Failing to Follow Through

More bad news about the 9/11 charity situation.

You may remember back on September 21, all the networks simultaneously broadcast a concert to benefit the 9/11 families and others who were directly affected by the terror attack.

Off that concert, CDs and cassettes went on sale, released December 4. Well, up until this week, we hadn't heard anything about the money generated from the sale of those recordings.

Here's the deal. The project essentially was a bomb, with only about $9 million expected to go to charity after expenses. Called The Tribute to Heroes CD, the record sold more than 600,000 copies worldwide, not a large number.

After Factor producer Kristine Kotta began calling Warner Music and Sony Interscope, things began moving, and the United Way told us they expect to receive the money shortly. They haven't received anything thus far.

The main reason the project failed, in my opinion, was lack of promotion, which costs money. So why didn't the artists get out and publicize it? Good question.

So we asked the artists. That was fun. The following people had no comment: Bruce Springsteen, Faith Hill, John Bon Jovi, Sting, Dave Matthews, Tom Pettet, Neal Young, Stevie Wonder, Fred Durst, Sheryl Crow, Eddie Vetter, Paul Simon, the Dixie Chicks, Enrique Iglesias, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, and Alicia Keyes.

Billy Joel is ill but said he is concerned. Take 6 wants to wait until Sony makes an official statement on the matter before they comment.

So once again, just like the Hollywood community, there's little follow-through with the musicians. Again, Talking Points is amazed. Doing good is a long-term strategy. You just can't do a project and let it go, you have to see it through to the end.

If these pop stars really wanted to make a difference, they would have promoted the heck out of that recording on their own time and dime. The media loves these people, getting attention is no problem.

But no, the project failed, and it shouldn't have. There's a important untold story about fame in America, the power of celebrity. We will begin telling it, and in June there'll be an O'Reilly Factor special on the subject.

Remember, all who participated in the concert got great publicity for themselves, so they owe it to the families to help them as much as possible. No comments don't cut it.

And that's the memo.

The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

Things are still ridiculous at the nation's airports.

It's really painful to fly because of all of the chaos at the ticket counters and security stations. But we've always thought that once the plane was parked, things were safe.

Think again.

In Los Angeles, a parked American Airlines jet began rolling, smashed through a fence, and didn't stop until its nose hit a side street.

As always, airline officials say an investigation is underway.

We say have your experts check the parking brake. It was probably not properly set, which of course, could be ridiculous.

— 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