The O'Reilly Factor
A daily summary of segments aired on The O'Reilly Factor. A preview of the evening's rundown is posted before the show airs each weeknight.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Is President Obama protecting us against the danger from Iran?
Guests: Kirsten Powers and Lt. Col. Ralph Peters

"The campaign is heating up. The Iranian tyrant Ahmadinejad in New York today again, threatening Jews and demeaning gay people. That's what the man does. But Ahmadinejad is also presiding over the building of a nuclear weapon. Thus, the irrationality and aggressiveness of Iran is a primary presidential issue. Today at the United Nations, President Obama said, 'America wants to resolve this issue through diplomacy and we believe that there is still time and space to do so. But that time is not unlimited. A nuclear-armed Iran is not a challenge that can be contained. The United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.' Now the word 'must' is the key here because nobody really knows what that means. Even Mr. Obama might not know. But it sounds tough. However, Mitt Romney isn't buying it. In a time when the economy is dominating the campaign in the USA, it is worth noting that we Americans remain in danger from Muslim fanatics like Ahmadinejad. And that danger "must", note the word, be dealt with. According to a new Rasmussen poll, 45 percent of likely American voters believe that U.S./Muslim relations are worse now than they were four years ago. Just 18 percent say relations are better. That would seem to indicate a failure in the Obama foreign policy. Yet the President will point to the decimation of al Qaeda and the killing of bin Laden to persuade voters that he is not soft on the Muslim jihad. So this issue is a bit confusing and to be fair to President Obama opinions about his Muslim outreach are inconclusive at this point. Most Americans don't want war with Iran because that would send oil prices through the roof, hurt us all and possibly lead to World War 3. However, there is no way on this earth that Israel is going to allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. The Israelis will attack the Iranians. They will attack. It's just a matter of when. So Americans must decide which presidential candidate can better manage the situation. Things have not changed in Iran since Mr. Obama took office, except the Iranians are further down the road to development of the nuclear weapons. Governor Romney says he would get tougher with the Iranians by supporting Israel to a greater extent. It's an incredibly difficult situation but one that all Americans should be thinking about."

The Factor welcomed FNC analysts Kirsten Powers and Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Peters to get their takes on the Talking Points Memo. "I think Romney is, to a large extent, an unknown quality in foreign affairs," the Lieutenant began. "President Obama is a known quantity and that known quantity has failed in every single respect of foreign policy, except the SEALs killing bin Laden, which any President would have done." After Peters suggested war was a better alternative than allowing Iran to have a nuke, Powers brought up the inherent problem of the Iran debate: "we come back to... exactly what [Bill was] just saying, which is the only thing left is bombing Iran. And then you hear even people who are criticizing Obama say, but no we don't want to do that. So where does that leave us? But it just comes right down to the fact that the only thing that's going to stop them is -- is attacking them." The Factor disagreed, instead suggesting a naval blockade of Iran by the U.S. and NATO allies, such as was done to Cuba during the Cuban missile crisis. Powers concluded, "I don't think either of the candidates, frankly, are strong enough. And we need a leader that projects more strength."
Michelle Obama invokes slavery while talking about President Obama
Guests: Monica Crowley and Alan Colmes

While speaking at the Congressional Black Caucus gala last Saturday, Michelle Obama, while trying to prove a political point, brought up the fact that the White House was built in part by slaves. The Factor first defended the quote, saying she was telling an emotional story about how all African Americans should be proud to have a black man as president. But some object to using slavery to make political points. "All is fair in politics," began FNC Analyst Monica Crowley. "I do think it is a bit exploitative, but again we're talking about politics." FNC Analyst Alan Colmes disagreed, asserting that she was not turning this into a partisan issue, and that the point is we should all be proud our country has evolved to this point. The Factor disagreed, insisting that Michelle Obama was trying to get votes by implicitly referencing the voter registration issue - which is what makes the story exploitative, not the fact that she invoked slavery.
Did the Obama Administration water down welfare work requirements?
Guests: John Stossel

When President Obama took office, 32 million Americans were on food stamps. Now the number is 47 million. And there are charges that the Obama administration wants to get as many people as possible on the dole. Fox News Anchor John Stossel investigated whether or not welfare work requirements are becoming more lax under the Obama administration, and found that "there is no real evidence that they're intentionally watering down the work standards." In 1996, there were 25 million Americans on food stamps in the Clinton administration. After the welfare work rules were tightened up, there were 17 million. The Factor and Stossel agreed that this was a good thing, but Stossel claimed that, while it helped for a while, it was not sustained. He believes that states need to experiment to find what works, but The Factor concluded, "you don't experiment with the taxpayer money. You don't experiment with it."
Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer enters the No Spin Zone
Guests: Dakota Meyer

24-year-old Marine Corporal, Dakota Meyer, who received the Medal of Honor for Gallantry in Afghanistan in 2009, joined The Factor. His new book, "Into the Fire," gives a firsthand account of the most extraordinary battle in the Afghan War. When questioned about the current situation in Afghanistan, where American and NATO troops are forbidden to patrol with our Afghan allies, he was stumped. "I was living with these guys, these Afghans. And I trusted them with my life... they're just regular guys... I'm seeing the recent media here lately and it's just -- I don't know what's going on." He asserted that his tour was worth it, because he gets "to live in the greatest country on the face of the earth."
Texas woman arrested for letting her children play outside
Guests: Lis Wiehl and Kimberly Guilfoyle

Attorneys and Fox News Analysts, Kimberly Guilfoyle and Lis Wiehl joined The Factor to examine the case of a woman who was arrested in the great state of Texas for letting her children play outside. A neighbor called the cops with accusations of child neglect, claiming the kids were in the street, unsupervised. The mother claimed to be in her driveway the entire time. She was put in jail for 18 hours, and, even though the charges were dropped, is now suing the neighbor and the police department. The Factor showed its disdain for such cases, stating that the large majority of them are bogus.
Madonna loses it on stage in Washington, D.C.
On Monday in Washington D.C., during her concert, Madonna gave a dissertation on history and current events. She implored concertgoers to vote for Barack Obama, claiming, "for better or for worse, all right, we have a black Muslim in the White House." The Factor concluded that if a moron like that can make tens of millions of dollars and then have the freedom to spout whatever she wants, this is a great country.
Viewers sound off
Factor Words of the Day
Tom Harris, Placerville, CA: "Earth to O'Reilly. Maybe Romney didn't specify which deductions he would phase out because only the House has that authority. Wipe the egg off your face."

Bob Panott, Miami, FL: "Bill, you missed Howard's intention. His piece showed that some supporting President Obama are clueless."

David Aprohamian, Northville, MI: "Bill, you let Koppel skate. When he said, Fox news leans right, you should have pointed to the networks leaning left."
Book Mentions
Check out the books mentioned during this show.
Into the Fire: A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War
by Dakota Meyer and Bing West

Read more...
What the (Bleep) Just Happened?: The Happy Warrior's Guide to the Great American Comeback
by Monica Crowley

Read more...
Thank the Liberals* *For Saving America
by Alan Colmes

Read more...
Better Decision Making
Emotions lead us to make poor decisions. Every night, take a few minutes to write down the best and worst thing that happened to you that day. Then, at the end of the week, review what you wrote down. Notice patterns. Try to eliminate what is hurting you and do more of what makes you happy.