Wednesday, January 30, 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
Bad economic news doesn't seem to matter to the folks
Guests: Bob Beckel

"The economy fell back in the last quarter; in fact, it was the worst economic performance since the second quarter of 2009. The U.S. economy shrank from October through December, hurt partly by defense spending cuts. President Obama has spent approximately $5 trillion trying to stimulate the economy, taxpayer money we'll never see again. He has added $5.8 trillion to the debt in just four years. So this is grim and America is in a bad place economically, but the folks don't seem to care! A new poll shows that 60% of Americans have a favorable opinion of President Obama, a three-year high. Americans like Barack Obama and they're cutting him a tremendous amount of slack. It could be style over substance, the President's achievements have been few. So we are living in a very interesting time - we have a popular President, a bad economy, and everybody paying more in taxes. It simply doesn't add up."

The Factor solicited another opinion from Bob Beckel, a Democrat and co-host of "The Five." "The economy, as compared to when he took office, is doing much better in people's minds," Beckel claimed. "The other thing is that he's a winner and you get an advantage from being a winner. People still believe he inherited such a bad economy that he had to dig himself out of a much deeper hole than most predicted. People like the guy, they think he's done a good job in a bad situation, and they flat-out don't like the Republican Party!" The Factor remained flummoxed, saying, "This is crazyland, 60% of the people approve of Barack Obama even though the economy is bad!"
Impact Segment
Crime, guns and sanity
Guests: Kirsten Powers and Kate Obenshain

The New York Times finally published a front-page story about the ongoing carnage in Chicago, despite its extremely tough gun laws. The Factor explored the Chicago situation with Democrat Kirsten Powers and Republican Kate Obenshain. "It's great that the New York Times reported on this," Powers said, "and they got into one of the most fundamental problems that is not discussed enough. Yes, the city has these gun laws, but the state and surrounding states don't. So you can go right outside the city limits and buy a gun." Obenshain rebutted that gun laws, whether in Chicago or elsewhere, are generally ineffectual. "The article broke through the swirl of emotion and actually pointed out that these oppressive gun laws are not working, in part because criminals do not buy guns from licensed gun owners. They buy guns from other criminals and they don't care what the gun laws are." The Factor concluded, "You have to federalize all gun crimes so there is uniformity in punishment."
Washington Beat Segment
Was any progress made in today's gun control hearings?
Guests: James Rosen and Carl Cameron

Fox News correspondents Carl Cameron and James Rosen reported on this week's gun control hearings on Capitol Hill. "Gabby Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly spoke today," Cameron said. "They have founded a political action committee to advocate gun control laws and combat the NRA, but the gun rights advocates have superior grass roots and a much better professional lobbying effort than the gun control crowd. A ban on semi-automatic rifles is going to be really tough to pass and even limiting high capacity ammunition magazines is going to meet a ton of resistance." Rosen turned to the accusations swirling around New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez "The FBI raided the Florida offices of an ophthalmologist named Dr. Salomon Melgen, a longtime friend and supporter of Senator Menendez. The two have traveled together on Melgen's plane to the Dominican Republic and there have been allegations that Senator Menendez engaged in sex with underage prostitutes. The Committee for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which has a pretty good track record, has asked the FBI to investigate whether Senator Menendez did indeed engage in 'sex tourism' in the Dominican Republican."
Factor Follow Up Segment
Christian pastor sentenced to 8 years in Iranian prison
Guests: Faraz Sanei

Christian pastor Saeed Abedini, a U.S. citizen, has been convicted of 'insurrection' and sentenced to prison in Iran. Faraz Sanei of Human Rights Watch expressed some optimism that Iran will bow to international pressure. "Pressure has worked in some cases," he said. "Another Christian pastor was sentenced for apostasy after he converted from Islam to Christianity and sentenced to death. Because of international pressure, his conviction was changed." Sanei laid out why Iran arrested Saeed Abedini. "They grabbed him because he is involved in the 'home church' movement in Iran, where many Christian converts and Protestants are not allowed to build churches. So they hold their ceremonies and services in homes." The Factor voiced absolute frustration at the feeble U.S. response: "There's an American in jail for eight years for doing nothing and the American government, powerful as it is, can't get him out."
Miller Time Segment
Who are the most popular TV personalities in America?
Guests: Dennis Miller

The Factor invited Dennis Miller to evaluate last night's interview with General Colin Powell. "First, thank you, General Powell, for protecting my skinny derriere your entire life," Miller began. "But, Billy, any time you brought up the fact that he talked about race, he said he didn't want to be asked that as black man but as an American. Sorry, Colin, you brought it up! I like you a lot, you're a great American and you protected me, but that's crap when you do that." Miller turned to a new poll listing America's favorite TV personalities. Ellen DeGeneres was on top of the heap, followed by Mark Harmon, Jon Stewart, Jay Leno, Jim Parsons, and a certain humble correspondent. "Look at you, Billy," Miller exclaimed, "tucked in there real cozy-like between Jim Parsons and Anderson Cooper. And I finished 1,632nd, right behind Gary Coleman, who has passed. I'm comin' at you, Bill!"
Back of Book Segment
Letterman and Lauer take on Al Gore for hypocrisy in the Current TV - Al Jazeera deal
Guests: Leslie Marshall

Matt Lauer and David Letterman both interrogated Al Gore over his recent sale of Current TV to Al Jazeera. After viewing clips from the interviews, The Factor invited Leslie Marshall to address Gore directly. "Al, I have to say it is a bit hypocritical," Marshall began, "to sell to Al Jazeera, which is based in Qatar, the land of oil and gas. However, I do commend you, especially after superstorm Sandy, for getting out in front of global warming. When you were pounding your chest and talking about 'An Inconvenient Truth,' we in America were deaf to your cries that we heed the warnings of global warming." The Factor denounced Gore as a through-and-through hypocrite. "Letterman and Lauer rattled him, but they could have knocked him out by saying that Al Jazeera threw a party for a guy who bashed a little girl's head in with a rifle. That alone disqualifies any decent human being from doing business with Al Jazeera."
Factor Mail
Viewers sound off
Victor Betancourt, Princeville, HI: "Bill, the fact that Alan Colmes liked your interview with Colin Powell should tell you what a waste of time it was."

John Sanderson, Lafayette, IN: "Bill, thanks for a powerful interview with Powell. I still respect his service to the country but not his political opinions."

Roger Johnson, Coburg, OR: "O'Reilly, once again you talked over and shouted down a respected guest! Shut your Irish yap."

Paul Sorensen, Oregon City, OR: "Thanks for challenging the general, O'Reilly. I hope Steve Kroft was taking notes."
Tip Of The Day
Powell poll
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