Let's Stop the Madness...

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

Let's stop the madness about the terror warnings.  That is the subject of this evening's Talking Points memo.

There is some dumb stuff going on, and some serious stuff.  First, the dumb stuff.  A few left-wing loons are accusing the Bush administration of knowingly ignoring warnings about Usama bin Laden.  This is the same kind of drivel that some right-wing nuts say about Franklin Roosevelt and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

In both 9/11 and Pearl Harbor, general warnings were received by American intelligence, but presidents hear general warnings all the time and cannot possibly micromanage them.  Presidents must rely on specific information in order to formulate policy and response.

There are questions, however, that the Bush administration should answer.  For example, on July 5 of last year, intelligence experts met at the White House to discuss a rumored terrorist action by al Qaeda.  But apparently the president didn't get briefed on that meeting until a month later.  Why the delay?

Warnings were issued to various agencies in July to be on the lookout for suspicious activities, but the public was not told.  Why not?

And why wasn't FBI and CIA information coordinated?

Those are the key questions right now.

There will most likely be a congressional investigation into intelligence gathering and the administration's knowledge of it in the months before 9/11, and that's a good thing, as long as the investigation is conducted by both parties and is not a finger-pointing political charade.

Senator Tom Daschle should be left out of any such investigation.  He has a major axe to grind and is a champion of partisan bickering.

The Factor also has an axe to grind with Daschle.  We called him again today for an interview.  Once again, he turned us down.

This is the same Daschle who criticized the Fox News Channel for not giving enough access to Democrats.  Believe me when I tell you The Factor goes out of its way to get Democrats on this broadcast.  But Daschle has been and remains too frightened to appear.

So with all due respect, senator, shut up.

Any investigation into intelligence before 9/11 must be conducted by experienced, honest people who will put the country, not politics, first.  Talking Points welcomes such a probe, because it might make America safer.

But Points does not believe that President Bush or President Roosevelt, for that matter, had enough information to prevent the two worst attacks in U.S. history, even if those presidents weren't as aggressive in intelligence matters as they should have been.

Perhaps we'll be proven wrong, but that's our take right now.

And that's the memo.

And that's the Memo.

The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

Time for the "Most Ridiculous Item Of The Day." 

Time now for the "Most Ridiculous Item of the Day."  The Factor takes to the highway.  Next week, we'll broadcast from Los Angeles.  I'll be doing The Radio Factor from KABC, and the television version of  The Factor from Fox Sports, and shooting interviews for my June 7 special on the Fox network called O'Reilly vs. Hollywood.  You're going to love this.  Anyway, your humble correspondent will be on Jay Leno's program Monday night, Politically Incorrect on Tuesday.  We're sorry to see that program go.  And I'll generally be running around like a ridiculous madman out there.

Finally, next weekend is the deadline for books for Father's Day.  I'm going to sign them all over Memorial Day.  So we'll send them right out after that.  If you want them, that's the deal.  OK?  Looking forward to going out to L.A.  Hide the children.

— 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