Eight years ago, long before the border alien controversy erupted as a major issue, I said this:

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O'REILLY: After much study and thought, I've come to the conclusion that the military has to secure the Mexican border. One of the mandates of the federal government is to provide security for American citizens from outside forces.

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Well, I got hammered for that opinion. But the open border zealots and people like Republican Senator Chuck Hagel said this:

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SEN. CHUCK HAGEL, R-NEB.: I think we have to be very careful here. That's not the role of our military. That's not the role of our National Guard.

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As I said at the time, what is it about the words "National Guard" that you don't understand, Senator?

Well, it took six years, but under heavy pressure from you, Americans who want secure borders, President Bush finally ordered 6,000 Guard to the border.

Fast forward to now. An article Thursday in the very liberal New York Times says that the National Guard has been very successful working with the Border Patrol. In fact, border incursions are down 40 percent based on apprehension stats. Also, the border state governors now want the Guard to stay, even though the deployment is up in July.

Homeland Security says there are now enough Border Patrol agents, more than 16,000, to secure the border, so the Guard is no longer needed. Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff has done a good job on the border, so we'll take him at his word. But there's no question the National Guard stopped a lot of bleeding on the Mexican border, both literally and figuratively.

"Talking Points" is happy to report the success in the fight against immigration chaos, because the campaign has been so bitter. As you know, the open border crowd has a tendency to demonize those with whom they disagree, calling them racist, that kind of stuff.

To their lasting shame, columnists in The Denver Post, The San Diego Tribune and The Dallas Morning News have specialized in that.

But clear-thinking Americans realize that immigration must be an ordering process, especially now that the economy is receding and there's more competition for jobs. Fair-minded people don't object to guest-worker programs, but they do object to people walking across the Rio Grande undocumented and setting up shop on a main street near you.

So we together have won an important battle in this campaign. The border is much more secure than it was, and the Guard helped a lot.

And that's "The Memo."

Pinheads & Patriots

Both the Boston Red Sox and the San Diego Padres are providing free seats for our military people. Also, the Padres have a special camouflage uniform honoring our troops in the field.

For these gestures, the organizations in Boston and San Diego earn the patriot label.

On the pinhead front, hi there, Katherine Heigl. The actress who appears in "Grey's Anatomy" says she will not apply for an Emmy nomination this year because the writing on her program is so bad. She won a supporting actress Emmy last year.

Miss Heigl is a pinhead, because like Mother Nature, it's not nice to fool around with the writers, ever.

— You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" and "Pinheads & Patriots" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the FOX News Channel and any time on foxnews.com/oreilly. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com