Bernie Goldberg And Bill O’Reilly Make Fun Of Liberals Labeling Tea Partiers ‘Terrorists’

The rhetoric against the Tea Party movement has escalated in extremism during the debt ceiling debate, partially because many on the left and in the center considered the Tea Party members of Congress the only thing standing between America maintaining its credit rating and defaulting on the debt. On tonight’s O’Reilly Factor, Bill O’Reilly and Bernie Goldberg differed on the level of outrage about that, but both took the time to chuckle about their aversion to labeling “real terrorists” but quickness to drop the word on domestic opponents.

“These are people who don’t call real terrorists ‘terrorists,'” Goldberg said of several detractors– Paul Krugman, Thomas Friedman, Fareed Zakaria Vice President Joe Biden, et al– who he said were soft on real terrorists, particularly Islamic extremists. He argued that it was politically expedient to call the Tea Party “dangerous, scary, stupid wackos,” and so would do so at any cost.

Despite his contempt, however, he took the attacks far more seriously than O’Reilly, who admitted, “I

don’t take the metaphor the left is using in any kind of violent capacity.” That said, O’Reilly offered that “what is amusing to me is that some of the people we discussed are so radical in their thinking, so radical, that the fact that they would call the Tea Party extreme…” he shook his head.

Goldberg wasn’t just “amused,” however, because he claimed “they represent the Administration’s position on these things” and “calling them suicide bombers… is just wrong.” He compared it to the frivolous use of the word “racist”: “calling people racist is a waste of time… it’s passé.” He went on to note how the term “terrorist” spread like wildfire among Tea Party detractors– “these people don’t have an ounce of originality… it’s like birds on a telephone wire,” he joked.

The segment via Fox News below: