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7 Responses

1. chsweeney Says:
   May 25th, 2009 at 11:22 am

   What a lack of compassion for those struggling in our country. I would like to nominate him to his own “Pinhead” list.

2. Dodger Says:
   May 25th, 2009 at 7:34 pm

   Bill O’ Reilly is a right wing extremist and an ideologue. For him to stereotype people from Appalachian and think people that live there is from a third world country Is just indicative of his ignorance. He and his other stupid cronies from Fox News is the very reason I voted for Barack Obama.

3. rousseau Says:
   May 26th, 2009 at 8:09 am

   It is easy for O’Reilly to talk about poverty. What does he really know about being 16 years old, poor, uneducated, and his only weapon for attacking that poverty a gooseneck hoe in a cornfield? Chopping Johnson grass out of the green corn under a broiling summer sun is not the most fun you had as a child, but it had to be done. Did he ever sleep in a cold bed on an old shuck-tick mattress with three or four siblings abed–and one a bedwetter? Has he ever stood with that hoe in his hand at the end of a long row, dreaming of good things to eat, of perhaps going to college– or seeing your hard working parents have an easy chair or a couch to rest upon after a long day of toil in the hot fields of summer? I “got out” of Appalachia by going to work as a housemaid in Cincinnati for $5 a week–and managed each week to send my mother three dollars of that sum. It got better, of course, but it took the great, liberal FDR and World War II to smooth the path we all had to take in “getting out.”

   Yes, it is a different Appalachia today. Drugs, no jobs, too many soft drinks and potato chips and not enough greens, cornbread, and milk. So you went to Berea to volunteer? We need several more schools like Berea; more good, dedicated teachers and more willing volunteers to foster the reading skills we lack, which is surely the key to all education. Obama is so right. But I thank you for your long-ago service and of course, your great wealth of “understanding”. When did you lose your youthful potential, Mr. O’Reilly?

4. mountainwolf Says:
   May 28th, 2009 at 12:04 am

   Bill O’Reilly has no clue what he is talking about. Clearly he is spinless, and would rather run than fight. He talks about an area he knows nothing about. I seriously doubt he would know a hard days work, if it smacked him in the rear. I would challange him to come and stay for a year, get to know the people, and see the things we have overcome to get to where we are now. I know this will never happen. Mr. O’Rielly should not talk about things he knows nothing about. I am sure if he took a good look around, he would see the same serious drug problems in his own area. His buddy Rush Limbaugh has a drug problem. Has he ever talked down to Rush, the way he did people here? No. He is a coward, and a big mouth, who has no clue of the reality we face.

5. pine45 Says:
   May 29th, 2009 at 3:46 pm

   Take a look at part of Diane’s special on you tube.(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ha9La-h_pU) She is showing stuff that outsiders will never understand, but it makes news. I really like the portion on Shawn Grimm.
   He is attending Union College now. He is running against the odds.
   The Special was good to me, but I understand how Bill Oâ??Reilly misunderstand the area.
   For me this misunderstanding started with the “War on Poverty” in 1964 with my senior english teacher in Michigan saying “Southeastern Michigan was too economically healthy to ever experience what happened to Appalachia in the 50s and poverty in the 60s”
   All the things that the Government did for Appalachia positive with equal or worse Negative Stereotyping have not address the real needs.
   Ever wonder why manufacturing would be transfered to China and they wouldn’t consider Appalachia. But our system seems to neglect weak micro economies and blame the people for lack of oversight. We need some economist or business people with the sole function of maintaining our country’s economy, rather than suttering whole portions of manufacturing and mining.
   Bill O’Reilly was off on his assessment of Appalachia, but he is in a long line of critics and good intending people that have done bad things to Appalachia. But I hear similiar negative things said about Southeastern Michigan. Now watch the government participate in the forced downsizing of the Auto Industry, when most of their problem is the Economy.
   I visited my mother in Michigan and the value of her house dropped to 1/3 of its value in one year ago. Their economy is headed for the dumps. Kinda reminds me of Southeastern Kentucky in the 50s, when the coal mines closed and things got real nasty. Major changes in a local economy can be terrible for the people left.

6. sweeney boy Says:
   June 3rd, 2009 at 9:21 pm

   I would love for O’reilly to come and stay one month, and see how good people get up and tend to there gardens, or better yet let him tend to our gardens and livestock. I can’t stand pencil pushers, I bet the hardest thing he’s ever done was trying to sh#t while being constipated.Mr. O’reilly you don’t know what hard living is about, and if you do come on down and give it a try.

7. tboneya Says:
   July 7th, 2009 at 10:28 am

   Once again, an outsider looking in and wrongly passing judgement on Appalachia. I’m sooooo touched by his “volunteer” work in Berea. It sounds to me as if he came in with opinions already set in stone. I also was taken aback by his desire to ethnic cleanse the area and keep it “pristine.” Mr. O’Reilly, what gives you the right to advocate the wiping out of a culture that dates back 300 years in America, and even farther in areas of Europe? You and your news cronies only show the downside to a culture that I was born and raised in. Where’s the strong family and religious bonds of the area? The culture of hard work taken advantage of by outsiders to support the industries of the rest of the country? The industrial juggernaut that was the United States in the 20th century was made possible by the hard brute work of Appalachian coal miners. Where is the praise for the independence and patriotism that radiates from Mountain People? Isn’t this supposed to be cherished by conservatives? Could it be a “get even special” brought about by conservatives against an area that was instrumental in the forming of the labor movement in America?

   In short, Mr. O’Reilly and this documentary is one sided and selective in it’s reporting. It fails to show the upside of living in Appalachia. It doesn’t show the nice homes, the good, honest people who go about their lives like anyone else, anyWHERE else. I find it strange and eye-opening that mostly white Eastern Kentucky is the focus of such a documentary. The news media wouldn’t dare make the same sort of study about inner cities or black America. Seems to me that there is an education/drug problem there also.

   Mr. O’Reilly, I am the son, grandson, and great-grandson of Eastern Kentucky coal miners. I’m proud of that. My dad made a good living, raised a good family, and died with a clear conscience. Can you say the same? One last thing, Mr. O’Reilly. When I was 18, I did what you advised. I left Martin County Kentucky and went in the Navy. After spending many years in the service of my country, and then going to college, you know where I am now? Right back in Appalachia, teaching. Why? Because there’s no better place and no better people to live in and around. Put that on your TV show and shove it, sir!

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