Bill O'Reilly Shows that Conservatives' Feminist Awakening Was Short-Lived

Posted by Melissa McEwan, Shakesville at 10:25 AM on November 6, 2008.

Being able to bask in misogyny again must be such a relief.

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I've been predicting for two months that if/when McCain lost the election, the Republicans who were so keen to use their funhouse version of feminism both to defend Palin against genuinely sexist attacks and to mendaciously attempt to insulate her from legitimate attacks by calling them sexist, would immediately excise the words sexism, misogyny, and feminism once again from their vocabularies and throw Palin under the bus using vicious sexist attacks.

File this under Unhappy to be Right:

(If anyone can find a transcript, please drop a link in comments.)
Everything about this video is disgusting.

Bill O'Reilly affects minimal concern for Palin only as a bridge to get to Carl Cameron's next vicious report about her "tantrums," her ignorance, her "shopaholism," her greeting McCain campaign operatives wearing a bathrobe (the original report actually says "wearing nothing but a towel, with another on her wet hair"). O'Reilly offers a paternalistic, patently disingenuous defense after every new revelation, hardly able to contain himself from gleefully salivating at finally being able to throw Palin to the wolves after having to pretend to respect her for oh-so-painfully-long. Being able to bask in misogyny again is such a relief.

O'Reilly is nothing if not a Republican water carrier, and this, then, is the official GOP talking point: Palin is a dumb slut and that's why we lost.

Classy.

Tagged as: o'reilly, republicans, sexism, conservatives, palin

Melissa McEwan writes and edits the blog Shakespeare's Sister.

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Alternet needs a comedy section [Report this comment] Posted by: hurricane hugo on Nov 6, 2008 11:04 AM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] for anything Falafel-King-related. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] » RE: Alternet needs a comedy section Posted by: Quannah » RE: Alternet needs a comedy section Posted by: Vik Get a grip, feminists. Crying wolf only hurts the cause. [Report this comment] Posted by: ProgressiveRedStateResident on Nov 6, 2008 11:06 AM Current rating: 3 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] Sweet gawd! What the hell is this about? Please point to one single thing that was said in that piece that constitutes a "vicious sexist attack". Please. I'm 100% down with issues important to women. But, I think that the cause would be helped greatly if columnists would stop crying wolf and learn to identify real sexism when they see it. It seems a horrible waste of time to write this piece, when there are real issues affecting all women, that could use the attention. When you sling around false charges of sexism, it only hurts the cause. I have no doubt that most of the people working for Fox"News" are in fact sexist assholes. But, there's no obvious evidence in this clip. I worry that someone less concerned with issues affecting women might see a piece like this and come to the conclusion that if this clip represents "vicious" sexism, then maybe we have achieved true equality. We know that this is not true. But, sensationalistic pieces like this certainly don't help pull moderates into our cause. This is a ridiculous article. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] » RE: Get a grip, feminists. Crying wolf only hurts the cause. Posted by: ProgressiveRedStateResident » RE: Get a grip, feminists. Crying wolf only hurts the cause. Posted by: shermhead » RE: Get a grip, feminists. Crying wolf only hurts the cause. Posted by: ProgressiveRedStateResident » RE: Get a grip, feminists. Crying wolf only hurts the cause. Posted by: ProgressiveRedStateResident » RE: Get a grip, feminists. Crying wolf only hurts the cause. Posted by: hilaryuk I'm not sure which was worse... [Report this comment] Posted by: hiryuu75 on Nov 6, 2008 11:07 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] ...Cameron's chops-licking marrow-sucking eagerness to dissect Palin, or O'Reilly's dismissive and insincere attempts at playing the apologist. I still can't figure out what led me to watch this clip. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] "Stand up" guys! [Report this comment] Posted by: 2thepoint on Nov 6, 2008 12:53 PM Current rating: 1 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] I saw this and honestly, it typifies what has been going on with both women in this election. They both have taken a beating in the media and now Plain by her own people. Now that McCain lost his handlers are scrambling looking to place blame. Yep, real quality people. Palin is taking it on the chin so some guys can feel better about themselves. I'm sure she's glad this nightmare is over! [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] » RE: "Stand up" guys! Posted by: ProgressiveRedStateResident » RE: "Stand up" guys! Posted by: Quannah Ponder this... [Report this comment] Posted by: Quannah on Nov 6, 2008 4:48 PM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] Sarah Palin, it's being reported, did not know that Africa is a continent. She thinks it's a country, and that South Africa is a region within that country! Sarah Palin couldn't name the countries in North America! North America! Honestly! Slamming Palin DOES NOT EQUAL a sexist attack! Sarah Palin deserves whatever ridicule she gets in my opinion. She gives ALL women a bad name! [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Please don't make me defend Bill O'Reilly [Report this comment] Posted by: TKirwin on Nov 7, 2008 2:27 AM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] Melissa apparently didn't watch the clip she attached. Carl Cameron is quite aggressive about the McCain staffers trying to punnish Palin for the McCain loss, but O'Reilly is still clearly supporting her. He sidestepped or deflected either the substance or significance of nearly charge asserted. He seemed oblivious to the idea that there was anything that Palin did wrong in the Curic interview and described other charges as "nitpicking." He also offered that she might not have wanted to be "burdened" by cramming before interviews and asserted that "anyone" could quickly learn the civic and geographic data she lacked were she to become VP. I am certainly not a fan of O'Reilly, but this story is a nearly complete misread of O'Reilly's posture. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] rumors and gossip [Report this comment] Posted by: kittybrat on Nov 7, 2008 2:43 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] Another reason why I don't watch this crap. It's just a bunch of mean spirited guys talking rumors and gossip... and getting paid a lot of money to suck viewers into it. It's non substantive. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] My 2-cents' worth... [Report this comment] Posted by: JDMB on Nov 7, 2008 1:46 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] I haven't seen the clip (I refuse to dignify this airbag with my attention), but I agree with other comments here: Alternet contributors have a tendency to sometimes hype an otherwise innocuous clip or article into something it's not (did Letterman really spank this same windbag on his show some months back? IMO, hardly.), and that does indeed detract from the seriousness of the issues. Women (I'm not one) had every reason to be wary of Palin for her beliefs and lack of preparation, and of McCain for his judgment and manipulativeness (is that a word?) in choosing her, but this type of sensationalizing and (apparent) misrepresentation are a disservice to Alternet's readers. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] The fact that Palin is... [Report this comment] Posted by: schiffer on Nov 7, 2008 2:11 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] ... a dumb slut is NOT why I voted for her. Honest! [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

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» RE: Alternet needs a comedy section Posted by: Quannah

» RE: Alternet needs a comedy section Posted by: Vik

» RE: Get a grip, feminists. Crying wolf only hurts the cause. Posted by: ProgressiveRedStateResident

» RE: Get a grip, feminists. Crying wolf only hurts the cause. Posted by: shermhead

» RE: Get a grip, feminists. Crying wolf only hurts the cause. Posted by: ProgressiveRedStateResident

» RE: Get a grip, feminists. Crying wolf only hurts the cause. Posted by: ProgressiveRedStateResident

» RE: Get a grip, feminists. Crying wolf only hurts the cause. Posted by: hilaryuk

» RE: "Stand up" guys! Posted by: ProgressiveRedStateResident

» RE: "Stand up" guys! Posted by: Quannah

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» RE: Alternet needs a comedy section Posted by: Quannah

» RE: Alternet needs a comedy section Posted by: Vik

» RE: Get a grip, feminists. Crying wolf only hurts the cause. Posted by: ProgressiveRedStateResident

» RE: Get a grip, feminists. Crying wolf only hurts the cause. Posted by: shermhead

» RE: Get a grip, feminists. Crying wolf only hurts the cause. Posted by: ProgressiveRedStateResident

» RE: Get a grip, feminists. Crying wolf only hurts the cause. Posted by: ProgressiveRedStateResident

» RE: Get a grip, feminists. Crying wolf only hurts the cause. Posted by: hilaryuk

» RE: "Stand up" guys! Posted by: ProgressiveRedStateResident

» RE: "Stand up" guys! Posted by: Quannah