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Juan Williams fills in tonight. |
| On The O'Reilly Factor...
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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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Juan began Wednesday's program with the escalating controversy surrounding the Arizona law that empowers police to check people's citizenship. About two-thirds of Arizonans favor the law, but civil libertarians and some politicians claim it violates the Constitution. Fox News contributor Linda Chavez, a Republican, laid out her objections. "There are a lot of Arizonans who think they support this bill," Chavez said, "but they haven't bothered to read it. The law says any government official who has 'reasonable suspicion' that a person is in the country illegally has the right to demand papers. There are a million-and-a-half legal residents in Arizona of Hispanic origin who are going to have their civil rights violated." Kris Kobach, who helped write the law, claimed it is widely misunderstood. "People have been reading the wrong version of the bill, which expressly prohibits racial profiling. This creates an Arizona misdemeanor that is an exact mirror image of a federal misdemeanor." Juan predicted that Republicans who support the bill may suffer a backlash: "Hispanics are the largest-growing segment of the American electorate and Republicans are going to alienate them for all time."
For a religious perspective, Juan turned to Catholic priest Jonathan Morris, a Fox News contributor. "Even if somebody is doing something wrong," Father Morris posited, "such as crossing the border illegally, it does not mean that we can do whatever we want to them. We have to be able to stand up as a country and demand laws that are just. This law is crazy, it's not going to fix the situation and it's creating ethnic and class tension. We should be fining people who are hiring illegal immigrants and creating a temporary worker program." Juan agreed, but criticized the overheated rhetoric of Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony: "It doesn't help when he starts comparing this to Nazism and communism." |
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| According to Politico.com, some White House reporters describe the Obama administration as "thin-skinned" and "controlling." Juan welcomed political strategist Dick Morris, a veteran of the Clinton White House. "This had to happen," Morris declared, "because Obama is so unaccustomed to press criticism. He's used to adulation and when he gets anything less than that, the White House reacts very aggressively." Morris expressed concern that the government may find a way to prop up ailing newspapers. "There is a study to determine whether the administration would support subsidies to news organizations - tax abatements, special mailing costs and other subsidies. The Obama policy is that with your left hand you give a subsidy and with your right hand you enforce control, which is what is going on with the banks." |
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| This week's Senate hearing on alleged financial wrongdoing by Goldman Sachs was laced with anger, accusations and profanity. Juan explored the case with Fox Business analyst Jonathan Hoenig. "From the perspective of Senators Levin and McCaskill," Hoenig groused, "anything done for profit is 'evil.' So they assaulted these executives with bombastic, rude, ill-informed information that discredited Goldman Sachs and capitalism in general. To suggest that Goldman Sachs caused the financial collapse is farcical." But liberal radio talk show host Mike Papantonio argued that Senate inquisitors should have been even tougher. "Americans have been charmed into believing that a thief in a $3,000 suit is not a thief. They don't wear a ski mask, they leave the scene of the crime in a Gulfstream jet, so we treat them like a special class of royalty. They committed fraud!" |
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| Fox News anchor Jane Skinner watched an excerpt from Oprah Winfrey's interview with John Edwards' mistress Rielle Hunter and pointed out a certain irony. "Rielle Hunter, a woman who has filed an invasion of privacy lawsuit," Skinner said, "has decided to spill all on the first day of the ratings period. Oprah said she did not find Hunter to be a floozy or a hussy, but someone smart and thoughtful who just fell in love with the wrong guy. And Hunter does not see herself as a home wrecker in this situation - she says she and Edwards still have an overwhelming love and they might someday be together." Skinner also viewed a Republican Party video that mocks President Obama's visit to the Midwest, which is afflicted by high unemployment. "More than 3-million jobs have been lost since President Obama took office," Skinner reported, "but the question is whether this message will work for Republicans. The Democratic Party has its own video out saying the Republicans are obstructionists who have sided with Wall Street." |
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| Officials in California's Santa Clara County have proposed an ordinance that would forbid fast food restaurants from giving away toys. Juan was joined by anti-obesity crusader MeMe Roth, who heartily endorsed the proposed law. "Have you ever met a kid who wants to be fat?" Roth asked. "We are punishing children with horrible eating habits and by depriving them of daily exercise. These marketers spend more than a billion-and-a-half dollars annually trying to get kids to eat crap. The community has spoken and they don't want food marketers undermining parents." But conservative talk show host Mike Gallagher accused Santa Clara officials of playing both big brother and nanny. "This is the quintessential battle between left and right. Liberals think the government should keep our kids skinny and we should have less salt; we conservatives believe it's up to parents to decide if you can buy a 'happy meal' for your children once in a while. You want the government to do your job for you, MeMe, and most parents resent this!" Juan concluded that the decision should be left to mom and dad: "When you ask parents, they want to decide themselves. They don't want to be told by the government." |
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| Wednesday's Patriot: "Wolfie," the mascot for the University of Nevada baseball team, who became overly enthused and fell into the dugout. And the Pinhead: Jessica Simpson, who says she has never smoked but somehow managed to get addicted to Nicorette gum. |
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