By Bill O'Reilly

This has not been a good week for Senator Santorum and it's not really his fault. He simply told the truth but did so in a way that will hurt him. Let's take it step by step.

One of Santorum's big donors is a man named Foster Friess, a conservative millionaire investor. Mr. Friess incredibly, incredibly went on MSNBC to talk about contraception. Not smart.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER FRIESS, SANTORUM SUPPORTER: This contraceptive thing, my gosh, it's so -- it's such inexpensive. You know back in my days they used Bayer Aspirin for contraceptives. The gals put it between their knees and it wasn't that costly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excuse me. I'm just trying to catch my breath from that.

SANTORUM: He told a bad off color joke and he shouldn't have done it but that's -- you know that's -- that's his business. It certainly doesn't in my opinion reflect on the campaign or me because he wasn't doing it as part of our campaign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'REILLY: Now, Senator Santorum is correct. Mr. Friess doesn't have any power in his campaign but that's not going to stop MSNBC and other left-wing media from hammering Santorum. Look, everybody knows the majority of the American media wants to re-elect Barack Obama, everybody knows that. So why are the Republican candidates and their supporters giving the opposition machine guns?

Talking about private behavior of Americans is a no-win situation for every politician. Rick Santorum should never say things like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANTORUM: The whole concept of sexual liberation, sexual freedom has had its downsides and certainly birth control is part of that with a dramatic increase in sexually transmitted diseases, dramatic increase in out of wed-lock -- out of wed-lock births, dramatic increase in the number of abortions. I mean you know this is -- this is not just -- you know not been just well everything is just fine and I -- that's a -- that's a commentary that I again is not something that is completely out of the mainstream. The bottom line is there are consequences to the sexual revolution that we are living with in America today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'REILLY: Now, you may agree with Mr. Santorum. But the majority of American voters have no interest in politicians talking about private stuff and Santorum's point of view is never, never going to be accurately represented.

Again, this is not a fruitful area for any politician. If Rick Santorum does secure the Republican nomination believe me he will be portrayed as a puritan witch hunter, as a fanatical religious guy, as a member of the inquisition. That's how the liberal media will attack Santorum and to uninformed voters it could do him damage.

And that's "The Memo."

Pinheads & Patriots.

Governor Chris Christie in the spotlight this evening. He may veto gay marriage. The governor says he wants the folks in Jersey to vote on whether gay marriage should be legalized rather than the legislature imposing it.

But that's not the most controversial thing Governor Christie did this week. Tomorrow is Whitney Houston's funeral. And the governor has ordered the flags in New Jersey flown at half-staff.

Lots of people are angry about this but not me. I believe the governor is showing respect to Ms. Houston's family and honoring her talent, which has brought joy to millions. So I am designating Chris Christie in this controversy as a patriot.

— You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" and "Pinheads & Patriots" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the Fox News Channel and any time on foxnews.com/oreilly. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com.