By ,
Published January 27, 2017
Editor's Note: The Talking Points Memo below originally aired on June 16, 2003.
Hi, I'm Bill O'Reilly. Thanks for watching us tonight.
A guy with a heck of a lot of nerve. That's the subject of this evening's Talking Points Memo. Not many Americans have ever heard of James Ziglar (search), but he was in charge of the INS (search) from August 2001 to November 2002. During that time, the chaotic agency was spotlighted because of 9/11, the sniper killings, and the general chaos on the borders.
It's safe to say that Mr. Ziglar had no clue about solving America's illegal immigration problems, yet he has been awarded with a faculty position at the George Washington University Law School (search). Talking Points has major problems with Mr. Ziglar, because not only did he do a bad job, but he also refused to answer any questions about his dismal performance. And there's no question that illegal immigration in this country remains out of control and a danger to all of us.
Just last week, a nine-year-old California girl was allegedly beaten and raped by an illegal immigrant. We could give you thousands of other examples. And thousands of illegals continue to pour across the border every single day.
But what really irks me about Ziglar is the speech he gave on Saturday to the ACLU. In this speech, Ziglar said, "The attacks of September 11th have provided the climate for a much needed national discussion on government power, civil liberties, and immigration...The pessimists among us want to judge all immigrants by the actions of terrorists."
Instead of dealing with the vital security issues, Ziglar's making this about immigration in general. If you call for tighter controls on the border, you're somehow anti-immigrant. This is the curtain Ziglar hid behind during his disgraceful tenure as INS commissioner. His office actually ordered field agents not to deport illegal aliens and allowed them to roam free, as we saw with accused sniper Lee Boyd Malvo.
Now Ziglar wants to rewrite history and label those of us who understood his incompetence as narrow-minded immigrant bashers. This is why the illegal immigration situation never gets better, because charlatans like Ziglar play the race card.
Time and time again, The Factor has asked James Ziglar to come on and explain his point of view on illegal immigration. And even though we pay his salary for a year, Ziglar will not explain anything. Not only rejecting The Factor's offer, most other media as well.
Few Americans care about James Ziglar and few know the damage this man did to the USA. But now you do.
And that's The Memo.
The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day
Time now for "The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day..."
Last week after broadcast journalist David Brinkley (search) died, our competitor Aaron Brown delivered this message during his report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AARON BROWN, HOST, CNN'S NEWSNIGHT: So much of TV has become about volume, who talks the loudest or is the most outrageous. Mr. Brinkley was the mirror opposite.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'REILLY: Well, taking a cheap shot during a eulogy might be ridiculous.
https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/a-guy-with-a-heck-of-a-lot-of-nerve