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.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
The Factor Rundown
Talking Points Memo
Top Story
Unresolved Problems Segment
Unresolved Problems Segment II
Impact Segment
Personal Story Segment
Back of Book Segment
Factor Mail
Book Mentions
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Comments
Easter under attack?
"The Factor would like to thank the far-left Atlanta Journal Constitution and its editorial writer Cynthia Tucker. Madam, you continue to give me A-line material, and I appreciate it. Just in time for Holy Week and Passover, Ms. Tucker writes an editorial entitled 'Hippity Hoppity Easter Hypocrites:'"
"It's a bit surprising to hear conservative talk radio rush to the defense of the Easter bunny and Easter eggs. Rabbits and eggs, after all, have never been Christian symbols. Still, fresh from their holy war against `holiday trees' and `the fat guy in the red suit,' talk show hosts are taking up arms in defense of an embattled Easter, which they claim is under attack by the same political correctness that supposedly menaced Christmas trees and Santa. The real threat comes from conservative Christianity, which is attempting to rebrand Easter as `Resurrection Sunday.'"
"Somehow Ms. Tucker is under the impression that there is a widespread movement to rename Easter. Well, we did a search and could find no lawsuits in this area, no companies using the words 'Resurrection Sunday,' no mania, no major media reportage of such a trend, and only a few pastors encouraging their flocks in church to emphasize the resurrection on Easter Sunday. Now that may trouble Cynthia Tucker, but Talking Points believes it's in context and reasonable people will be able to roll with it. That AJC editorial is another example of Christian-phobia, which has infected the far-left zealots who see the followers of Jesus as an oppressive force in America. The Atlanta Journal Constitution, along with other newspapers like Newsday and The St. Petersburg Times pounds that drama all day long."

Fox News Video: FoxNews.com
Recruiters face resistance
Guests: Mason Cruz, University of California at Santa Cruz & Perry Pendley, Mountain States Legal Foundation

At the University of California at Santa Cruz, about 100 anti-military demonstrators forced the recruiters to leave the campus. The protests got so out of control, the school's chancellor released this statement: "These protesters infringed on the rights of others and acted with intimidation, intolerance, and disrespect. Many did so with their faces covered, unwilling to take public responsibility for their actions. We are extremely concerned and disgusted by the behaviors of the demonstrators." The Factor asked Perry Pendley, the president of the Mountain States Legal Foundation, what the consequences of such destructive behavior might be. "I hope that my letter to the Secretary of Defense asking that he withhold the $80 million a year that the university gets because of the violation of the Solomon Amendment did the trick." The Factor asked Mason Cohn, a senior at UC Santa Cruz about the tone on campus. "The student activists, both Students Against War and a large portion of the student body, believe very strongly that the don't ask, don't tell policy that the military employs in dealing with homosexuals in the military is clearly discriminatory. I think the problem is for Students Against War and for a lot of students is that the 'don't ask don't tell' policy is discriminatory and it sits in opposition with the University of California's own anti-discrimination policies." The Factor challenged Cohn: "The University of California has no legal status in this country, sir. They have no legal status. You can't violate the Constitution because you're at the University of California. Mr. Pendley was right. The government can move against you and deny you $80 million in aid if you do that. All students should step back, demonstrate peacefully, and not violate the law. If there's one thing you learn at the University of California, Mr. Cohen, let it be that."
Radical left takes root in schools
Guests: Jonathan Paton, Arizona state representative & Mon-Yee Fung, high school student

In Tucson, Arizona, 800 students heard labor activist Dolores Huerta say, "We have to let them know, and this of course would be from the Latino community specifically, and all of those that think that this is really unjust what they are doing. And our `thema', our theme will be, Republicans hate Latinos, OK, Republicans hate Latinos. And as we like to say, 'We didn't cross the border, the border crossed us because we were here before the border and we'll be here long after that border is gone... So now the big issue is immigrants. It's the immigrants, right, they're the problem, right?" The Factor asked, Mon-Yee Fung, a senior at the high school what she thought about the speech, "I was really shocked at first. I was, like, wow, I can't believe she said that just right off the bat. I was a little angry. And then like -- but mostly I was hurt because I have really a lot of wonderful friends, really, really close friends that are Latinos. And just to say that right off the bat really hurt me a lot." The Factor asked Representative Paton if the assembly was mandatory or voluntary, "it was voluntary, students could either go to the library or they could go to the assembly, but the library was locked. So they really did have to go. And when she wanted to leave, they told her that she couldn't leave after she heard those statements. This is political hate speech. That's basically all it is. It isn't fair that students have to be forced to listen to a political diatribe for 40 minutes, and are not allowed to leave. The school district has said this is all about the diversity of opinion, but the reality is if there's only one voice that's being heard." The Factor asked Fung is she was really prevented from leaving ans he said, "What happened was I got up, like, when she said those things I was like, OK, is she going to say something else to back that up why she thinks that? But she didn't. She just kept going on. So I got up and I went to my teacher and I was, like, 'Can I leave? I want to go.' And he's like, 'No, just sit back down.' And I said, 'OK.' So - and then I got up a second time and I said, 'Really, I want to go to another class. I just don't want to hear this anymore.' He's like, 'No, just sit back down. Listen to this. It's a really good speech.' And I said OK."
High school under fire?
Guest: Superintendent Roger Pfeuffer

In addition to allowing a far-left speaker at Tucson High Magnet School, the district also provided buses at student protests in favor of a lenient immigration policy. The Factor asked pricipal Roger Pfeuffer, allowing hate speech in schools is what education should be about. He said, "I would agree with you that American education should not be one-sided or promote any one side of an agenda. Ms. Huerta's speech was one of many things that we provided to all of our students in order to provide forums and discussions for this issue, which is very crucial to our community." The Factor challenged him and asked, "What do you learn from that?" Pfeuffer said, "One of the things that I think that we understand and perhaps is something that we need to explain better to the public is that education is not an event. It's a process. And Mrs. Huerta's speech is part of a process of education about this situation." The Factor challenged, "you don't believe Republicans hate Latinos, do you?" Pfeuffer said, "No, I don't. Again, this is a process. Mrs. Huerta's speech was done on April 3rd. I would like to right now invite Representative Paton to address the students at Tucson High. I've talked with the principal. And he is certainly." The Factor said, "I hope he comes down there, but he should have been there then. I think Ms. Huerta is saying that Republicans hate Latinos is hate speech in itself."
Debating the
Guest: Father James Martin

You may have heard that a 1,700-year old document discovered in Egypt and published by National Geographic says the apostle Judas was not a traitor, that Jesus wanted him to cooperate with the San Hedrin, which eventually put Jesus on trial. Now that goes against the standard gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and has engendered some controversy here in Holy Week. The Factor asked Father James Martin, author of the book My Life with the Saints, "So now Judas is a saint? Is that what we're going to have to do, induct him, canonize Judas?" Father Martin responded, "The idea is that this -- this gospel of Judas was written about 200 years after Jesus, and it's written by a group of people called the Gnostics. And they thought the body was bad. So, anything that Judas would do to help Christ get rid of his body was good. So that's their agenda. Their agenda is to say Judas sort of freed Jesus from his body." The Factor added, "I don't know any theologians who take this as literal history. Because if you look, if you compare Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, they all have different interpretations of what happened. But no matter how you see Judas, the lesson is do not violate your beliefs -- do not violate your beliefs or another human being for money."
Ann Coulter on immigration
Guest: Ann Coulter

Ann Coulter has some strong views on illegal immigration, and The Factor asked her, "Where do you stand on it as far as what would you like to see done?" Coulter responded, "I'd build a wall. In fact, I'd hire illegal immigrants to build the wall. And -- and throw out the illegals who are here. The Factor noted her sarcasm and asked if she would really advocate rounding up illegal aliens. Coulter responded, "We could have done it very easily in the last week since they organized themselves into groups. You could have just sent paddy wagons to the protests." The Factor explained it's position, "Every illegal person in this country [should] have to register within 60 days with the federal government, if you didn't register, you'd be charged with a felony. Not a misdemeanor. You do hard prison time." Coulter countered, "They're already breaking the law. The idea is to remove them." The Factor said it would be impossible to remobe all illegal aliens, "You don't have enough people to remove 12 million people, you're pulling little kids out and old ladies out. You're pulling them out of emergency rooms." The Factor cocluded by saying putting the National Guard on the border is better than building a wall.
New developments in Duke case
Guest: Fox News senior judicial analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano

As you know, a 27-year-old stripper says three members of the Duke lacrosse team raped her, but the DNA so far has failed to prove that. Now a tape has been released of a conversation between a police officer in Durham and his dispatcher that reveals the accuser was found passed out and drunk by police. The Factor asked FOX News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano what the consequences of this are. The Judge responded, "The question is what does the prosecutor want? Does he want a case he can win? Or does he just want to get an indictment before the primary election that he is in so that he will be the Democratic nominee in a city and state where there's only token or no Republican opposition." The Factor asked if this was really politically motivated, "[The prosecutor is] running for re-election at district attorney?" The Judge responded, "He's running of reelection as D.A. The primary is in the middle of May, three weeks from now. If he gets an indictment, he's a hero to those who believe that it's time to clamp down on Duke." The Factor concluded by asking, "If they indict on Monday, as the rumor is, then those kids' names are in the public." The Judge said, "Absolutely. An indictment can be permanently ruinous, because their names, which haven't been out there yet, will be out there, and they can't defend themselves until a trial."
Viewers sound off
Factor Words of the Day
Mail flew in about Iran and possible military action against that terror state.

John Ellis, Winberley, TX: "Bombing Iran and trying to overthrow its government from within sounds suspiciously similar to the Iraq strategy and you, Bill, let General McInerney spin unchallenged."

Jim Staebler, Laramie, WY: "I find it amusing that some of those criticizing Bush for planning action against Iran are the same people who are criticizing him for not doing enough planning in Iraq."

Greg Akin, Reedley, CA: "Mr. O, I enjoyed your conversation with Kirk Cameron. I grew up with 'Growing Pains' and it's nice to know the Hollywood glitz is no match for God's grace."

Kate Demers, Marmora, NJ: "Mr. O'Reilly, as a fourth grade teacher, I used 'bloviate' as a bonus word on my spelling tests. The kids knew it from The Factor. Many of them also love your book."

Nigel Brunel, Queensland, Australia: "Bill, bloviate you might, but contumelious you are not."
Book Mentions
Check out the books mentioned during this show.
My Life With the Saints
by James Martin

Read more...