Updated

Using doctors to hide sex crimes in illegal abortions: that is the subject of this evening's "Talking

Rush Limbaugh versus Clint Eastwood, that is the subject of this evening's "Talking

Points Memo".

The nation's culture war was on display at the Oscar telecast last night. Chris Rock's anti-Bush jokes offended a lot of people, as did the cutaway shots of Hollywood liberals yucking it up at the flat material. It wasn't funny. But Rock wasn't really that bad and the partisanship was

kept to a minimum, thank God.

The big story of the evening was how conservative radio guys like Rush Limbaugh and Michael Medved may have helped Clint Eastwood's movie, "Million Dollar Baby (search)" win best picture.

Once the show biz voters heard that some conservatives were angry about the euthanasia theme, that was it. Hollywood continues to be very upset by the Bush re-election. And dissing Eastwood was the last straw, so the votes poured in for him.

For my money, "Million Dollar Baby" deserved the award, although I haven't seen "The Aviator" because I don't care about Howard Hughes. But "Baby" was an excellent film, fair and balanced in its presentation. And Mr. Eastwood wasn't trying to advocate anything, in my opinion. We'll

replay some of my talk with him later on.

But the Hollywood backlash against the euthanasia stuff is interesting and a lesson for conservatives -- pick your battles. There's no question that the secular progressives want to change this country. And conservative traditionalists are fighting against that change. That's a

fair fight. But pounding issues unfairly hurts both sides. My column this week, available on billoreilly.com, examines the Buster the Bunny controversy. Certainly PBS was wrong in allowing a cartoon for preschool kids to contain a "gay is OK" message. This is simply

inappropriate for the age group. And PBS has paid a price for its dumbness.

But equally dumb was labeling SpongeBob a gay guy. And that diminishes the valid point that America now sexualizes children at a young age, intruding on their childhood.

SpongeBob is a sponge. He's not cruising the bars in West Hollywood. Culture warriors on both sides have got to get a grip. There's danger in fanatical policy. But paranoia makes a danger harder to illuminate. You won't be taken seriously if you cry wolf too often. SpongeBob is no

threat. "Million Dollar Baby" is a worthwhile drama that examines human feelings. Those situations are now part of the culture war, but shouldn't be. Those battles are simply not worth fighting.

And that's "The Memo."

The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

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

FOX News Entertainment reporter Lisa Bernhard caught up with Clint Eastwood last night after the Oscars, and it might have been ridiculous:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LISA BERNHARD, FOX NEWS ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Lisa Bernhard, FOX

News. Over here. Hello.

EASTWOOD: You're a lot better looking than O'Reilly, I'll tell you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

At this point, just about everybody's better looking than me, which, of course, is beyond ridiculous.