Fox gone wild

Keith Olbermann followed up the video we posted previously with this interview with Robert Greenwald. Fair and balanced? How about fair, balanced and sexy?

"Redacted" -- the rhetoric and the reality

Director Brian DePalma got somewhat of an early Christmas present thanks to Bill O'Reilly's venting over DePalma's new film, "Redacted," which O'Reilly criticized without seeing. He said it was unAmerican and would endanger the troops.
Well, we have seen it and O'Reilly, as usual, is wrong.
O'Reilly's overreaction has certainly boosted the visibility of the film. "Redacted" may not do what DePalma hopes -- end the war -- but it delivers a powerful message about the war's effect on its soldiers.
"Redacted" is actually a combination of several stories merged into one film. It's the account of Angel Salazar (played well by Izzy Diaz), who spends a lot of time taking video of his fellow soldiers. Patrick Carroll as Reno Flake and Daniel Stewart Sherman as B.B. Rush also figure heavily into the story and both do a great job.
The big question, though, is is O'Reilly's criticism valid? Does it do an injustice to the troops?
Well, if you are one of those who believes anything that makes the troops look less than perfect is an injustice to them, well, needless to say you won't like it. But despite the less than rosy picture it paints, "Redacted" basically allows that war is hell and soldiers are human, even despite the ugly events depicted in the film.
Do these events and the film itself cast a shadow on the troops? We say no.
We all know war is hell. War movies are hell. "Redacted" isn't the first movie to show the ugly side of war. It won't be the last. It does, however, reveal the injustice of American occupation in a land where we are not always welcome.
But this isn't the fault of the troops, who are there to do a job. It's the fault of our government, who never should have gotten us there in the first place.
"Redacted" is a film that makes a good point, but it certainly isn't enough to make it the be-all, end-all at getting us out of Iraq. That will take the enlightenment of the politicians in Washington, D.C. -- either this administration (unlikely) or the next one.

The "Redacted" official movie site

Bill O'Reilly, strikebreaker?

Writers Guild of America member Steve Young complains that Bill O'Reilly is continuing to make a living off the back of striking writers during their labor dispute. On the Huffington Post, Young, whose column runs in the Los Angeles Daily News on Sunday next to O'Reilly's, complains that during a mail segment on "The O'Reilly Factor," he explained he was the sole writer of the show. That, Young opined, explains the quality of the writing, but it doesn't explain how he is allowed to continue writing the show.
"I'm not sure if he is a paid up WGA-ite, but he should be. In the very least he should honor the strike," says Young.
He explains that O'Reilly sold a novel to fellow WGA member Mel Gibson. Says Young, "The sale to a WGA signatory production company had to fall under WGA precepts and, in affect, brought Mr. O'Reilly into the WGA fold. If not the fold, at least near enough to benefit from the minimums the WGA has fought and died for.*"
Secondly and more important, says Young, "the WGA strike affects those writing television fictional drama and comedy. Certainly judging which of the two Bill's work falls under might be in question, but that he serves up plenty of fiction is not. That in itself should fall under Guild jurisdiction. Whether Fox News is a signatory network shouldn't be of matter."
He says, "The WGA must call for him to cease and desist. In addition, every WGA writer should contact the SRCC or call the WGAW STRIKE TIP HOTLINE at (323) 782-4898 to report O'Reilly."
He concludes," Whether fictional news is on the Comedy Channel or Fox News, it cannot continue during the strike."
We agree.