The Enron Mess

To watch "the memo" click here .

Hi, I'm Bill O'Reilly, reporting from Los Angeles.  Thanks for watching us tonight.

Rumors flying all day long that Usama bin Laden might have been killed by a CIA missile last week.  So far the rumor's just that, a rumor.  We're watching it closely.  So if anything happens, we'll bring it right to you.

It is also rumored that Enron big shot Ken Lay will take the Fifth when he testifies tomorrow in front of Congress, but we believe that rumor.  And the Enron mess is the subject of this evening's Talking Points memo.

Maybe Congress should call Lay's wife.  She could testify about how the Lay family's being victimized by Enron's apparent lying, cheating, and fraud.  That would be entertaining.  But her husband tomorrow will most likely say nothing in front of the politicians to whom his company gave so much money.  And both parties took Enron money, no doubt about that.

Enron's a good example of how money corrupts.  Lay and his cohorts thought they could buy everything, accountants, politicians, even profits.  The reason the company failed is because greedy executives made all kinds of side deals with company money.  Those deals enriched the executives but lost money for Enron.  And who took the fall for that?  Enron workers and stockholders.

Everyone involved with this mess needs to be investigated, and I mean everyone.

Last week we had Democrats Paul Begala and James Carville on The Factor, and some of you didn't like it.  Frank McMahon, who lives in Mahwah, New Jersey, says this, "Shame on you, Bill.  You allowed Begala and Carville to spew guilt by association without challenge.  You appeared in awe of them."

Oh, come on, Mr. McMahon.  You have a rooting interest against Begala and Carville, that's fine.  But both men were (UNINTELLIGIBLE) roundly challenged by me.  Even though I agree with one of them, even though I agree with them, I should say, on one point.  Americans need to know if Enron got any favors from the Bush or/and Clinton administrations.  We'll take a look at Mr. Clinton and Enron in a moment.

All Factor viewers should keep one thing in mind while watching this program.  We're fair here.  The reason The Factor has become so successful is that we don't let partisan politics interfere with our analysis.  Talking Points demanded a comprehensive investigation into Red Chinese money flowing to the Democratic Party.  Remember that Janet Reno killed that investigation.

Now Points is demanding an investigation into Enron's situation.  If we didn't do that, we would be what some liberal TV writers call us, shills for the right.  Of course we're not that.

So far, the Bush administration is clean, but it should release that energy adviser list.  No need to describe what the advice was, just let the people know who was there.  I mean, we paid for that meeting, OK?

Enron hurt America.  Those executives must pay a big price for that.  And if any politician helped them, we have a right to know about it.

And that's the memo.

The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

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

I was flying out here over the weekend.  A lady across from me on the plane kept staring.  Now that's not unusual...as many people think I'm a Martian.  Finally at the end of the flight, she looked over and said, "Are you as mean in person as you are on the air?"  Never has one man been so misunderstood.

So I looked over at the lady and said, "Madam, I'm meaner."  I think she's still on the plane thinking I'm 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