Canada's Dangerous Game

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Hi, I'm Bill O'Reilly. Thank you for watching us tonight... Canada playing a dangerous game with America. That is the subject of this evening's Talking Points Memo.

In one of the most self-destructive political positions I have ever seen, Canada said it will not hand over any wanted Iraqis, including Saddam, if they wind up in Canadian hands. Canada's top naval commander in the Gulf says he's under orders not to hand over any Iraqis his ships detain to the USA.

And Canadian Minister of Defense John McCallum is quoted as saying if Saddam were captured by Canadians, he should be turned over into an international court, instead of to coalition forces.

In the face of continuing hostility from Ottawa, President  Bush has canceled his May trip to Canada and, indeed, millions of other Americans are growing increasingly angry with the Chretien government. But former President Bill Clinton may not be among them. According to Chretien, he, who is vacationing in the Dominican Republic right now, he and Mr. Clinton may be getting together soon, perhaps for a little golf. That, of course, would be a major snub to President  Bush.

Now, Talking Points had had some differences with Mr. Clinton over the years but does not wish the former president ill. So, here's some No Spin advice for you, Mr. Clinton: Don't schmooz around with Jean Chretien at this point in time. If you do, a firestorm of bad will will befall you. Americans are still grieving over the loss of 124 military people in Iraq, and Jean Chretien has been a hindrance to the USA in an effort to remove Saddam.

Also, a strong case can be made that Bill Clinton's failure to effectively confront the terror of Al Qaeda and Saddam brought 9/11 and the war in Iraq on America. You can debate that all day long. But there's no debate that by meeting with Jean Chretien, Clinton would be embarrassing Bush, and that would cause a major amount of anger in many quarters. So, trust that Hillary will put the brakes on any such meeting. She doesn't want that on the Clinton family resume because it would hurt her run for president in 2008.

Canada is utterly dependent on the USA for its economic well being, as we know. Nine million Americans cross into Canada more than 40 million times each year. We spend at least $10 billion up there annually and we're taxed billions more by the socialistic government. So, if we stop going north, Canadians will fall into a depression, not a recession, a depression.

Jean Chretien will leave office in February 2004, and the world can only hope a more responsible leader will emerge. Canadians are generally good people. The country has been a loyal ally to of the USA in the past, and perhaps Chretien is simply a misguided soul.

But then again, maybe Canada has changed its world view and cannot be considered a friend any longer. If that's the case, I will make this forecast -- it will get much colder up there.

And that's The Memo.

The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

Time now for "The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day"...

Another baseball umpire was attacked in Chicago.  This time, four thugs jumped on to the field during a Royals-White Sox game.  There the -- and one of the men allegedly grabbed the umpire.  You can see him right there.  Big spectacle.  You know, everybody ran out.

This stuff has got to stop.  It really has to stop.

See the guy.  [Videotape of incident is played] Look, he's closing in on the umpire right there.  And bang.

And the way to make it stop is to pass a law saying that any assault in a public arena is an act of terrorism -- domestic terrorism -- five years in prison.  With security the way it is right now and terrorism always lurking, incidents like these can easily get out of control.

Jump an ump, go to jail, end of story.  It would be ridiculous not to do that, OK.  Do it.  It will stop it.