After witnessing Dear Bill's assault on Jet Blue for sponsoring the Daily Kos convention, my mind began to percolate with ideas on how to best explain the reasons his interpretation of the character and motives of members here is inaccurate. But then I realized that it doesn't matter if he's right or wrong, the only thing that matters is if he can do something about it. That is where the danger lies. Not only for us, but for him, too.
Don't get me wrong—I'm not saying that we should view all opinions as equally valid and worthy, and abstain from making value judgments or verbally crucifying someone for exhibiting what we perceive to be unprincipled behavior. Quite the opposite.
A big part of being progressive is a desire to shake off the constraints of a morally confused society, and pursue the things that are really important. That doesn't necessarily mean that we're enlightened, it just means we're working harder to get there than others. Are we prone to anger and subjective reasoning sometimes? Oh, hell yes. But we can't let those things dominate our outlook on the world around us.
Something else for Bill O'Reilly to consider:
I've heard many conservatives claim that Freedom of Speech is not an absolute right, and they use the example of yelling, "Fire!" in a crowded theater. What if the theater really is on fire?
Our country is engaged in a war that has brought death, destruction and social unrest to a nation we said we were going to "liberate". We seem to be perched on the edge of another military action to eliminate a threat, but this action could very well plunge the entire region into war. Our belligerent stance and self-aggrandizement have alienated a good portion of a world that had, for the most part, grown to respect and admire our form of government, and aspired to emulate it. Now they have grown to fear us, but not as much as we thought they would (should), which could drag us into untold smaller conflicts, which we are not capable of mastering.
The theater is on fire, Bill. And someone needs to say so. If you can't or won't recognize the real dangers to this country and speak out, the least you can do is not try to stifle the ones who are.