By , ,
Published May 18, 2015
Shawn Hornbeck, the kidnapped 15-year-old, appeared with Ms. Winfrey just six days after police freed him from that despicable predator Michael Devlin, who entered a "not guilty" plea today to kidnapping charges.
Shawn went missing four years ago. Ms. Winfrey was gentle with him:
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OPRAH WINFREY: What would you do all day? Could you tell us that? Do you feel comfortable?
SHAWN HORNBECK, KIDNAP VICTIM: I would mostly sleep. It is the only way I could ever pass the time.
WINFREY: Sleeping.
HORNBECK: It was just basically what I did. Sleeped (sic) or watched TV or played video games.
WINFREY: Can you tell me how you got through these past four years?
HORNBECK: Hope and praying.
WINFREY: Hope and praying. You said you would pray and cross yourself every night.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Oprah told her audience there were ground rules for the interview and she could not ask Shawn on camera why he didn't try to escape from Devlin. Off camera, apparently he told her he was too scared to leave the predator.
This case has captivated the entire country and is now becoming political. The far-left smear Web sites have vilified me for raising questions about the situation and predictability "The View" ladies took the bait.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOY BEHAR, 'VIEW' CO-HOST: Bill O'Reilly has said that he does not believe in the Stockholm Syndrome. You know this kid who was kidnapped in Missouri — isn't it Missouri? Yes. He says that.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: That it rarely happens. He doesn't believe — he thinks that the kid basically was free to roam around and could have gone home and why didn't he? Almost like blaming the kid. I think it's really abominable.
ROSIE O'DONNELL, 'VIEW' CO-HOST: Yes. Do you know why he thought that?
JOY BEHAR, 'VIEW' CO-HOST: Why?
O'DONNELL: Because the kid has a pierced lip.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Well, that's completely absurd. But what else is new?
Cutting through all the nonsense, the bottom line on this story is that Shawn Hornbeck fell victim to evil — pure evil. And every American parent should use this case to instruct their children on how to confront evil because sooner or later they will have to. Simplistic stuff like Stockholm Syndrome and the like get us nowhere.
There are a lot of unanswered questions in this case that are important. But two things override all of them:
First, Shawn Hornbeck is a victim. And he should be helped in every way possible.
And second, American children must be prepared to fight against frightening things — prepared to fight against them. And they must be warned those things are real.
All the other nonsense can walk as far as I'm concerned. Society must deal harshly with these predators — are you listening Vermont? And parents must aggressively educate their kids regarding the true dangers of the world, because nobody else will.
And that's The Memo.
Most Ridiculous Item
The annual Harris Poll of popular TV people is out. And here is the top 10:
No. 1, Oprah.
No. 2, somebody named Jon Stewart.
No. 3, that O'Reilly guy.
Whoa, wait a minute. How can this happen? I'm not the third most popular TV person. Where's Colbert? How about Neil Cavuto? And I'm not even going to mention Steve Doocy. This is brutally unfair to those gentlemen.
The list continues with Hugh Laurie, Letterman, Leno, Romano, Kiefer Sutherland, Ellen DeGeneres and Conan O'Brien.
Hey, you got robbed, Cavuto. At least, that's what you told me earlier this afternoon.
Ridiculous? You make the call. No. 3, the bullet.
—You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" and "Most Ridiculous Item" 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
https://www.foxnews.com/story/shawn-hornbeck-appears-on-oprah