To watch "The Talking Points Memo" in the Screening Room click here.
Walter Cronkite comes clean. That is the subject of this evening's Talking Points memo.
After years of news reading and speech making, Mr. Cronkite has finally defined himself. Speaking to The Washington Post, he said, quote, "I would call myself a liberal, but I hope I don't lose my ability to be dispassionate."
Mr. Cronkite will begin writing a syndicated newspaper column this summer and says his first one will explain his opinion that most reporters are liberal. So, that should be interesting.
As you may remember, Talking Points took Cronkite apart for his criticism of the Iraq war because it was based on an international point of view, a liberal banner, that the will of other countries should dictate how the USA conducts foreign policy.
Well, I respectfully disagree. The primary goal of foreign policy should be to protect the American people from harm, both physical and economic. Frankly, I don't really care what the Belgians think. I will consider what they have to say, but it's certainly not a priority.
Cronkite and other liberals, like Joe Klein and Newsweek magazine, believe President Bush is arrogant in his dealings with the world, and there's some truth to that. But the arrogance, I believe, is borne out of frustration with countries like France, who clearly put their business dealings ahead of fighting terrorism. The proof of that is in the Middle East.
As Talking Points predicted right before the Iraq War began, the removal of Saddam Hussein has led to concessions from Israel and the Palestinians, and there's now hope some kind of compromise can be reached in this flash point region. Israel knows it has more security with American troops in the area, and the Arabs know that Mr. Bush means business, so it is in their interest to settle things down.
This, of course, is a tremendous breakthrough that you will not hear the fanatical left mention. They're still banging the weapons of mass destruction drum, which we will deal with in detail tomorrow.
The Bush haters are silent on the progress in the Middle East, the mass graves in Iraq, and the positive reception Bush received yesterday from the Arab leadership. The truth is that many countries are scared of American power, and that's a good thing.
Now, Walter Cronkite hid his liberalism well as the anchor of the CBS news, and, as an American, he's entitled to his ideology, but it's a far better thing for all journalists to strive for independent thinking and critical thinking, rather than pushing an agenda. It's not a stretch to believe that Cronkite's view of the world shaded his selection of news topics on CBS.
I laugh when I hear critics say that I shill for the right. It’s very hard for The Factor to book anyone from the Bush administration. The Democrats are much easier to get on here. That's because the party in power knows that I will insist they answer direct questions, and often they don't want to do that.
Hey, if you see John Ashcroft, tell him I said hello because I'll never get to see him.
Walter Cronkite is the poster boy for the elite media, and I'm glad he has finally come out of the closet. Very stuffy in there.
And that's The Memo.
The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day
Time now for Most Ridiculous Item of the Day.
Our pal, Paula Zahn, is supposed to be competing against us over at CNN, but she hasn't shown up for work in nearly a month. Where's Paula? Has anybody seen her? Should we put out a Paula alert?
If you have seen her, please let us know. We're worried. We hope nothing ridiculous has happened.
--You can watch Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points Memo and "Most Ridiculous Item" weeknights at 8 & 11p.m. ET on the Fox News Channel. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox