Updated

On Saturday, Sarah Palin addressed a Tea Party gathering in Nevada. Authorities say 8 to 10,000 people showed up to hear Mrs. Palin hammer Sen. Harry Reid in his hometown:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN: So Harry Reid comes from these parts. You know, he served on the state's Gaming Commission and what he is doing now is gambling our future. And somebody needs to tell him this isn't a crapshoot. Just a lot of this is being crap though.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Obviously, the left despises that kind of rhetoric, and now there are charges that Sarah Palin incites violence and sows discord.

It's clear that some on the American left fear the Tea Party movement and that there is a media strategy to brand Tea Party people as racist.

Writing in The Miami Herald over the weekend, columnist Leonard Pitts says this about the Tea Party: "Their stated fears — socialism, communism, liberalism — are just proxies for the one fear most of them no longer dare speak ... it insults intelligence to deny that race is in the mix."

So you can see what's emerging. The most ardent critics of President Obama are going to be labeled racist and extremist. Ironically, the extremist label is used by some on the right against the president.

Last week's awful confrontation outside the Capitol where charges that the n-word was used by anti-Obamacare demonstrators signifies how intense this issue has become.

As "The Factor" reported, there is no proof of any racial invective, but we do believe harsh words were spoken by a few demonstrators.

The Tea Party would be wise to publicly disassociate itself from hateful rhetoric. I gave them this advice six weeks ago:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O'REILLY: The Tea Party people themselves should be careful. Most Americans are not ideologues. They are just folks who want a fair system and a noble country. Every time a Tea Party person threatens to overthrow the government or other nonsense, the brand gets hammered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

There is no question that the USA is now a divided country, and that's not all bad. We need to debate what kind of a nation we want to be.

But there is no place for racial invective or bogus charges of such. Sincere protest should be respected in America. It should not be branded as racist unless there is proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Certainly that is not the case with the Tea Party. They are not responsible for loons who may lurk among them.

Finally, any media person using the race card should be called on it by you. Turn them off, cancel your newspaper subscription.

And that's "The Memo."

Pinheads & Patriots

We are on day four of our auction to benefit Operation Shoebox and USA Cares, two very worthy military charities. We are auctioning off five autographed copies of my upcoming book "Pinheads and Patriots: Your Place in the Age of Obama."

The fourth cover was won by Evelyn Hylton from Gainesville, Virginia, who bid $10,000, and I will match that.

Bidding on the final cover is taking place right now, and everybody who participated is a patriot, especially Evelyn.

Click here to watch "Pinheads & Patriots"!

On the pinhead front, singer Katy Perry on the Kids' Choice Awards:

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KATY PERRY, SINGER: And your favorite movie actress is...

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For dousing Ms. Perry, Nickelodeon is a pinhead. Can an entire network be a pinhead? Yes.

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