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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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"It did not end well for General Stanley McChrystal, war hero and patriot. A foolish mistake - allowing a reporter from Rolling Stone magazine into his inner circle - got him fired by President Obama. The President has General David Petraeus in the bullpen as McChrystal's replacement, which may be an upgrade. Things have not been going well on the battlefield because most Afghans won't fight and our guys can't fight all-out because of the civilian casualty issue. President Obama understands he can not afford to lose in Afghanistan. If the Taliban prevails, Mr. Obama will take a huge hit, and he has only one year - by his own yardstick - to declare victory. At the heart of this controversy is Rolling Stone reporter Michael Hastings, who portrayed McChrystal and his staff as disdainful of the Obama administration. The President is not a man who embraces criticism, thus the General's fate was sealed. And McChrystal knows most of the fault lies with him. Hastings is a far-left guy who openly says his job is to 'f---' those in power. Why would the General allow a guy like that access to him and his staff? Amazing! The whole McChrystal deal is bad for the country and bad for the military, but maybe General Petraeus can save the day, as he did in Iraq. However, the truth is that there is chaos in America on almost every front, and that is never a good thing."
The Factor was joined by political strategist Dick Morris, who theorized that the McChrystal controversy could hurt President Obama with his liberal base. "The most important thing about this," Morris said, "is that it's putting the word 'Afghanistan' on the front pages of the newspapers. It means the two stories that are dominating the news are the oil spill and Afghanistan. The environmentalists and the peace movement are the core of the Democratic Party and these two issues offend them. They're mad at Obama for not stopping the oil leak and they're mad at Obama for fighting in Afghanistan." The Factor pointed out that General David Petraeus is the major figure in this story: "President Obama had somebody to go to who may be better than McChrystal. If he didn't have Petraeus, I don't know whether he could have afforded to fire McChrystal."
Former Secretary of Defense William Cohen entered the No Spin Zone and endorsed President Obama's change of commanders. "The comments that General McChrystal and his aides made," Cohen said, "were contemptuous of the entire administration team and there was no way any president could ignore that. It's not a question of whether you agree with the President's policy, you must respect the office under all circumstances. Otherwise, it cuts to the core of civilian control of our military. President Obama made the right decision." Nevertheless, The Factor questioned whether McChrystal's punishment fit the crime: "Soldiers in the field are always grousing and no general gets everything he wants. This wasn't anything unusual, but it was captured by this Rolling Stone guy who obliterated the commander in the field. It's disturbing." |
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| The Factor welcomed Senator Joe Lieberman, who agreed that President Obama made a wise move. "Removing your commanding officer is never easy," Lieberman said, "but I think the President made the right decision. And he found, without doubt, the best person to step in. General Petraeus wrote the book on counter-insurgency and he made it work in Iraq. I think the troops, who normally might be unsettled, are going to feel encouraged." Lieberman predicted that Petraeus will soon be on the ground in Afghanistan. "We're going to have a public hearing on his nomination very soon and hopefully get him confirmed by the end of next week." The Factor delineated the dire problems that are awaiting Petraeus' attention: "The troops are not happy with the rules of engagement, they're not pleased that they can't fire first. The Afghan people think President Karzai is a corrupt midget and they're afraid of the Taliban. What a mess!" |
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| Tonya Reiman trained her watchful eye on President Obama as he complimented the ousted General McChrystal. "The movement of his left arm," Reiman said, "indicated anxiety coming through. And the way he emphasized the words made me think the President was angry." Reiman also watched Joran Van Der Sloot's mother speaking about her son's arrest for murder in Peru. "She was very protective, trying to make herself smaller. The gesture I noticed most is when she crossed both hands over her body - she needs protection and she needs to be hugged." |
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| The Factor invited Dennis Miller to weigh in on the McChrystal firing. "I don't think McChrystal should think of this as losing a job," Miller said, "he should think of it as never having to pay for another drink as long as he lives. I don't think he can lead the war effort in Afghanistan any more, but I'd love to have him as a life line if I was ever on 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire?' Think of McChrystal as Jack Nicholson and Obama as Tom Cruise in 'A Few Good Men.' I think McChrystal was percolating and he was going to blow because he thinks Obama has no code!" Miller also took issue with President Obama's choice of golf attire. "I'm glad he's out of the office for six hours because it's six less hours he can run the country into the ground, but what's with the outfit? You're the leader of the free world, you're not Richard Simmons, why are you out there running around in shorts? C'mon, get an outfit together." Miller ended with a good-natured jab at Bill Clinton. "I saw Clinton in the crowd at the World Cup today; I think somebody told him there wasn't enough scoring so he hopped on a plane." |
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| Fox News media analyst Bernie Goldberg evaluated the Rolling Stone magazine article that brought down a general. "I don't think Rolling Stone did anything wrong," Goldberg opined, "unless they used something that was off the record or unless they made stuff up. It isn't the role of the journalist to do PR for the military or to protect a soldier's career. If I'm in a bar with McChrystal and his boys and they start saying the things they said, I'm going to report it. This reporter is an unabashed card-carrying lefty, and it just amazes me that a general could be so breathtakingly unsophisticated as to do an interview with these guys. But I don't blame Rolling Stone." |
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Don Weiss, Lancaster, CA: "The Rolling Stone article contains nothing that rises to a firing offense. The President should scold McChrystal but keep him on."
Robert Anderson, Everett, WA: "As a veteran, I say the General must go. The troops are hurt if there is dissent in the chain of command."
Donna Berthoff, Glendora, CA: "O'Reilly, please tell Alan Colmes that Bobby Jindal hasn't taken any recent vacations or diverted himself by entertaining the likes of Paul McCartney."
Leslie Harris, Winnipeg, Canada: "O'Reilly, my very liberal friends are starting to like you a little too much." |
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| Wednesday's Patriot: 11-year-old Olivia Bouler, who has helped raise an astounding $135,000 to rescue birds in the Gulf of Mexico by selling her drawings. And the Pinheads: The dishonest marketers who erroneously claim the risqu? commercial for Guitar Hero has been banned from commercial TV, thus creating traffic for their Internet site. |
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