the role of the government in addressing the problem of homelessness among veterans, highlighted by John Edwards. O'Reilly said, "Certainly there are homeless veterans, but it's not because of the economy. It's mostly because of addiction and mental illness, something politicians can do little about." But when National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse president Joseph Califano later told O'Reilly that "the real tragedy here is most of those veterans have had combat experience that are suffering from drug and alcohol problems and mental health problems. And we are not taking care of them," O'Reilly replied: "And that is something that should be addressed."
go here for the rest
http://mediamatters.org/items/200801180012?f=h_latest

First O'Reilly slams the fact soldiers are being sent back into combat already diagnosed with PTSD and given medications that need to monitored. Didn't matter to him the report from the Hartford Courant was based on a report from the DOD.

This came after he denied every fact put out about the propaganda regarding the decision to invade Iraq in the first place, the history of first hand qualified accounts from 1991 by the people who were responsible for the Gulf War laying all of what happened as reason to not do it, all the way up to facts and admissions that there were no plans for after the invasion.

Now O'Reilly slammed for his callous, uninformed denial there were homeless veterans at all, followed up by admission there were, he then trumped it with they are all drunks, drug addicts and mental cases but it had nothing to do with the economy.

Stick a pin in his head and let out all that hot air keeping it inflated.

Half of the homeless are and have been connected to PTSD and all that comes with having it be untreated. The drugs and alcohol are used to kill off feelings they don't want to have. They use it to try to fight against the nightmares, flashback, calm the twitches. The other half are there because they cannot find jobs. National Guard families have found they no longer have incomes equal to what they made in civilian life and cannot afford to pay their bills while they are deployed. We're not talking about a month or two but over a year deployed. While Bill gets paid big bucks to shoot his mouth off, it's very hard for him to understand not being able to pay a mortgage or rent payment because they are serving the nation deployed in an occupation prolonged because people like O'Reilly have been shooting off their huge mouths instead of reporting facts.

For them it's not just a one shot deal but they go back over and over again. Employers are either laying off or closing down their businesses. The jobs are not there when they come back. Add into that many of them owned their own business. Being away for a year does not inspire customer loyalty because they cannot wait for a plumber they trust to come back and fix a leak or for an electrician to return to increase the power to the house to be able to put in their new toys.

Back to those who are on drugs and drinking, O'Reilly denied the "government" can do anything about this or for the mentally ill. How much money does O'Reilly think the government is "wasting" because they cannot do anything about the problem he thinks they don't have?

O'Reilly just keeps proving he doesn't give a shit about any veteran or anyone in need. After all he considers them as unworthy of being viewers of his in the first place. Why else would he keep insulting them if he thought any of them or their families watched his stupid show in the first place? Maybe he thinks they are just too dumb to get him? Too bad their too smart to waste their time watching him and in reality, he's just too self absorbed to notice.

I wonder what will happen when the Democrats are in control for real and the rest of the nation gets as pissed off as we are about what's been happening while O'Reilly made sure it was business as usual?