Bill O'Reilly Is Not A Combat Veteran

I suppose that, since it has become a question, I should restate (for clarification purposes) the complete parameters for this debate. I quote directly from Round One, and not Round Two: I will ask my debate partner to demonstrate that Bill O'Reilly has ever served in the military, ever been shot at by "the enemy," or has ever been imperiled in any military way whatsoever. This, because I do not believe that he has. I do not believe that he has, because Bill O’Reilly agrees with me, and says that he has not. Some semantic games may be devised that might offer some pretense of rhetorical veracity to a counter claim. (I However, it will be necessary, I think, for some evidence to be presented to support such an argument. After all, I am not the most authoritative person who is arguing that my resolution is a fair assessment of the situation: Bill O’Reilly himself is. Bill O’Reilly Says that he has never been in the Military, which supports my resolution. I had thought it obvious that this lighthearted debate was unserious, all but a “joke debate.” After all, I simply restated Mr. O’Reilly’s own words, as presented in the audio clip. If this was lost on anyone, I will write up a short transcript: O'Reilly: But I tell you what, I've been in combat. I've seen it. I've been close to it. And if my unit is in danger and I got a captured guy and the guy knows where the enemy is and I'm looking him in the eye, the guy better tell me. That's all I'm gonna tell you. If it's life or death, he's going first. Roger, Portland, Oregon. What say you, Roger? Roger From Portland: Yeah, hey, Bill. Bill, first things first. Ummmm, you just said that you've been in combat, but you've never been in the military, have you? O'Reilly: No I have not. This conclusively proves that Bill O’Reilly has never served in the military. Con will need to prove that Bill O’Reilly is lying about this, which will be difficult. (I am aware that he is arguing that being a celebrity, and debating Bill Maher, is the near equivalent of being a combat veteran. I will address this in a moment.) Bill O’Reilly’s Memoirs do not mention his battlefield experience. A fact which supports my resolution. Also difficult will be finding any accounts of his battlefield heroism. Bill O’Reilly worked for CBS at one time, and was assigned to cover the conflicts in the Falklands and El Salvador. He was never on any battlefields, as he remained in the home office the entire time. That is, until he was almost fired from CBS. It should be pointed out that there has been a large reward offered for many years to any soldier from any nation that can vouch that Mr. O’Reilly has ever been in a firefight, either as an embedded reporter or in any other way. All of this is detailed in Mr. O’Reilly’s many memoirs, which often extol his brilliance (but these memoirs do not mention his ever having been “shot at.”) Oddly, they make no mention of his ever having been shot at, although they frequently elaborate on much more minor events from his life. In one of his autobiographies, Bill O’Reilly discussed his period with CBS (where he wrote stories about the El Salvador and Falklands conflicts, much as I am doing now) in one or two paragraphs. No mention is made of how brave he was during his swashbuckling gunfights. Telling is the bio that appears on the Fox NEWS website. This glamour piece makes absolutely no mention of his time as a war correspondent, although it makes a concerted attempt to portray him in the best possible light. http://www.foxnews.com... “Soldiers are pretty much just the same as celebrities” is sort of an offensive argument I suppose that it might be necessary for me to draw a distinction between the type of combat O’Reilly describes in his statement, and having a radio show and debating Bill Maher. Even if “combat” is defined as any sort of disagreement over any sort of thing, no other definition is applicable in this case. Further, I am not required to define “combat,” because Mr. O’Reilly did this in his original statement. He is clearly not describing his job as a celebrity. He is describing “life or death” (his words) scenarios, not debates. The insult to actual combat veterans, however, should be noted. They will be crestfallen to learn that their military duty is rhetorically the equivalent of being a celebrity with a radio show. Rebuttals: I will present these as “turns,” which occur in debate when an some argument or evidence is presented by one side – but effectively helps the other side. Remember, that my side in this particular contest is that Bill O’Reilly is not a combat veteran, and has not been shot at, served in the military, etc. I'm rather surprised you didn't figure this out yourself... He did not say that he was in a unit, or part of the military. As it happens, I actually did figure this out for myself. This is why I instigated a debate wherein I would argue that he was “not in a unit, or part of the military.” Remember, this is not a serious debate, with an debatable point. It is intended to ridicule Bill O’Reilly for his embarassing statement (which he immediately retracted.) It's obvious that Bill did not mean literally that he had been in the military Yes, it is obvious, and was factored into my resolution, which argues (in part) that Bill O’Reilly did not say that he was literally ever a combat veteran. I agree, he did not serve in the army, and perhaps he was being overdramatic I would be negligent if I didn’t point out that this is a bit of a concession to my argument, which (again) is that Bill O’Reilly did not serve in the Army, and was being overdramatic. Therefore, my argument, as of this round, is: Bill O’Reilly has not served in the Army, and was being overdramatic when he made the comments above. Con has failed thus far to demonstrate that I am incorrect in making this claim, and has repeatedly said that I am actually justified in holding this view.