By , ,
Published May 20, 2015
Hi, I'm Bill O'Reilly. Thank you for watching us tonight.
There's danger ahead for you and your family. That is the subject of this evening's "Talking Points" memo. Over the holiday weekend, I read a new novel called "Memorial Day" by Vince Flynn (search). It's about an attempt by Al Qaeda (search) to blow up Washington and New York City using nuclear devices. Every American should read this book because that scenario could absolutely happen. And we are not taking the threat seriously enough.
Here's who's letting us down. Congress and President Bush should have declared war on terrorism a long time ago, thereby setting the rules of engagement against Al Qaeda. In a declared war, military courts would be hearing the cases of suspected terrorists who are captured and new rules of interrogation could be defined. Remember, the Geneva Convention (search) does not apply to terrorists who target civilians.
The ACLU's vision of providing every captured terrorist with a civilian lawyer and the right to remain silent is quite simply dangerous and irresponsible. You don't handle a Jose Padilla (search) the way you handle Martha Stewart.
The government said today that Padilla, an American citizen arrested in Chicago after spending time abroad, admitted to planning mass murder. The Supreme Court is hearing Padilla's case and we'll update you in just a few moments.
The media are also letting us down. The hysterical reporting on the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal has badly damaged U.S. intelligence. Once again, we are seeing politically correct thought undermine intelligence gathering.
Few Americans condone torture, but surely U.S. intelligence should not have its hands tied by obsolete rules that put all of us in danger. By the way, 69 percent of Americans believe the Abu Ghraib story was overreported by the media, according to a new Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll. Once again, the folks know what's going on, as the prisoner scandal is being used for political purposes by some news organizations. For facts to back that up, check out my column on billoreilly.com.
Finally, Americans of all political persuasions need to wise up. No matter who the next president is, Al Qaeda will try to kill him and us. These people will not stop until we kill them. There is no doomsday deterrent here, as there is with China and Russia. The Al Qaeda fanatics will happily martyr themselves.
"Talking Points" will continue to pound the table about the danger we are all facing. Hitler and Tojo did not have nuclear weapons. Pakistan and North Korea do. Al Qaeda owns a chunk of Pakistan and has the money to buy from North Korea. Do the math. The ACLU is not looking out for you. Neither are the politicians in Washington who refuse to declare war and effectively control our borders.
Americans need to demand better security. And if we don't, something far worse than 9/11 is inevitable.
And that's "The Memo."
The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day
Time now for "The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day"...
I want to thank "The Hill (search)" newspaper in D.C. for running a correction. Last week it said that I, your humble correspondent, was charging $20 a person for a lecture I was going to give in D.C. Well, today "The Hill" acknowledged that it was the radio station, WJFK (search), our crack affiliate that carries "The Radio Factor" that charged the fee in order to cover expenses. Anyway we appreciate the retraction.
And here is the kicker. I actually can't do the speech on Friday. I have got some stuff I have got to take care of. Just came up. We have postponed it until October. Everybody will get refunds. Sorry if this turned out to be ridiculous but sometimes that happens in life. All right?
--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
https://www.foxnews.com/story/theres-danger-ahead-for-you-and-your-family