The Death of Shame in America

Hi. I'm Bill O'Reilly.  Thank you for watching us tonight.

The death of shame in America, that is the subject of this evening's Talking Points Memo.  Republican Governor John Rowland (search) of Connecticut got free home improvements from a company that did contract work with his state.  And the governor lied about it.  Now Rowland says he made a mistake and is humbled. But he won't resign.

So let's get this straight.  The governor violates every ethical public policy rule, directly tries to deceive the citizens about that, and then says he's still entitled to keep his job.

This is so over the top, it's stunning. But not unusual.  Bill Clinton (search) lied directly to the folks and didn't resign.  [Ex-California Governor] Gray Davis (search) lied and was thrown out by the recall.  And plenty of other politicians lie and haven't been caught.

Governor Rowland simply has no shame.  This is not some small deal.  He contrived to have his house fixed free and then flat out lied about it.  The good people of Connecticut should march right on [the state capital] Hartford and toss the guy out on his butt.  We simply cannot have this kind of thing in government.

Now the ideologues on both sides, the left and the right, can justify anything.  When Clinton lied, it was just about sex.  Now I expect to hear it's just about home improvements.

Well, baloney.  We must have honest leaders in this country, period.  The death of shame in America is causing all kinds of problems for the people.  We have politicians who abuse their power.  We have media who sell us out with vile music, degenerate movies and TV, and dishonest news analysis.  And we have educators allowing the most outrageous student conduct.  We have parents failing to discipline their children.  We have religious people abusing children.

There's no shame anymore.  All kinds of bad behavior is excused, justified and even glorified.  If Governor Rowland had an ounce of dignity in his entire body, he would have already quit.  What kind of example is this guy to the kids in Connecticut?

Same thing with Bill Clinton.  He should have resigned, but no, these guys won't go.  So we, the people, have to force them out.  Talking Points predicts Rowland is a goner.  What he did was shameful.  Everybody knows it.  Everybody that is, except the governor.

And that's The Memo .

The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

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

Madonna has thrown her stilettos into the ring.  Well, kind of.  She is endorsing General Wesley Clark (search) for president, saying, quote, "I think he's good with people."  Apparently, the singer met with General Clark for more than an hour.  No word on whether the general got a smooch.  We certainly hope he did.  To not get one might be ridiculous.  Good with people.

Before we get to the mail, [here are] the results of the billoreilly.com poll [which asked you] where Saddam should be tried.  Ninety percent of Factor watchers and listeners say Iraq; 5 percent, USA; 5 percent, The Hague.

Now, by contrast, a Gallup poll shows the majority of Americans want Saddam tried at The Hague, which shows you how smart The Factor audience really is.  No one has the authority to put Saddam on trial in Holland.  No one.  His fate is purely the responsibility of the Iraqis, and the other scenario is simply not right.

All right.  Before we go to the mail, this is the poll question in play: Where