The O'Reilly Factor
A daily summary of segments aired on The O'Reilly Factor. A preview of the evening's rundown is posted before the show airs each weeknight.
Friday, March 13, 2015
The Factor Rundown
Top Story
Factor Followup
Unresolved Problems
Impact Segment
Personal Story
Back of the Book
Eric's Talking Points
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Growing Fallout For Hillary
Eric kicked off Friday's show with the ongoing Hillary Clinton email imbroglio. Democrat Richard Fowler and Republican Lisa Boothe examined the issue from opposite sides of the political divide. "She keeps raising more and more questions," Boothe declared, "and this is a demonstration of arrogance and a sense of entitlement. She has violated the trust of the American people, she went through great lengths to hide information and may have put national security at risk. This is a big issue!" But Fowler contended that Clinton's mistakes were relatively minor. "She admits that she should have used a dot-gov account, but I don't think there is that big of a blowback. Republicans like Lisa Boothe are chomping at the bit to take down Hillary, but the people at home don't care about this." Eric disagreed, saying, "The people at home do care about the way she's handling this and that she may have broken the law."
Did Hillary Clinton Violate the Law?
There are now questions about whether Hillary Clinton committed a crime when she departed the State Department and failed to turn over all her emails. Eric discussed the legal issues with Fox News White House correspondent Ed Henry. "She might have to testify to two committees of Congress," Henry reported. "The chair of the Government Oversight Committee is now talking about subpoenaing information about how the emails were handled, how they were archived, why more than 30,000 were deleted. For the second straight day, State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki would not answer a direct question - did Secretary Clinton sign a statement that she was sharing all her records with the department before she left? Jen Psaki won't say whether or not Hillary Clinton signed that."
Ferguson Update
Even as he denounced the shooting of two cops in Ferguson, Missouri, President Obama implied that protesters there have a legitimate beef. Eric spoke about the ongoing Ferguson troubles with St. Louis radio talk show host McGraw Milhaven. "These protests happened the day the Ferguson police chief resigned," Milhaven said, "and while Ferguson is going through massive change quickly. So what were the protesters protesting? They got everything they want. When President Obama says they have the right to protest, what are they actually protesting? This is a political war and a power war, there are many people who don't want to give up power. There are people coming in from out of town and there are politicians using this to enhance their status."
This Week's Big Events
Eric was joined by conservative columnist Ann Coulter, who looked back at the past week, which of course included Hillary Clinton's press conference. "She has been through this before," Coulter observed. "She was First Lady, she was secretary of state, she has been through scandal after scandal. Can't she learn? A child learns not to put his hand on the stove, but why didn't it occur to her that she shouldn't have done this. This woman has a very low IQ, the evidence is in!" Coulter also looked west to Ferguson and the poisonous racial animus. "The whole thing was brought about by Obama and Holder, who turned a self-defense shooting into another 9/11. They had 45 FBI agents investigating, and what began as a 'brutal murder' became an allegation that they stop too many blacks in traffic violations. Blacks have a much higher arrest rate and a much higher crime rate. Liberals may not want to admit that, but if we're going to play these games with statistics it's very important. The left just loves up ginning up racial animosity."
An Embarrassment?
47 Republican senators have sent a letter to Iran, reminding the mullahs that any nuke deal can easily be overturned by the next president. Foreign policy analysts Simon Rosenberg and Adam Goodman weighed in on the senators' extracurricular diplomacy, which President Obama described as "embarrassing." "This is much ado about nothing," Goodman opined, "and it is not unprecedented. The real question is this: Which should concern us most - a letter or a nuclear bomb? We're playing games with a power that has pledged the annihilation of Israel." Rosenberg argued that Republicans are interfering with sensitive negotiations. "It's important that Congress take responsibility for foreign policy, but I disagree with the way they're doing it. It's like there's a second government in the United States, Congress is reaching out directly to foreign leaders." Eric voiced no objections to the GOP initiative, saying, "I'm okay with the senators sending a letter, Iran is our biggest threat and they want to build a nuclear bomb."
Fair Media Treatment?
Eric asked political observers Richard Goodstein and Sabrina Schaeffer to evaluate the press coverage of Hillary Clinton's email situation. "Democrats are not nervous," Goodstein said, "because Hillary Clinton is way ahead of her competitors and beating every single Republican in the polls. As far as going back to the 90s are concerned, don't people want to return to unprecedented economic growth and peace? The media is turning back to issues like Iran and ISIS and economic inequality, things that matter to people." Schaeffer reminded Goodstein that the 90s also had a downside. "People remember all the sleaze and the scandals and the problems that were associated with the Clintons. To the credit of the media, they are now doing their jobs. They are probing, they are questioning, and I applaud them for that. She's always had a contentious relationship with the media because of her smug attitude. This is an opportunity for the GOP to let the media do its job and come out with a positive agenda."
Pithy Parting Thoughts
Eric wrapped up the week with some of his observations about Hillary Clinton: "Wake up, America, don't get sucked into a liberal trap. James Carville is out there spinning that the Clintons are victims. But don't be fooled by that old fool Carville. The Clintons are synonymous with scandal and now the presidential wannabe is up to her political eyeballs in another scandal. Did she break the law? Was she hacked? Did she use the State Department to fill the coffers of the Clinton Foundation? And now some advice for conservatives: Stay smart, stay on topic, and skip the whacky conspiracy theories. There's enough real scandal to go around, you don't have to manufacture any. The left's focus on the first female president has them on the ropes. They should have put up the most qualified candidate of any gender or race. So play your cards right, conservatives, and sit back and enjoy the show."