Big News About the U.S. Border

To watch "the memo" click here.

Hi, I'm Bill O'Reilly.  Thanks for watching us tonight.

Some big news about the border situation today from the Bush administration. That is the subject of this evening's Talking Points memo.

As you may know, Talking Points has been calling for the U.S. military to help the border patrol seal our seal our borders, especially in the south, where Mexican smugglers and illegal immigrants have created chaos and an enormous security problem.

Well, we took heat from both sides of the political spectrum on this one, the left saying we are anti-immigrant and heartless, the right calling us foolish because they believe border security is not the military's role.

Both sides are wrong.  We are right, O'Reilly says humbly.

Today the Pentagon announced that the military will be taking up positions alongside federal border patrol agents to help stabilize the border situation.  The announcement came two days after President Bush said he wants the U.S. border more secure.

We applaud the president's action and hope the military deployment will make full use of our superior technology.  No one should be getting across our borders without our permission.  No one.

But dangerous people are getting across.  The flow of illegals and narcotics continues unabated.  Mexican President Vicente Fox may talk a good game, but his police and army are still full of corrupt individuals, and he does not have control of the situation.

As for Canada, 300 border patrol agents for more than 3,000 miles of border doesn't cut it.  A 2-year-old child could see that. The military will at least give us a chance to stop contraband and terrorists.  Putting the military on the border has been a long time coming, but it is definitely the right thing to do.

The federal government has a mandate to protect all Americans, and that means protect us from terrorists, drug addicts, foreign criminals, and other threats. Remember, in California alone, 12 percent of those incarcerated are Mexican nationals.

Once again, Mr. Bush has taken decisive action that slaps political correctness in the face.  You have to admire the man for that.

And that's the memo.

The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

Time now for the "Most Ridiculous Item of the Day."  America is in a recession, but you wouldn't know it by the Super Bowl advertisements.  Fox has sold out 58, 30-second spots at close to $2 million each.  That's down from $2.1 million each from last year, but still, a lot of nachos, if you know what I mean.

— You can watch Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points and "Most Ridiculous Item" weeknights at 8 & 11p.m. ET on the Fox News Channel. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com