The Ports Story Is Getting Out of Control...

I'm Bill O'Reilly reporting tonight from L.A. Thanks for watching us.

The port story is getting out of control: that is the subject of this evening's "Talking Points Memo."

In this corner, you have the unlikely alliance of the conservative New York Post, the liberal New York Times, the conservative Peter King, the liberal Hillary Clinton, and on and on, all opposed to allowing a company controlled by the United Arab Emirates to work at six American ports.

In the opposing corner, you have me, your humble correspondent, the conservative Wall Street Journal, the liberal Washington Post, the liberal L.A. Times, and Jimmy Carter.

Confused yet? I am. This port story is unbelievably complicated. But as we told you last night, the bottom line is this: If America spits in the eye of the UAE, which is a huge help in the war on terror right now, if we tell these people to take a hike just because they're Arabs, we'll lose the help of all the rest of the Arab world.

Now remember, countries like Jordan, Kuwait, and the UAE help us in Iraq, Afghanistan, and fighting Al Qaeda. The Emirates, for example, captured Al Qaeda big shot Al Nafiri, the guy who masterminded the U.S.S. Cole attack. They captured him and handed him over the CIA.

Anyway, savvy Americans will get the picture here. If it's OK for a British company to work in America's ports, and then the British company is bought by an Arab company, and we throw the Arabs out without cause, that's flat out racism. What say you, Hillary Clinton?

So the USA is caught between a mosque and a hard place. The Bush administration knows it has to honor the contract, but it should provide ultra-strict oversight at the ports. And in the future, I think Congress should pass a law that says only American companies should be employed at the ports of entry. That would eliminate this kind of chaos.

So there you have it. A complicated tough issue. Many people are demagoguing it. But if you're looking out for the USA, and we are, you can't throw out one of our most important allies in the war on terror. Can't do it.

And that's "The Memo."

The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

A media spat between our pal Donald Trump and Martha Stewart.

As you know Mr. Trump has been successful on a show called "The Apprentice." Ms. Stewart began her "apprenticeship" this season, but her program has not done well.

So now in Newsweek magazine Martha puts forth that because Mr. Trump was on the air there was too much "Apprentice," and that's why she failed. Ms. Stewart contends Mr. Trump was supposed to bow out. Donald says that's not true.

And all this is way too confusing for me. I also suspect it is ridiculous...

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