"On Saturday night in Westbury, New York, the 'bold' Glenn Beck and the 'fresh' Bill O'Reilly took the stage in front of a sold out house. Judging from the crowd reaction, everybody had a good time, including the 'bold fresh' guys. We are not encouraging press coverage of the tour because both Beck and I know the liberal media will pull two or three lines out of context and try to hurt us. So we were not surprised when Newsday, a left-wing paper, totally distorted the tour. Instead of actually reporting what happened, writer Dave Marcus said Beck and I were shilling for the GOP. He quoted two guys who are paid by the Democratic Party, but did not use one quote from any of the 3,000 people in attendance. Basically Newsday put forth that Beck and O'Reilly are trying to get votes for the Republicans and run down the Democrats. If you watch The Factor and/or the Glenn Beck program, you know that both of us have been very critical of the Republican Party. Beck and I launched this deal so we could talk to you in person, and it is selling out everywhere. That really annoys operations like Newsday."

While Democrats are reeling from a series of electoral defeats, the Republican Party is also divided among various factions. The Factor welcomed Fox News political analyst Brit Hume, who argued that Republicans are not nearly as chaotic as their opponents. "The party is far more united that I ever imagined it would be a year ago," Hume stated. "A big part of that is that President Obama has united them in a way that I don't think any single Republican could have. Scott Brown in Massachusetts ran on a mainstream Republican platform - lower taxes, lower spending, strong defense, and no treating terrorists as if they were the kind of guys who hold up liquor stores. Republicans had no trouble uniting behind that agenda." The Factor reminded Hume that the GOP still faces internal squabbling: "You have the conservative 'tea party' hard right against the moderates. They're fighting it out within the Republican Party."

The Factor then asked Fox News analysts Mary Katharine Ham and Juan Williams whether the Republican Party has a leader. "Right now you'd have to say it's whoever is in charge of the 'tea party' movement," Williams replied, "which means Sarah Palin, and polls show that Obama would swamp her. Beyond her, you have to look at the people who capture some of the populist energy that carried Scott Brown to victory, and you really come up short." Ham argued that the GOP doesn't yet need a dominant figure. "There's a group of people who are the leaders, and I think a lot of Democrats want to skip forward to 2012 and look for one Republican leader because 2010 is going to be pretty bad for them. The bottom line is that polls show that Americans prefer a smaller government with fewer services. That's the point that you run on."

During a joint radio interview last week, Democratic Senator Arlen Specter commanded Congresswoman Michele Bachmann to "act like a lady." Bachmann entered the No Spin Zone with her take on the confrontation. "Last week there was so much pent-up frustration for the Democrats," Bachmann said, "and you could feel the tension. This was my first time to meet Senator Specter in person, and I was stunned by the interchange. What you heard in that radio conversation was a sense of arrogance, telling the little guy to 'sit down and shut up.' But he called me to apologize, I accepted his apology and we're going to move forward." The Factor praised Bachmann for resisting the urge to return fire: "You were magnificent the way you kept your cool and you destroyed him."

Friday's star-filled TV telethon raised more than $50 million for Haiti, but will that money get to where it is most needed? The Factor posed that question to not-for-profit consultant Greg Simoncini. "The record of celebrity telethons is somewhat spotty," Simoncini conceded, "and that's primarily because celebrities really don't understand the complicated world of not-for-profits. You have to identify not-for-profits that have a track record on the ground in Haiti and a track record in providing disaster relief. The question will be who gets how much money and for what purpose; the risk is that money will not go to the right mix of organizations." The Factor urged people to donate with prudence: "I want Americans to be charitable to the Haitian people and I have given money to that island nation for a long time. I would go with Catholic Charities, Doctors Without Borders and the Red Cross."

With the State of the Union address coming up this week, President Obama's top advisors made the rounds of Sunday's political talk shows, where they faced few difficult questions. The Factor asked FNC media analyst Bernie Goldberg how tough reporters can get when interviewing administration officials. "Reporters can't badger the witness," Goldberg said. "You ask questions, and if they evade and spin you point this out in a follow-up question, but you must always be respectful. The audience is going to know when somebody is not telling the truth or putting the best face on a bad situation. It's not the reporter's job to badger a guest." The Factor added that administration officials wield the power to cut off a network's access: "If you are tough with the Obama administration or the Bush administration, you can't go over the line or you'll never get any of their people again. That's the power they hold."

During a contentious interview on CNN, former Bush speechwriter Marc Thiessen denied that waterboarding is torture and argued that the technique prevented terror attacks and saved lives. The Factor's Check: "Thiessen went on point out that some American special forces candidates are waterboarded in training with no permanent damage. However, the debate will never end and the President has outlawed all waterboarding by American authorities." In a related story, the upcoming trial of alleged terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in New York City will cost more than $200 million a year. The Factor's Check: "The whole deal is a huge mistake, one that President Obama will regret. This is not money well spent, and if anything goes wrong all hell is going to break loose."

Monday's Patriot: Reality TV personality Kim Kardashian, who entered the boxing ring to raise money for charity. And the Pinhead turned Patriot: Perhaps actor Sean Penn, who actually praised America and the U.S. military in Haiti.

Suzanne Lovisolo, Allendale, NJ: "O'Reilly, Congressman Kucinich could not answer your question about why the far left media is failing, so I will. You can't make a living spewing hatred and lies at fellow Americans. Period."

Joe Rubino, Jacksonville, FL: "Apparently MSNBC was removed from the cable band here in August. I believe the catfish channel replaced it."

John Kapler, Cedar Rapids, IA: "Mr. O, I agree that MSNBC and others do not cover the news in a fair way. But I would take Congressman Kucinich's threat about reimposing the fairness doctrine seriously."

Shea Posey, Pelham, AL: "If it were up to Dennis Kucinich, the government would take the ratings of Fox News and redistribute them among the less fortunate cable news channels."