Hey O'Reilly, I'm talking to you! An open challenge to debate with Eric Massa

Written by: Jared Smith on Jul 29, 2007 4:41 PM EDT

Cross Posted from Daily Kos

To the Kos Readership,

First, thank you for your years of support. Today I ask that you consider recommending this post and spreading the word to your friends and family as I am challenging Bill O'Reilly to debate me on his show following his weeks of trashing the DailyKos. The more recommendations we get, the more momentum we can build. Having watched and read Fox News over the past two weeks, I find their attacks against the DailyKos to be unfounded and reprehensible.

I hope to see all of you in Chicago where I will be speaking on Friday 8/3 at 10:30am at the Future Leaders panel and then hosting a hospitality room on that same Friday from 1-5pm at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, Meeting Suite 2 on the third floor about 100 feet to the left of the Convention Center. I hope to meet all of you, and even Mr. O'Reilly if he can find the time to swing by.

With that, I'd like to directly address Bill O'Reilly who has made it his mission to defame and mischaracterize us and our cause.

Mr. O'Reilly,

Over the past few weeks, your bosses have decided that you and the members of Rupert Murdoch's ultra rightwing noise machine should target me and the thousand of other DailyKos bloggers. You have compared us to Nazis, the KKK, David Duke, Al Capone, and Benito Mussolini. I find this terribly ironic considering that you have personally perpetuated a movement of intolerance, and ignorance in the mass media. You have selected specific examples of bloggers saying inappropriate things such as hoping Tony Snow would die of cancer, however you cannot judge the Kos Community based on one or two extreme examples. By the same logic, could I post something on your blog along the lines of the Tony Blair example and then attack you for it?

Lets go over some of your highlights over the years.

You have insulted the families of victims of 9/11 because some of them opposed the war in Iraq.

You have used a drunk driving accident to grandstand against illegal aliens.

You have smeared General Wesley Clark and General John Batiste, both colleagues, and friends of mine because of donations while ignoring so many other things.

You have suggested that cities such as San Francisco that oppose Military recruiting should al-Qaeda first targets for bombing.

You claim to be fair and balanced, yet you've continued to tie Saddam Hussein to al-Qaeda despite the fact that there is no evidence to support that fact.

Mr. O'Reilly, I challenge you to bring me on your show to discuss the DailyKos, blogging, and your biased media coverage. If you want to besmirch the DailyKos and YearlyKos Convention, then why not have somebody who's a weekly blogger at the site, and speaker at the event?

Your attacks against the DailyKos are in fact a full out assault against the first amendment. You do not want to know what the public thinks because you are in the business of trying to think for them. You resent members of the blogging community for thinking outside the box and actually discussing news and issues rather just sitting on their couches and absorbing your opinion.

Mr. O'Reilly, I am a 24 year Navy Commander and a survivor of cancer. I have defended our freedoms around the world and live on to speak out against injustices in my district, our nation and the entire world. I will not be intimidated by you or your propaganda machine, nor will the bloggers of the world. If you want to challenge the Daily Kos Community, then I say Bring it On!

Eric Massa

Commander US Navy (ret.)

Candidate US Congress NY-29

PS - Bill, I hope you can stick around to do live blogging with me today and every Sunday from 3-6 pm Eastern. I've made using the Daily Kos to speak to voters a priority in my campaign, and I have yet to meet any Nazis on here.

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