While "The Factor" has utter disdain for the far left, people like George Soros and some of the loons on NBC, we have no beef with moderate liberal Americans who hold sincere beliefs and do not traffic in hatred.
It was interesting to hear Mr. Stewart put forth that Fox News is in business to help Republicans. I rebutted that, and you can decide who had the stronger argument.
Mr. Stewart bases his GOP belief primarily on two guys, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck. As everybody knows, Sean is a conservative who admires the politics of Ronald Reagan, and he is very consistent with his point of view. So why does that offend people? Shouldn't there be one program, one program on cable news hosted by a political conservative? Does CNN have anybody like that? Does MSNBC? Does "Headline News"? Come on.
And then there's Glenn Beck. Trust me on this one: Beck doesn't like most party politics. He is a constitutionalist. He takes a very traditional point of view on what America should be. It's ridiculous, crazy even to assert that Glenn Beck devotes his program to promoting the GOP.
As far as the rest of Fox News is concerned, we have plenty of Republicans and plenty of Democrats on the staff, but nobody here really cares about that. If you're good at your job, you get to keep your job. If you watch the reporting by our hard news people, much of it brought to you by Bret Baier and Shepard Smith, two very fair guys, you know it's all facts, all the time.
Now Stewart has a minor beef with the "Fox & Friends" crew in the morning, but that's a hybrid news/entertainment program. So my question for John is this: You have an entertainment program. You're a liberal. So what if some of the "Fox & Friends" crew are conservative? Doesn't that balance things out?
For 13 years, liberal America has been frustrated with Fox News because we are the first TV news operation in history that actually gives conservatives and traditional Americans a voice. I mean, look at the roster: Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Bill Moyers, Ted Koppel, Tom Brokaw, all lean left, and these are the biggest names in broadcast journalism history.
So I understand the shock and awe that some liberals feel about Fox News. I feel their pain. We are different, but that doesn't mean the network is in business to shill for anybody. It just means that finally conservatives get a break on the tube. And if you object to that, you're not fair and balanced.
And that's "The Memo."
Pinheads & Patriots
Time now for "Pinheads & Patriots," the Jon Stewart edition. There is some hope for the newspaper industry. Writing about the Stewart-O'Reilly interview, Los Angeles Times media critic Matea Gold filed an excellent piece. Accurate, honest and entertaining. Also, The Baltimore Sun's David Zurawick was perceptive in his appraisal. So both are patriots this evening.
Click here to watch "Pinheads & Patriots"!
On the pinhead front, the "Morning Joe" crew said this about the interview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE SCARBOROUGH, HOST, MSNBC'S "MORNING JOE": Bill O'Reilly light very well, evenly. And then Jon Stewart, you notice the shadows on the face, seriously? It looks like "Meet the Beatles," 1964. You can see one face of — now there's no doubt the lighting director decided, "We're going to..."
MIKA BRZEZINSKI, CO-HOST, MSNBC'S "MORNING JOE": Look at that. Unbelievable.
SCARBOROUGH: Look at this. Great lighting. He's leaning back now. He's getting a little bit of light on his face. When he — when he moves forward though, it's, yes, John, Paul, George, Ringo, "Meet the Beatles." I guess it's high art.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Now, the fact that I actually looked good during the interview was a miracle. The same lighting is used for everyone, every day. We should note Mr. Stewart did not want any makeup for the chat, and that's to his credit. The NBC people may be pinheads here.
— 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
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