Monday, October 28, 2013
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
"I Don't Want to Know"
Guest: Brit Hume
"There are at least a half-dozen major controversies inside the Obama administration that the President apparently didn't know anything about. A Wall Street Journal headline says 'Obama Unaware as U.S. Spied on World Leaders,' and I believe that's true. While some Americans say Mr. Obama knew about 'Fast and Furious,' the IRS, Benghazi, and the NSA spying controversies as they developed, Talking Points does not. It has become clear that the President does not manage in a micro way - he delegates, often to incompetent people. The most vivid example is the enormous screw-up in Obamacare. The President was apparently totally unaware that the rollout was broken. Last night '60 Minutes' vividly portrayed the horror of four Americans being murdered in Benghazi, Libya. A former Green Beret commander says he warned the administration that Al Qaeda was hunting the American ambassador. President Obama says he did not know the extent of the danger, but even after the attack was under way the administration did not take action. So here's the overall situation: You have a President who is apparently disengaged from day-to-day activities in his own government. And, one after another, you have major problems. It is no longer satisfactory for Mr. Obama to say he is going to 'get to the bottom of things' because he never does. The administration had three-and-a-half years to roll out the Affordable Health Care law and it spent close to $1 billion, yet there is mass chaos. Throughout history people have gotten the government they deserve."

FNC's Brit Hume, who has covered eight presidents, gave his perspective on the Obama White House. "All the presidents I witnessed governed in different ways," he said, "and I have seen presidents were said not to know about something that blew up. But I have not seen this number of events associated with any other president. President Obama is not a micro-manager, he relies upon the people under him to run things properly. But the question is whether he has the right people, and in instance after instance it has seemed that he does not. There are also questions about what and when he knew about events like Benghazi. We still don't know what he did that night." The Factor opined that the President is performing less competently than most of his predecessors: "Right now I see President Obama in major trouble on the history front. Five years into his administration he has to be ranked in the bottom ten."
Impact Segment
Dick Cheney Enters the No Spin Zone
Guest: Former Vice President Dick Cheney
Former Vice President Dick Cheney, in his initial visit to the No Spin Zone, assessed the war in Iraq that was initiated in the Bush-Cheney administration. "I'm very concerned about Iraq," he began, "because the level of violence has escalated significantly. The surge that President Bush put in place was very successful in reducing the violence, but there was never the follow-on agreement negotiated. The Obama administration didn't pursue it, they just walked away from it, and the Iraqis are paying the price." Nevertheless, Cheney insisted that the war enhanced American security. "The biggest threat we face is the possibility of terrorist groups like Al Qaeda equipped with weapons of mass destruction. That was the threat after 9/11 and when we took down Saddam Hussein we eliminated Iraq as a source of that. But our withdrawal from that part of the world has significantly diminished our capacity to influence those events." But The Factor replied, "I don't know if the suffering and blood was worth it."
Impact Segment
More with Dick Cheney
Guest: Former Vice President Dick Cheney
When he returned for another segment, Dick Cheney spoke about his book "Heart," which documents his history of coronary disease. "We tell the story of the last 35 or 40 years," he explained, "when developments in the medical world have reduced the incidence of death from heart disease by 50%. Most of the things that saved my life hadn't even been invented when I had my first heart attack in 1978. I had five heart attacks, one episode of sudden cardiac arrest, aneurisms in my knees, stents in my heart, an implantable defibrillator, and the transplant. But now you can have coronary heart disease and lead a relatively normal life." Cheney revealed that he does not know the identity of the individual whose heart now beats in his chest. "After the transplant I was joyous but the family of the donor had just been through a terrible tragedy. I've never done anything other than praise the donor and encourage other people to be donors."
Personal Story Segment
Reaction to Cheney Interview
Guests: Juan Williams & Mary Katharine Ham
The Factor invited Juan Williams and Mary Katharine Ham to assess the interview with Dick Cheney. "You asked him a very direct question about what we got out of Iraq," Williams said, "but he dodged and played games with that. Things are falling apart in Iraq and we see the threat that still exists in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He couldn't answer that except to point fingers at Obama." But Ham argued that Cheney was exactly correct to criticize his successors in the White House. "It's very fair to say we pulled out of Iraq for political reasons. The Obama administration did not try very hard on the status-of-forces agreement. We had reached a point where the peace was largely won and then we abandoned the situation."
Factor Follow Up Segment
Welfare Nation?
Guest: Karl Rove
With 110-million Americans receiving some form of government assistance beyond Medicare and Social Security, The Factor asked Karl Rove to analyze the dismal statistics. "About 28% of American people are what I would call dependent on government," Rove lamented, "which means they're getting food stamps, subsidized housing, Medicaid, and other transfer payments. We've always had a group of people who have wanted to be dependent on government, but it's bigger today than at any time since the Great Depression." The Factor contended that America's basic fiber has been altered: "The mentality of the country has shifted from self-reliance to 'where's mine?' And the government is recruiting people!"
Watters' World Segment
Pinheads & Patriots!
Guest: Jesse Watters
Jesse Watters recently ventured to Boston, where he asked local folks whether some well-known folks - including Joe Biden, John Boehner, and Harry Reid - are pinheads or patriots. Back in the New York studio, Watters said that the former boxer from Nevada didn't ring a bell in Massachusetts. "The least known person was Harry Reid," he reported. "Only two out of fourteen people knew who Harry Reid was, and I'm jealous of them - I wish I didn't know who Harry Reid was."
Tip Of The Day
Deflecting a Verbal Assault
If you have the misfortune of being verbally attacked by a stranger or someone you don't care about, the best advice is walk away. But if it's someone with whom you have an emotional connection, take a time out and then try to have a rational conversation.
Factor Mail
Viewers sound off
Jamey Sandefur, Baton Rouge, LA: "Dr. Gruber from MIT either is not telling the truth or needs to revisit his Ph.D. coursework. I am covered by group insurance at my job and have been told my premiums will double."

Trisha Dono, Endwell, NY: "Small business owner here. Told in July our policy was canceled. The new policy increased my cost 25%."

Irene Miley, Roswell, GA: "Bill, you, Gutfeld, and McGuirk made fun of the U.S. spying on Merkel. Well, maybe instead of looking for schnitzel recipes, our government should listen to how she runs Germany."
Books Mentioned


Heart: An American Medical Odyssey
by Dick Cheney

Read more...