O'Reilly's no-spin zone eats some crow

Billo's been taken to task by John over the Faux News chat show host's pummeling of the liberal blog Daily Kos (along with the convention Yearly Kos, which is next week), and progressive blogs generally for the tenor of some of the comments there, even as O'Reilly's own forum commenters have drawn the attention of the Secret Service.

He's also recently had to eat crow over one of his "fair and balanced" reports on The No Spin Zone. Faux News "Crime Analyst" Rod Wheeler and Billo had to admit the inaccuracies and exaggerations in the show's unbelievable report that claimed a pink-pistol-toting lesbian gang "epidemic" was sweeping the country. Here's one of the outlandish exchanges:

O'Reilly asked, "Now, when they recruit the kids, are they indoctrinating them into homosexuality?"

"Yes," Wheeler answered. "As a matter of fact, some of the kids have actually reported that they were forced into, you know, performing sex acts and doing sex acts with some of these people."

After the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) looked into Wheeler's stats and called O'Reilly on the issue, it was time for the crow:

"During the O'Reilly Factor segment on June 21st, while engaged in a discussion on Lesbian gangs, I inadvertently stated that gang members carry pistols that are painted pink and call themselves the "Pink Pistol Packing Group." I was not referring to the gay rights group "Pink Pistols" who advocates for the lawful rights of gays to carry weapons for protection. Further, I mentioned that there are "over 150 of these gangs" in the greater Washington DC area. What I actually meant is that there are over 150 gangs in the Washington DC area, some of which are in fact lesbian gangs. Lastly, I mentioned in the segment that there is this "national epidemic" of lesbian gangs. A better choice of words would have been to say that there is a growing concern nationally, and especially in major urban areas, of increased gang activity, which includes some lesbian gang activity. I apologize for any misunderstanding this may have caused."

Wheeler, by the way, has received an endorsement in the past from the White House. Tony Snow said: "We turn to Rod Wheeler to help us better understand and solve some of these terrible crimes in America."