Thursday, September 3, 2015
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
The Changing Republican Party
"Donald Trump held a press conference today, telling the world he will not run as a third-party candidate. Mr. Trump continues to believe he will win the GOP nomination and that he is the man to turn the country around. According to the Real Clear Politics average of national polling, Trump leads the Republican field with 27%, followed by Ben Carson at 13%, Jeb Bush at 9%, Ted Cruz at 7%, and Marco Rubio at 6%. Some pundits say it is still early, but the first vote in Iowa is just about five months away. Few expected a populist like Donald Trump to be dominating the campaign, but millions of Americans are angry about what President Obama has done and about how the Republicans failed to counter it. Mr. Trump's signature issue is illegal immigration. He was smart to seize upon that, as every fair-minded American knows our border is a mess and immigration is chaotic. Trump says he'll solve the problem in dramatic ways, so standard politicians like Jeb Bush find themselves up against a man who has literally nothing to lose and who says pretty much anything. Trump's posture has changed the Republican Party, and so has the rise of Dr. Ben Carson. A polar opposite to Trump in personality, Carson is a political outsider who also speaks straight but softly. An African-American, he grew up in poverty with no father in a tough neighborhood in Detroit. Through hard work, Carson graduated from Yale and became a skilled neurosurgeon. The fact that so many Republicans admire Ben Carson trashes the far left line that the GOP is a racist party. Summing up, the rise of Trump and Carson means traditional Republican campaigning is over. Probably for the best."

The Factor discussed the state of the Republican Party with venerable conservative Laura Ingraham. "I believe in Reagan conservatism," she said, "which is a more nationalistic economic policy, a prudent foreign policy, and an immigration policy that is focused on what is good for the American middle class. Reagan's conservatism was skeptical of an adventurous foreign policy and an economic policy that would be tangled up in all these trade agreements. But the party is a big party, people will disagree, and that's fine." The Factor delineated a major difference between The Gipper and The Donald: "Reagan went out of his way to convince the other side to agree with him, but Trump doesn't care what the other side thinks."
Impact Segment
Presidential Politics and Race
Many Democrats claim that the Republican Party is hostile towards black Americans. What, then, explains, the tremendous success of Dr. Ben Carson? The Factor posed that question to two black observers, conservative David Webb and liberal Keith Boykin. "The Republican Party has racist elements," Boykin declared, "and it has a problem with racism. The party caters to racism in a way that the Democratic Party does not, and Republicans didn't start liking Ben Carson until he started attacking Barack Obama." But Webb defended his party and conservatism in general. "I've been a Republican for over 40 years. Are there elements within American society, right or left, that have racist elements? Yes. But I would say to the black community, 'Why are you giving your vote to a party that no longer needs you or gives you any future path to success?' Dr. Ben Carson has lived by conservative principles his entire life."
Factor Followup
DeflateGate Update
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has been cleared in court and will not be suspended for any role he may have had in deflating footballs during last year's playoffs. Sports reporter Jim Gray and former quarterback Fran Tarkenton tackled the case. "This never should have happened," Gray declared, "because Tom Brady did nothing wrong. The NFL admitted that they had no direct evidence." But Tarkenton contended that Tom Brady is probably a cheater. "The balls were deflated, the question is whether or not Brady had anything to do with it? Where are the ballboys who deflated the balls? I played for 18 years and the ballboys would never have done anything unless I was there. I believe Brady instructed people to deflate the balls."
Personal Story
Promoting Bad Behavior
The recent MTV Music Awards show was a cornucopia of nudity, foul language, drug references, and sexual innuendo. The Factor asked Meghan McCain and Kennedy, who once worked at MTV, to opine. "I don't let my kids watch it," Kennedy said, "and this year's viewership was way down. But even in the 90s there was gangsta' rap and drug references." McCain lamented the decline of MTV into the cultural sewer. "I grew up in the golden age of MTV when they were asking politicians questions. MTV had a lot of influence, but they have devolved into trash and vulgarity. I am embarrassed that the influence young women see is Miley Cyrus going on stage nearly naked and talking about being drugged on pot."
What the Heck Just Happened?
Obama in Alaska
President Obama just took a three-day trip to Alaska, where he focused on the dangers of 'climate change.' Greg Gutfeld and Bernard McGuirk evaluated the 44th president's visit to the 49th state. "Alaska is the largest state," Gutfeld began, "but there are only 800,000 people there. The reason is that it's freezing cold. The second largest state in size is Texas, which has 28-million people because it's warm. President Obama should understand that an incremental increase in temperature would lead more people to live in Alaska." McGuirk argued that President Obama's message is fundamentally flawed. "Five years ago Al Gore said that the polar ice is going to vanish, but NASA just said the ice has almost tripled. So President Obama is up there feeding us a bunch of crap."
Back of the Book
More Bad News For Hillary
Former State Department tech expert Bryan Pagliano, who helped set up Hillary Clinton's private server, will plead the Fifth Amendment rather than testify before a House committee investigating the Benghazi attack. FNC correspondents James Rosen and Catherine Herridge assessed the importance of that revelation. "When your low-level IT guy takes the Fifth," Herridge said, "that is not good. On top of that, today there was a 9-hour deposition with Cheryl Mills, a long-time Clinton ally. They start with the little people on the outside and lay traps for the bigger people." Rosen outlined the possible ramifications of Pagliano's decision. "With Bryan Pagliano signaling his intention to plead the Fifth and thereby withhold what he knows from congressional investigators, the story of Mrs. Clinton and her server takes on still another feature of an epic scandal in the mode of Watergate. Namely, a low-level figure whose name means nothing to the general public, if presented with some form of immunity, could conceivably be flipped to testify about the higher-ups with whom he interacted."
Factor Mail
Viewers Sound Off
Doug Wilson, Alberta, Canada: "By ignoring common sense ways to protect the folks like Kate's Law, Jorge Ramos showed his true colors - he's a zealot on illegal immigration."

Nicholas Mawad, Howard Beach, NY: "As a young conservative, I respect Ramos. He has good intentions and only wants to help poor people."

Steve Van Wie, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL: "It's really quite simple: Jorge Ramos should change the name of his show to the 'Ramos Factor.'"
Tip of the Day
Bill Joins the Parade
To highlight the upcoming release of 'Killing Reagan,' Parade Magazine will adorn this Sunday's cover with a photo of none other than your humble correspondent.