Activist judges: that's the subject of this evening's "Talking Points Memo". Recent court rulings allowing the release of more Abu Ghraib (search) pictures, live sex acts in Oregon, and a ban on "under God" in the pledge of allegiance point out that liberal judges are hell-bent on changing America to fit their secular progressive points of view.
Now the right is outraged over these decisions as its should be. But hold it. What about Harriet Miers (search)? The Supreme Court nominee is being brutally attacked by some conservatives because she's not activist enough. They don't know where she stands on conservative causes. They want assurances she'll vote the conservative party line.
Isn't that judicial activism? Aha! If you don't want the left-wing activism, you can't demand right wing zealotry.
And then there are the criminal courts. Almost every day, we report another terrible crime against children. And often the judges give violent sexual predators light sentences. Some judges favoring rehab and the like.
Now last night on “The Factor", Massachusetts lawyer Ed Ryan accused me of undermining the nation's judicial system because I'm holding judges responsible for their sentences.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'REILLY: It's open season on kids in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Open season.
ED RYAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BAR ASSOCIATION: It is not.
O'REILLY: You can rape them.
RYAN: It's actually.
O'REILLY: ...scorch them, brutalize them. You can do whatever you want and you'll get five to 10, OK, and all that. I'll give you the last word, but if I'm undermining the system, the system deserves to be undermined. Go ahead.
RYAN: Bill, you can't attack judges because you disagree with the lawful sentences they impose. If the sentence isn't lawful, you got a right to quarrel with that. But your personal attack on judges is designed to intimidate judges, not just in Massachusetts, but all over the country in the lawful exercise of their discretion.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Now Judge — Counselor Ryan, I should say, feels that a judge's so-called discretion is beyond reproach. I strongly disagree.
America's being damaged badly by judges who do not make punishments fit the crime and who impose their political beliefs on the folks. If the live sex act deal in Oregon was put on the ballot, it would lose. If five American women were raped by one man, Massachusetts Judge Margo Botsford wouldn't sentence the guy to eight years in prison.
"Talking Points" is fed up. It's long past time for the press and the people to hold judges accountable for what they do. We have to take the country back.
And that's "The Memo."
The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day
Jesse Jackson is still working it. He was supposed to be leading about 200 folks from New Orleans back to the Crescent City on five chartered buses to bring attention to jobs.
The problem was most of the folks on the buses were from places like Mobile and Memphis, not New Orleans, according to the Times-Picayune newspaper. So not too much was accomplished on the great bus ride, but we hope everybody had a good time anyway. To not have done so would be ridiculous.
—You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" and "Most Ridiculous Item" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the FOX News Channel. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com
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