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Bill reports from Washington, D.C. tonight. |
| On The O'Reilly Factor...
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| All content taken from The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News Channel. Each weeknight by 6 PM EST a preview of that evening's show will be posted and then updated with additional information the following weekday by noon EST.
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| "The Fox News motto is 'fair and balanced' coverage of hard news, and we do that. Enter President Obama, who is emerging as a divisive leader, much like Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were. The problem with analyzing President Obama is that many of you don't like him and don't want to hear much good about him. Let's take the European missile deal, for example. Last September Barack Obama told me that the missile shield in Poland 'is appropriate.' But now the president has changed his mind and will move defensive missiles away from Russia and closer to Iran. So I could easily make the argument that President Obama folded to the Russians, as some critics are saying. But what about Defense Secretary Robert Gates, an honest guy. Do I ignore his expertise? President Obama may be making a mistake with his new missile strategy, but I don't know for sure. I also don't know what the Russians are going to give the USA in return. They're already meeting with CEOs like GE's Jeffrey Immelt, an Obama friend, so you have to figure some deal has been made. But the cold truth is I just don't know what's best for the country in this case. That admission separates us from those who always promote their ideological side. There are few places Americans can go these days for honest reporting and analysis. I believe Fox News is one of those places, and our ratings prove it." |
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| President Obama will appear on five networks Sunday morning, including Spanish-language Univision, but is conspicuously skipping Fox News. The Factor asked Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace about the president's snub. "I can understand the administration's fight with some people on Fox News," Wallace said. "But Fox News Sunday is truly a fair and balanced show. There is a kind of childishness or pettiness about this. Everything is personal with this administration; they are the biggest bunch of crybabies I have dealt with in my thirty years in Washington. And this is a president who said he wanted to reach out to all Americans?" The Factor opined that the president is making a tactical error. "The power in the media is now with Fox News and talk radio, and the Obama administration doesn't seem to understand that. The people who need to be persuaded are watching us." Wallace added that his program will feature Bertha Lewis, CEO of the embattled ACORN organization. |
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| The Factor interrogated Washington Post veteran Sally Quinn about the shifting media power structure. "Fox News has done an amazing job of attracting people," Quinn said. "ACORN was a great story and I can't imagine any news organization ignoring that. Fox News deserves credit for breaking that story. But I don't see the liberal elite media saying that Fox is taking over the world." The Factor, however, contended that traditional media outlets are scared and spiteful. "When you have Glenn Beck on the cover of Time and when we break the ACORN and Van Jones stories, it is getting frightening to liberal media people. There is almost a war between Fox News and talk radio on one side, the New York Times and the liberal networks on the other side." |
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| Jimmy Carter and Bill Cosby have claimed that some opposition to President Obama is racially motivated. The Factor welcomed civil rights attorney Keith Watters, who warned against playing the race card. "We should not yell 'racism' unless there is direct evidence," Watters said. "We have a black president and most Americans are very proud of him. We need to ratchet down this discussion because we don't want to get these fringe elements excited - they may do something irresponsible. Sane voices need to come on the media and say loud and clear that this is not about race." The Factor reported that many black politicians have come down with a sudden and acute case of camera shyness. "We contacted all 42 members of the Congressional Black Caucus, but none were available to speak to this issue. They're scared because this is really an explosive issue." |
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The Factor rolled out the red carpet for FNC's Glenn Beck, whose face adorns the cover of the new Time magazine. "It was a huge shock to me," Beck said, "to get up Thursday morning and see the cover with my fat face on there. The piece wasn't exactly a valentine, but I thought it was fair, which is all you can ask." Beck argued that many in the media are still confused by the Van Jones story that he propelled. "Its not that Van Jones was a 9/11 'truther' or that he called Republicans a bad name. This guy was a communist revolutionary and never disassociated himself from that, and the media is still not reporting this and asking the president how Jones got into the administration."
Beck returned for a second segment, during which he analyzed the Democratic Party's TV ad that mocks him by pointing out that President Bush also had a multitude of "czars." "I don't know if they are aware," Beck quipped, "but I'm not running for anything. If anyone would like to do their homework on me, I wasn't really a big fan of George W. Bush either. And the man for 'change,' his defense is that Bush was doing it? Were any of Bush's 'czars' communists or revolutionaries or people who thought your dog should have an attorney? Radicals are now institutionalized in our government." The Factor warned Beck that "the Democratic Party wants to marginalize you because you're doing some damage to President Obama." |
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| The Factor invited Fox News hosts Juliet Huddy and Greg Gutfeld to pick the stupidest thing they heard during the past week. Gutfeld nominated British comic Russell Brand, who boasted about his country's national health care. "He's right that people don't die in the streets in England," Gutfeld said, "they actually die in their hospitals. They've had a 60% rise in preventable deaths in one year. This guy is kind of funny, but he needs a bath, he needs a haircut, and when it comes to politics, he needs to shut up." But Huddy, who described Brand as "a sinewy little stud muffin," leaped to the comic's defense: "Unlike most people in this country, I don't have a problem when comedians do a little commentary." |
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| Friday's Patriots: The writers at Jay Leno's program, who skewered ACORN in a devastating skit. And the Pinhead: Howard Dean, who accused Bill of not being "good for the country." The Factor advised Dean to "stop distorting stuff." |
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