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FBI Ad Campaign That Led To Whitey Bulger Capture Was Featured Last Week On Fox News And MSNBC

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Early this morning, news broke that the FBI had captured Whitey Bulger, the infamous gangster who’d been on the run for 16 years and inspired Jack Nicholson’s character in The Departed (God, I hope that means he actually liked to throw handfulls of of cocaine at hookers and bring big dildos to movie theaters!).

How did the FBI finally catch him, you ask? Well, they used an interesting plan of paying for television ads to air in front of women’s shows like The View in the hopes that a lady would recognize Bulger’s girlfriend from a beauty salon. Sounds outlandishly crazy, right? Well, Bill O’Reilly (or more to the point, his guest) reasonably thought so. And Rachel Maddow even “celebrated” the very campaign as “the best new thing in the world today.”

The folks over at TV Newser were the first to note their coverage and we’re delighted they did. Now that we have our awesome future knowledge, watching O’Reilly guest Howie Carr smugly mock the FBI’s ads is kind of hilarious, in retrospect. At the time, we must admit, we thought O’Reilly’s guest made good points and agreed with Ms. Maddow’s assertion that it really was “the best new thing in the world today.”

Who’s stupid for spending tons of money buying ad space on The Ellen DeGeneres Show now, huh?

Watch the Maddow’s celebration of the campaign clip from Monday and the O’Reillys cornful clip from last night below:


Note- this post has been updated slightly for tone since it was originally published

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  • Pablo

    Who’s stupid for spending tons of money buying ad space on The Ellen DeGeneres Show now, huh?

    Not Barack Obama. He totally nailed Whitey!

  • Big Eddie

    Fox mocks !

    FBI rocks !

  • BatBoy

    For some reason, I find the term “Mocked” quite offensive.

    It’s wide use in the media is quite new, both sides use it.

    It could be just me, but there has got to be a better word.

    Just one persons opinion.

  • http://www.sarainitalyblog.blogspot.com/ sarainitaly

    Where did O’Reilly do any mocking? Maddow was snarky as hell. O’Reilly was into the story, and did no mocking.

    Howie Carr apparently didn’t have a clue about this guy, but I disagree that O’Reilly was mocking.

  • skyfet

    So those phonies better apologize then.

    On the other hand, it was one of the FBI Agent that let him get away in the first place.

  • Jaurez

    If catching ubl didn’t cinch a victory for Obomber catching Whitey definitely will guarantee a victory! ;)

  • Jaurez

    At least skyfet now agrees that maddow is a phony. Baby steps, baby steps.

  • BatBoy

    Jaurez said:
    At least skyfet now agrees that maddow is a phony. Baby steps, baby steps.

    I’m telling you Jaurez, that Skyfet is a Closet Conservative!

  • Jaurez

    Don’t see how you could consider Bill was “mocking” anything. Maddow, yes. Bill, no.

  • Zakk

    Hey, no worries, Maddow is a comedian. She/he was just using satire – not mocking. And, as we all learned – doing satire is much harder then reporting the news.

  • Miroco

    The FBI couldn’t catch an elephant in a closet since Holder came on the scene. This was a deal they started years ago, they needed a little ego massage, so they rounded up an old wore out gangster. It still won’t help gun runner Holder’s image, the racist weenie in charge.

  • OxyCon

    Maddow looks like a giant, smug idiot…but what else is new?
    Does this qualify her for Politifact?

  • gar

    Miroco said:
    The FBI couldn’t catch an elephant in a closet since Holder came on the scene. This was a deal they started years ago, they needed a little ego massage, so they rounded up an old wore out gangster. It still won’t help gun runner Holder’s image, the racist weenie in charge.

    This really does seem staged. The administration sets up the story with old reliable kissass CNN and voila, Whitey is caught at the end of a week. A little too convenient for me.

  • lane

    sarainitaly said:
    Where did O’Reilly do any mocking? Maddow was snarky as hell. O’Reilly was into the story, and did no mocking.

    Howie Carr apparently didn’t have a clue about this guy, but I disagree that O’Reilly was mocking.

    Absolutely. Good thing I watched the clips. Maddow was all mocking, O’Reilly actually did a great overview of the entire story, the FBI must have loved the free ad.

  • lane

    I wouldn’t be surprised if the tipster saw it on O’Reilly. He does get a huge audience….

    Either way, congrats to the FBI for never giving up and using inventive strategies to target these criminals. As a woman, I will always get my hair down at a salon regardless of my finances, so the strategy makes sense to me.

  • http://constitutionallibertarian.co.cc DavidKramer

    gar said:
    This really does seem staged. The administration sets up the story with old reliable kissass CNN and voila, Whitey is caught at the end of a week. A little too convenient for me.

    I actually said that in a comment on another site. I wondered if they already had an idea where he was and they wanted to make him move to be sure. Oh well, those government agencies are very important.

    Where would the Mexican drug cartels get their guns if it was not for US government agencies?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mick-Yuille/100000193618054 Mick Yuille

    There is a major error in this story. It claims that O’Reilly had this segment on his show on 6/22. However, O’Reilly had this segment on his show before Wednesday. I know this is true because not only did he only cover Obama’s speech yesterday, but if you look at the crawler from 2:43 – 2:59, it mentions how Obama is going to give a speech regarding Afghanistan on “Wed.”

  • http://justplaythegame.us JustPlayTheGame

    I did see those silly news? commentators try to show how silly the FBI is using time on popular daytime shows. Well, guys, ya feel stupid now huh.. you may have never heard of America’s Most wanted shows which actually catch some of the bad guys.. I thought it was pretty bright on their part to expand the audience. Actually, brighter than they usually are.. and seeing it worked..expect to see more of it…about time they used the media in front of them.

    That Obama team is really racking up the headlines..

    Obama kills Ubama..(whats in a name)

    Obama nails Whitey…

    Obama passes ObamaCare..

    Obama first President to ask the UN for help on US soil..

    Obama Bails out the rich…hell with the poor..

    Obama..the new world order…

    Obama..so, I took cocaine and smoked pot..

    Obama..I will bring the troops home on my next watch..

    Obama..Yes we can..well, at least I can..

    Obama..we don’t need no stinkin congress approval..

    Obama..those bombs falling are not hostile..

    So many headlines.. he is in it to win it..
    You can’t make this sheet up..or can you?

  • http://www.zazzle.com/talkingpoints NORBIT Jr.

    Pablo said:
    Not Barack Obama. He totally nailed Whitey!

    I’d like to get a list of the shows they advertised on, and see if there was any quid-pro-quo in coverage or support – particularly with the banan-republic style government these Euro-Socialists in this administration run!

  • http://www.zazzle.com/talkingpoints NORBIT Jr.

    They’re celebrating the capture of a fifth-generation crime boss; yet nobody under Holder’s AG office knows a dmn thing about 2000 automatic weapons having been virtually “escorted” by the FBI into the hands of Mexico’s most violent drug cartels!

    When can we get rid of these bumbling, incompetent IDEOLOGUES?

    2012 – That’s When!!

  • http://www.zazzle.com/talkingpoints NORBIT Jr.

    You know, Progressives, there’s a larger issue lurking under statements like these.

    Step back and look at the situation a second – You’re man doesn’t have the Fire-InThe-Belly NO MORE!
    Yea, and you all know there’s something to that.

    Not only his half-humored comments about avoiding aggravation for the next four years, but his governance and deportment seems aimless of late; think John McCain wandering the stage during the debate.
    lol

    The Eye-of-the-Tiger seems more resigned to be the Fat-Cat Retire!
    …which IS FINE, don’t get me wrong!! LOL!

  • Sean68

    I think the disingeuous white liberals at MSNBC ran this story for the sole reason they like saying “whitey.” Well, and because Maddow can make fun of women who care about their appearance.

  • Liberal Tormentor – tormenting liberals with logic and facts since 1972

    MSNBC Reports Bulger Arrest, Omits Fact Brother Was Dem Party Hotshot, May Have Helped Him Flee Law

    Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/ken-shepherd/2011/06/23/msnbc-reports-bulger-arrest-omits-fact-brother-was-dem-party-hotshot-m#ixzz1Q97Kr1Qc

  • Sean68

    Liberal Tormentor - tormenting liberals with logic and facts since 1972 said:
    MSNBC Reports Bulger Arrest, Omits Fact Brother Was Dem Party Hotshot, May Have Helped Him Flee Law

    Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/ken-shepherd/2011/06/23/msnbc-reports-bulger-arrest-omits-fact-brother-was-dem-party-hotshot-m#ixzz1Q97Kr1Qc

    You don’t think they would have left it out if Bulger were a Republican? Neither do I.

  • Liberal Tormentor – tormenting liberals with logic and facts since 1972

    Surely you aren’t suggesting a bias Sean. According to Jon Stewart, it doesn’t exist.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Catherine-Coy/1207016798 Catherine Coy

    “Note- this post has been updated slightly for tone since it was originally published.”

    What does this mean? You don’t stand by your previous “tone?” You jeernalists slay me.

  • Rixar13

    “How did the FBI finally catch him, you ask?”

    I believe they knew where he was the whole time….

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