Saying 'I Do' to Traditional Marriage

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

Saying "I do" to traditional marriage, that is the subject of this evening's "Talking Points Memo." President Bush came out hard last night [Tuesday, January 20] defending heterosexual marriage in the State of the Union (search).

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:  A strong America must also value the institution of marriage.  I believe we should respect individuals as we take a principled stand for one of the most fundamental, enduring institutions of our civilization.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Now there is no question, Mr. Bush will be making this a big campaign issue.  And he's smart in doing it.  He has angered some conservative Americans by not enforcing immigration laws.  And his conservative base is also not very pleased with the president's big spending.

So by putting himself up as a champion of traditional marriage between a man and woman, the president is hoping to soothe conservative feelings.  The issue is a big winner for Mr. Bush.  As the polls say, most Americans want to keep marriage exclusively between a man and woman.  A Democratic candidate like Dean or Kerry will immediately be on the defensive with the issue because  their respective states lead the league in approving of gay marriage.  And just today, General Clark said he's got no problem with gay marriage, saying he believes marriage is art, whatever that means.

Otherwise Mr. Bush presented himself well last night.  A Gallup poll (search) says 76 percent of Americans, who watched, like the speech.  No question he is more confident than he was four years ago.  And his tough stand on terrorism is a big plus for him in the campaign.

Watching the president's opponents react to his speech was the most entertaining part of the evening.  Unlike Ronald Reagan and Bush the elder, George W. really tees some people off in a very personal way.  Are you with me here?

Now I don't really understand why, because the president's a decent guy.  His administration is a bit remote, but he's a true believer.  You may -- you know where the president stands.  He doesn't waffle around.  That's good.  And loyal Americans haves a perfect right to disagree with his policies all day long, but hating the guy reflects poorly on the hater--paging Governor Dean (search).

If the election were held tomorrow, the president would win against any Democrat, I believe.  But this is a dangerous complicated world and terrible  things can happen.  All the candidates for president would be wise to remember that.

And that's The Memo.

The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

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

Far-out rock singer Moby (search) is at it again.  He's defending comedian Margaret Cho's (search) statement where she said President Bush wasn't Hitler because he didn't try hard enough.  Very, very nice.

Anyway, this dopey Moby says that Cho is getting hate mail and blames it on us.  "Judge for yourself and think of this vile right-wing hate the next time you turn on Fox News," says Moby.

Sure.  We're responsible for Margaret Cho.  Oh, yes.  Ridiculous isn't even close.  And we want Moby to come on here.  You know, if Carrie Fisher can, Moby...

Come on, Moby.  Let's see what kind of "cojones" you have.

--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