Video: To watch “the memo” click here.
Hi, I’m Bill O’Reilly. Thank you for watching us tonight.
Lots of stuff to tell you about this evening, including a new Zogby poll taken in Mexico. That’s the subject of this evening’s Talking Points Memo.
The Bush administration will not say it publicly, but things continue to deteriorate along the Mexican border. We have word of yet another incursion by the Mexican army onto U.S. territory. We’re checking it out, we’ll report next Monday.
But this new Zogby poll really tells the story. Fifty-seven percent of Americans polled believe they have the right to enter the United States without American permission. Just 35 percent say they don’t have that right. And 58 percent of Mexicans believe the territory of the United States Southwest belongs to Mexico. Whoa!
Combine this attitude with Canada’s incredibly lax immigration policies, and we have an enormous problem here in the USA. At this point, the Bush administration has decided to keep a lid on the border problems, and the greater good is being served by not cracking down on the Mexicans and the Canadians because that would hurt the economy.
Mr. Bush understands that his reelection will be in doubt if the economy is not stable come 2004.
The same calculation is being made in the environmental area. Mr. Bush has decided that strict clean air policies must be bent to allow energy concerns to make more money so they’ll put out more energy.
The ideologues on both sides will scream about the environment and the border, but it is reasonable to factor in economic benefit for all while making these decisions.
However, “Talking Points” believes you can have it both ways. As far as Mexico is concerned, our government must militarize the border. That’s the only solution, station military units to back up the border patrol. This can be done quickly and efficiently, and with national security on the line, there’s no reason not to do it, because Mexico is not going to help us with this problem, period.
Canada, on the other hand, can be persuaded. Secretary of State Colin Powell should privately lay it on the line. Either Canada stops admitting immigrants who do not have proper identification, or the administration will publicly discourage Americans from visiting Canada.
Believe me, that will do it.
We live in a dangerous time, and the time for putting politics over public safety is over. If the Bush administration does not begin securing our borders, it will be letting all of us down.
And that’s “The Memo.”
The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day
Time for “The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day.”
Is The Factor taking over the world? Of course that would be ridiculous, but we are having a rather large impact, even in the world of sports. News channel 34 in Binghampton, New York, is a good example.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, WIVT BINGHAMTON)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it was a long day for Busch series racers as the O’Reilly 300 — no, it’s not named after talk-show monger Bill O’Reilly — began three hours after its original start time due to rain. Caution, you’re about to enter a no-spin highlight zone. Let’s check out the highlights today from Texas Motor Speedway. And actually, I lied. There’s a lot of spinning in this. In fact, Lyndon Amex spins into Michael Walltrip. And Walltrip is going to flip over. Bill O’Reilly would not be pleased.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O’REILLY: Well, we do give exemptions for spinning, and Nascar has one of them. “Talk-show monger”?!
— 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
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