The Truth About John Kerry

In the midst of a lot of blather, here's what's really going on regarding the Kerry controversy.

First of all, who do you think is the big winner here? What name pops into your mind? Here's a hint: Kerry was her competition. You got it, Senator Hillary Clinton wins big, because John Kerry made a dumb comment about the military, which you absolutely cannot do in a time of war.

The result: Kerry is off the presidential stage once and for all. He's canceled his campaign appearances this week and his viability in 2008 is over, even though the senator apologized late today.

With Governor Mark Warner inexplicably dropping out of the presidential sweepstakes, it is Hillary unless Al Gore gets off the icebergs and back into the fray.

Another big winner in the Kerry controversy is President Bush. He can now go on the offense after months of being pounded. As I said last night, John Kerry not only handed Republicans a cannon, he loaded it and lit the fuse.

From now until Election Day, the GOP will hammer the Democrats as soft on military matters. This is a truly stunning event. Take a look at this video of John Kerry after he told California students they'd better study or else they'd wind up in Iraq. Kerry had no idea, none, that his words would be so explosive.

Of course, he should have known. And if he admitted his mistake quickly, it just would have been another political gaffe, not a big deal in an intense election.

Americans who dislike Kerry believe he is deeply anti-military. I think he was trying to be sarcastic about Iraq and it bit him. I could be wrong.

Our new billoreilly.com poll question asked, did John Kerry intentionally mean to insult the military? Yes or no? The word "intentionally" obviously is key here.

But there's history: Kerry threw away some of his ribbons after returning from Vietnam and he criticized some U.S. military in Iraq for alleged atrocities. Thus, this final strike has him on the floor.

Again, a stunning turn of events. The Democrats had big momentum, now that has turned. And if you don't believe me, listen to this. We contacted scores of Dems today to speak after Tony Snow — a primo slot in the most-watched cable news program in the world.

Now all of them said no, except for the guy we have here and one other, admitting they don't want a part of this. And the Dems themselves are even knocking Kerry. Hillary Clinton did that today. We'll play you that sound byte in a moment.

But again, the senator should be sending John Kerry flowers. He is giving her an almost an open field in 2008. And in the strangest political bedfellow of all, President Bush should be sending Kerry flowers as well.

And that's The Memo.

Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

Our pal, the aforementioned David Letterman, had some trick-or-treaters last night on his program. Here's what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE LETTERMAN, HOST "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": Come on in. Oh, my goodness, what the heck do we have going on here? You'll recognize this perplexing mish-match of memorabilia if you dine out at family restaurants. It's a wall from TGI Fridays. That's a beauty.

PAUL SHAFFER, BAND LEADER: What a great concept.

LETTERMAN: Who are you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hanna.

LETTERMAN: Did you say Hanna? Let's see what — oh, how about this? It's a copy of the best-selling Bill O'Reilly "Culture Warrior."

SHAFFER: She will love that.

LETTERMAN: "Culture Warrior."

SHAFFER: See will love that.

LETTERMAN: There you are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

I just hope Letterman bought that book. If he did not, it would certainly be ridiculous.

On the same subject, BillOReilly.com has partnered up with AmericaSupportsYou.mil and my publisher, Broadway Books. So for every copy of "Culture Warrior" you buy on BillOReilly.com in November, Broadway Books will donate one to our troops in Iraq, up to 8,000 books. This is a great program, so you might want to check tout. Got all information for you on BillOReilly.com. And kudos for Broadway Books for its generosity to our troops.

And once again, all the money generated that I get on BillOReilly.com goes to charity. So the troops win, the charities win, Broadway Books doing a great thing.

—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 and any time on foxnews.com/oreilly. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com