Our intrepid new columnist, Phyllis Zagano, raised the hackles of Fox pundit Bill O’Reilly with a column that faulted O’Reilly for stooping to the same level of gutter-talk that he found so objectionable in John Edwards’ ill-fated bloggers.
Here’s a sample:
O’REILLY: When people-religious people see their religion attacked,they’re going to get angry. And some of them are going to overreact andthreaten these women, and they did. But I get threats every day that.That doesn’t justify it. I’m not pointing to bad behavior to justify it.
But you said that it was a low blow. I didn’t do anything that was low. I reported accurately. And that I was nasty, I wasn’t nasty. I wasn’t atall. We gave these women time to come to sit where you are, to explain themselves. They wouldn’t.
We went over backwards for Edwards. And he basically-and then you objected to the fact-this is interesting. I said on this broadcast that the Edwards people gave us the middle digit. Right? And you objected to that.
ZAGANO: I do.
O’REILLY: That’s exactly what they gave us, madam.
ZAGANO: Well, that may be true, but it’s not necessary for you to talk like that.
O’REILLY: I can’t tell the truth about how they behaved?
ZAGANO: Why do you have to use vulgarities?
O’REILLY: Middle digit is a vulgarity? I thought that was pretty cleanedup.
ZAGANO: Well, it is for your age. That’s what I said, you’re choosingthe vulgarity of your age group.
The column that got him so upset is here. Zagano held her own O’Reilly’s show, and O’Reilly reponds here.