Just in time for Bill O'Reilly's faux outrage at Chevy Chase's 'vulger' behavior, we have this tactic that highlights the behavior of the 'Factor' himself.

So just in case you don't already despise Fox News and Bill O'Reilly, Check out this little gem. Be warned however that it is in your best interest to keep the following handy:

* Anti-vomit medicine
* Blood pressure medicine
* Valium

And keep the following at a distance or otherwise secured from retrieval:

* Bill O'Reilly's address
* Any weapons allowed by the 2nd Amendment

(Optional)

* Tape mouth to avoid expletive outbursts in front of loved ones.
* Obtain and secure a helmet to avoid self-inflicted loss of hair.

Okay, here it is in all its glory as posted on Salon way back in April of 2003:

I caught a bit of the O'Reilly Factor during dinner last night, during which Bill berated Jeremy Glick, a signatory of the "Not in Our Name" ad whose father died in the 9/11 attacks. I couldn't find a transcript on the Fox site, but happily, one came in over the transom (probably pulled off Lexis, so no link available).

This is how Bill O'Reilly behaves when faced with genuine disagreement:

O'REILLY: You are mouthing a far left position that is a marginal position in this society, which you're entitled to.

GLICK: It's marginal -- right.

O'REILLY: You're entitled to it, all right, but you're -- you see, even --I'm sure your beliefs are sincere, but what upsets me is I don't think your father would be approving of this.

GLICK: Well, actually, my father thought that Bush's presidency was illegitimate.

O'REILLY: Maybe he did, but...

GLICK: I also didn't think that Bush...

O'REILLY: ... I don't think he'd be equating this country as a terrorist nation as you are.

GLICK: Well, I wasn't saying that it was necessarily like that.

O'REILLY: Yes, you are. You signed...

GLICK: What I'm saying is...

O'REILLY: ... this, and that absolutely said that.

GLICK: ... is that in -- six months before the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan, starting in the Carter administration and continuing and escalating while Bush's father was head of the CIA, we recruited a hundred thousand radical mujahadeens to combat a democratic government in Afghanistan, the Turaki government.

O'REILLY: All right. I don't want to...

GLICK: Maybe...

O'REILLY: I don't want to debate world politics with you.

GLICK: Well, why not? This is about world politics.

O'REILLY: Because, No. 1, I don't really care what you think.

GLICK: Well, OK.

O'REILLY: You're -- I want to...

GLICK: But you do care because you...

O'REILLY: No, no. Look...

GLICK: The reason why you care is because you evoke 9/11...

O'REILLY: Here's why I care.

GLICK: ... to rationalize...

O'REILLY: Here's why I care...

GLICK: Let me finish. You evoke 9/11 to rationalize everything from domestic plunder to imperialistic aggression worldwide.

O'REILLY: OK. That's a bunch...

GLICK: You evoke sympathy with the 9/11 families.

O'REILLY: That's a bunch of crap. I've done more for the 9/11 families by their own admission -- I've done more for them than you will ever hope to do.

GLICK: OK.

O'REILLY: So you keep your mouth shut when you sit here exploiting those people.

GLICK: Well, you're not representing me. You're not representing me.

O'REILLY: And I'd never represent you. You know why?

GLICK: Why?

O'REILLY: Because you have a warped view of this world and a warped view of this country.

GLICK: Well, explain that. Let me give you an example of a parallel...

O'REILLY: No, I'm not going to debate this with you, all right.

GLICK: Well, let me give you an example of parallel experience. On September 14...

O'REILLY: No, no. Here's -- here's the...

GLICK: On September 14...

O'REILLY: Here's the record.

GLICK: OK.

O'REILLY: All right. You didn't support the action against Afghanistan to remove the Taliban. You were against it, OK.

GLICK: Why would I want to brutalize and further punish the people in Afghanistan...

O'REILLY: Who killed your father!

GLICK: The people in Afghanistan...

O'REILLY: Who killed your father.

GLICK: ... didn't kill my father.

O'REILLY: Sure they did. The al Qaeda people were trained there.

GLICK: The al Qaeda people? What about the Afghan people?

O'REILLY: See, I'm more angrier about it than you are!

GLICK: So what about George Bush?

O'REILLY: What about George Bush? He had nothing to do with it.

GLICK: The director -- senior as director of the CIA.

O'REILLY: He had nothing to do with it.

GLICK: So the people that trained a hundred thousand Mujahadeen who were...

O'REILLY: Man, I hope your mom isn't watching this.

GLICK: Well, I hope she is.

O'REILLY: I hope your mother is not watching this because you -- that's it. I'm not going to say anymore.

GLICK: OK.

O'REILLY: In respect for your father...

GLICK: On September 14, do you want to know what I'm doing?

O'REILLY: Shut up! Shut up!

GLICK: Oh, please don't tell me to shut up.

O'REILLY: As respect -- as respect -- in respect for your father, who was a Port Authority worker, a fine American, who got killed unnecessarily by barbarians...

GLICK: By radical extremists who were trained by this government...

O'REILLY: Out of respect for him...

GLICK: ... not the people of America.

O'REILLY: ... I'm not going to...

GLICK: ... The people of the ruling class, the small minority.

O'REILLY: Cut his mic. I'm not going to dress you down anymore, out of respect for your father.
We will be back in a moment with more of THE FACTOR.

GLICK: That means we're done?

O'REILLY: We're done.

The last few seconds of that exchange were really something to watch. I don't think I've ever seen a shouting head actually tell his guest to "Shut up! Shut up!" or to tell his producer to "cut his mic."

So O'Reilly is a disgusting pig. As if we didn't already know that. What I found most interesting about this "exchange" is how effectively it symbolizes the GOP's strategy of "destroy and immunize."

I've seen it a million times. The GOP does something absolutely detestable (much of it was done under Reagan and Bush Sr.) and when a patriotic American calls these traitors on their un-American activities, those being called (i.e. the GOP) blame those who point out the truth as "anti-American". I know, it sounds like a pitiful, desperate attempt to dig themselves out of a hole. Unfortunately, people seem more likely to take the side of the McCarthyite GOP in such instances. There is little doubt that such tactics cow people into speaking for (or at least refrain from speaking against) the GOP's distorted position.

First they destroy:

What has the GOP done in the past that they now defend with threats of branding the accuser as unpatriotic?

How about Iran-Contra, where Reagan and Bush sold arms illegally to enemies of the state while simultaneously funding South American terrorists? This seems hardly to have made a dent in the minds of Americans. People perceive Reagan as a sweet, folksy, Charismatic leader. Do people even remember Iran-Contra?

Next, the same Administration sold "weapons of mass destruction" to Saddam Hussein and continued to support him even with the knowledge that he used them against Iran and the Kurds.

Let's not forget that the Reagan Bush Administration actually trained a hundred thousand Mujahadeen (as mentioned above) who would eventually train al Qaeda and the 911 hijackers.

Indeed, it was this Administration's "use 'em and lose 'em" strategy that helped hasten the rise of Anti-American, central-Asian radicalism.

Now lets step forward a bit and take a look at Bush Jr. He pioneers the unprecedented "preemptive strike" policy, second only to the invention of the atomic bomb in its catastrophic potential. He has mercilessly shredded the US constitution and turned back the clock on American civil liberties... and all this in the name of a country that had given a half million more votes to his opponent in the election. So what were the consequences?

Then they immunize:

What consequences? All they have to do is attack those who attempt to reveal the truth as anti-American, and "Boom!" very few dare carry the message forward.

The point is that all these GOP actions were either bumbling acts of incompetence or deliberate acts of great evil -- showing neither concern for consequences nor a sense of vision. Because of that, all these things have come back to bite us in the ass. No worries though, since the maneuvers fulfilled short-term agenda's at the time.

Nevertheless, when such matters are raised as legitimate criticisms of failed foreign policies, the GOP spin machine goes into hyperdrive, wrapping themselves in the flag while effectively demonizing as 'un-American' those who would bring truth.