Harvey Silverglate, who is also a civil rights attorney, appeared on "The O'Reilly Factor" on Dec. 11 to discuss National Security Agency leaks. At first the conversation was surprisingly civil, with Silverglate even ribbing O'Reilly by saying, "Fair and balanced, that's my motto." Silverglate mentioned his recent Phoenix article suggesting that New York Times staff could be indicted for publishing the domestic wiretapping story: he told O'Reilly, "I received more phone calls and e-mail, hostile e-mail, about that from my friends in the news media saying, 'Don't give the Department of Justice any ideas!'" However, as discussion turned to whether exposing the wiretapping could have undermined the war on terror, the segment ended with a brief shouting match. A summary of Silverglate's appearance can be found on O'Reilly's Web site.
During a discussion of "the war on Christmas" on the Dec. 13 episode of Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor," host Bill O'Reilly suggested that "you expect those people to be communing with Satan up there in the Madison, Wisconsin media." A Madison-based Web site decided to investigate further, eliciting several tongue-in-cheek responses from local media and political officials -- including Bill Lueders, news editor for AAN member paper Isthmus. Lueders said, "Actually, I commune with Satan often, and consider him a pal. Not the scary Biblical Satan who eats babies and the like, but the kind of guy who is considered sinister by Bill O'Reilly and friends: You know, the kind who believes that government ought to be on the side of people in need, not people in greed; the kind who supports equality for woman and gay people; the kind who tries to be respectful of religious diversity and not trumpet the 'majority' religion. That Satan. Praise be with him."
