"White House Communications Director Anita Dunn has accused Fox News of being a 'wing of the Republican Party.' There's no question that Fox News is tougher on the Obama administration than the other news operations because we actually have some conservative commentators. However, our hard news people don't do commentary; they simply tell you what's going on. If I've been unfair to the president, I challenge anyone to demonstrate that. Ms. Dunn is seeing the world through the prism of the other media like NBC News and CNN. NBC actually promoted the president's candidacy and continues to give him excellent coverage. So by that measure, Fox News is indeed troublesome to the White House. But our hard news coverage is fair and balanced, and if somebody doesn't believe that, let's see the evidence."

The Factor welcomed FNC's Brit Hume, who dissected the White House's choice of language. "We're not being criticized by the White House as 'conservative,'" Hume pointed out, "because conservatism remains very popular in what is a center-right country. They criticized us as 'Republicans,' who are much less popular than conservatives." Hume also speculated as to why the administration attacked Fox. "They wouldn't be doing this if they didn't feel stung by some of what's coming from Fox News - they don't like the skeptical coverage of health care and the stimulus bill. This president has been accustomed to very soft coverage in the media." The Factor argued that the criticism is way off base: "You and I were taught to be skeptical of everyone, and this program routinely hammered President Bush. There was no cheerleading of President Bush on this network when his administration ran into trouble."

Juan Williams and Mary Katharine Ham entered the No Spin Zone with their analysis of the White House criticism. "The White House associates Fox News," Williams said, "with the tea parties where Obama was excoriated as a socialist. It's not possible for them to attack the quality of the reporting, but they do attack the personality part of Fox News." Ham portrayed the administration as excessively thin-skinned. "This White House is uncomfortable with any kind of criticism and they hurt themselves reacting to it. Their moving in this direction makes people wonder if they're rudderless." Ham and Williams turned to Al Gore, who refused to engage a filmmaker who challenged him at one of Gore's appearances. "The filmmaker was pointing out," Ham reported, "that a British court said there were nine major errors in Gore's 'An Inconvenient Truth.' Gore hasn't dealt head-on with journalists' questions in years." Williams agreed that Gore avoids tough questions. "He should be held accountable like any politician, but too many environmental journalists treat him as if every word he says is golden. If you're going to make claims about the environment, you should be able to answer questions."

Rush Limbaugh and a business partner have made an offer to buy the St. Louis Rams football team, but some black players have strenuously objected. Sports columnist Drew Sharp explained the players' antipathy. "Rush Limbaugh has every right to pursue an NFL team," Sharp said, "but he is a very polarizing figure whose occupational practice is often predicated on making people feel comfortable with their biases. There is a litany of sound bites that are racially tinged - he said slavery had its merits." The Factor questioned whether Limbaugh actually said some of the things for which he is being excoriated: "We have the best research staff in the business and we can't find any evidence of that sound bite. However, Limbaugh did say Donovan McNabb is overrated because there are people who want a black quarterback to succeed. It's provocative, but is it fair to prevent Limbaugh from buying into a franchise because he's a provocateur?"

A new Rasmussen Poll shows that 59% of Americans say President Obama is doing a "poor" or "fair" job on Afghanistan, while 38% rate his handling of the war as "good" or "excellent." The Factor was joined by "Frontline" correspondent Martin Smith, host of an upcoming PBS documentary on the war. "President Obama embraced a new strategy in March," Smith said, "a counter-insurgency strategy that sounded very good in Washington. We decided to go on the ground to see what it looks like there, so we take you to the front lines with these 18- and 19-year-old U.S. soldiers." Smith delineated one of the major problems facing American troops. "This is an enormously atomized society with no central control - from valley to valley it's hard to know who is in charge, whether it's a warlord or a gang or a drug dealer or the Taliban. So it's very difficult for soldiers to carry out a counter-insurgency strategy." The Factor criticized U.S. political leaders for their vacillating wartime strategy. "Our troops are performing magnificently in a very difficult theater, but it seems the current administration and the Bush administration don't have a handle on how to win the war."

FNC media analyst Bernie Goldberg was eager to opine on the White House's war against Fox News. "I think they're aiming this strategy," Goldberg theorized, "at all the new viewers who came over to Fox since Barack Obama became president. If they can convince those people that Fox News is not a legitimate news organization, it will be easier to convince those people that Van Jones and ACORN weren't legitimate stories. The second possibility is that Rahm Emanuel saw one too many things he doesn't like, and in a fit of macho declared war on Fox News." Goldberg also delivered this exclusive: "I just found out that I'm going to win the next Nobel Peace Prize. They checked President Obama's record for what he's accomplished in terms of achieving world peace, then they checked mine, and it turns out they're exactly the same. I'm also hearing that I may win the Nobel Prize in literature for a book I haven't written yet."

Bill was in Dallas this weekend to accept the Tex McCreery Award for excellence in journalism. His Reality Check: "The award is given out by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, which is comprised of the 95 living recipients of the nation's highest wartime honor. This was one of the highlights of my career, and I was honored to be in the presence of so many brave men. It was a great night for me."

Monday's Patriot and/or Pinhead: The pop star Lady Gaga, who addressed Sunday's gay rights march in Washington and literally screamed for President Obama to do more for homosexuals. And the Pinhead: Designer Ralph Lauren, who manipulated a photo to make a model look extraordinarily emaciated.

Jean Jones, Spring, TX: "Bill, you are wrong about the Nobel Peace Prize and Laura Ingraham is right. We do not care what the rest of the world thinks."

Madhu Vajrala, Minnesota: "Bill, Laura is wrong, you are right. Even though the Nobel committee is dopey, the award helps America's standing."

George Cohen, Lake Charles, LA: "Bill, fair-minded is one thing, but your tendency to prop up Obama leads me to believe you have white guilt syndrome."

Brian Malloy, San Diego, CA: "Bill, Richard Dawkins won the debate with you. Even though there are gaps in science, it is based on facts. Religion is simply belief."

John Bain, Mooresville, NC: "Thanks for the brilliant debate with Dawkins, O'Reilly. As molecular science develops, there are more gaps in evolution."