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| On The O'Reilly Factor...
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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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Guest: Bioethicist John Kilner & Father Richard McBrien
"Terri Schiavo herself will soon be dead. We pray she'll have eternal peace in the afterlife. Her parents and siblings have lost their struggle in a very painful and public way. Michael Schiavo is forever demonized in the eyes of millions of people. The right-to-life movement has been damaged because some of its supporters have gone overboard, telling people with whom they disagree to rot in hell. The secular movement has lost because it seems to want Terri Schiavo to die. The media has lost because no matter what side you take, millions will dislike that conclusion. The judges, politicians, and clergy are in the same position. Whatever judgments they make, people will hate them for it. That's why the Democratic Senators simply vanished when the bill was put before them. Talking Points has never seen a story quite like this one, where there are simply no winners at all. But that's the case."
Transcript/Video: FoxNews.com
Father Richard McBrien and bioethics specialist John Kilner joined The Factor with their analysis of the Schiavo case. Father McBrien disagreed with a Vatican official who said removing Terri's feeding tube is the same as euthanasia. "Euthanasia involves the direct killing of an individual who is sick," Father McBrien said. "This is simply removing some extraordinary means of sustaining life. It doesn't involve direct killing." Kilner commented on a new poll showing most evangelical Christians have no objection to removing the feeding tube. "There's a stereotype of the evangelical Christian saying we must do everything possible until the last possible second. That's a false stereotype and there is a much more nuanced view in the evangelical community." The Factor said again this case has engendered an extraordinary amount of passion. "On both sides there's hatred. The hatred has stunned me on this story." |
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Guest: Attorney Keith Waters
Over the objections of Michael Jackson's defense team, Judge Rodney Melville has decided to allow testimony about boys who previously accused Jackson of molestation. Meanwhile, Jackson called into a radio show and compared himself to Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, and other blacks who have been oppressed. Civil rights attorney Keith Waters agreed with Jackson's assessment. "He's a black man in America, and many black men have been taken down in the media and by law enforcement. When the history is written, I think we'll see that a lot of this stuff has been racially motivated to try to take him down. Would this happen to a white person who is similarly situated?" The Factor strongly disputed the notion that race is a factor. "There isn't any motivation to try to take this man down. Look at Robert Blake, look at Martha Stewart. You're saying this is a racist deal, and you don't have anything to base it on." |
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Guest: Richard Humphries, Minuteman volunteer & former police officer
A California man has initiated the Minuteman Project, in which 1,000 volunteers will patrol the Arizona desert and report illegal aliens to authorities. President Bush has called members of the group "vigilantes," a description Minuteman volunteer Richard Humphries described as inaccurate and objectionable. "He's just horribly misinformed. We are not going to do anything illegal, and we are not taking the law into our own hands. We're simply an expanded neighborhood watch." Humphries elaborated on his own reason for joining the organization. "The illegal immigration situation has gotten worse and worse. Our government is not doing a thing to protect our borders." |
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Guest: Bill Owens, Governor of Colorado
The University of Colorado has still not dealt with the Ward Churchill controversy. A panel formed to investigate the radical professor has recommended that the case be passed to another group. Colorado Governor Bill Owens joined The Factor and expressed his disappointment. "What they've done is they've started the process that I believe will ultimately lead to his firing. Unfortunately, they can't do it quickly. It's going to take some time. He has a property right to this job in the sense of tenure, and you have to follow the rules to take it away from him." Governor Owens predicted Churchill eventually would be forced to leave. "I think we're going to find plagiarism, and it'll take a month or two to do this review. He wanted a buyout, but we're not giving him one." |
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Guests: Dr. Art Caplan, University of Pennsylvania & Father Gerald Murray, St. Vincent de Paul Parish
Even as Terri Schiavo neared death, her husband and her parents are still arguing about how to handle her funeral. Michael Schiavo wants to have Terri's remains cremated, while her parents desire a Catholic burial ceremony. Father Gerald Murray suggested a solution that might satisfy both sides. "I recommend a Catholic funeral with the body present, then hand it over to the husband for cremation. The idea of no one having a chance to mourn, we should fight that." Ethicist Arthur Caplan of the University of Pennsylvania expressed his hope that the funeral will begin a healing process. "From an ethics point of view, you hope everyone will come together and find agreement on how to have a memorial for her. This is the meanest, nastiest, most contentious dispute I've been around. This is a nation that is both riveted and as divided can be." |
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Guest: Fox News producer Chris Spinder & Dr. Frank Lucido
Marijuana opponents allege that it is far too easy to obtain marijuana in California, where medical use of the drug is legal. Fox News producer Chris Spinder showed just how easy it is when he visited a doctor in Los Angeles. "I went to a walk-in clinic, then had fifteen minutes with a doctor in his office. He did not examine me at all. He asked a few general questions, then printed out a form letter that enabled me to buy eight ounces of marijuana. It cost $250 in cash." Dr. Frank Lucido claimed Spinder's experience was far from typical. "The doctors I know have high standards. I spend 45 minutes with patients, I require documentation of diagnosis, so my standards are onerous to some people. This doesn't sound good, what you're telling me. But this is a minority." |
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