Bill O'Reilly and tales from "The Twilight Zone"- Part I

Take a look at this little tidbit from falafel Bill. Bill and his guest, General Wesley Clarke, were discussing the court order to release additional photos of US prisoner abuse from Iraq. Clarke said that it is important to follow abuse up the chain of command as far as it goes and prosecute or otherwise deal with it appropriately according to the law. Billy Boy agreed with this but said these type of abuses always happen in war. Clarke acknowledged that they happened but said that whenever they were done by the US military they have been prosecuted. Billy Boy argued about My Lai but Clarke pointed out that there had been prosecutions in that case. Then Billy Boy let out this screech of a brain fart:

"General! You need to look at the Malmedy massacre in World War Two, and the 82nd Airborne who did it!"


Cue Rod Serling......

Okay, now those who would defend O'Reilly would say that those who criticize him for saying things that arent true are picky. That they focus on minor details that dont really change the point. Um, seriously???

In this case, our Bill, looking out for all of us, has confused the US Army's 82nd Airborne division with the German Waffen SS 1st Panzer Division (aka Adolf Hitler Division). Nope. Not close. Not a detail. No, No, No!

Really, what the hell is this about? This isnt like saying it happened on December 18, 1944 and it was really on the 16th. In most contexts that would be a minor error (although not in all). But he not only got the division wrong, he not only got the type division wrong, he got the whole damn country of the division wrong. I really find it hard to imagine how anyone could get that "confused". And when I am thinking of "confused" I don't mean "I am speaking to you from another dimension, where time and space flow differently than in our own" nor do I mean "I just making stuff up when I feel like it"