Matt Ortega

FOX News commentator Bill O’Reilly continues masquerading whatever it is that he does on television under the banner of “news” and “journalism.”

Last night, O’Reilly unveiled a new defense on the continued American involvement in Iraq, just two days before “Mission Accomplished Day” on Thursday: “We didn’t invade Iraq.”

Yesterday, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly made the incredible claim that the United States never invaded Iraq: “We didn’t invade Iraq.” He added, “It was a declaration of war, it was a declaration to enforce the first Gulf War Treaty.”

First, the United States did not declare war on Iraq. Congress authorized President Bush to use force against Iraq. In fact, the U.S. has not declared war against any nation since the Second World War. The U.S. declared war on other nations five times and Iraq was not one of them — in 1991, or 2003.

Second, the maneuvers that led to open warfare are immaterial to the point that a nation was, in fact, physically invaded by another nation. In fact, O’Reilly himself referred to the invasion on a number of occasions, as well as the Bush administration.

Third, there is no such thing as the “First Gulf War Treaty.”

O’REILLY: [W]e liberate Iraq — liberate Kuwait, all right, and then we have a treaty, and the treaty says U.N. weapons inspectors are allowed to do X, Y, and Z, and 17 times Saddam says — violates those. Now you can understand why the United States government might be a little teed off about that. […]

O’REILLY: But do you understand that when you have 17 violations of a treaty, a war treaty, that you basically have to take action?

BLIX: Well, you’re talking about a war treaty. It was a cease-fire. It was not a war treaty.

O’REILLY: Oh, come on. Now don’t play semantics here, sir.

BLIX: Second — all right. I’m trying to be precise. You are imprecise.

“Semantics!”

Most free-thinking people who are aware of O’Reilly’s track record and loose handling of the facts would take the opinion of former United Nations weapons expert Hans Blix over a cable television commentator who worked for Inside Edition.

The kicker: after O’Reilly’s back and forth with guest Warren Ballentine, he says to him: “It was a declaration of war, it was a declaration to enforce the first Gulf War Treaty, which you don’t know anything about, Mr. Ballentine.”

Priceless.

The History Channel updates visitors on historic events throughout world history with “This Day in History.” There were a number of notables for April 30:

1789: President George Washington was sworn in as the first President of the United States in New York City and delivered the nation’s first inaugural address.

1803: The land deal between the United States and Napoleonic France known as the “Louisiana Purchase” was concluded. The purchase doubled the size of the U.S. at the cost of $15 million. The Louisiana Territory “comprised most of modern-day United States between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains, with the exceptions of Texas, parts of New Mexico, and other pockets of land already controlled by the United States.”

1945: Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his underground bunker in Berlin days before Nazi Germany’s formal surrender to Allied forces. Hitler’s Third Reich was proclaimed to last 1,000 years but collapsed after a dozen under Nazi rule.

1948: Organization of American States (OAS) was officially established with the United States and twenty Latin America nations signed on.

1975: South Vietnam surrendered to communist forces.

Marc Ambinder posted a graphic that shows a steady decline of Republican youth support in the last three presidential cycles, and a steady increase in Democratic affiliation, according to surveys conducted by Pew Research Center. These numbers show Democrats leading Republicans in party identification of 18 to 29 year olds by a staggering 25 point margin. Republicans dropped seven points in four years.

Notes Ambinder:

Consider: Voters under 30 in the Midwest are twice as likely to call themselves Democrats as they are to identify as Republicans. 63% of women under age 30 identify as Democrats versus just 28% who call themselves Republicans. Democrats even have the affiliation of a majority of young men.

And the widely held belief that the young are more liberal and grow more conservative with age is just unfounded.

A potential objection: that old canard, that young people are liberal and become more conservative? The historical data doesn’t support it. When Bill Clinton was elected, a plurality of people under 30 identified themselves as Republicans. Same thing when Ronald Reagan was elected. Politically, today’s cohort of 18-to-29 year olds came of age during the Bush presidency. It has turned them into Democrats.

The future does not look bright for Republicans if this trend continues. George W. Bush may have delivered a generation of voters to the Democrats, and sewed the seeds of destruction for the Republican Party.

Read the full report from Pew Research Center for People and the Press.

This weekend is the NFL Draft, a two-day event that makes millions of football fans yearn for August training camps. Oliver Willis noticed that the New England Patriots received the worst reception of any team this afternoon.

The Oakland Raiders selected Arkansas RB Darren McFadden as their top draft choice and fourth overall.

Arizona Wildcats CB Antoine Cason went in the first round to the San Diego Chargers and 27th overall. Cal alum wide receiver DeSean Jackson went 18th in the second round, and 49th overall, to the Philadelphia Eagles.

In related news, retired QB Brett Favre will grace the cover of Madden ‘09 this summer. This move makes a lot of sense given NFL commentator John Madden’s storied man-crush on the hall of fame shoo-in.

Updated 04/27/08 at 10:05pm: Three more Arizona alumni, all defensive players, were selected in the second day of the draft. LB Spencer Larsen was selected 17th in the sixth round, 183rd overall, by the Denver Broncos.

CB Wilrey Fontenot, the second half of Arizona’s solid corners, was taken 5th in the seventh and final round, by the Atlanta Falcons.

DT Lionel Dotson, selected 38th in the seventh round and 245th overall, goes to the Miami Dolphins.

“The Big Hurt” returned the Bay as the Oakland Athletics unloaded on the Minnesota Twins, 11-2, at McAfee Coliseum.

Frank Thomas, released by the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday, made an incredible offensive comeback and was a critical spark for the Athletics’ run into the American League Championship Series (ALCS) against the Detroit Tigers.

“I didn’t feel out of place. It really felt like I just left,” Thomas said. “I’m happy to be back. I’m happy to shake the rust off today because they pitched me tough. I’m sure their game plan was not to give in because they knew I missed a whole week, so they threw some sliders and breaking balls and ran the ball in on me. I’m just happy we got a big win.”

Thomas’ return to Oakland has this fan ecstatic. In 2006, Thomas made an incredible comeback after his final two lackluster years in Chicago as he smacked 39 home runs and drove in 114.