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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: Chad Sweet
"According to a new poll, Chris Christie is the 'hottest' politician in America, narrowly besting Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. But to the Hollywood and New York set, the former First Lady is still the hottest commodity out there. NBC, whose cable network is a 24-hour commercial for the DNC, is planning a 4-hour mini-series titled 'Hillary.' Conveniently, it only addresses Mrs. Clinton's life from 1998 to present, so there won't be a lot on Monica, 'Travelgate,' Vince Foster, or the Rose Law Firm. CNN is planning its own film, a feature-length documentary that will have a theatrical run in 2014. I have not even mentioned the film 'Rodham,' which focuses on Hillary Clinton's early professional years. What Republican candidate will get his or her own theatrical release or mini-series? Today Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus sent letters to CNN and NBC asking them to cancel their projects about Hillary. He says that if the programs are not canceled, he'll recommend that the RNC not partner with NBC News or CNN for the 2016 primary debates. It's about time the RNC does something that the grass roots can cheer. Republicans can't force the media to be more even-handed, but they aren't under the obligation to help them elect more Democrats." |
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Guests: Mary Katharine Ham & Bernard Whitman
Laura turned to the Al Qaeda terror threat that led to the temporary closing of United States embassies and consulates in many Muslim nations. Former CIA official Chad Sweet entered the No Spin Zone with his analysis. "This is very serious and very unusual," he stated, "especially the reports about surgically-implanted explosives, and this is clearly a reaction to what happened in Benghazi. The more disturbing aspect is the release of information showing that we had the phone numbers and got intelligence from the leaders of Al Qaeda. We have now burnt that source, we have cut off a major source of intelligence on two of the top leaders." Laura added, "This is a tacit admission that we cannot protect these embassies, even though they are sovereign territories of the United States."
During last year's campaign, President Obama repeated over and over that "Al Qaeda is on the run." Laura scrutinized the President's campaign message with Democratic strategist Bernard Whitman and FNC contributor Mary Katharine Ham. "The American people rightly gave President Obama credit for Osama bin Laden," Ham said, "but his message was that we're kind of done now, Al Qaeda is on the run. That was not the case, even though people wanted to hear that message and the press was happy to deliver that message." Whitman argued that President Obama's message was absolutely accurate. "He was playing straight with the American people. The fact is that Al Qaeda remains a threat, but it's a loose collection without a unified structure. Through programs like NSA surveillance and drone strikes, we've been able to get rid of a lot of the senior leadership." But Laura accused President Obama of misleading Americans, saying, "To downplay the threats for political reasons was reprehensible." |
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Guests: Jim Gray
Major League Baseball has suspended 13 players, including perennial all-star Alex Rodriguez, for using banned performance enhancing drugs. "Alex Rodriguez was suspended for 211 games," explained sports reporter Jim Gray, "and he has 72 hours to decide whether he will appeal. His attorney says he will appeal and take all possible legal remedies, so this looks like it will be a long and protracted process." Gray focused on the scandal's effect on the national pastime. "This has been a shadow over Major League Baseball for a couple of decades, and the way this has played out has put a damper on the season. Baseball had hoped that Rodriguez would accept the penalties and this would all be behind them, but he's not going to accept the penalties because there is $34 million involved. Rodriguez is portraying himself as a victim." |
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Guest: David Callahan
Far-left Democratic Congressman Keith Ellison is urging the federal government, despite its $17-trillion debt, to raise taxes in order to spend even more money. Laura welcomed David Callahan of the left-leaning Demos think tank, who also wants more government revenue. "It's not just the fringe left that supports raising taxes on the rich," he said. "The vast majority of Americans thinks we should raise taxes on the rich, and even a majority of millionaires says they should be paying higher taxes. We have a large budget deficit and the way to deal with that is not just spending cuts. I think we should raise taxes on the middle class and upper middle class as well, which is exactly what Bill Clinton did in the 1990s when we had a budget surplus and economic growth and job creation." |
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Guests: Ed Rollins & Chris Plante
Laura asked Republican strategist Ed Rollins and radio talk show host Chris Plante to look far ahead to 2016. "I think the nominee could be Chris Christie or one of several other governors," Rollins speculated. "The great strength of the party today is the 30 Republican governors across the country. We have people like Scott Walker in Wisconsin, who challenged the unions and changed that state dramatically, and people like John Kasich in Ohio and Bobby Jindal in Louisiana." Plante made the case for Senator Rand Paul. "As a libertarian voice, I think Rand Paul is the stark contrast to Hillary Clinton. He's not the pale pastels, he's the bright colors while Chris Christie is the run-of-the-mill establishment big-government Republican." |
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Guests: Former Congressman Dennis Kucinich
A new poll shows that only about a third of Americans consider NSA leaker Edward Snowden a "traitor," while most people describe him as a "whistleblower." Laura welcomed former Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who has consistently complained about excessive government surveillance. "There was very little resistance initially in Congress to the Patriot Act," Kucinich said, "but it's become a menace. The government has grown stronger, the executive branch has grown stronger and now is a threat to freedom. The Patriot Act has enabled the government to create a dragnet where they can gather all communications and look at them later. Everyone's a suspect, and what does that mean for our democracy? The Fourth Amendment makes it very clear that there should not be unreasonable searches and seizures unless there is probable cause, and this massive spying on Americans is fundamentally wrong!" Laura pointed out that opposition to widespread surveillance has created strange bedfellows: "Liberals and libertarians are now meeting on this issue, all saying they don't trust this type of big-government spying." |
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