"Don't confuse the issue with facts!"
-Dumbass statement of the day-
Bill O'Reilly took issue with John Edwards' claim that 200,000 homeless veterans "will go to sleep under bridges and on grates."
"They may be out there, but there's not many of them out there. Okay?" Bill said. "If you know where's a veteran, sleeping under a bridge, you call me immediately, and we will make sure that man does not do it."
A fact check suggests that O'Reilly may be on his way to a new career as a guy who runs a homeless shelter for vets. You don't have to take Edwards' word for it, Bill. You could do something crazy like look it up on the Veterans Administration's web site, where you'll find this instructive paragraph:
About one-third of the adult homeless population have served their country in the Armed Services. Current population estimates suggest that about 195,000 veterans (male and female) are homeless on any given night and perhaps twice as many experience homelessness at some point during the course of a year. Many other veterans are considered near homeless or at risk because of their poverty, lack of support from family and friends, and dismal living conditions in cheap hotels or in overcrowded or substandard housing.
How long did I have to dig and sweat and rigorously research to find that? I don't know -- how long do you think it takes to type "homeless veterans" into Google?
Yeah, that's about how long it took. The VA's homeless vets page is the first result for the query. Seriously, it's not much of a googlemonkey challenge.
Of course, in O'Reilly's defense, it's a lot more fun to be creative and pull "facts" out of your ass. Enjoy your new career as a bed-finder for homeless veterans, Bill. You'll finally be doing something worthwhile with your life. (Think Progress)
-Headline of the day-
"Ex-lawmaker charged in terror conspiracy."
According to the report, "A former congressman and delegate to the United Nations was indicted Wednesday as part of a terrorist fundraising ring that allegedly sent more than $130,000 to an al-Qaida and Taliban supporter who has threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan."
Mark Deli Siljander, a Michigan Republican, has been charged with "money laundering, conspiracy and obstructing justice for allegedly lying about lobbying senators on behalf of an Islamic charity that authorities said was secretly sending funds to terrorists." He faces a 42-count indictment.
Last year, a major donor to the Republican party, New York state resident Adbul Twala Ibn Ali Alishtari, was indicted for financing terrorists in Afghanistan.
Republicans have charged that Democrats are "siding with terrorists" in the past. But the evidence seems to point elsewhere. Not only is it the Republicans who are siding with terrorists, but there are Republicans who are terrorists.
Crazy, ain't it? (AP)
-A big ol' honkin' somethin' or t'other-
Residents of Stephensville, Texas insist they saw a UFO. According to the report, more than 30 witnesses saw a "mile-wide, silent object with bright lights, flying low and fast."
So let's see. It's as wide as a Texas mile and not only did a mere 30 see it, but no one got any pictures?
No word on whether Stephensville is in a dry county. I'm guessing no... (ABC News)
