Thursday, December 20, 2012
On The O'Reilly Factor...
Segment Summaries
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.
Talking Points Memo & Top Story
POWER
Guests: Kirsten Powers and Leslie Marshall

"If you are fortunate enough to acquire money in this life, you will also get power. Money can buy you protection, education, and all kinds of entertainment options. It can also buy you good doctors, accountants, and lawyers. If you don't have much money, life is much harder because you can't protect yourself as well as a wealthy person. That is why what is happening in America affects every single person. President Obama and the Democrats want to take power from the people and give it to the federal government. Of course taxes are needed, but what's happening now is a bunch of other stuff. For example, government control of the health care industry makes you weaker and the feds stronger; higher taxes on achievers make them weaker, the feds stronger; regulation of guns makes citizens more dependent on police, thus the government goes stronger. Some folks want to trade freedom for security, but America was supposed to be different, which is why the Founding Fathers built in protections for us. They encouraged a free press to keep government power in check, but now the press is working in concert with the Obama administration. The President's liberal ideology is compatible with the belief system of many media bosses, and so we are seeing a tremendous power grab in Washington that's not being challenged by many in the media. Talking Points submits that very few Americans understand what's going on, but just remember: Every time a new law is passed, even a good one, the state grows more powerful and the individual grows weaker."

For another take on power, The Factor welcomed Democrats Kirsten Powers and Leslie Marshall. "The idea that just raising some taxes by four percentage points is somehow a major infringement on freedom is absurd," Powers objected. "Even if you put all taxes together, there is no major infringement happening here." Marshall gave the Talking Points Memo a barely passing grade. "I give you a C-minus because I agree that the wealthy can buy all of those things and the other 99% of Americans don't have those options and it's unfair. But I agree with the President that we need to level the playing field, but we're strengthening America by doing that. With health care, we are going to be a healthier and thus a stronger nation." The Factor countered, "The health care decision making is not in the hands of the individual any longer, it's in the hands of the feds and that weakens you."
Week in Review from the Ingraham Angle Segment
Is Hillary Clinton dodging the Benghazi hearings?
Guests: Laura Ingraham

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was scheduled to testify about the deadly Libya consulate incident, but she is reportedly ill and begged off. Laura Ingraham had some fun with Secretary Clinton's sudden illness. "I'm very worried," Ingraham joked, "and we're now calling this the 'immaculate concussion.' Did she really have a concussion? Maybe she did. She should have come in with her head all wrapped up like in the Revolutionary War." But Ingraham also demanded more answers in the Benghazi affair. "We don't even know how far along they are in actually apprehending the people who killed Americans, we don't have anyone in custody who is at the center of all this."
Impact Segment
Who was the biggest "War on Christmas" offender this year?
Guests: Kristina Arriaga

Each year an organization called "The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty" hands out its Ebenezer Awards, bestowed upon folks who have done the most to trash traditional Christmas celebrations. The group's Kristina Arriaga entered the No Spin Zone to announce this year's undistinguished honorees. "The first runner-up," she proclaimed, "is the city of Santa Monica. After having a nativity scene on display for 60 years, there was a complaint and they put the scene on mothballs. And the winner is Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee, who was so afraid there would be Christmas caroling in city hall that he announced the display thirty minutes beforehand." Humorous awards aside, Arriaga pointed out the much larger issue. "Right now religion is being treated like smoke and religious displays like second-hand smoke. No one can get close because it's 'bad for you.' My parents left Cuba and came to this country because the government here is not supposed to be able to take away what's in your head and heart."
Culture War Segment
Survey: 21% of high schoolers say pot use is harmful
Guests: Gretchen Carlson and Jeanine Pirro

According to a new survey, most American teens feel the occasional use of marijuana is harmless. Culture Warriors Jeanine Pirro and Gretchen Carlson were not pleased. "The media has glorified this," Carlson complained, "and you also have big-time celebrities like Brad Pitt and Russell Simmons who are on board. And then you add to it that Colorado and Washington just made marijuana legal." Pirro laid out some obvious health issues with smoking weed. "Think about the fact that you have to smoke marijuana and hold the smoke in longer. It has far more carcinogens than cigarettes, so the respiratory and bronchial problems are exacerbated. Yet we have a society now where 69% of kids think it's dangerous to smoke a cigarette but only 34% think it's dangerous to smoke weed. That is a function of our culture." The Factor warned that permissive attitudes can have pernicious consequences: "Any child who gets involved with intoxicants becomes a whole different person, their childhood vanishes, yet there are a lot of adults who are enabling this attitude."
Kelly File Segment
Why is the ACLU making it harder to commit mentally ill Americans?
Guests: Megyn Kelly

When Connecticut authorities tried to pass tough mental health legislation, the ACLU vigorously fought the bill and it was defeated. Fox News anchor and attorney Megyn Kelly explained. "The bill would have allowed a conservator to oversee a person's medication," she reported, "but the ACLU thought that was too invasive. But that law, which was defeated in February, was less stringent than laws we have in 44 other states." Kelly theorized that committing an obviously mentally ill person has become far too difficult. "You basically have to prove that the person is a danger, they have to have done something. It used to be that we would commit folks a little too quickly and now we've gone the opposite way."
Back of Book Segment
A Tropical Watters' World
Guests: Jesse Watters

FNC's Jesse Watters paid a visit to Hawaii, where the First Family will soon be vacationing. Here's what a few of the locals told Jesse: "I was lucky enough to be one of his classmates from 5th grade on" ... "My mother-in-law remembers him scooping Baskin Robbins ice cream with a big afro in high school." Watters returned to the studio to recap his tropical adventure and Hawaii's ultra-liberal culture. "The economy in Hawaii is such that you don't have a big middle class. You have extreme wealth and extreme poverty, the sun makes you lazy and you have very loose pot laws."
Factor Mail
Viewers sound off
Bill Gibson, Brownsville, TX: "Thanks, Bill, for trying to secure the release of Corporal Jon Hammar from a Mexican prison. I plan to call Senator Cornyn tomorrow and ask him to become involved."

Pamela Burnette, Torrance, CA: "Bill, you were absolutely right to say that Abraham Lincoln would have helped Corporal Hammar. The greatness of a leader is shown by how they act in small matters."

Gary Warren, Crosby, TX: "We've already canceled a cruise to Mexico."
Tip Of The Day
Parting Thoughts
In lieu of a tip, The Factor delivered a holiday message: "This will be my last appearance of the year, I'll be hunkering down on Long Island for Christmas. 2012 has been a tough year and some of you are very disappointed about the general direction of the country. I share some of that disappointment, but I'm optimistic things will get better. Next year we'll be watching your backs and we'll aggressively challenge the powers that might harm you. I'm stepping up my watchdog capacity and we're not going to fool around. This country is not in a good place and we want to get it back to a good place. On a personal note, I wish you all a great Christmas. Our audience is the best in the world and I appreciate you guys very much.