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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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"Is the president determined enough to defeat terrorism in Afghanistan? Mr. Obama seems to understand the danger - should the Taliban come back, worldwide terrorism gets a huge victory. So 30,000 more American troops will be sent to the theater, and once again the president is asking other countries to help out as well. Good luck with that! Mr. Obama also set a timetable for American troops to begin getting out of Afghanistan - the summer of 2011. There's nothing wrong with that - if the Afghans don't fight for themselves, we have to get out, so it's good to send that message. The problem with President Obama and war in general is that his liberal sensibility is not comfortable with combat. Again, that might not be a bad thing, but for now the president has to be as tough as he can be. I didn't see that tonight, did you? The president was slick, but did he rally the world to fight the horrendous Taliban? I don't think so, but I could be wrong. The president's speech was okay, but not exactly the Gettysburg Address."
The Factor was joined by former Bush advisor Karl Rove, who characterized President Obama's speech as lackluster. "He may need a new teleprompter with some energizer batteries in it," Rove joked. "The core of tonight was good news, but it was badly delivered in a weak frame. It took us 50-some days to remove the Taliban from power after 9/11, and it took President Obama 80-some days to finally say he'll give General McChrystal three-quarters of what he requested to get the job done. He did not rally the country." The Factor added that President Obama seemed detached: "He didn't define the evil, he didn't get emotional, he didn't put any urgency behind his words. It was more like an academic speech. The problem with Barack Obama is becoming clear on a whole bunch of issues - he's an academic. The energized guy on the campaign trail has vanished."
For a view from the left, The Factor welcomed Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who advocates a withdrawal from Afghanistan. "The Taliban has gained strength throughout the occupation," Kucinich averred, "so if we double down and send in more troops, the Taliban will become stronger. The people reject the corrupt central government and the efforts to train an Afghan army have been unproductive. We are going to have to negotiate with the Taliban, we can't dislodge the Taliban through an occupation." The Factor warned Kucinich that his prescription could lead to unspeakable misery: "You know that if we pull out of Afghanistan and the Taliban comes back in, they'll brutalize women, there will be reprisals and executions, and they will cause trouble all over the world. I don't like this war, but the alternative is worse." |
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| Fox News anchor John Stossel entered the No Spin Zone with his take on the purloined e-mails that have cast doubt on the work of leading "global warming" theorists. "This doesn't prove anything about global warming," Stossel reported, "but it says a lot about the attitude of some of these alarmists who have been telling us that we have to give them tons of money to solve the problem. It shows how corrupt some of them were, and the lengths they would go to keep data hidden from the global warming skeptics. There hasn't been warming for the past eleven years and we have real problems in the world - millions are dying from malaria, malnutrition, bad hygiene. The idea that we should keep people by poor by spending all this money on global warming is an awful idea." The Factor came down squarely on the side of global warming agnosticism: "Only the Deity knows whether the planet is warming and who is at fault. But along with that, anything that we can do to make the planet cleaner, we should try to do." |
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Three Navy SEALs who helped capture one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq now face criminal charges because they allegedly punched the suspect. The Factor asked legal analysts Lis Wiehl and Kimberly Guilfoyle to opine on the case. "These three SEALs," Wiehl explained, "arrested this guy who was allegedly responsible for the killing and mutilation of four Blackwater security guards. This guy says he was punched in the gut, but a witness says there was nothing wrong with the guy. The SEALs are fighting this." Guilfoyle agreed that the SEALs are being treated unfairly. "This is a travesty of justice - they're being punished and there is no evidence to substantiate the charges, only the word of a terrorist and murderer. Their whole lives and careers are being put on the line." On another subject, The Factor issued this warning to two judges who let Washington State cop-killer Maurice Clemmons free on $15,000 bail: "You guys better issue a statement because I'm not letting this go."
Legal aces Wiehl and Guilfoyle also assessed the case of Tiger Woods, who has not spoken with the police or the public since his car accident. "Under Florida law," Wiehl said, "he could not be compelled to talk to the police because he had an accident on his own property. So he had brilliant legal counsel." Guilfoyle agreed, but questioned whether Woods' silence will cost him in the court of public opinion. "He's a huge public persona, and he doesn't come off looking good. This is in all the tabloids and magazines day after day. And there is reportedly evidence that Tiger Woods has injuries that are inconsistent with a car accident, so perhaps there was domestic violence." |
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| FNC analysts Alan Colmes and Monica Crowley, having had an hour to digest President Obama's speech, entered the No Spin Zone with their assessments. "Either a war has to be fought or it doesn't," Crowley said, "and what I saw tonight was that President Obama basically tried to split the difference. After months of indecision, he finally decided to be irresolute. We saw a limit on the commitment of forces and a time limit - 18 months and then we're out." Colmes singled out the best aspects of the speech. "He was clear about the fact that we are not at war with Islam, and he was very clear that there was never an advisory to get additional troops in before 2010. So he hasn't been 'dithering,' he was sitting and thinking. A president who thinks! Can you imagine that, Bill?" |
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| Tuesday's Patriots: Billy Ray Cyrus, Kellie Pickler, Anna Kournikova and other celebrities who will entertain our troops overseas. And the Pinhead: Democratic Congressman Maurice Hinchey, who accused the Bush administration of "intentionally letting Osama Bin Laden get away" in order to justify the invasion of Iraq. |
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Bob Sharp, Sarasota, FL: "Bill, I tried to find a pithy word to describe Congress calling Afghanistan corrupt. I came up with 'hypocrites'."
LeeAnn Thomas, San Jose, Costa Rica: "I was glad to see Mike Huckabee own up to his actions."
Dave Dougherty, Orland Park, IL: "Bill, I wore my American Patriot and Wise Up shirts at Disney World. I got tons of thumbs up." |
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