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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: Col. David Hunt & Christian Whiton
"Taking a page out of the Hitler playbook, Russian President Putin has invaded Ukraine, saying Russian nationals are in danger in that country. Putin's invasion of the Crimea is a clear international violation. He is punishing Ukraine for wanting to move into the European Union because their economy is so bad. The incident is a huge embarrassment to the Obama administration, which some believe to be soft on international danger. Secretary of State Kerry said Putin 'will lose on the international stage,' but the only way Russia will lose is if President Obama moves quickly to punish that nation. The way to do that is to move against Russian banks. The U.S. has the power to crush the Russian currency, which is already in trouble. Freezing Russian assets and boycotting Russian banks would badly damage the Russian currency. Also, Russia should immediately be suspended from the G8 partnership. There are a number of smaller things that can be done, but the bank deal would hurt Putin deeply. It's long past time to deal with this thug - he is a menace to the world and a killer who could not care less about international law or human rights. We can't fight him militarily, but we can damage Russia economically. If the USA looks weak on this one, we'll pay a heavy price."
The Factor was joined by Christian Whiton, who advised George W. Bush on foreign policy issues, and military analyst Col. David Hunt. "We can help central Europe get free of Russian energy," Whiton said, "which has been used against Ukraine and our European allies. We should expedite the Keystone XL pipeline and there are other regulatory hurdles the Obama administration has erected to exporting natural gas. If we can get through those, it will go a long way toward taking resources away from Putin." Hunt dismissed the idea of freezing Russian bank assets and destroying the ruble. "You can't throw the switch to shut down the banking, it takes too much other cooperation and I don't think the United States can do that by ourselves. I don't see anything we can do to push this man out of the Crimea, and I don't think we have a dog in this fight." |
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Guest: Brit Hume
FNC analyst Brit Hume assessed President Obama's reaction to the Russian crisis. "This does remind one of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan," Hume said, "and the profession of astonishment from Jimmy Carter. President Obama doesn't seem to have seen this coming, and the question now is whether he can rally other nations to his leadership. With other nations on our side Russia could be kicked out of the G8 and maybe even the World Trade Organization. But a lot of European countries depend on energy supplies that flow from or through Russia, and they will be hesitant to be too aggressive." The Factor urged Western nations to take a forceful stand, saying, "Putin has to be punished, and if the other members of NATO aren't going to go along with us, we should pull out of NATO." Hume concluded the segment with a harsh critique of President Obama's foreign expertise. "Barack Obama misunderstands the world, he had limited experience of it, and he has proved to be a very slow learner." |
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Guest: Bob Costas
Bob Costas, who anchored NBC's Olympic coverage, was criticized for statements that seemed to praise Vladimir Putin's strength and diplomatic skill. Costas entered the No Spin Zone to defend his comments. "This is a controversy only for those looking for the most flimsy pretext for a controversy," he declared. "That was not a profile of Putin, it was a setup to a conversation in which Putin would be called an 'autocrat' who wants to make his nation much more influential and consequential. We were framing the backdrop against which these Olympics took place. I talked about corruption being endemic in Russia, I talked about the jailing of dissidents, I talked about their terrible human rights record, and I talked about their alliances with Syria and Iran. Putin is a former KGB operator and he's a villain!" |
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Guest: Bob Costas
Returning for a second segment, Bob Costas opined on whether the Olympics should ever be held in autocratic nations such as Russia and China. "The International Olympic Committee argues that by putting the Olympics in various countries," Costas said, "it pushes these states in a positive direction. But I don't see evidence of that in Beijing or Moscow." Costas then reiterated that his comments about Putin were taken completely out of context. "What I said about Putin during these games was pertinent, it was judicious, and selecting this one thing out of context completely misstates my position." The Factor jokingly concluded, "I know you're not some lunatic leftist, you're basically a baseball guy, you're not smart enough to be an ideologue." |
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Guest: Bernie Goldberg
During an interview on the Today Show, author David Remnick seemed to imply that the United States can't denounce Vladimir Putin because America has also invaded sovereign nations. The Factor invited reaction from media analyst Bernie Goldberg. "What Remnick should have said," Goldberg opined, "is that when the United States invades a country it's to free people and not to build an American empire. When Putin invades a country, it is never to free people and it may very well be to build a new Russian empire. But I don't think Remnick was saying Putin was a good guy, he's saying it's harder to deal with him because Putin claims we don't have clean hands either." The Factor was not quite as willing to give Remnick the benefit of the doubt: "He believes the United States is a flawed country, he doesn't see that big of a difference between Putin and the USA. It steams me and it's an insult to the military." |
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Guests: Juan Williams & Mary Katharine Ham
The Factor asked Juan Williams and Mary Katharine Ham how they would deal with Putin. "I would freeze all the assets the Russians have in international banks," Williams said, "and I would make it painful for the ruling class in Russia. I might also ban travel for all Russians who want to come to the United States. If you make it uncomfortable on the Russian people, they'll make it uncomfortable on Putin." Ham essentially said she would be the antithesis of President Obama. "The first thing I would do, if I were president, is to have a coherent foreign policy that allows you to be believed when you say things. But if I had dug myself a hole, as the president has done by not being credible, the best bet is to push Europe to get Russia out of the G8." |
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| Exuding classic beauty and grace, actresses Sandra Bullock, Amy Adams, and Jennifer Lawrence stood out at the Academy Awards and were reminiscent of the great stars of yore. |
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Sam Harvey, Indio, CA: "Why am I not surprised that two out of three African-Americans who appeared on Friday's Factor want to look outside the black community for problem-solving rather than from within."
Robert Northrop, Rockville, MD: "Bill, you ask if kids are better off today or 50 years ago. When discussing hip hop I think the answer is obvious. Compare that to The Four Tops, The Temptations, and The Supremes."
Rick Hammond, Jamestown, NY: "Mr. O, I believe your crusade against the rap industry is misguided. The real problem is lack of supervision in the home." |
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