Oh Gee's! Bill O'Reilly Lifts Boycott of France!

Lets all just forget that Bill O'Reilly DEMANDED that all Americans boycot France for not going to War with us (and lets also forget that O'Reilly was often seen at a certain French Restaraunt in New York during his infamous boycott)France was right from the beginning.We knew it then. Never doubted it.



In March 2003, Bill O’Reilly called on all Americans to boycott the use of French products because of France’s disagreement with the United States decision to invade Iraq… Through the years O’Reilly has claimed his boycott of France has cost the country “billions of dollars” (O’Reilly himself quoted that figure in the non-existent “Paris Business Review“).” But now that France has elected conservative Nicolas Sarkozy, the French can rest easy. O’Reilly said yesterday, “The Factor is lifting the boycott of France. However, ‘Boycott France’ bumper stickers do remain available on BillOReilly.com for nostalgia purposes, and you never know… we may have to re-impose it.

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/08/oreilly-lifts-boycott-of-france

Funny thing is the United States has increased spending on French Imports during the three years of the boycott (from $29 Billion in 2003 to $37 Billion in 2006), but we're sure the numbers will be much larger next year, oui?

http://thenewshole.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/08/185756.aspx

And France says "Oh--he was boycotting us? Really?" LOVE IT!!!

Heres the 'infamous' Paris Business Review that Bill made up!

http://www.parisbusinessreview.com/

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The Paris Business Review was where O'Reilly was getting all his stats and numbers from. This was the site where Bill was convinced and was more or less gloating that HIS boycott was costing the French BILLIONS!!! It was Al Franken who investiagted and discovered there was no such organazation at all! Bill made it all up. O'Reilly was dropping the Paris Business Reveiw on his radio show daily and once Franken began reporting there was no such place O'Reilly just stopped talking about it. Amazing, isn't it?

FOX's O'Reilly fabricated evidence of success of purported boycott
Host Bill O'Reilly threatened Canada with a boycott like the one he advocated against France, then cited a phony statistic about the success of the French boycott. The threat came during O'Reilly's April 27 debate with Toronto Globe and Mail columnist Heather Mallick about Canada's harboring of two deserters from the U.S. military who have fled to Canada. From FOX News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor:

O'REILLY: Now if the [Canadian] government -- if your government harbors these two deserter [sic], doesn't send them back ... there will be a boycott of your country which will hurt your country enormously. France is now feeling that sting.

MALLICK: I don't think for a moment such a boycott would take place because we are your biggest trading partners.

O'REILLY: No, it will take place, madam. In France ...

MALLICK: I don't think that your French boycott has done too well ...

O'REILLY: ...they've lost billions of dollars in France according to "The Paris Business Review."

MALLICK: I think that's nonsense.

Media Matters for America found no evidence of a publication named "The Paris Business Review." A Google.com search revealed no mentions of "Paris Business Review," "Revue des Affaires de Paris," or any similar French name. A LexisNexis search for "Paris," "France," or "French" within five words of "business review" produced no relevant results. There is a journal called "European Business Review," which is published in England; however, over the past two years, "European Business Review" has not mentioned an American boycott of France.

Furthermore, contrary to O'Reilly's claim that France has lost "billions of dollars" due to an American boycott, American imports from France have actually increased since international tensions with France began in the months prior to the start of the war in Iraq in March 2003. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in February 2004, the United States imported $2.26 billion in French goods and services, up from $2.18 billion in February 2002.

Two days later, on the April 29 episode of The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly plugged a poll on his personal website, BillOReilly.com: "A new BillOReilly.com poll asks you the question will you boycott Canadian goods and services if that country does not return two American deserters who are being glorified by some of the Canadian media?'"

http://mediamatters.org/items/200405020006

. O'Reilly fabricated "Paris Business Review" as source for success of French boycott. O'Reilly falsely claimed "they've lost billions of dollars in France according to 'The Paris Business Review'" due to an American boycott he advocated of French imports. Media Matters for America found no evidence of a publication named "The Paris Business Review." (4/27/04)

http://www.nyu.edu/classes/siva/archives/000499.html

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Updated On: 5/9/07 at 10:01 AM

France: Wait...what? When did all this happen?

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I can't wait to see what Colbert does with this...