"Wednesday night thousands of media dined with the president in Washington, D.C. at the annual radio and TV correspondents gathering. Mr. Bush was a good sport, delivering a pithy and humorous monologue. It was obvious to me watching the president he would rather have been elsewhere, and I don't blame him. While Mr. Bush has made major mistakes, the overall press hostility towards him is grossly unfair. NBC News and others have been hostile and condescending to the Bush administration ever since the Iraq war began to go south. Bush never responds to stuff like that, and sometimes I think he should get a little angry. Like me. I despise ideologues masquerading as objective journalists; I can't stand the politically correct crowd, the lemmings who court cocktail party invitations in the elite Manhattan salons, snidely smearing Bush at every opportunity. Every American, including media people, should evaluate the president and form conclusions. That is our duty as citizens. But this hate stuff, this rooting for the administration to fail in Iraq and other areas is un-American, unbecoming, and unacceptable. Like him or not, Mr. Bush is the elected leader of this country and he deserves a fair hearing."

News Link: Video: Bush jokes at dinner

Guests: Fox News analysts Jane Hall & Bernard Goldberg

"The View's" Rosie O'Donnell has made a rash of incendiary statements, most recently claiming the British went into Iranian waters in order to provoke a war. She previously implied that 9/11 was the result of a nefarious conspiracy. FNC media analyst Bernie Goldberg explained why O'Donnell's statements are relevant. "The things she says are stupid and idiotic" Goldberg declared. "And she's not saying these things in some dark, far left corner of the web - she's saying it on a major broadcast network. It's an orgy of left-wing nonsense aimed at the most politically unsophisticated viewers in America." Jane Hall added that ABC knew O'Donnell would be controversial. "ABC made a calculation that women like Rosie, even if they don't agree with her. But having seen this stuff where she talks about conspiracy theories, she is putting out a very political point of view and it's not being countered anywhere on the program." The Factor reported that "The View" is rapidly losing viewers. "Rosie O'Donnell and Joy Behar are spitting out the worst propaganda fed to them by far left American haters. Since January, 'The View' has lost a half million viewers. It seems to me that the calculation they made is heading toward a disaster area."

News Link: Rosie claims Brits provoked kidnapping

Bernie Goldberg and Jane Hall returned for a second segment to continue their discussion of Rosie O'Donnell. "She has every right to be irresponsible and stupid," said Goldberg. "Then, if enough people say 'I've had it with this idiocy,' the ratings will drop and ABC will let her go. And that's how it should be." Hall suggested that ABC is in a very difficult position. "I don't think she should be allowed to be irresponsible. But on the other hand, are you going to take her off the air because she's saying controversial things? I don't know what decision I would make." The Factor contended that responsibility ultimately lies with ABC and its parent company Disney. "That woman is hurting people who have lost loved ones, and she has no right to be this irresponsible. And ABC has to be held accountable."

Guest: Marvin Stewart, Minutemen

Nearly six months after radical students at Columbia University stormed the stage and disrupted a talk given by the anti-illegal immigration Minutemen group, six students have been punished with "warnings." Jim Gilchrist of the Minutemen, who was on stage that night, recalled what happened. "I was speaking for about 90 seconds when two students body slammed the podium and then about ten others took over the stage. I'm appalled that an Ivy League school would let something like this happen." The Factor blamed Columbia's president Lee Bollinger. "Bollinger is a fraud and a wimp who has lost control of the school. He took six months to basically say I'm not going to do anything to these kids except to warn them not to do it again."

News Link: Columbia Minuteman protesters punished

News Link: Video: Columbia students rush stage

Guest: Political analyst Dick Morris

With only 33% of Americans approving of President Bush's job performance, political analyst Dick Morris urged the president to use his bully pulpit. "He could change the conversation in five minutes if he wanted to. All he has to do is talk about North Korea and Iran where he's having great success. If he'd talk about something other than Iraq, maybe his ratings would go up." Morris also analyzed Barack Obama's recent decline in the polls and the possible candidacy of actor and former Senator Fred Thompson. "Obama's hitting a wall because he has no act 2. His act 1 is 'Hello, I'm Barack Obama,' but he has no act 2. As for Fred Thompson, he's already ahead of Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney. If this guy gets into the race, he'll be trouble for Giuliani. This could be 'America's mayor' against 'America's prosecutor.'"

News Link: Latest FNC poll results

Guests: Cathy Renna, GLAAD & Rebecca Hagelin, Heritage Foundation

Women have been kissing one another on television series and movies, a trend that is upsetting some traditionalists. "The way you get today's youth to watch television," said conservative Rebecca Hagelin, "is to provide provocative sexual images. If parents don't protect their kids from this garbage, they will fall prey to it. There's also an agenda being pushed where any kind of sexual behavior is harmless and should be something that little girls and boys enjoy." But gay activist Cathy Renna, a lesbian herself, applauded the more tasteful portrayals of lesbianism. "It's representing the reality, which is that there are a lot of lesbians in the world. There are lesbians out there, and this is a genuine attempt by the media to try and represent them."

News Link: Courtney Cox & Jennifer Aniston to kiss

Guest: Attorney Danielle Caminiti Aidala

Howard Stern and some other radio hosts are urging people to vote for Sanjaya Malakar, generally considered the weakest performer in the "American Idol" competition. Attorney Danielle Aidala suggested that Stern may actually be inviting a lawsuit. "Howard Stern is intentionally interfering with 'American Idol' with malicious intent. He's encouraging people to commit an overt act which ruins 'American Idol.' Freedom of speech has its limitations, and this is equivalent to libel and slander." The Factor argued that Stern is probably within his rights. "I believe there is a malevolent intent here, but Stern can't force anybody to do anything. People are using their own free will. And the weakness of your argument is that this program is an enormous hit."

News Link: Howard Stern interfering with American Idol

Many of you wrote about The Factor's interview with actor and anti-war activist Mike Farrell. Some excerpts:

Karen West, Tucson, AZ: "Loved Mike in M*A*S*H but would sure love him more if he gave the benefit of the doubt to America and not Iran."

Jerome Cohen, Boynton Beach, FL: "Mike Farrell wants to exhaust all options before confronting Iran. But I get the feeling those options would never be exhausted for him."

Les Gilman, Santa Maria, CA: "Bill, thank you for having a civil discussion with Mike Farrell. I knew you could do it."