Tuesday, February 4, 2014
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.
Top Story
Presidential Interview Reaction
Guests: Howard Kurtz & Katie Pavlich
"It's fascinating to watch the discussion after my talk with President Obama Sunday. The usual suspects are complaining that I was rude and obnoxious, while the hard right is moaning because I didn't slam the president to the floor. But the vast majority of Americans were given a clear view of some very important issues. I managed to get the president on the record about controversial topics, something which has not been done before. Initial ratings say about 20-million people watched the interview live, with hundreds of millions more seeing it on the Internet. The president was cool throughout and I did my usual stuff, I pressed him. Enter the far-left zealots who can not report anything honestly because their job is to distort. Dana Milbank called it the 'nastiest exchange' of my three interviews with President Obama. Milbank is intellectually dishonest - he writes a column for the Washington Post and spouts nonsense on TV. On a wider front, the mainstream pretty much ignored or covered the story casually. In a surprising move, CNN almost totally ignored the story. Perhaps they didn't have enough time, being a 24-hour news channel. All in all, we have more information about the president now than we did before Super Bowl Sunday. And no nastiness was involved."

The Factor asked media analyst Howard Kurtz and conservative columnist Katie Pavlich to evaluate coverage of Sunday's interview. "Your interview wasn't nasty," Kurtz began, "it was aggressive, and I'm surprised Dana Milbank can't see the difference. Sure, you interrupted the president a lot but you had to do that because he's the master at running out the clock with lengthy answers." Pavlich singled out one MSNBC host as an example of the left's dishonesty. "Joy Reid went on a tirade saying you only covered topics that were far-right conspiracy theories. But if you break down the main topics you covered, particularly the IRS and ObamaCare, they affect every single American. 70% of Americans want a special prosecutor for the IRS scandal. Those aren't far-right questions."
Impact Segment
Presidential Interview Reaction
Guests: Larry Sabato and Rick Klein
Will Sunday's interview help or harm President Obama politically? The Factor posed that question to political scientist Larry Sabato and Rick Klein of ABC News. "I think he gets credit for one thing," Sabato said. "He let himself be interviewed by you and that's not always easy, you're not a powder puff interviewer. So that's a plus for him, but otherwise we still live in a polarized era and there's hardly anybody left that doesn't already have a firm opinion about Obama." Klein agreed that the interview may further cement already-hardened opinions on both sides. "I don't think you're going to undo six years worth of stories in one interview, but I think it's a win for President Obama because you reached an audience that's hard to reach. He did a good job of defending his view of government and his view of the various scandals and issues. And going toe-to-toe with Bill O'Reilly counts for something among the Democratic base."
Factor Follow Up Segment
Drugs in the U.S.
Guests: Monica Crowley & Alan Colmes
After the death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman from a heroin overdose, police are trying to track down the dealer who sold him the dope. The Factor asked Alan Colmes and Monica Crowley whether selling drugs should be classified as a violent crime. "It is a non-violent crime," Colmes asserted, "just as selling a gun is a non-violent crime. If you use a gun badly that's a violent crime, it all depends on what the person does when they use it. Drugs can be used recreationally." Crowley, as is her wont, disagreed with her brother-in-law. "Perhaps it should be classified as a violent crime because it tends to lead to violence more often than other things do. A drug deal can go bad and erupt into violence." The Factor urged the police to hunt down Hoffman's drug dealer and mete out serious punishment: "By selling Philip Seymour Hoffman heroin, you are exacerbating his disease. I think selling narcotics is a violent crime because it leads to harm, you're selling a dangerous drug to another human being."
Personal Story Segment
Switching Parties
Guest: Former Governor Charlie Crist
The Factor welcomed former Florida Governor Charlie Crist, who explained his switch from Republican to Democrat. "When I ran in 2006 in the Republican primary," he recalled, "I said I'm a live-and-let-live kind of guy on some social issues. I'm fiscally conservative and don't want to waste anyone's money. So I haven't really changed that much, but my former party changed. The Tea Party emerged and a lot of Republicans didn't like that I literally embraced President Obama and his policies." Crist, now running for governor as a Democrat, also defended ObamaCare, saying, "Having health care for people who can't afford it is the right thing to do." The Factor reminded Crist that he flipped on what many consider a life-and-death issue: "You wanted the state of Florida to outlaw abortion except in cases of rape and incest, but now you're telling us that a woman should control her body. That's a big switch."
'Is it Legal?' Segment
Bridgegate Updates
Guests: Lis Wiehl & Kimberly Guilfoyle
Legal analysts Kimberly Guilfoyle and Lis Wiehl provided the latest on New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, whose top aides exacted revenge on a political enemy by closing some lanes on the George Washington Bridge. "He's in great jeopardy right now," Wiehl said, "with two separate investigations. One is at the state level and there is also a federal investigation. That means that the feds think there is enough there to open a grand jury investigation." Guilfoyle pointed out that the case is long on accusations and innuendo, but short on proof. "He seems to be holding the course very well, saying he didn't know about this in advance. We know there has been a rush to judgment in the liberal media, across television and print, but if some evidence existed we would have seen it by now." The Factor concluded, "I'm not defending Christie, who won't come on my show, but I haven't seen anything to convict him."
Watters' World Segment
Super Bowl Festivities
Guest: Jesse Watters
Jesse Watters aired more footage from his tour of pre-Super Bowl parties in and around New York City. When Watters told Stephen Colbert that he didn't look like a football kind of guy, Colbert replied, "I was a cornerback for an entire day in high school." Another confession came from The View co-host Jenny McCarthy, who apparently had an epiphany while reading "Killing Jesus." "I enjoyed it thoroughly," she told Watters, "and I realized I might be a Republican."
Tip Of The Day
False and Defamatory
If someone brands you a "racist" without any proof, walk away and remove the false accuser from your life.
Books Mentioned


The Party's Over
by Charlie Crist

Read more...