The Sniper and the Media

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Hi, I'm Bill O'Reilly. Thank you for watching us tonight.

The sniper and the media. That's the subject of this evening's Talking Points Memo.

Unlike some other cable news programs, we are not spending that much time covering the sniper, because facts are few and all the speculation actually feeds the maniac.

In my opinion, the sniper is loving the action, the attention, and the game in general. He shoots and then probably runs home to watch the spectacle play out on television.

Talking Points does not want to be a part of that, although we do have to report the nuts and bolts of the case to alert the public.

Now, a couple of nights ago I said that I sympathized with Chief Charles Moose, who got angry when the media broke the Tarot card story. Moose believes that public disclosure hurt his investigation.

But on The Radio Factor today, some callers pointed out that specific information could cause someone to call the cops about selling a person a Tarot card or some such, the thinking being that the more we know about the sniper, the more likely it is that someone with knowledge about him will be alerted.

It's really a tough call. Think about it. But as a journalist in this case, I have to defer to the police. If they want specifics kept quiet, I'm okay with that.

Whoever the sniper is has created his own horror film with him as a star. I believe he does care much about his own life and simply wants to do as much damage as possible before he's caught or killed. There's no defense against evil like that, and no upside to promoting it.

Another radio caller suggested that the sniper might be a foreign terrorist. But again, this kind of speculation just feeds his psychopathic fire. Some are asking if the shooter could be a woman, a former military person, on and on.  But it's obvious that kind of stuff goes nowhere.

The cops will get this guy, and then those of us in the media can go as wild as we want, but until then, we should tone it down.

And that's The Memo.

The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

Time now for the "Most Ridiculous Item of the Day," which each Friday from now on will be our choice as the "Villain of the Week."

Of course, that despicable sniper is in a category all by himself. But that's too easy and obvious. So our choice for "Villain of the Week" is Miss America chief executive George Bauer, who scolded the new Miss America, Erika Harold, for wanting to include an abstinence message in her presentation to children.

After The Washington Times broke the story, Bauer quickly backed down, but we know what you really think, Georgie! It's ridiculous. Mr. Bauer, "Villain of the Week."

— You can watch Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points and "Most Ridiculous Item" weeknights at 8 & 11p.m. ET on the Fox News Channel. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com