Guest: Political analyst Dick Morris

"Tonight we wrap up a week here in Los Angeles, getting away just before the Academy Award weekend. There's little buzz here about the Oscars, largely because the film industry largely markets to kids. However, the cultural impact of Hollywood is actually increasing. We saw it this week in the Obama-Hillary shootout. Let's be honest here - the entertainment industry has made Obama. First Oprah gave him the thumbs-up, and this week Hollywood gave him more than a million dollars. So Barack Obama has become a major political player largely because of our celebrity culture. The truth is that popular culture is becoming more and more important to those who seek power in the USA, and Talking Points believes there is danger here. Senator Obama may never have to answer serious questions from the press. As I said earlier this week, his handlers are instituting the 'Elvis strategy' - they are marketing an attractive image. So don't discount popular culture in the upcoming presidential race. It will be a major factor, and we will be watching it closely."

For more on the nascent presidential race, The Factor was joined by political analyst Dick Morris, who claimed Hillary Clinton was wise to engage in a war of words with Barack Obama's camp. "Hillary made no mistake in doing that, it was the perfect move for her. Obama is on this pedestal, he's above politics. And Hillary needs to bring him down to Earth to the regular mud fight that goes on for the nomination. So when one of his supporters attacked her, she jumped on it. Her goal was to take away Obama's political virginity, and she did." Morris also savaged Obama's foreign policy credentials. "I don't think this guy has a clue on how to fight the war on terror. He is a child running for president. Yeah, he's refreshing and charismatic, but we're in the middle of a war and this guy doesn't know which end is up."

News Link: Hillary's strategy in attacking Obama

Guest: Fox News correspondent Catherine Herridge

51-year old Charles Rust-Tierney, past president of the Virginia branch of the ACLU, was arrested Friday and charged with possessing child pornography. Fox News correspondent Catherine Herridge reported on one very troubling aspect of the case. "The reason authorities are being aggressive in putting out this story is because Rust-Tierney was coaching kids' teams for at least two or three years. The big question is whether he made a leap from purchasing child porn to molesting kids." The Factor added that Rust-Tierney allegedly possessed the most vile kinds of porn. "The images were of little girls being violently raped, some of them tied up, screaming and crying. It'll be interesting to see how the liberal media covers this, and whether they'll try to cover up for the former president of the ACLU in Virginia."

News Link: ACLU ex-president charged in child-porn case

Guest: Attorney Michelle Suskauer

The Factor offered some final observations on the recently concluded Anna Nicole Smith hearing. "I think all these people are exploiting Anna Nicole's death, just as they exploited her life. They want the attention, they are all going to try to write books." Attorney Michelle Suskauer was especially contemptuous of Anna Nicole's mother. "She was going to view her daughter's body with a reporter from 'Splash' magazine. That is bad stuff for someone who is supposedly grieving and wants that body back in Texas in family plot. There's a reason that relation was over a long time ago."

News Link: Legal fight in Anna Nicole Smith fallout shifts to Bahamas

Guest: Former child star Paul Peterson

Britney Spears is the latest former child star to undergo a public meltdown. Paul Peterson, a child star himself on "The Donna Reed Show," asserted that backstage parents are frequently to blame. "There ought to have been some limits," Peterson declared, "in the way she was exploited when she was 15 and 16 years old. She was the star of an overtly titillating music video when she was 15, which tells you something about the parents. She's gone off the rails, and she has no one in her life to blow the whistle. I've been desperately trying to contact her." The Factor commended Peterson for his tireless efforts to help former child stars.

News Link: Britney's plush rehab retreat

News Link: Britney freaks out...again

Geraldo Rivera, just back from his eighth visit to Iraq, gave his impressions of the situation there. "It's perhaps more terrifying than ever before. You wonder where the sniper will come from, which abandoned car will blow up. Yet these resilient young men go out every day, they are trying to have some presence in the neighborhood, they are relating to the people. And when you're with these young men, you see concern about the dialogue going on in the United States about the war. Some are angry, and there is definitely a concern among some that they're going to lose the aura of love the American people have shown for them." Moving on to a far different subject, Geraldo minced no words about Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, who supplied Anna Nicole Smith with prescriptions for methadone. "Dr. Kapoor seems cut from the same cloth as Elvis's doctor. They basically prescribe the narcotic of choice to the celebrity, and in return they get the ability to hang out. They are the scum of the medical profession." The Factor concluded that the Anna Nicole Smith case, while distasteful, was also instructive. "We learned that the Bahamian government is corrupt, that the family court system is chaotic, and that many people came in to try to exploit this chaotic situation. There have been some lessons learned here."

Guest: Shirley Jones

The Factor welcomed another "TV icon" into the No Spin Zone. Shirley Jones, star of "The Partridge Family," was an Oscar-winning dramatic actress when she was offered the TV role in 1970. "I had done about 30 motion pictures," Jones recalled, "and my agents and managers said don't do a television series - if you do, you'll be Mrs. Partridge for the rest of your life. That's exactly what happened. People come up and say they loved 'The Partridge Family.'" Jones is now raising money for a 9/11 memorial in California, but the idea has met with some resistance in Hollywood. "People have attacked us because they figure it's very 'Republican,' so we've had a terrible time. And we're still trying to raise money." The Factor commended Jones for her good work, on and off screen. "You're still at TV icon, and people should know you for your whole resume, the fine work you did in films, and for your public service."

Related: Contact info for Shirley Jones' charity, Fawn Park

Many of you wrote about the Houston cops who used taser guns to subdue criminal suspects. Some excerpts:

Kevin Conde, Marysville, CA: "Bill, I'm a cop and I've tased several people and will continue to do so. Tasers work! The ACLU hates tasers because they'd rather see us stand around the suspect and beat him with batons. That fits their political agenda."

Jayme Barlow, Greenville, FL: "If you are in law enforcement and have pepper spray and a taser gun, why do you have a pistol as well?"

Sgt. Wilton Collins, Macon, GA: "Bill, having recently been touched by the taser as part of my training as a police officer, it's bad. But I can only assume it's better than being dead."

Other viewers wrote about NFL star Tom Brady and his former girlfriend, actress Bridget Moynahan, who are expecting a child.

John Riley, W. Hartford, CT: "Mr. O'Reilly, I was disappointed at your casual acceptance that Tom Brady and his 'lady friend' are expecting a child out of wedlock."

George Ellis, Elk Grove, CA: "Bill, nobody, including you, has a right to say anything about that baby. In a perfect world, they would be married, but the world is not perfect."