By Brad Friedman…trying to keep up with all from the road…
Our story so far…Last Friday I was at the BlogWorld Expo in Vegas, where billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner, HDNet media impresario, and blogger Mark Cuban gave the closing keynote address. I asked him about the various attacks on him from Bill O’Reilly concerning Redacted, the new Brian DePalma film which HDNet is releasing this week…and which O’Reilly has not seen…but has declared to be “anti-troop” nonetheless.
Cuban told me that he’s “very grateful” to the far-Right Fox “News” desk-jockey for the publicity he’s brought to what would otherwise have been a small film release. “Bill O’Reilly is my new best friend!” he declared. My coverage of that, blogged from the conference room just after his address, is here.
On Sunday, Cuban himself blogged more on the topic at his BlogMaverick site, in a post which begins, “I’ve grown to love Bill O’Reilly. Seriously. If there is anyone who can publicize a political movie, it’s Bill and I truly appreciate that about him.” Cuban then goes on to speak to O’Reilly’s concerns about the film…which O’Reilly has not seen.
On Monday, a visibly angry (or mock-angry, as the case usually is) O’Reilly shot back. He ranted that in a different day FDR “might have incarcerated” Cuban and that “General Patton would have slapped the tar out of him.” O’Reilly’s ingenious plan to teach Cuban a lesson: A campaign calling for Dallas Mavericks fans to display “Support the Troops” signs at games, and for protesters to show up outside movie theaters showing the film with “Support the Troops” signs. O’Reilly said he would be doing so himself. We posted video of his silly rant yesterday.
Which brings us up to yesterday, when O’Reilly railed again against Cuban, calling him an “extremist.” Ironically, Ann Coulter would join him for the conversation…about the film O’Reilly hasn’t seen.
At the same time, MSNBC’s Kieth Olbermann (O’Reilly’s actual arch-enemy) jumped into the fray to have much fun at O’Reilly’s expense from the night before. His report included a video-taped look at the actual answer Cuban gave to my question last Friday at the BlogWorld Expo (though not the question itself), along with an examination of O’Reilly’s claim that Cuban would have been locked up by FDR and slapped by Patton for having produced the film…Which O’Reilly hasn’t seen.
Olbermann also notes that the Dallas Mavericks had previously planned a “Support the Troops” night for the Texas National Guard at their upcoming home game anyway, but we’re sure that O’Reilly will take credit for the thousands of green shirts with such a message — long-planned to be given out to fans that night — along with the Mavs’ long-standing “Seats for Soldiers” program as some response to his ingenious plan to teach Cuban a lesson…by “promoting” his film for him, even though he hasn’t seen it.
Here’s last night’s O’Reilly and then Olbermann videos, courtesy of our own video-ace, Alan Breslauer…
Lastly, Olbermann had a short follow-up segment with a former Reagan Administration Official, Constitutional Attorney Bruce Fein, for a historical look at FDR’s actual imprisonment plans during WWII…
So now, if you cared, you’re all up to date!
And a personal message for Cuban from The BRAD BLOG: Hey, it’s been our pleasure to give your film all this free publicity! Sorry we haven’t called you an extremist or called for you to be locked up, but it’s the best we can do. (We also did a fairly good job of making noise with Dan Rather’s blockbuster HDNet exposé on touch-screen voting machines to boot!) Both have been our pleasure. But, feel free to say thanks by purchasing a BlogAd here, as you’ve done on a number of the other progressive blogs, but not ours 🙁 — We could certainly use the support to keep taking down the bad guys! Not to mention an ad buy here is a great way to “thank” O’Reilly for all he’s done for ya! 🙂 Hope you’ll consider it!
UFC Smackdown, in the Octagon, Olbermann vs. O’Reilly.
One can dream.
I hope Olberman bashes O’Lielly as hard as possible.
Go, Keith, go!
Hummm…
Seems to me billo yearns to do journalism like one of his mentors Mike Wallace.
Unfortunately bill o’reilly lacks the class, style, skill and honesty to do so.
Billo your no Mike Wallace nor will you ever be . . .
You keep hammering that he hasn’t seen the movie. So what? EVERYONE agrees the movie has two drunken American soldiers raping and killing a 14 year old Iraqi girl. First of all, who would WANT to see a 14 year old get raped and murdered in a movie. Is that entertainment to you? Second, you don’t have to see that to realize the enemey will use it for propaganda. Third, DePalma has explicitly stated he intended for Redacted to be an anti-war film.
In short, you don’t have to see this to know that it is garbage and will be used by our enemies against us. The terrorists couldn’t have better friends than DePalma, Cuban, and the American left.
We helped “the enemy” when we invaded Iraq, and this movie will help Americans understand that it isn’t a game, that it is real, innocent, people suffering and dying.
I heard Cuban was bankrolling the theatrical release of Loose Change: Final Cut, but that film appears to be (unfortunately) now being distributed thru the internets. (it’s now done and can be ordered from infowars.com.) This is a big bummer because it means any chance at Fahrenheit 9-11-style publicity on a theatrical is now gone.
Anybody know what happened?
I heard the theatrical release wasn’t going to be until next year.
But, really, at the very most it would only ever be a very few theaters, no matter who’s bankrolling it. Moore went about as far as anybody would let you take it in major theater release, and that was only because Cannes had gone batshit crazy for it. If Loose Change could get that kind of traction, we wouldn’t need it to begin with….
Agent 99, that’s a particularly asinine statement given the current news out of Iraq. AQ in Iraq has been defeated. Deaths are down and they are getting their act together over there.
But hey, don’t let a little thing like the truth stop you from spouting anti-American rhetoric.
Who died and made you the arbiter of Americanism… or even asininity?
There was no AQ in Iraq until we invaded. There won’t stop being “terrorists” and “insurgents” killing Americans in Iraq for as long as we are there. Invading Iraq was a WAR CRIME, and you can play adversary for the rest of time, but it won’t change that.
Hey THEADVERSARY
The deaths are down not because of the Surge and not because of Al-Qaeda’s defeat.
Deaths are down because Muqtada E-Sadr ordered his brigades to stand down. Read Boston Globe article here.
As to Al-Qaeda’s defeat, this opinion is being forwarded by Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the very same officer who pushed for Mission Accomplished back in 2003. Admiral Fallon, according to the Washington Post is “urging restraint.” yes, that’s the same Admiral Fallon who called Petraeus a “chiken-shit little ass kisser.”
I kind of like this Fallon.
Now go back to your hole, troll.
Jason Call
http://www.Call4Democracy.org
Candidate, US Congress, New Mexico CD 1
LOL, but wait, there’s more…
Apparently the fine Lt. Gen. McChrystal is the fellow in charge of pushing the Pat Tillman enemy fire story.
A real winner. What’s the betting he gets a Presidential Medal of Freedom?
Peace
Jason Call
http://www.Call4Democracy.org
Candidate, US Congress, New Mexico CD 1
Jason, great to see you’re running for Congress and know your stuff! Sadly, I’m sure the DCCC will run some millionaire DINO against you unfortunately like they’re doing to Clint Curtis down in FL24. They promised him $250K last election if he won the primary and instead stabbed him in the back.
People are so hungry for truth that i firmly believe that the candidate who speaks it will win. Bring it!