New O'Reilly Children's Book

[wsanto]

(01-05-2013 02:53 PM)Rob Wick Wrote:  Of course I can only speak for myself, but I can assure you (speaking as one who is definitely left of center) that if Al Franken had written this book, I would feel the same. For me it has absolutely nothing to do with O'Reilly's politics.

You mention that you haven't read Ed's review of the book. Here it is.

Best
Rob

Thanks for the link. It is a very well argued critique by an historian I greatly admire. But it does highlight my belief that Mr. Steers is so convinced of his conclusions as a historian he views other points of view as factually incorrect.

He highlights some factual inaccuracies regarding the treatment of Mary. He reads these inaccuracies as an attempt by the author to gain sympathy for Mary and question her guilt. He is convinced Mary was guilty as charged (I agree) but other authors have postulated that she was less involved and overcharged and mistreated. This is not an invention put forth by Bill O'Reilly (even though Killing Lincoln implicates Mary pretty convincingly). There are other controversial elements to the assassination (as highlighted on this board)--the guilt of Mudd, Booth's escape, his broken leg, etc. Almost all authors take a position on these points and present their opinion as the facts of the case.

Basically, I believe O'Reilly, due to his controversial television persona, has been put to a higher standard than over authors on the subject and, with the aid of his enemies, his book has been too widely panned for inaccuracies that are mostly trivial to the wider story.