As you may remember, John Amato was out in front of this story, calling out Bill O’Reilly for his despicable statements about teenager Shawn Hornbeck, who had been kidnapped and molested for years. Shawn’s abductor was sentenced to life in prison this past Monday, and on Countdown, Keith Olbermann spoke to Shawn’s parents, Pam and Craig Akers, about Shawn’s life since being rescued and their thoughts on Bill O’Reilly’s statement that Shawn enjoyed his time in captivity.
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The Akers tell Keith that Shawn is doing very well and that they have set up The Shawn Hornbeck Foundation which is dedicated to the prevention of the abduction of children and the search for and rescue of lost, missing or abducted children. As BillO is hawking his new book for children, the Akers graciously tell Keith he owes their son an apology — in much nicer terms than I would have used:
Olbermann: “…Let me ask you, both of you, have either of you or has Shawn received any kind apology from Bill O’Reilly or from anybody else who took this stance?”
Craig Akers: “No, we haven’t heard anything and Pam and I really don’t care about an apology for us, it’s not about us. We could care less one way or the other. It’s really Shawn that was hurt and Shawn is the one who deserves the apology.”
Filed Under: Bill O’Reilly, Countdown/Keith Olbermann, Fox News, MSNBC
One Trackback To “Countdown: Parents Of Shawn Hornbeck Want Bill O’Reilly To Apologize To Their Son“
i hope the parents aint gonna hold their breath
Bill-o apologizing for what he said is like trying to push a turd back up your butt after you let it go. It just can’t be done.
He’s spineless. BillO the coward will never apologize.
Another GOP pedophile busted in Wisconsin
O’Reilly is justifying the behavior of his friends, just like his friends justified his behavior. It can’t be that the guy is a heinous perv, it’s that the kid enjoyed it. Bet Billo would say these kids enjoyed it also. Fucker.
I’m so sorry for what happened to this poor kid and his family, but I strongly admire their ability to turn the other cheek. I don’t think I could [but I’d like to think so].
meantime billy’s on with leno laughing it up.
Maybe Billo will give Shawn a free membership to the BillO website so he can get a discount on a no spin zone coffee cup. That’s way more than I would expect and forget about an apology.
After comments like O’Reilly made about this unfortunate young man, it certainly would not be without the possibility that he himself is a latent pedophile. And I am sure that the sexual abuse that O’Reilly endured as a child, at the hands of his Satan-worshipping parents, has helped to indoctrinate him into the pedophilia underground.
Not only won’t O’Reilly apologize, but you can expect much more of this sort of thing in the future. It’s only going to get worse. Fox Business starts soon, corporate consolidation of media continues… it’s going to get worse before it gets better, and it may never get better.
joe cantwell @ 6:
Yeah, that was kinda weird. I can understand why Leno might throw him a bunch of softball questions, considering it’s an entertainment show, and not a politics show, but then why have the guy on at all? He brought up the Sylvia’s thing, and let BillO spout off about the huge conspiracy against him in the media, but never brought up anything substancial.
Although it was kinda funny to hear BillO explain that he never has the presidential candidates on his show “because they’re boring”.
Considering the collection of freaks, pervs and self hating closeted types hiding under the blanket of hate provided by the conservotard repug cult it isn’t at all surprising that these scum bags would WANT to believe [and espouse the idea] that an abducted child enjoyed the captivity and the abuse.
They need to believe it. It’s the kind of logical fallacy all pervs use to justify what they do.
O’rly may think his comments don’t hurt him, but as far as I’m concerned his stated position on the matter is proof he’s some kind of pedo and probably should be under police supervision at all times.
Someone needs to use those ‘expanded spying powers’ to keep an eye on that creep. And all the creeps who went along with the big giant head as he laid the ground work for his own future defense.
O’Reilly, Coulter, Limbaugh, and the rest of the seemingly endless list… all clearly exhibit personality disorders. No shame in that if you recognize it and work on your illness. But these representatives of Republicanism not only lead unexamined lives, they’ve actually elevated pathology to virtue.
Paddy @ 4:
The Democrats must have equal skeletons if they’re not morally capitalizing on these events all over the airwaves. I know it may come off a little strange saying this but at least this guy was getting closer to the legal age for such indiscretions.. LOL, Family Values!
An apology from Bill O would be worth nothing but spit.
Too bad O’Reilly could not get a day or two of the abuse that the Hornbeck kid had to endure. It might make him a little more humble.
AbbeyHoffmansGhost @ 8:
while this may be a possibility, i like my theory more
bill doesnt care about kids…in fact, he pretty much hates them
he uses child abuse stories to attack what he percieves as liberal judges and states
he has never once done a report on the state of children’s services in any of the red states, but goes out of his way to attack blue states
and his attack on hornbeck was his subconcious way of justifying what he did to his assistant (and maybe others)….they continued to work for him, while he sexually harrased them, so they must have liked it
he is a very sick man, who should be institutionalized, not getting a paycheck for spewing filth on the airwaves
btw, he was on his local affliate live pushing his book….last time he was there, he terrorized the staff and demanded fresh croisants….wonder what happened this time
g @ 14:
You’ve got the right of it An apology from that asshole would the least heartfelt event of the century
On I am sure that in Bill O’s world, his phone sex “problem” was all the fault of his female producer just as that young boy was at fault for what happened to him at the hands of the pedophile. Blame the victim, not the perv. This must be some kind of perv code of honor. One perv protecting another. Fox, cut the mike. What a joke!!!
cheesesauce @ 2:
Comparing Bill O’Reilly to a turd strikes me as disrespectful to turds.
Bill O’Reilly is, w/o a doubt, an insensitive lout and a true ogre. But I can’t help but notice that he has touched on the great unmentionable elephant in the room: Why exactly did Hornbeck stay with this guy? I don’t get it. The guy brutilized him, even tried to kill the kid and he just stays with his abductor? That is extremely weird.
I also can’t help but suspect that the outrage directed at Bill-O is at least in part due to an underlying panic from people who want to avoid asking this potentially disturbing question lest the come up with some very unpleasant answers about human nature or merely Shawn Hornbeck.
It seems that perhaps even ogres have their uses.
The Hornbeck family has endured horrific pain, yet they exhibit grace and dignity. These qualities are totally lacking in socipathic personalitys. I think the mistake a lot of us make is expecting evil people to behave decently. It is not going to happen. The best way to deal with the O’Reilly types is to expose them, mock them. shun them…and finally…to hit them where they live, in the pocket. A boycott of their sponsers is the only thing that will be effective. An apology from a sociopath is meaningless.
I still can’t get over the fact that this poor kid’s name and face were plastered all over the media. Wherever he goes, he’ll be known as “that kid who was molested for years.” How would you like to have that albatross around your neck? I thought there were laws to protect kids from being exploited by the media by not letting their names be published and such. I guess I was wrong.
They’d have a better chance of playing pick up sticks with their butt cheeks than get an apology out of BO. I thought BO didn’t like NBC any longer, why’s he showing up on their network?
An apology from billo would only serve to set up his next reichwing talking point.
Remember when he thought he was speaking well of black diners?
hieronymus braintree @ 20:
It’s not extremely weird, it’s extremely COMMON. I’m sorry to say this and I don’t mean to insult you, but this is NOT an obvious question to people who have even the slightest clue about abuser/abused relationships. It’s incredibly common even with adults, abused women, etc… and with children, the situation is even more unbalanced power-wise. Kids see adults as authority figures, and it’s easy for a kid to see no way out… to distrust all adults after being abused… to be mindfucked into thinking they will be killed, their family killed, etc. if they tell. Or, just simply being so coerced and so overpowered emotionally that they simply see no way out.
This is a very common and well-understood phenomenon - which is part of why O’Reilly’s insensitivity was so startling. The utter cluelessness of it. The same sort of thing where people say “why did she stay with her husband if he beat her?” It’s not weird, its typical. It’s the RESULT of the abuse.
BILL O’REILLY ADMITS: ‘I WAS KIDNAPPED BY FOX, BUT WANTED TO STAY’
Just so you know, the video is double-posted- it plays through, and then cuts back to a point towards the beginning and repeats itself.
Anyway, the more time goes on, the more I wonder how ANYBODY can call themselves a republican, or even a conservative, and NOT feel ashamed.
And I, too,find out dedicated team of victim-blamers to be absolutely revolting. (People in the Duke LaCrosse case are another prime example. “Lack of evidence” does not mean “Innocent so she’s just a lying evil man-hating bitch.” It means “We don’t know.)
Victim-blaming should be the eigth deadly sin, as far as I’m concerned.
Craig @ 12:
Thank you… that sums it up very succinctly. Of course, the prime example of your observation roams around in the White House at night, cackling as he tries to roll the two little BBs in the clown’s eyes.
a person @ 22:
I think that was pre-Bushworld. Nothing makes sense anymore. 10 years ago O’Reilly would have been ostracized for those comments, hell, 10 years ago, he never would have survived his loofa moment.
Let me see if I have this straight, O’ Really goes on the air and makes comments like, and i’m paraphrasing, “he really looks like he’s (enjoying) his captivity” and then turns around and more recently states something to the affect that he (O’Really) doesn’t want to comment anymore because Shawn has suffered enough. Just shows you what a loser BillO is.
a person @ 22:
Does it come with wafers?
a person @ 22:
It’s difficult in this case because he was a missing child and his name was everywhere for 4 years. Had he not been a missing person, there’s no way his name would have ever been published. It’s a unique situation because missing kids rarely come back alive.
It be one thing if bill o’really had experts on the show to talk about childhood development and the Stockholm Syndrome, but he just lobs verbal grenades that sound “reasonable,” to the zombies who watch him.
uncle joe mccarthy @ 1:
oliely should hold his breath.
about a year or so.
What’s the legal angle on this? Can the parents sue, in Shawn’s name, for slander and defamation of character? Someone somewhere needs to call this a**hole to account for his filthy mouth. It seems to me this would be the perfect opportunity. Everything open and above board, not like settling in camera, as with Andrea Makris.
“KIDS NEED BOTH PARENTS”….bullshit!! I saw this lame, insensitive bumper sticker on the back of some self righteous prick, and immediately I wanted to pull the jerk over and tell himn to shove his “announcement to the world” up his butt.
Imagine the KIDS sitting in a car with their single parent, and seeing such a piece of crap staring them in the face at a traffic light. I understand the intent, but the message is shameful and very possibly damaging to the self confidence of thousands of kids that aren’t so fortunate to have BOTH PARENTS. What does this message say to them?….”you’re less because you are being raised by only one parent”? You needed both, but you could have done much better with two??
I understand having two parents is the “Wally Cleaver” idea of a perfect life. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that most kids would love to have two loving, nurturing parents. But don’t lay that crap “in their face” as they NEED both. Many are better off without the one. Many didn’t have the choice to have more than one. And even though I can agree that having two can make life much easier, sweeter, nurturing than missing one…..keep it to yourselves.
I have a grandson who is being raised by his mother…alone. The father turned out to be a loser, and my daughter broke up with him the second and last time, and then found out later she was pregnant. He doesn’t call him, doesn’t pay any support unless she tracks him down to garnish his paycheck…which is nothing considering he is a carpenter and does most of his work “under the table”.
For him to have to think he NEEDS two parents to have his healthy life is total, utter bullshit. Kids need a loving home, a nurturing home..and if it’s done with one or two parents, I think circumstances sometimes dictate reality.
I am 60 years old, and I’d spray paint this moron’s bumper sticker and the back of his car if I ever happen to see him and have a can of spray paint handy. To me, this was as offensive as “Don’t like the way I drive…..dial 1-800-EAT SHIT. Tasteless and offensive. Pardon my anger, but some people think they have all the answers for everybody else. Grrrrrrr!!
The Akers are “phony” parents.
Oh yeah…Soros…Media Matters…MoveOn…
Rinse, lather, repeat.
great work again Keith proving Bill O’Reilly is Scum and should not even be be spouting his Bullshit in a bar let alone on national TV. Like Keith pointed out, “what has this country come to?”
Shawn wasn’t “tough” enough for draft dodger O’Reilly. All these cons pretend they’d be like Macgyver in every situation if it happened to them
Diogenes @ 35:
Great point, I wonder if there is a legal basis for slander here. This could definately be the start of drumbeat toward his exit from the airwaves.
BOR=POS
Remember Bill was taken out of context, at least thats what him and all Repugs say when they screw up. I think maybe they should ask Oprah to apologize to for letting Bill go on her show and try to spin his way out of the mess he was in. watch video below. Sorry about the voice being out of sync.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EVTduQ6kBk
Craig @ 25:
Thank you for your explanation. It was clear and informative and respectful. That is not how I
wouldmight have responded. I need to take lessons from you at managing my affective responses.Like Malkin, O’Reilly exists on the level of rumor. He doesn’t make up the rumors and gossip he propagates, therefore he doesn’t have anything to apologize for. Watch the Matthews vs. Malkin video again for the typical reaction. They don’t think they have to account for what other people say, even if they say it themselves. They’re political tattletales, like TMZ is for Hollywood.
They’re right.
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