FROM THE 19 FEBRUARY BROADCAST OF "THE RADIO FACTOR WITH BILL O'REILLY," as transcribed by the good people @ Media Matters for America (emphasis supplied):

O'REILLY: Maryanne, Woodbury, Connecticut: What say you, Maryanne? Maryanne--

CALLER: I'm here.

O'REILLY: --you're on the air.

CALLER: Here I am.

O'REILLY: OK.

CALLER: I just wanted to say that I think Michelle Obama is an angry woman--is speaking, I think, with her real voice for the first time. And--

O'REILLY: But how do you -- what do you base that on? You're basing that on what?

CALLER: Well, your representative asked me not to talk about this, but I have a friend who had knowledge of her and said to me months ago, "This is a very angry," her word was "militant woman."

O'REILLY: All right. What I want you do then, Maryanne, if -- I want you to stay on the line.

CALLER: OK.

O'REILLY: Because it's not fair to Michelle Obama for you --

CALLER: Oh no, all I'm saying is--

O'REILLY: --because we don't know who you are, and we don't know who your friend is, but we want to know. We want to know, OK. But it's not fair at this point for you to say, "My friend said X and Y," because we just don't know. But if you would give us your information, we would like to talk to your friend. And then whatever your friend tells us, we'll track it down. We'll do it in a fair and balanced and methodical way. That's how we're going to cover this campaign--all of them, all of them. So stay on the line, give us your information. If indeed Michelle Obama is angry about something, if she has a history, we would like to know that, and then we can put it into some kind of context so that we can be fair to everybody.

You know, I have a lot of sympathy for Michelle Obama, for Bill Clinton, for all of these people. Bill Clinton, I have sympathy for him, because they're thrown into a hopper where everybody is waiting for them to make a mistake, so that they can just go and bludgeon them. And, you know, Bill Clinton and I don't agree on a lot of things, and I think I've made that clear over the years, but he's trying to stick up for his wife, and every time the guy turns around, there's another demagogue or another ideologue in his face trying to humiliate him because they're rooting for Obama.

That's wrong. And I don't want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there's evidence, hard facts, that say this is how the woman really feels. If that's how she really feels--that America is a bad country or a flawed nation, whatever--then that's legit. We'll track it down.

1-877-9-NO-SPIN. Right back.

The which, as can be expected, generated a firestorm of response from not just Fox News, but also such who specialise in keeping the que vive on the media generally.

In its turn, prompting Bill O'Reilly to issue what may best be called a feeble attempt at apology in response to the ensuing outcry.

Still, though, Your Correspondent has some Serious Questions worth asking of Fox News in particular:

• What sort of liability would Fox News have in case, let's say, some mentally-unstable person becomes so motivated by the original remarks to threaten Mrs. Obama with lynching, physical harm or other violence during a campaign stop with her husband?
• In the event that Fox News and/or Mr. O'Reilly are directly implicated for the consequences of the remarks in question, then what would be the extent of their liability?
• Would there be particular liabilities inherent upon Roger Ailes and/or Keith Rupert Murdoch, given their positions of authority, confidence and trust vis-a-vis Fox News and News America Corporation, respectively, in consequence of any ensuing acts, deeds and exploits?
• Is there the likelihood of Fox News and/or News America "judgement-proofing" certain cash assets offshore in "pure trusts" and suchlike to avoid possible financial liability?
• Have you no sense of Decency, Sirs, @ long last?
• Have you left no sense of Decency?

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IF YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT HOMESCHOOLING YOUR CHILDREN ON THE "NATIONAL CHRISTIAN EDUCATION" MODEL for the sake of "developing a healthy and proper moral compass [and] a True Patriot Love in All Thy Sons Command," you may want to take an especially close look @ the curricular materials.

There could well be the possibility that much of it amounts to sugar-coated appeals to racism, xenophobia, jingoism and White Christian Supremacy further seeking to reinforce the social isolation inherent and expected among those thus homeschooled--enough to make you want to reconsider.

I bring this up in light of the following item from the BBC as perhaps relates to the Hidden Dangers of Christian Homeschooling, or could otherwise offer some helpful insight (besides, "it's a small world, after all"):

An Islamic school in west London preached "race hate" to its students, an employment tribunal has heard.

The King Fahad Academy in Acton taught students from a textbook which called Christians pigs and Jewish people repugnant, ex-teacher Colin Cook said.

The 58-year-old from Feltham, south London, is claiming unfair dismissal, race discrimination and victimisation and is seeking £135,000.

But the school said Mr Cook was sacked for misconduct.

Last year, a Whitehall inquiry said the school provided satisfactory education.

No evidence

Schools minister Jim Knight ordered the inquiry into the Saudi-funded independent school following Mr Cook's initial claims.

He told the employment tribunal the school was "institutionally racist" and treated him differently to Saudi teachers.

He claims he was sacked after blowing the whistle on students cheating in public exams.

Mr Cook said after he left another teacher showed him textbooks containing racist passages.

"Subsequent to my dismissal I discovered that race hatred was being taught in textbooks in the school," he said.

But Simon Cheetham, for the school, said he could not prove his claims that the specific offensive passages were used in lessons.

"Without any evidence to support it, it's not worth a jot," Mr Cheetham said.

The hearing continues.

Come to think of it, Your Correspondent would like to ask those who were Christian Homeschooled whether the materials they used tended to race hatred, incitement, jingoism and bigotry.

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SERBIAN GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED DEMONSTRATIONS IN BEAUTIFUL DOWNTOWN SARAJEVO last night opposing the UDI for the Kosovo region got a bit nasty to the extent that rioting ensued, in turn leading to the United States Embassy being firebombed.

I say "Serbian Government-sponsored" because the State Department has raised concerns that those involved in the firebombing may have been provoked by remarks tending to incitement during the rally.

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AND IF YOU THOUGHT THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION FROM MEXICO AND ELSEWHERE IN LATIN AMERICA was awful enough of a problem--even without weird and unwholesome elements exploiting same for their own sinister and dangerous ends--the European Union is launching a new initiative in Ghana aimed @ discouraging the illicit migration of Africans into Europe in the hope of getting better jobs and livelihoods, usually on dangerous and unseaworthy vessels.

Which, for the most part, arrive in the Canary Islands, although some such arrive via Malta or southern Italy.

Proving that illegal migration is not the exclusive monopoly for the "morally-superior" American peoples.