I don't watch "The Factor", but apparently they do a regular segment called "Policing The Net." In this episode, Bill O'Reilly and Town Hall reporter Amanda Carpenter turn their sights on a MomLogic video called "Toddler Sad to See Bush Go Bye-Bye."
O'Reilly objects because he hates "to see little kids used like that…its wrong. There are people in this world who are so hateful that they'll use their children to punish people, the objects of their hatred."
Carpenter goes further, saying this is "another example of people using children for political purposes… who knows what this is going to do to her future? She doesn't know what she's saying… when she's 12, 13, 14, 15 and she wants to get a job, maybe this will be dug up." She seems shocked when she points out that the video was featured on the homepage of "a site for mothers!" She also seems miffed that MomLogic is owned by Telepictures, who produces "Ellen" and other syndicated TV programming.
As you may have guessed, I'm underwhelmed. I have mixed feelings about people putting their kids in videos like this, although not because of any damage to their future earnings potential. (I’m also not sure what kind of job Carpenter thinks children will be getting at age 12, especially one that requires a background check likely to turn up YouTube videos.) Ultimately, the video really isn't that bad, and parts of it are funny. (When the little girl holds up a photo of President Bema and kisses it, saying, "He's my boyfriend," it's pretty cute.) But "using children to punish people"? "Objects of their hatred"? This from a man who screamed at the son (Jeremy Glick) of someone who died on 9/11, actually
saying, "I don't think your father would be approving of this." That's just one example, albeit a very famous one. So when he calls someone else "hateful", at best it's a pot-kettle thing.
As for Carpenter, is she aware that Fox News is owned by Rupert Murdoch, and that Murdoch also owns newspapers in Britain that regularly feature nude women? Not that I personally care, but attacking a company for a video on a website they happen to own is bizarre.
Of course, right after Carpenter attacks Saturday Night Live for making fun of Ann Coulter. This after Ann Coulter attacked single mothers. Even if you think SNL went too far with their Coulter parody (it seemed pretty tame to me), I'm thinking Coulter's statements are a fair target for ridicule.
The question of whether or not it's OK to put your kids in a web video is a fair one, I suppose. O'Reilly mentions Will Ferrell's "Landlord" [http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/74/the-landlord-from-will-ferrell-and-adam-ghost-panther-mckay] video, which has a little girl saying words like "bitch" and has been viewed over 61 million times. (Wow. That's a big number.) Ultimately, I think it's up to parents to decide what they will or won't do with their kids on video (this is assuming that what they do is, you know, legal and safe and all that). So at best, O'Reilly and Carpenter's critique is misplaced. Personally, I think they're both kooks. But that's just me.
What do you think? Does the MomLogic video "cross a line"? Is O'Reilly right?
Source: FoxNews, MomLogic
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