Desperation on the Far Left

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

Desperation on the farleft. That is the subject of this evening's "Talking Points Memo." First of all, we respect the responsible left — people like Evan Bayh (search), Joseph Lieberman (search), and Lanny Davis (search) — who realize America is a good country and are trying to bring fair solutions to vexing problems.

But I don't respect the far left, which wants to tear the country down and uses irresponsible tactics, including defamation, to slime anyone with whom they disagree.  The far left is dancing right now because the anti-Bush movie is doing well, but there's a big hangover on the way.

Just today, we learn that former counterterrorism advisor Richard Clarke (search) says some of Moore's thesis is absolute nonsense.  And liberal columnist Richard Cohen, who writes for "The Washington Post (search)," actually echoed my theme of the past two weeks, that the Democrats must distance themselves from the, quote, "loony left."  That's his quote.

The truth is that everyday Americans don't want drastic changes in the USA and the far left does.  "The Los Angeles Times," which has veered sharply left in the past couple years, is losing circulation and laying off staffers, despite a vibrant economy and having a monopoly in L.A.  The silly liberal radio network is on the ropes, and Al Gore's TV project can't even get off the ground.  Bill Moyers (search) is out at PBS, which is also in big financial trouble.

There is indeed desperation on the far left.  The problem is that the bad that these people foster may spread to the moderate left, and that would be bad for America.  We need robust debate, but it's getting harder to come by.

The Factor has the most diverse guest list in TV news, but we have eliminated some of the liberal pundits.  There are two rules here:  you can't lie and you cannot filibuster — that is give a speech. We have conversations.

So, recently, we've had some far left guests who have absolutely lied about their experiences on The Factor.  We've exposed some of those lies; others we've ignored.  But we have eliminated those people as guests in the future.

Moderate Democrats would be smart to tell their misguided brethren to knock it off.  Just as Republicans are tainted by far-right militia groups and haters, so too are the Democrats damaged by the ridiculous antics of far-left bomb-throwers.

And by the way, Michael Moore doesn't want to appear on The Factor.  Strange, because he's always been treated well here.  And strange because he told me, right to my face, he'd come on.  But Moore's running.  Maybe it's because he's been widely discredited, even if he is making a ton of money.

Apparently the No Spin Zone is no place he wants to be.  And that's "The Memo."

The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

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

Not to belabor the issue, but the terrorist group Hezbollah says it would like to distribute Michael Moore's movie throughout the Middle East.  Isn't that nice?

Perhaps Mr. Moore could put that endorsement on one of his advertisements, alongside the raves he got from some American movie critics.  Something like, "'A stunning achievement,' says Hezbollah, 'not a bomb at all.'"  That might be ridiculous.  Hezbollah likes the movie.

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