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Laura Ingraham |
| 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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Guests: Bernard Whitman & Pastor Robert Jeffress
Laura began Wednesday's show with the two Supreme Court rulings that were hailed as victories by same-sex marriage advocates. Democratic strategist Bernard Whitman and Pastor Robert Jeffress analyzed the decisions. "This is an extraordinary day for all Americans," Whitman declared, "because the Supreme Court has affirmed what a majority of Americans has come to realize - that a loving couple, be they gay or straight, should have the ability to love whomever they want and to enter into marriage. This strengthens our families, our communities, and America as a whole." But Jeffress argued that the Supreme Court overturned common sense. "In 1885 the Supreme Court said that marriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman from which all good things in society come. What has changed since then? The Constitution hasn't changed, what has changed is the culture, and the Supreme Court caved to political correctness. I'll remind your other guest that neither he nor any of us would be here had it not been for a heterosexual union between a man and a woman." Laura added that most states have passed laws banning same-sex marriage: "We have more than 30 states where the people have decided that they view marriage as between a man and a woman. Are we now to believe that all those states are derogatory and dismissive of gay Americans?" |
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Guests: Kate Obenshain & Kirsten Powers
According to a new Fox News poll, President Obama's approval rating has dipped to 43%. Laura welcomed Democrat Kirsten Powers and Republican Kate Obenshain, who scrutinized the President's falling poll numbers. "There has been an explosion of scandals," Powers said, "and I don't know how anyone could hold up under that. I feel like the NSA scandal was the tipping point after people were already frustrated by the IRS situation and Benghazi. The President doesn't look great when somebody is on the run from the United States and exposing secrets." Obenshain argued that President Obama's declining popularity is mostly of his own doing. "The President is not a victim of these controversies and scandals, he actually perpetrated them. He's always relied on his 'likeability' factor, but right now that is down and for the first time a majority of Americans don't even like the President." The political rivals also put forth wildly divergent opinions of the First Family's trip to Africa. Obenshain: "A $100-million trip is
excessive while 76% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck!" Powers: "The amount of money being spent on this trip is same as any other trip a president has gone on." |
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Guest: Hilary Shelton
The Supreme Court has ruled against sections of the Voting Rights Act that required certain states to obtain federal approval for their voting procedures. Laura was joined by Hilary Shelton of the NAACP, who denounced the Court's decision. "This is a big setback because the Voting Rights Act has proven to be a very helpful tool in preventing discrimination," he opined, "and so the question becomes, why would you change any of it? We're still seeing a lot of discrimination at the state and local level in voter participation, we've seen all kinds of deceptive actions." But Laura contended that parts of the Voting Rights Act had outlived their usefulness: "The Court has said that it's no longer 1965 and we've made great progress. We're not in the same place we were in 48 years ago when we had poll taxes and literacy tests." |
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Guests: David Johnson & Deneen Borelli
Celebrity chef Paula Deen, who was fired by The Food Network after admitting to using racial slurs long ago, made an emotional plea for forgiveness on NBC's Today show. Laura discussed the debacle with public relations expert David Johnson. "She's losing these gigs because of how she's handled the crisis," Johnson averred. "It's her failure to apologize and really get in front of the story in the first 48 hours. It's reprehensible that rappers or anybody uses the 'n' word, but from a PR standpoint the problem hasn't been what she said, it's how she handled the damage control." Fox News contributor Deneen Borelli implied that Deen is being unfairly maligned. "She has apologized but the media continue to pound her. She's being vilified for something she did years ago." Laura added that many rappers routinely use the same language that got Deen fired: "The culture has steeped itself in language that's reprehensible and demeaning. If you look through the hip-hop music chart, it's hard to find one song that doesn't use some offensive word. It's considered okay for certain people to use the 'n' word, but not for Paula Deen because she's a white lady from the South." |
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Guests: Eric Schwartzreich & Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi
Jurors at the George Zimmerman murder trial heard testimony Wednesday from Rachel Jeantel, who was on the phone with Trayvon Martin just before he was shot to death. Former prosecutor Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi described the testimony as damning. "This was bone-chilling testimony," she pronounced. "The jury could actually feel the rainy night, they could feel Trayvon Martin telling this young woman that this guy was following him. You have criminal liability starting to build very powerfully in this case." But attorney Eric Schwartzreich pointed out that, in that same phone call, Trayvon Martin said he was being followed by a "creepy-ass cracker." "This is a definite problem for the prosecution," he theorized. "This is an all-white female jury, and to hear the term 'cracker' being used by Trayvon Martin is definitely a problem for the prosecution. The jurors might wonder whether Martin was racist himself." Turning to another high-profile case, Schwartzreich commented on the arrest of New England Patriots football star Aaron Hernandez, who has been charged with murdering his friend Odin Lloyd. "There is circumstantial evidence, but I haven't heard any evidence that actually puts the gun in his hand. They have the bullet casings, but do they have any evidence that he was the trigger man?" |
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Guest: Alexis McGill Johnson
Texas State Senator Wendy Davis garnered national attention Wednesday night when she filibustered for 13 hours in an effort to block anti-abortion legislation. Laura was joined by Alexis McGill Johnson, who sits on the board of Planned Parenthood. "What we're talking about is protecting the legal right for a woman to make a personal and complex decision," Johnson said, "so this wasn't just Planned Parenthood that had a victory last night, it was millions of women who stood with Wendy Davis. As long as abortion is safe and legal, we have the right to fight for it. Texas is just a small piece of this story, this year we've had some 700 bills that affect women's rights to their own bodies." Laura argued that pro-choice organizations like Planned Parenthood were greatly damaged by abortionist and murderer Kermit Gosnell: "You are feeling the heat because of what happened with Gosnell, which shone a light on what abortion is. Late-term abortion is startling to a generation of Americans that has a new sense of what the inside of the womb looks like. People are becoming more pro-life." |
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Guests: Jack Pierce & John Rogers
Bill has been on a crusade to raise money to purchase Track Chairs for severely wounded veterans. Laura spoke about the high-tech chairs with two vets who have been using them. "The chair changed my life tremendously," said Sgt. Jack Pierce. "I've always been an outdoor person and one of the things I missed was being able to get out on hiking trails or to the beach. The Track Chair opened that back up to me and now I can take my son out to go fishing." Sgt. John Rogers also extolled the life-changing technology of the Track Chair. "The chair gets you off the pavement, you can maneuver the soft terrain. So I can go out for a walk with my wife." Laura reminded viewers that there is much more information about Track Chairs at the website IndependenceFund.org. |
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