How many would have heard sports writer Jason Whitlock’s views on guns and “gun culture” had Bob Costas not read them aloud as part of his halftime hijack of Sunday Night Football last weekend? Whitlock seized the opportunity to appear with Roland Martin and claim further that “the NRA is the new KKK,” but he passed at a turn at Bill O’Reilly’s megaphone. Whitlock put his refusal to appear on “The O’Reilly Factor” into words last Friday, and O’Reilly kicked off his show tonight Costas-style by quoting Whitlock’s follow-up column.
@howardkurtz why don’t you tweet what Whitlock said? Then let your followers decide if his comments were racial
— Kris Kinder (@kris_kinder) December 11, 2012
Kurtz didn’t tweet Whitlock’s comments, but here’s a sample.
I’m a grown-ass man and it’s 2012. I don’t have to shuffle off to the Big House when summoned. O’Reilly is not Boehner, Pelosi or Obama. He’s a TV entertainer who has spent the weeks after the election crying about the end of “white establishment” America, the end of the days when an upstanding white man felt entitled to summon whomever he wanted whenever he wanted to the Big House to dance.
I don’t dance.
Whitlock’s refusal to “dance” for O’Reilly in the big house left quite a few viewers unimpressed.
@howardkurtz and O’Reilly is right, what a disgrace and a coward
— Carlos, el puto amo (@CarlosGerboles) December 11, 2012
You left out that he, O’Reilly, is accurate. @howardkurtz
— Terry M (@NoKromHd) December 11, 2012
@howardkurtz If Whitlock’s statement weren’t racist, what were they? Acceptable? ICYMI, Howie, some black people are in fact racist.
— Blake Driver (@blake6900) December 11, 2012
@howardkurtz What did he say that that you agree with? I heard a few things. U won’t tweet those, hurts your anti-Fox agenda though.
— JohnDewey (@JohnDewey) December 11, 2012
@howardkurtz Taking sides or reporting Howie?
— Tank997 (Tom) (@Tank997) December 11, 2012
@fbc1955 Jason Whitlock called O’Reilly Master of the Big House because he wanted Whitlock 2 come on his show! So sick of Libs & blacks bias
— Bruce Creech (@fbc1955) December 11, 2012
@actualbobcostas @oreillyfactor You might want to rethink your admiration for Jason Whitlock. His response to BO’s invite was despicable.
— Frank Maxwell(@FrankenGator) December 11, 2012
welcome to the big leagues Jason Whitlock where you’ll get called out on race baiting #FoxNews #OReilly #smackdown
— steve osborne (@stvosb) December 11, 2012
So according to Jason Whitlock, being invited onto a show constitutes being “ordered”. *rolling eyes*
— Vicki Lemonds (@Vicki_Lemonds) December 11, 2012
.@whitlockjason Wow, O’Reilly is taking you to task. When you going to step up and go on his show? Words only go so far, Whitlock.
— Michael Kaplun (@MichaelKaplun) December 11, 2012
Whitlock also won admirers for turning down an appearance.
Jason Whitlock thank U 4 NOT appearing on BIGOT O’Reilly’s awful one sided program #CHAOS On BullShit Mountain FOX abt gun control. @espn
— Ms. Net (@NETRetired) December 11, 2012
Damn! Jason Whitlock body-slammed Bill O’Reilly with his comments. Now Billo is crying over it. Lol #FoxNews #BillOreilly
— Brian Le Mec (@Dalmatio) December 11, 2012
In his post, Whitlock said that he’d be sticking to his sports column for now, as TV news appearances don’t allow him sufficient room to make his points. “You typically sacrifice two hours of time for an eight-minute segment that accomplishes very little,” he wrote. “It’s not the deep end of the pool. There’s no room for someone like me to splash around.” Back to the kiddie pool to make waves, then?
