Fox & O'Reilly against free choice....
planned not to allow the mention of Libertarian Party nominee Michael Badnarik on O'Reilly's show....but this is what happened....as posted at the Libertarian website....
"You're out! Strike three for O'Reilly
For the third time, Bill O'Reilly has tried to mess with the Badnarik campaign. Initially, Michael Badnarik was scheduled to appear on the O'Reilly Factor in late June, but O'Reilly cancelled Badnarik's appearance while he was en route to the studio.
Later, O'Reilly issued a challenge to debate anyone abused by the Patriot Act. Aaron Russo accepted the challenge for Mike, and once again, O'Reilly chickened out.
As mentioned in a previous posting, Badnarik supporter Dr. Dean Ahmad was scheduled to appear on the O'Reilly Factor tonight. Ahmad declined to be on the program after he was denied the right to mention Badnarik's name on the show. A transcript of Ahmad's version of the story is below:
The show is off! O'Reilly has pulled an O'Reilly.
I was actually in the car being driven to the show when his deputy called me and informed me that although they would identify me as a Muslim supporter of [Michael] Badnarik, that I was not allowed to mention Michael's name on the show! I declined to accept those terms and they had the driver bring me back. Michael must really have the Republicans terrified!
I. Dean Ahmad
Apparently, O'Reilly had an alternate guest lined up to replace Dr. Ahmad, as Khalid Turaani, the founder of Arab-American Republicans Against Bush, appeared on the program.
The Badnarik campaign got the last laugh tonight, however. The following is a quote from Mr. Turaani on the program tonight:
I don't want to cut off my nose to spite my face by not liking Bush and jumping in the lap of Kerry. No - I will vote Libertarian and I think Badnarik is going to be a good choice for people who don't like Bush.
I just recieved the following from Dr. Ahmad:
I just got off the phone with Khalid Turaani. Here's what happened:
They called him 30 minutes before taping and asked him if he would take the anti-Bush position on the show. He agreed and they rushed him down to the studio. They kept pressing him as to whom he would vote for and he kept dodging the question, saying he would say that on the show. Kerry? No, he said, I'm a conservative, I would never vote for Kerry. At the studio they pressed real hard and he admitted that he planned to vote for Badnarik. When he say the panic in their eyes he realized that despite their "fair and balanced" claims, they were Bush supporters. They tried to dissuade him from mentioning it on air, but by then it was too late to do to him what they did to me. He went on the air and said that a vote against Bush need not be a vote for Kerry and that he would vote for Badnarik, the Libertarian.
NOTICE TO BADNARIK CAMPAIGN: Khalid like thousands of other Muslims will be at the Islamic Society of North America convention in Chicago on Labor Day weekend. We have been invited to attend. If we don't send Michael himself rather than a surrogate, we will be blowing it. There is a rising interest in Badnarik's campaign among Muslims and we should turn it into an avalanche. A word to the wise is sufficient.
I. Dean Ahmad" |
