Keep It Pithy: Useful Observations in a Tough World

by Bill O'Reilly

Overview

From the bestselling author of Killing Lincoln and host of Fox News' top show The O'Reilly Factor, the best of Bill O’Reilly’s provocative writing—reflecting his ideas, wisdom, and core values

Bill O’Reilly is one of the most recognized and talked-about journalists of our time. With an unparalleled track record as an author and with the #1-rated Fox News show, The O’Reilly Factor, O’Reilly has become a veritable institution of political insight and keen advice. In Keep It Pithy, O’Reilly offers a classic collection of the most memorable writings from his bestselling books, and looks back at how his opinions and ideas have been proven right or wrong by the passage of time. With his trademark candor and no-nonsense approach, each chapter focuses on a core theme as it gathers O’Reilly’s thoughts on the most compelling issues of our time and provides readers an illuminating guide to the American cultural landscape.
 
A spirited and personal book, Keep It Pithy is the perfect addition to an O’Reilly fan’s library, or the best introduction for the few left uninitiated.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780385346627
Publisher:	Crown/Archetype
Publication date:	05/07/2013
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

For more than 13 years Bill O'Reilly has presided over The O'Reilly Factor on the FOX News Channel. O’Reilly is a three-time Emmy Award winner as well as the recipient of a Governor's Award from the Boston/New England chapter of the prestigious National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Before becoming executive producer and anchor of The Factor, he served as national correspondent for ABC News and as anchor of the nationally syndicated news magazine program Inside Edition. He is the author of numerous mega-bestsellers, and in total, more than 5 million copies of his books are in circulation. He holds master's degrees from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and Boston University. Asked about his proudest professional achievement Bill has said, "The millions of dollars we are able to give to charity."

Read an Excerpt

ONE

JUST AS I PREDICTED AND LONG BEFORE WE HEARD OF PRESIDENT OBAMA

The Growing Success of the Progressive Agenda

Back in 2006, I had fun imagining in my book Culture Warrior a future State of the Union speech by a U.S. president named Gloria Hernandez. Here's a summary of that imaginary pol's goals and philosophies:

A sharing of the wealth by targeting the affluent for most of the government's revenue . . . lax school discipline on American children to promote their so-called liberties . . . naked hostility to religious values and their expression in public . . . a "one-world" approach to foreign relations that would prevent the U.S. government from imposing a policy that would benefit America first . . . a touchy-feely vision of our society that places individual self-expression and rights over self-sacrifice and adult responsibility.

Did I get it right? Well, I made one serious mistake. I imagined that this would be the platform of a president elected in 2020. Looked at a calendar lately?

The brilliant men who forged the Constitution understood that Americans should have the opportunity to pursue happiness without much government interference. They also believed for both moral and practical reasons that the greater good must always take precedence over individual selfishness.

The S‑P notion that the U.S. government has the right to seize private property (which is exactly what the estate tax achieves, for example, but under stealth wording), or redistribute legally earned income from the affluent to the poor, runs counter to the founding spirit of America in every way.

Look at the evidence. The United States became the strongest nation on earth because individuals working their butts off created a unified powerhouse.

Right now our national slogan is "The more you make, the more we take. And we're not even going to watch how we spend it."

Throwing our tax dollars away has become the new national pastime, replacing baseball!

Usually, as I've noted in the introduction, I'm not likely to disagree all that much with what I've opined in the past. Exceptions are notable, and I will note them. Most of these quotes from my writings will require no explanation. My core values have not fundamentally changed.

Too late now!

In fact . . .

Politicians will argue--as many have on my program--that the government needs your money. This is a lie. There is more than enough tax revenue available today to pay for the armed forces, roads, police, and other vital services without looting the take-home pay of working Americans. No, the reason our taxes are so punitive is right there in front of you: obvious and arrogant wastefulness in government-run programs. Forget the $400 toilet seats in the Pentagon budget--peanuts. The real killing waste is in programs that do not work.

(I then noted the "horrific failure" of Clinton's $30 billion drug war and the $200 billion his administration threw at public education, to no great effect.)

I could give you hundreds of examples of ridiculous government waste, but that would take a whole other book. Right now, I have enough on my hands trying to write this one. But you can trust me on this: The tax situation in this country is brutal, including the fact that your elected representatives and their opponents are using entitlements to buy votes. That includes Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Listen very carefully when pols talk about these hot-button...

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

State of the Union

1 Just as I Predicted and Long Before We Heard of President Obama: The Growing Success of the Progressive Agenda 3

2 I've Questioned European Socialism from the Beginning: Hello France, Next Stop-God Forbid-Greece! 17

3 Minority Report: The Obstacles, the Search for Answers, and the Case of the Sharpening Divide 23

4 Religion Under Attack: Who Cares? You Can Hear a Pin Drop 33

5 From 9/11 to Benghazi: What Have We Learned About the War on Terror? Anything? 49

State of Yourself

6 What's Mine? Americans Just Want More Stuff, and That's a Problem 57

7 The Kids: Hollywood Sleaze, Wrongheaded Educators, Nutty Judges, and Other Problems Knocking on the Door 63

8 From SNL to The Daily Show, from Moveon.org to Occupy Wall Street…: It's All One Big Liberal Joke-and a Disturbing Pattern 85

Keeping it Pithy

9 Getting Back to Traditional Values: "The Code of the Traditional Warrior" and Other Top Hits 97

10 A Decade's Worth of Head Shots to the Rich and Powerful: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly 113

11 The Last Word (As Usual, I'm Taking It) 137

Photo Credits 143