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Bill O'Reilly - BOOK - Confronting America · Brian Thomas

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  Speaker 1: Beatbox station very happy friday eve to you and an
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  Speaker 1: extra special day for me and i know my listening
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  Speaker 1: audience a man that needs no introduction to the 55
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  Speaker 1: kerosene morning show bill o'reilly and among his story broadcasts
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  Speaker 1: or his story duck a career in while broadcasting generally
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  Speaker 1: speaking he is a published author guess what he's been
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  Speaker 1: on my program bill i think you've been on my
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  Speaker 1: program more than any other guest we've i've talked to
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  Speaker 1: you about maybe 10 or so of your books over
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  Speaker 1: the years i have loved each and every one of
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  Speaker 1: them and today we're talking about your brand new book
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  Speaker 1: fortunately got an advanced copy confronting America, what has to change.
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  Speaker 1: Welcome back, Bill O'Reilly.
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  Speaker 2: Brian, how you been? Thanks for having me on.
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  Speaker 1: Always a pleasure, my friend. I've been really good, and
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  Speaker 1: I plowed through your book in virtually no time. It's
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  Speaker 1: a real page turn, as are all of your books.
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  Speaker 1: And one thing I learned that I have to observe
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  Speaker 1: out of the gate, I guess you were a bit
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  Speaker 1: of a troubling child to your parents. You referenced your
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  Speaker 1: headache you were for your mom and dad in the
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  Speaker 1: book multiple times.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I wasn't a kid of the year, that's for sure.
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  Speaker 2: I wasn't malicious, though. I was just kind of like
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  Speaker 2: Dennis the Menace, you know, doing stuff and had a
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  Speaker 2: lot of energy. Good.
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  Speaker 1: Precautions.
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  Speaker 2: And that, you know, turned into a good career. But
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  Speaker 2: my parents were World War II people. the ethic and
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  Speaker 2: a way to live. And I point it out because
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  Speaker 2: we need to get back to some of that.
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  Speaker 1: Amen to that. And it came through loud and clear.
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  Speaker 1: And the reason I know about Bill and his precocious
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  Speaker 1: childhood years is because he uses, and you correct me
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  Speaker 1: if I'm wrong, I walked away from this book thinking
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  Speaker 1: maybe Bill decided he wanted to write an autobiography about
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  Speaker 1: his wildly successful career, which you talk about throughout the book.
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  Speaker 1: But In between a talk about your career, the people
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  Speaker 1: you interact with, that serves as a wonderful springboard for
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  Speaker 1: you to bring in historical references to the way things
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  Speaker 1: were in the past and your observations about historical figures,
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  Speaker 1: and then draw a parallel and conclusion about modern society
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  Speaker 1: and the downward slide we seem to be facing here
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  Speaker 1: in the United States of America. So it all works
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  Speaker 1: out really well.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I call it eyewitness history. I've been in 90 countries,
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  Speaker 2: more than 50 years in this business, this journalism business. And,
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  Speaker 2: you know, it's affecting problems here in America. And I
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  Speaker 2: just took what I have seen and said, look, there
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  Speaker 2: is a problem and we can solve it. All problems
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  Speaker 2: have solutions. And this is the way to do it.
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  Speaker 2: And some people like new solutions, some people don't like them.
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  Speaker 2: It depends on your point of view.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I guess the biggest problem I have faced lately,
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  Speaker 1: and I've been in a real terror lately about the
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  Speaker 1: education system, the education system in the United States, most
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  Speaker 1: notably the public education, is failing our children. I just
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  Speaker 1: view it as an indoctrination camp. But you've got That failure,
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  Speaker 1: broadly speaking, coupled with the fewer and fewer people have
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  Speaker 1: any religious connection. You even write in your book, you know,
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  Speaker 1: pagans are on the rise and talk about why that's
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  Speaker 1: so troubling. But all of this seems to relate to
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  Speaker 1: the family, which you also break down and talk about
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  Speaker 1: the family structure and the importance of it without a
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  Speaker 1: strong family structure, a support group, people teaching their young
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  Speaker 1: people about religion, ethics, morals, and all that, and also
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  Speaker 1: helping them through the education process. That, to me, is
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  Speaker 1: the heart of our problems in America, the destruction of
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  Speaker 1: the nuclear family. Your reaction to that conclusion, sir?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and the parents don't do it because they're on
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  Speaker 2: the phone all the time. I mean, we had in Levittown,
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  Speaker 2: where I grew up in New York, you had dinner
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  Speaker 2: with your folks every night. And we sat there and
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  Speaker 2: listened to my father and mother talk about the country.
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  Speaker 2: Occasionally you'd get in there, you know, you'd become part
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  Speaker 2: of the discussion. But now everybody's solo. Everybody's got the phone.
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  Speaker 2: They're all running around doing things that I'm not sure
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  Speaker 2: they're so constructive anymore. So kids are kind of like
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  Speaker 2: wandering around. They don't really know what their obligation is
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  Speaker 2: as a patriot to their country. And you're finding that
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  Speaker 2: we are a divided country now, tribalism. And kids don't
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  Speaker 2: know very much. They simply don't know. And don't get
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  Speaker 2: me started on the school. I taught high school for
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  Speaker 2: a couple of years. I have some stories about my
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  Speaker 2: teaching experience in the book. in confronting America. And again,
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  Speaker 2: it's the teachers are looking at their watch. Can I
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  Speaker 2: go home now? It is not. They're not engaged. And
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  Speaker 2: the and the students get spit out there after high school.
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  Speaker 2: And a lot of them don't know anything. They don't
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  Speaker 2: know anything.
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  Speaker 1: Well, as evidenced by the fact that college education is
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  Speaker 1: now dedicated to remedial teaching for kids who didn't pay
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  Speaker 1: attention in K-12, that they were able to get into
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  Speaker 1: college and can't do basic K-12 level mathematics, for example,
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  Speaker 1: and are going to spend $ 500 or $ 1, 000 or whatever
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  Speaker 1: a credit hour in college to make up. That's insanity, Bill.
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  Speaker 1: That's just plain insanity. And it's another illustration of the
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  Speaker 1: failure of the modern education system.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and again, the colleges are going broke. And they're
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  Speaker 3: admitting people that aren't qualified. And they're trying to catch up,
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  Speaker 3: but many of them don't.
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  Speaker 2: The root of the problem is this. We live in
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  Speaker 2: a competitive society. And you know that. I mean, to
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  Speaker 2: get where you've been and to be successful— You got
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  Speaker 2: to suffer. I mean, I got kids in the workplace now.
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  Speaker 2: So whining, you know, I said, hey, this is hard.
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  Speaker 2: You're competing. This is capitalism. And the other side, I go, oh,
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  Speaker 2: we don't want that. You just give me stuff. You know,
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  Speaker 2: I just want it. And that's the radical progressive movement.
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  Speaker 2: Government will take care of you. The government's never going
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  Speaker 2: to take care of you. I mean, that's just insane.
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  Speaker 2: And every kid should know that in school. You can
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  Speaker 2: survive on a safety net basis, but if you want
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  Speaker 2: to prosper in a capitalist society, you're going to have
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  Speaker 2: to work hard and learn stuff and get a skill.
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  Speaker 2: And right around now, we don't have that ethic. And so,
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  Speaker 2: so many Americans, oh, I can't buy a house. I
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  Speaker 2: can't buy a car. I can't do this. I can't
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  Speaker 2: do that. So, well, give me it. I want it.
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  Speaker 2: And boy, that just leads to more problems.
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  Speaker 1: It does. And that's where platforms like the Democratic Socialists
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  Speaker 1: of America take off because they play on our insecurities
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  Speaker 1: or they create them and blow them up to make
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  Speaker 1: us all really insecure and demand some sort of government solution.
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  Speaker 1: But they also, and you write about this, and you
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  Speaker 1: used Bezos as a great springboard to illustrate class warfare.
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  Speaker 1: He's got, what, eight multi-billion dollar, gazillion dollar homes, a
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  Speaker 1: half a billion dollar yacht and all this, and he's
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  Speaker 1: one of the wealthiest people in the country. The left
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  Speaker 1: loves to rely and hang their hat on people like
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  Speaker 1: that to play up this whole it's not fair, they're
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  Speaker 1: not paying their fair share thing. In other words, to
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  Speaker 1: justify taking money out of one person's pocket and putting
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  Speaker 1: it in their own.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and who decides that? Bernie Sanders? I mean, you know,
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  Speaker 2: come on. I don't want Bernie anywhere near my assets
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  Speaker 2: because he's going to take them. And so when I go,
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  Speaker 2: you know, when you open... Confronting America, what hasn't changed?
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  Speaker 2: When you open a book, you see the problems that
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  Speaker 2: we have. You see them. I list them. And then
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  Speaker 2: you don't have to read it all the way through
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  Speaker 2: in the sense that go to the problem that's bothering you.
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  Speaker 2: And then you'll have a solution to that problem. But again,
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  Speaker 2: the solution isn't easy. It's not a magic wand. So
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  Speaker 2: if you're not making any money... Well, you're going to
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  Speaker 2: have to go to a community college or learn a skill,
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  Speaker 2: apply yourself, so that you have value in the marketplace,
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  Speaker 2: in the workplace. And a lot of people go, I
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  Speaker 2: don't want to do that because it cuts into my
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  Speaker 2: phone time. So, you know, no such thing as a
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  Speaker 2: free lunch. Boy, we're leading the league in free lunches now,
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  Speaker 2: at least the promise of them. And that's really deleterious.
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  Speaker 2: It doesn't bode well. And then we have politicians who
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  Speaker 2: just exploit the hell out of these things, and that
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  Speaker 2: drives me nuts.
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  Speaker 1: Bill O'Reilly, author of Confronting America, What Has to Change.
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  Speaker 1: Bill O'Reilly, something you have had to deal with in
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  Speaker 1: your career, and this is, again, a great reason why
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  Speaker 1: you use your career as an illustration. You have suffered
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  Speaker 1: a The slings and arrows of all kinds of folks
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  Speaker 1: in the media, outside the media, criticize you for your opinions,
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  Speaker 1: and you stood up to them, and you never, ever wavered.
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  Speaker 1: You never backed down. You were never rude about it,
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  Speaker 1: but you were affirming your convictions in spite of the
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  Speaker 1: fact that you, in essence, I'll just use the word
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  Speaker 1: doxxed or otherwise criticized out loud, fired in some cases
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  Speaker 1: over your viewpoints. How do you get America? In your
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  Speaker 1: chapter called The Destroyers, you address this concept. How do
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  Speaker 1: you get regular, everyday Americans to stand up? Because the
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  Speaker 1: answer to insanity, like from the DSA and Bernie Sanders,
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  Speaker 1: is more speech, debate, discussion. People are unwilling to go
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  Speaker 1: into that anymore because they're afraid of online criticisms or
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  Speaker 1: someone showing up at their front door or doing something
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  Speaker 1: maybe even criminalized. to them because it happens every day.
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  Speaker 1: Can you give some advice to the people out in
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  Speaker 1: the audience who have a firm conviction who otherwise would
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  Speaker 1: say something could benefit from the process of exchange but
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  Speaker 1: won't do it because of fear?
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  Speaker 2: It's like going to the Cincinnati Bengals camp. The preseason camp.
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  Speaker 2: You've got to build yourself up. And I have a
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  Speaker 2: story in the book about employment working. You work for
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  Speaker 2: a big company, and I don't anymore. I run my
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  Speaker 2: own companies. But it took me a long time to
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  Speaker 2: get there because I had to assemble the assets to
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  Speaker 2: do it. But if you're working for somebody, a big
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  Speaker 2: company or something like that, And if you're in a
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  Speaker 2: position like I've been for more than 50 years, where
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  Speaker 2: you're giving your opinion, you've got to count on the
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  Speaker 2: fact that some people are not going to like you.
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  Speaker 2: And you have to almost steel yourself to that. And
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  Speaker 2: I've been able to do it. Not easy. But as
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  Speaker 2: they say in The Godfather, this is the business we've chosen.
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  Speaker 2: And it took me a while, Brian, to say, all right,
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  Speaker 2: I obviously I'm going to protect myself and I have
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  Speaker 2: very good lawyers and all that but I know I'm
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  Speaker 2: going to get whacked so if you go to this
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  Speaker 2: Bengals camp you're going to get tackled they're going to
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  Speaker 2: knock you down I got to get up and that's
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  Speaker 2: that in America is the most important thing in order
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  Speaker 2: to be successful you don't let the SOB's where will
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  Speaker 2: you get up and then you go forward and it's
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  Speaker 2: a cliche but it's true and again capitalism is not
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  Speaker 2: easy but it does give you the potential to live
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  Speaker 2: in a nice house and I have a good life
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  Speaker 2: and to protect you and your family against evil and
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  Speaker 2: but you're gonna have to work for that I don't
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  Speaker 2: understand the the socialism communism Every country that's tried it,
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  Speaker 2: and this is a cliche, has failed. Because the government
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  Speaker 2: cannot live your life for you. And we, in the book,
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  Speaker 2: I name names. There's no anonymous person. Everybody I dealt
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  Speaker 2: with is named. I had an interesting discussion with President
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  Speaker 2: Obama one time. It was an off-the-air discussion. I interviewed
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  Speaker 2: him three times on the air. And he was telling me, listen...
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  Speaker 2: Don't be whining about paying higher taxes. I'm going to
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  Speaker 2: pay an enormous amount of taxes living in New York
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  Speaker 2: because you wouldn't be successful without the government. And he
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  Speaker 2: really believed it. And I looked at him and I said,
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  Speaker 2: the government never did anything to make me successful.
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  Speaker 3: I did it.
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  Speaker 2: Now, the structure was there. I had roads that I
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  Speaker 2: could get to work. And I paid taxes. But the
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  Speaker 2: government didn't help me. It was me and my training
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  Speaker 2: and my education and my background and my family. That's
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  Speaker 2: what provided the springboard to success. So the president and
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  Speaker 2: I had a lively disagreement on that issue. And now
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  Speaker 2: we're seeing that play out in all kinds of ways
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  Speaker 2: in America.
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  Speaker 1: Well, and another chap that I dearly love, Fort Worth
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  Speaker 1: Park Company, Bill O'Reilly, bubble people, people hiding. And you
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  Speaker 1: even point out the Constitution gives you the right to
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  Speaker 1: be a moron. And all the problems we're confronted by,
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: people just simply don't understand politics. They don't pay attention
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  Speaker 1: to it. They can't even name the branches of government.
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  Speaker 1: Bill O'Reilly, that's another illustration of the failure of the
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  Speaker 1: American education system. It's frightening to read. It's a cold-water
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  Speaker 1: dose of reality. You bring ideas and thoughts about how
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  Speaker 1: to right the ship. Bill O'Reilly, Confronting America, What Has
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  Speaker 1: to Change. Thank you for writing the book, sir, and
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  Speaker 1: spending time with my listeners and me this morning. I
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  Speaker 1: just really enjoyed it. We're going to make it easy
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  Speaker 1: to get them a copy because we put it on
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  Speaker 1: my blog page. A link to buy the book.
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  Speaker 2: Listen, Brian, it's always a pleasure to talk with you,
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  Speaker 2: and I wish you the best going forward. And you're
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  Speaker 2: an example of somebody who applied himself and made a success.
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  Speaker 2: And you know what? And I don't even mind talking
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  Speaker 2: to the slackers, but I'm glad you liked the book.
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  Speaker 3: I did.
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  Speaker 1: You know, Bill O'Reilly, as you see, I will give
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  Speaker 1: my mom and dad credit for my current success. They
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  Speaker 1: insisted I get an education. They cared about my value system.
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  Speaker 1: They cared about my upbringing. They were there for me.
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  Speaker 1: Bill O'Reilly, God bless you, sir. I'll look forward to
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  Speaker 1: the next book. I know you're probably already writing one, man,
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  Speaker 1: and it's going to be another bestseller. 55KRC. iHeart. com. Take care, Bill. 820.
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: 55 KRC. We're going to be able to another offer.
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: Jeff Sherry is going to join the program books about
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  Speaker 1: his book shots fired on Redding road. Don't go away.
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  Speaker 2: 55 KRC.