Bruce Springsteen appeared on 60 Minutes last Sunday night, and during the segment he expressed some of his political views, including:

“We’ve see things that have happened over the past six years that I did not think anybody ever thought they’d ever see in the United States. When people think of the American identity, they don’t think of torture. They don’t think of illegal wiretapping. They don’t think of voter suppression. They don’t think of no habeas corpus, no right to a lawyer, you know.”

Anyone who knows anything about Bruce Springsteen knows that he’s been expressing political thoughts in his music for decades.  It’s nothing new for him.  What’s unusual is that he granted a TV interview to 60 Minutes.  He hasn’t given many interviews over the past 30 years or so.

Well Bill O’Reilly watched the segment, and he thought Springsteen was full of “bull.”   During his “top story” of the night, he discussed Springsteen with Kinky Friedman.  O’Reilly said that Springsteen has a “responsibility” to appear on The Factor or other shows like it to explain himself; not just do “drive-by stuff.”

He went on to say that if Springsteen did come on his show, he would “wipe him out,” and that he knows he won’t come on because he “couldn’t stand up to the questioning.”

That’s some invitation isn’t it?  And just what does he mean by “drive-by stuff”?  That doesn’t even make sense.  Springsteen was invited to appear on 60 Minutes, he agreed to be interviewed, and he responded to a question about the content of his new album.  That’s “drive-by stuff”? 

But that’s not all.  O’Reilly laid $25,000 on the table and said that if Springsteen came on his show, he would donate the money to Habitat for Humanity.

Can you believe that?  First off, if Springsteen wanted to donate $25,000 to Habitat for Humanity or any other cause for that matter, he’d just write a check.  Secondly, if O’Reilly thinks it’s a good idea to give $25,000 to Habitat for Humanity, then he should just do it.  He shouldn’t make it conditional – especially on the condition that someone who very rarely appears on television come on his show.

You can read a transcript of O’Reilly’s show here.

Here is a link to the video, but for some reason it doesn’t seem to work like other links to videos do, so if you want to watch the O’Reilly show, you’ll have to go here and scroll down to the In Case You Missed It section and click on “Scorn to Run.”

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