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Juan Williams fills in tonight. |
| 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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| Juan began Friday's show with the new and controversial full-body X-ray scans being employed at U.S. airports. TSA boss John Pistole entered the No Spin Zone and responded to widespread hostility aimed at his agency. "The bottom line," Pistole said, "is how do we best provide for the security of the traveling public in light of a determined enemy who is adept at constructing well-designed, well-concealed devices which would not show up in a walk-through metal detector? We're trying to employ the best technology to identify any possible threat." Pistole added that the TSA is working closely with intelligence agencies. "We put people of concern on the watch list or the no-fly list, so we have a number of layers of security beyond the airport checkpoint. We gather as much information about a passenger as the law allows without profiling." Juan suggested that the TSA should end its ban on profiling: "The government refuses to profile passengers who are most likely to blow up planes; many Americans don't think grandmas and little kids are a threat, they say Islamic extremists are the ones who are involved in terrorism." |
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| Juan asked Geraldo Rivera for his take on new airport security measures. "The screening is not results-oriented," Rivera complained. "The whole procedure is to comply with some political correctness and a desire to appear even-handed, but that is preposterous. You shouldn't treat grandma from Bensonhurst the same way you treat the kid with a one-way ticket from Yemen." Rivera advocated 'reverse profiling' that would enable low-risk passengers to avoid intensive screening. "I would hugely increase the number of people who get a pass - the million-mile frequent flyer, the people from Disney tour groups, the synagogue and church groups. There are classes of people for whom the prospect of terrorism is infinitesimally remote." |
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| Attorney General Eric Holder is under fire from both the left and the right, particularly after suspected terrorist Ahmed Ghailani was acquitted of 284 out of 285 counts in a federal court. Juan was joined by former Bush speech writer Michael Gerson, who explained why he wants Holder to be canned. "His whole detainee policy has collapsed," Gerson declared. "Holder was the prime author of this idea that terrorists need to be tried in civilian courts. In order to have a new policy, they're going to have to have a new Attorney General." Gerson recommended military trials for alleged terrorists. "The rules of evidence are more liberal and it's the most appropriate place to try someone who was captured during a war." Juan contended that some conservatives may be "picking on Holder as a way to make President Obama look bad." |
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| Vice President Joe Biden admitted that Sarah Palin would be a formidable candidate in 2012. Juan scrutinized the VP's comments with Fox News analysts Leslie Marshall and Dana Perino. "He was just telling the truth," Perino said. "He is also showing that Democrats should stay energized because nothing makes Democrats angried than thinking about Sarah Palin as president. I think Joe Biden played it very safe." Marshall theorized that a Palin nomination would enable President Obama to cruise to victory in 2012. "As a talk show host, she's my dream candidate because she gives me plenty of material. But while a lot of Republicans like her, a lot of them don't feel she's qualified, so I think it would make it an easy reelection bid for President Obama." Marshall added that calls for Attorney General Eric Holder's scalp after the Ghailani verdict are misguided. "Do we have to switch attorney generals until we get a verdict we want? Thank God the lady of justice is blind - our court system proved that we want truth based on the evidence." |
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| Some black civil rights activists, among them Congressman John Lewis, are standing up for Congressman Charlie Rangel, who was found guilty of multiple ethics violations. Juan welcomed Florida Congressman-elect Allen West, a black Republican who recently won election to the House. "I just came through one of the nastiest races in the country," West pointed out, "during which I was accused of being a member of an all-white motorcycle gang and a drug dealer. Yet John Lewis came down and campaigned against me and for my opponent. There is a duplicitous standard and hypocrisy where certain rules apply to everyone else, but those same rules don't apply to the left. Why didn't John Lewis come down and say something about racism as it related to what I was going through?" |
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| Finally, Juan introduced Bill's recent interview with "Walter," a puppet who sat on the lap of ventriloquist and author Jeff Dunham. Bill asked the dummy for advice on getting along with the women of The View. "We were actually on that show," Walter said, "but we mentioned your name and they got up and left. You should either get a puppet or sit on Jeff's other knee." Walter then registered a few wooden complaints about President Obama. "Reagan made us feel fantastic about who we were, but I don't feel that way when I listen to Obama, although I'm sure he's a good man and he seems like a good father and a good husband. But I feel warm and fuzzy about you, Bill." Bill promptly invited the puppet-American to join the program as a regular contributor. |
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| Friday's Patriot or Pinhead: Jay Leno, who interviewed George W. Bush and showed a clip of the former President trying to walk through a locked door during a visit to China. Is Leno a Patriot or a Pinhead for having President Bush re-live an embarrassing incident? You can make the call by voting here on BillOReilly.com. |
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