Tuesday, February 7, 2006

Send O'Reilly to Darfur

This is the best idea I've heard in a long time! From Editor & Publisher

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof resumed his exchange with TV/radio talkster Bill O'Reilly on Tuesday, asking readers to contribute to a fund to send O'Reilly to Darfur.

Kristof said he would ante up the first $1000.

"Mr. O'Reilly has a big audience and a knack for stirring outrage. Lately, he (quite properly) galvanized an outcry over a ridiculously light sentence for a sexual predator in Vermont. The upshot was that the sentence was increased. Good for him.

"So imagine the furor Mr. O'Reilly could stir up if he publicized the hundreds of thousands of rapes, murders and mutilations in Darfur. He could save lives on a grand scale.

"Join the pledge drive!"

Stop collecting money when you have enough to buy him a one-way ticket.

In the same article is this jewel:

Another New York Times column on Tuesday sure to draw attention comes from John Tierney, who mocks concerns about energy independence and conservation. "For now, the best strategy is to buy gasoline and stop worrying that it's sinful or dangerous," Tierney writes.

The column, entitled "Burn Baby Burn," concludes: "After you fill up your tank, twist the rear-view mirror so you can gaze at yourself. Repeat these words: 'I'm good enough, I'm rich enough, and doggone it, people in the Middle East like my money.'"

And they give it to such worthy causes.

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