Stupidity & Selfishness...

Stupidity and selfishness often go together, and that's the subject of this evening's Talking Points memo.

Three examples.  First, late last Friday, Gary Condit announced he'd run again for Congress next year.  A Friday night political announcement is designed to get as little attention as possible.  Condit is doing that, despite the fact the Democratic Party doesn't want him to run, that he has publicly humiliated his wife and family, and that he has caused the family of Chandra Levy great suffering.

This man is a national embarrassment, yet he still feels he should not surrender his congressional seat.  This comes as no surprise to anyone who knows Gary Condit.  He's a selfish man who believes the earth revolves around him.  Much like Bill Clinton, Mr. Condit used his powerful position to exploit young women.  He indeed has no shame.

I know the good people of California's Central Valley will not reelect Gary Condit, but he needs to be sent a stronger message than that.  Mr. Condit needs to be shunned.  He's not a person worthy of any positive attention.

And then there's Russell Yates, the husband of Andrea Yates, who'll be tried next month for brutally murdering her five little kids.  Yates went on 60 Minutes last night and blamed doctors for his wife's horrible crimes.  Yet one of those doctors gave Yates and his wife a written statement saying they should not have any more children because Andrea Yates was at risk for mental illness if they did.

So Russell and Andrea Yates promptly went out and had another baby.  Selfish?  This one's off the charts.  Sure, the doctors might have screwed up treating Andrea Yates.  Doctors make mistakes all the time.  But Russell Yates knew his wife was unstable and had tried to kill herself, yet he had another child with her and left his wife unsupervised with the kids.

Now he's blaming the doctors.  Too bad this guy can't be charged.

Finally, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has won the Nobel Peace Prize.  But Annan does not want the United States to expand its war on terror to Iraq, oh, no, that might destabilize the Gulf region, says Annan.

This is choice.  Kofi Annan gets the Nobel Peace Prize, but he's unable to come up with many solutions to lasting peace.  Milosevic, America got him out.  Africa, the UN and Annan stood by and watched millions die in Rwanda.  Terrorism, the UN has done nothing to combat the rise of Muslim fundamentalism.  The Middle East, Annan is clueless.  The USA brokers all the peace conferences.

In my opinion, Kofi Annan talks a good game, but that's it.  The Nobel Peace Prize should be given to the armed forces of the United States.  Those brave men and women are risking their lives so the world can have a lasting peace.

Kofi Annan, well, he's having dinner.

And that's the memo.

The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

Time now for "The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day." 

The Factor is expanding, which is certainly ridiculous if you don't like us.  On Saturday evening, December 15, on the FOX Broadcast Network, that's channel 5 in New York, channel 11 in LA, et cetera, et cetera, the first-ever O'Reilly Factor special will be aired.  It is called In Defense of America, and it focuses on the Special Ops of the U.S. armed forces and the CIA.

We feature eight Americans who put their lives on the line, many secretly, to defend America.  Their stories are harrowing.

That's next Saturday, 9:00 Eastern/Pacific time on your local Fox station.  And of course we'd very much like you to watch it..

— You can watch Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points weeknights at 8 & 11p.m. ET.  And send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com