Two notes on Bill O'Reilly controversies today. First, Brian Maloney at the Radio Equalizer blog reports a forthcoming operatic work on the Andrea Mackris complaint of sexual harassment against O'Reilly, "an oratorio for 31-piece chamber orchestra, 32-voice chorus and three soloists." It debuts in Seattle, where Christmas trees are controversial, but not this?
Second, Newsweek's interview with actor George Clooney eggs on the liberal actor to bash O'Reilly:
You just went to Darfur. Do you worry about the people like Bill O'Reilly making fun of you?
Until O'Reilly sticks his neck out and goes where people are shooting, then I'm not going to worry. If you're going to be famous and have cameras follow you around, you might as well go where the cameras will do some good.
Clooney is a foil for O'Reilly occasionally. On September 19, he mocked Clooney's call for armed intervention in the Darfur region of Sudan when Clooney opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq. He asked Harvard's Samantha Power:
O'Reilly: "George Clooney testifies before Congress. Now Clooney has been the -- one of the biggest guys opposed to unilateral action. And I know the difference between rallying the U.N., unilateral action. But it seems to me that if you oppose removing Saddam, which is what these protests really come down to, but you want the United States to take the lead in Darfur, you got to explain that to me. Can you, professor?"
Samantha Power, Harvard: "I can certainly try. I believe Mr. Clooney's point in opposing the war in Iraq was that an invasion, as it was structured, would do more harm than good, both to the people of Iraq, to the region, to international law, etcetera.And in favoring a multilateral U.N. force in Darfur, it is in keeping with the consensus that has been reflected on the Security Council, where even Russia and China abstained from a pro-U.N. Force position."