Mr President, Phil Donahue

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I did catch this last night. If I were president, I would ...

Great imagination!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,35169,00.html

BILL O'REILLY, HOST: In the "Personal Story" segment tonight, Phil Donahue's strategy to defeat terrorism. He joins us now.

And I'm actually putting words in your mouth here, but -- you know, I want to bring in a wide variety of opinion about the war on terrorism. So you're president right now of the United States, Mr. Donahue. What do you do?

PHIL DONAHUE, FORMER TALK-SHOW HOST: I would take advantage of the enormous worldwide goodwill felt for the United States tonight and empathy that we have never known in my lifetime for this nation -- people all over the world putting flowers at our embassies, singing, lighting candles. It's a wonderful thing to see. This is our chance to show all of these nations that we are part of the world community.

We do not think we can go against terrorism alone. We need you with us. Not just Tony Blair. Not just Australia. We need all of you, and we ask you to join us in this worldwide effort to counteract the heinous acts that are being perpetrated on innocent people.

O'REILLY: But I think that's...

DONAHUE: I'm almost...

O'REILLY: ... what Bush is trying to do, isn't he?

DONAHUE: I'm almost -- yes, he is. Yes, he is. And I admire what...

O'REILLY: OK. So you agree?

DONAHUE: ... my president --

So far. Yes. I am -- I'm concerned about the drum beats. I mean, we've got Zell Miller of Georgia -- good old Zell -- he just wants -- can't wait to bomb somebody.

We have all kinds of folks in punditry, some of the -- some of the biggest names in -- on the op ed pages. David Broder is the dean. He's -- he laments that we're so queasy about killing innocent children.

We've -- we're always queasy about -- we pinprick bomb, is our response. He's mad that we're queasy. Shame on us for being queasy about killing innocent civilians.

O'REILLY: All right. Well, nobody wants to see...

DONAHUE: Safire says we're going to have to have collateral damage. Thank you, Bill. Collateral damage. This is a language guy. And I cannot not read Safire. I read him every -- all the time.

O'REILLY: OK, but you're like one of the seven...

DONAHUE: Wait a minute.

O'REILLY: ... people in the country that do.

DONAHUE: Bill, let me...

O'REILLY: All right. I mean, these...

DONAHUE: I'm almost finished here.

O'REILLY: ... people mean nothing to your audience. Nothing.

DONAHUE: You're insulting your audience, Bill.

O'REILLY: No, I'm not.

DONAHUE: They know who Bill Safire...

O'REILLY: They may know. They may now who he is...

DONAHUE: All right. I'm almost finished. I'm almost finished.

O'REILLY: All right. Go ahead.

DONAHUE: Safire, the language guy, talks about we're going to have to -- we're just going to have risk collateral damage. He said that. He's hiding behind a euphemism. We're going to have to risk killing civilians. Old people and children.

O'REILLY: All right.

DONAHUE: If we bomb, I am here to say I believe we have a growing number of people in this country, one of whom appeared with you last night and was interrupted throughout the whole undertaking, I finally found out why -- you are so clear. I admire you. You are clear as a bell, and one reason is that nobody ever interrupts you. So I'm almost finished, Bill.

We want -- we don't want to bomb Afghanistan. Chapter One of the 21st century is the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. That's chapter one of the world of the 21st century. If we kill more people, if we kill innocents, which we will if we bomb Afghanistan, that's going to be the second chapter.

O'REILLY: All right. So you don't buy --

DONAHUE: And we will have more -- more young people growing up to imitate...

O'REILLY: All right. I got it.

DONAHUE: ... the behavior of those who hit -- we're going to breed more, and we're going to be Belfast where...

O'REILLY: So you're...

DONAHUE: ... you couldn't go to a restaurant without going through a metal detector, you can't park a car unless there's somebody in the car.

O'REILLY: Got it.

DONAHUE: This is what we're headed for because Bill O'Reilly and a lot of people, not only in the news -- op ed pages, but all of cabledom bomb the...

O'REILLY: I never said -- look...

DONAHUE: Bomb them. Bomb them. Bomb them.

O'REILLY: I never said bomb a civilian. I would bomb a military targets. I would bomb military targets. But look -- all right. So no bombing. You don't want to bomb Afghanistan.

DONAHUE: No, I don't.

O'REILLY: All right. So you put the ground troops in.

DONAHUE: I -- I would consider ground troops. And, incidentally, this may be exactly what George Bush is doing, and I am impressed with the way he stepped up. He teared the other day, and he moved me. I mean, I think this is very well-raised son.

O'REILLY: I'm sure he'll -- I'm sure he'll be very happy to hear that.

DONAHUE: I believe he gives a damn. I...

O'REILLY: All right.

DONAHUE: I truly do.

O'REILLY: So you...

DONAHUE: And for that reason...

O'REILLY: Do you put ground troops...

DONAHUE: ... I do not think he's going to put our ground troops alone in there in the mountains.

O'REILLY: No, the British are going to be there, too.

DONAHUE: It can't be just -- the United States and the British are the ones seen as having funded all these dictatorial regimes in that region.

O'REILLY: All right. So you're going to put -- are you going to put a U.N. force...

DONAHUE: Everybody.

O'REILLY: Everybody's going to...

DONAHUE: I want to see the French...

O'REILLY: The French -- what if they don't go?

DONAHUE: ... Italy, everybody.

O'REILLY: What if they don't go?

DONAHUE: I wouldn't go alone.

O'REILLY: You wouldn't?

DONAHUE: It's not fair to the thousands of young men and women, proud Americans all, who we are now sailing on aircraft carriers...

O'REILLY: All right. Let me stop you.

DONAHUE: ... over to that hot spot. It isn't fair...

O'REILLY: Now you've had a lot of air...

DONAHUE: ... isn't fair...

O'REILLY: All right. Now you've had a lot of air time. Now you -- you just said...

DONAHUE: On your show, that's true.

O'REILLY: OK. You've had a -- you made an outrageous statement. You said that you, Phil Donahue, running the United States, would not go it alone, all right?

DONAHUE: Right.

O'REILLY: You're going to sit there, and I'm going to sit here, and I lost my father, my mother, my wife, my son, my daughter, and you are not going to go it alone? You can tell the victims' families that you're not going to go it alone? You're not going to punish those people? You, Phil Donahue, will not punish them because you want a coalition, and if the coalition doesn't materialize, you're not going it alone?

That's insulting to those families.

DONAHUE: I be -- I do not believe the memory of the 7,000-plus people who were killed in this most horrendous acts of terrorism are honored by going out and killing other civilians.

O'REILLY: I'm not talking about civilians.

DONAHUE: We went alone -- we went alone when we bombed Tripoly at night, a crowded city where old people and children were sleeping, 1986, Reagan. We killed Qadhafi's kid and lots of other children. One person said -- well, several people -- well -- he's adopted, they said of the kid.

O'REILLY: Were you against the bombing...

DONAHUE: And we've got Pan Am 103, Lockerbie. Tell those loved ones -- it was December 21st, my birthday.

O'REILLY: They wanted to get Qadhafi, and Qadhafi was hiding behind the civilians.

Were you against the bombing of Dresden in Germany to...

DONAHUE: I wasn't old enough to be, but I -- I hope I would have.

O'REILLY: Well, you're good in history. You know. You'd let Hitler operate over that?

DONAHUE: I think it's a meaningless -- all -- most of the scholarship from that era tells us that Dresden was a totally unnecessary military act. We killed...

O'REILLY: No. It broke the will of those people.

DONAHUE: The will had been broken. We went out and dropped our bombs as a kind of a -- you know, a post...

O'REILLY: All right. So you would let Afghanistan exist the way it is now, harboring the terrorists, letting their camps do -- if you couldn't get a coalition to go in there and take them away?

DONAHUE: If -- I would pursue every effort possible. I don't think that the human community worldwide is going to abandon us in an effort to bring these people to justice. I want them brought to justice. I want the United States to join the rest of the world in providing -- in taking advantage of international...

O'REILLY: Because it's...

DONAHUE: You know, we have people in this country who hate the U.S.

O'REILLY: It's -- all right. We've got 30 seconds. I'm going to say something. You get the last words. Because the attack was on us, if we can get them to come along, fine. If we can't, we have to avenge the attack, and we have to take the people out so they don't do it again. Coalition or no coalition.

DONAHUE: And you're going to have -- you're going to face then random suicide bombers ad infinitum.

O'REILLY: You're going to face them anyway. You're going to face them anyway.

DONAHUE: Not if the world community is behind you, as long as you don't look like an oaf staggering out there, popping off, shooting everything that moves. That is unbecoming the rule of law. We should present ourselves and our particulars to the Security Council of the United Nations, put out an arrest warrant for these people, and have the entire world community help us find them.

O'REILLY: Well, I'll give you one...

DONAHUE: Don't risk our people alone.

O'REILLY: I'll give you one word on...

DONAHUE: Don't risk our people.

O'REILLY: ... the United Nations and their effectiveness. Rwanda.

Mr. Donahue, a pleasure to have you.

DONAHUE: I'll give you one word of our effectiveness of special ops. Mogadishu. Somalia. Nineteen of our best and brightest trapped and killed.

O'REILLY: We have to -- we have to be smart.

DONAHUE: And you're going into the mountains in the winter -- in the winter -- with American ground forces only? That's not fair to American ground forces.

O'REILLY: Well, we'll let the -- we'll let the audience decide. Always a pleasure to see you. Thank you for coming.

DONAHUE: Pleasure.

O'REILLY: We appreciate it.

-- Maria (anon@ymous.com), September 26, 2001

Answers

Gee I thought LN would agree with Phil's point of view. It made me want to start singing, "I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony..."

-- Maria (anon@ymous.com), September 27, 2001.

O'Reilly bullies his "guests".

-- helen (all@bullies.are.bad), September 27, 2001.

I don't always agree with Bill and I wish sometimes he'd shut up and let the person speak. But he did ok with Phil. One thing to note, Phil got the Somalia thing wrong. It wasn't special forces but 'humanitarian' forces that Clinton sent over there. I couldn't disagree any more with Phil on that "get Osama into court" tact. An arrest warrant?! Give me a break! Look what happened when Clinton tried that, we got 9/11/01 in return.

I wonder what Nader thinks in all this.

-- Maria (anon@ymous.com), September 27, 2001.


When Iraq was throwing scuds into Israel, the entire world was praying Israel wouldn't start WWIII by retaliating. The Israelis did not retaliate, I believe at the request of the U.S.

I think we're in the their shoes now. It would irresponsible in the extreme to start a world-engulfing conflict if other methods could be used. Put a big enough price on his head and someone will bring him in. Squeeze his bankers and hamstring his budget for terrorism. We have time and most of the world on our side. We should be very careful.

-- helen (in@the.kitchen), September 27, 2001.


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