"President Obama has made his position clear to the world: The United States will no longer use enhanced interrogation methods when questioning high-value captured terrorists. In his press conference last week, the president justified his new interrogation orders by pointing to Winston Churchill. Since then, The Factor has been investigating Winston Churchill's position on waging war and interrogating the enemy. We have found that Churchill actually wanted to use poison gas on the Germans in violation of the Geneva Conventions; the Royal Air Force killed hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of civilians by targeting non-military sites; and the British operated a number of interrogation centers where German prisoners were beaten, deprived of sleep, and threatened with death. The point is that in every war brutal things are done and President Obama's example was wrong. Winston Churchill was a hero, but he did brutal things, as did FDR and Harry Truman. So enough with the platitudes, Mr. President. The Taliban are murdering civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Al Qaeda continues its terror jihad, and it is not against American values to protect ourselves. The president should have the power to order tough interrogation techniques if lives are at stake. That would not corrode our values, it is a rational policy that understands the brutal nature of the war we are waging. Winston Churchill would approve."

The Factor welcomed two women who disagree with the Talking Points memo and oppose harsh interrogation. "Going back to your World War II example," said radio host Nancy Skinner, "can you cite any instance where torture changed the war? It was our intervention that ended World War II, torture has never resulted in the end of a war." Democratic strategist Marj Halperin argued that torture is ineffective. "CIA memos indicate that what was done was not necessary, we were getting information from high level targets without these more brutal methods. There's a great deal of evidence from World War II and from the present that basic interviews bring out more information." The Factor reminded Halperin of some facts: "Four former CIA directors said that what you just said isn't true, and I have to go with them rather than with you and the left-wing spin. Barack Obama believes he's doing the right thing, but I believe he's weakening the United States."

Speaker Nancy Pelosi claims she had no idea that waterboarding and other techniques were being used on Al Qaeda terrorists, but new documents indicate otherwise. Fox News correspondent Jim Angle reported the latest. "Nancy Pelosi was in on the very first CIA briefing in September of 2002," Angle said, "and the log says she was briefed on 'enhanced interrogation techniques' and a description of those techniques. If you look at her statements, she is not quite telling the truth." Former White House spokesman Dana Perino, now a Fox News analyst, criticized Pelosi's bobbing and weaving. "She has a very feeble defense because she is trying to make a distinction without a difference. We have said for years that Nancy Pelosi and the appropriate members of Congress had been briefed. I don't know why she went down the road she did and decided to say she wasn't briefed."

Geraldo Rivera began with Drew Peterson, the former cop who has finally been arrested for killing his third wife. "What goes around comes around," Rivera said. "This low-down, wretched human being who has been taunting us has finally been indicted for the murder of his third wife, and I have no doubt that he'll be indicted for killing his fourth wife as well. The media has created a pop cultural celebrity out of this lower-than-dirt SOB." Rivera shifted to California, where it is nearly impossible to fire even the most incompetent teacher. "It's not only California," Rivera groused, "it's wherever you have a powerful teachers union. The only things teacher unions are concerned about are seniority and union membership. The union sees their primary role not as ensuring quality education, but protecting their members."

Comedians have treated President Obama with kid gloves, a stark contrast to their nightly mocking of President Bush. The Factor was joined by comedy writer Buddy Winston, who defended his fellow funnymen. "Nobody gets a free ride," Winston claimed. "The late night comedy clique are like sharks waiting for the smell of blood. President Bush earned his air of ignorance, and ignorance is funnier than arrogance. Bush was choking on pretzels, Cheney was shooting people in the face, they were like the Marx Brothers of Washington." The Factor wasn't buying Winston's rationale: "Barack Obama got far better treatment than John McCain from late night comics. There is no doubt at all that most comedy writers are liberals and they like Barack Obama, whereas they didn't like Mr. Bush."

The Factor welcomed FNC host Glenn Beck, who engaged in a heated on-air confrontation with ACORN spokesman Scott Levenson. "I've never seen a spokesman for any national organization that is as shifty as this guy," Beck said. "When he told me I'm afraid of black people, I told him to get the hell off my set. After he walked out he put his arm around one of my female producers and invited her out for drinks." Beck proceeded to excoriate ACORN, purportedly a voter registration organization. "It is a money-making organization, it's a license to print money. They get all these lefty groups to sign up all these people and they get money from the federal government, states and lefty organizations. This is a scam!"

Finally, The Factor announced the results of a poll in which viewers were invited to vote for the funniest programs in TV history. In ascending order, the top five vote-getters were The Carol Burnett Show, M*A*S*H, All in the Family, Seinfeld, and I Love Lucy. The Factor's personal all time favorite, "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis," was not among the finalists.

Friday's Patriots: American moms, who are about to be showered with gifts, cards and flowers. And the Pinhead: Congressman Barney Frank, whose latest fund-raising letter promises to put Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Dick Cheney, and Sean Hannity "in an even worse mood than they usually are."

Helen O'Grady, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England: "The list of people banned from Britain is just another poorly thought out plan by our Home Secretary."

Kris Wilson, San Marcos, TX: "Bill, if hate speech was so wrong, you'd be banned from Britain."

Kathie Ampela, Staten Island, NY: "The price you pay for having free speech in this country is that there are a lot of stupid, irresponsible people who abuse it."

Bonnie Berlinski, Bayville, NJ: "Bill, I happen to be a supporter of gay marriage but I recognize that Miss California has been smeared because of her beliefs, primarily by people on the left. What hypocrites."