the oreilly factor

Perhaps Joy Behar's most famous moment of 2010 was storming off the set of her show, 'The View,' after a heated debate with Bill O'Reilly about the Ground Square Mosque.

Behar referenced the incident on her annual holiday card, which this year featured a Photoshoped image of her and O'Reilly locked in a warm embrace. O'Reilly presented the card to viewers of 'The O'Reilly Factor' (weekdays, 8PM ET on Fox News,) prefacing it by saying that Behar was "trying to get a little publicity by mocking me," and, of course, making reference to Behar's use of "Holiday" rather than "Christmas."

"I would never wear a shirt like that," O'Reilly said about the card. "Look at the tattoo on Behar. Anyway, that is what Behar is doing. Is she a pinhead or a patriot? I think we know how this is going to come out."

You never know. Maybe O'Reilly's viewers will be overcome by the spirit of the season and render the more charitable judgment on Behar. We could call it a holiday miracle.

In an interview with Bill O'Reilly on 'The Factor' (weekdays, 9 PM ET on Fox News) Sarah Palin expressed her displeasure that left-leaning groups have "co-opted" feminism, because she believes their ideology has made women too dependent on others.

"(Most women's organizations) do not empower women, in fact they make women sometimes feel weak and incapable of taking care of themselves and their families," Palin argued. "Too many feminists today have decided that women need someone else to take care of them, and that's the most hypocritical feminist mantra that there can be."

O'Reilly then asked Palin why she considers herself a feminist.

"Because I am self-reliant and quite independent and have been lucky ... to be brought up in a community and a state where women are expected to work as hard as the men are, and even engage in the same type jobs that they are."

Given her embrace of this brand of rugged feminism, maybe Palin's slogan for any upcoming political campaigns should be "I am Mama Grizzly, hear me roar."

On "The O'Reilly Factor" (weekdays, 8PM ET on Fox News), Bill O'Reilly and conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer discussed the result of a recent poll that showed Sarah Palin was 12 points behind Barack Obama in a hypothetical 2012 match up, whereas other potential GOP candidates -- such as Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee -- were much more competitive with the president.

O'Reilly wondered if this discrepancy had to do with the media's harsh treatment of Palin. Krauthammer said he believed that's a contributing factor, but added that some of Palin's relative unpopularity has to do with the her lack of knowledge about policy.

"I think in part it is is that she's not practiced in policy. The Katie Couric interview ... was not a gotcha interview. They were fairly simple questions that she had trouble answering," Krauthammer said, before adding that Palin has done little since to display that she has a handle on policy.

On the other hand, there isn't any politician in the land who has displayed more of a handle on Facebook and other social networking sites than Palin. If Palin challenges Obama for president of Farmville, we know who we are voting for.

If you were waiting for Bill O'Reilly to weigh in on the video in which Miley Cyrus smokes the legal hallucinogenic plant salvia from a bong, wait no longer.

"That is pathetic. That's what it is," declared a stern-looking O'Reilly, after playing the clip on 'The O'Reilly Factor' (Weekdays, 8PM ET On Fox News.)

"Ms. Cyrus has said she is using a legal substance, but the sad fact is that her days of being a positive role model for women are long gone."

Cyrus may be catching all sorts of flack for her giggly performance in the home movie, but this has to be the best thing that's happened to the band Bush -- whose seminal '90s hit "Comedown" played in the background as Hannah Montana got goofy -- in about a 15 years.

Laura Ingraham filled in for Bill O'Reilly on 'The O'Reilly Factor' (weekdays, 8PM ET on Fox News), but the host still called in to discuss his appearance on the 'Late Show With David Letterman' last week.

Letterman and O'Reilly have traded unfriendly barbs in the past, and Ingraham asked O'Reilly to address the "new love" between himself and the late-night host, which she thought she picked up on during their latest encounter.

"I don't know if I'd call it love; he called me a blowhard and -- I don't think there's any love between Dave and I," O'Reilly said. "I go on the program obviously to plug (my book) 'Pinheads and Patriots,' which I think is a worthy endeavor. I was on for a long time, three segments ... but nobody walked off the set, so that's a plus."

The quip about walking off the set is in reference to an appearance O'Reilly made on 'The View' in October, in which Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg stormed off the set after O'Reilly made a comment about Muslims they disagreed with. O'Reilly patched things up with Goldberg on 'The Factor,' and posed for a friendly picture with Behar at the White House holiday party this weekend.

Further proof there are no real feuds among TV personalities as long as there are books to sell.

Barbara Walters stopped by 'The O'Reilly Factor' (weekdays, 8PM ET on Fox News) to promote her "Ten Most Fascinating People of 2010" special. During the interview, O'Reilly challenged Walters on whether asking Oprah Winfrey if she's a lesbian -- as Walters did on the special, and Winfrey denied -- was an "appropriate question."

"Yes I do," Walters responded, without missing a beat. She then explained that since Winfrey has been so open about what a close relationship she shares with her female friend Gayle King, that it was a relevant question.

O'Reilly wasn't convinced: "It makes me queasy that a person like Oprah Winfrey has to answer those kinds of questions."

Later in the interview, O'Reilly got over his queasiness and delivered a funny line about whether Walters asked Sarah Palin, who also had been selected as one of the 10 most fascinating people of the year, if she's a lesbian. Sometimes O'Reilly just can't help himself.

Having people leave the room while you're talking is generally considered to be a bad thing. But Bill O'Reilly always tries to look on the bright side. Two months ago, back in October, O'Reilly got into an infamous yelling match during a live filming of 'The View,' which culminated in co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar walking away in protest.

On 'Late Show' (weeknights, 11:35PM ET on CBS), David Letterman had this question for O'Reilly: "What the hell happened over there on 'The View'? What was going on?"

Bill said he knew Behar didn't like him, and that Whoopi's opinion of him varied. He added that he was just trying to "sell a book" during his time on the show. And he found a positive aspect to the fiasco, joking that it was the "greatest thing ever." "You know what I was thinking? ... 'I hope they all leave! Then I'll take the whole show. I'll have 45 minutes of ABC airtime.'" Well, that's one way to sell a book.

Barack Obama's deal with the GOP to extend the Bush era tax cuts may have enraged Keith Olbermann and other elements of the left, but it has the support of Dennis Miller, who is generally critical of Obama.

Appearing on 'The O'Reilly Factor' (weekdays, 8PM ET on Fox News) the comedian and radio host praised Obama for his pragmatism on the deal, and expressed his belief that Obama's move to the center will increase the chances he will be a two-term president.

"I'm not weighing in on this guy at this moment and say he is weak. He made a pragmatic decision, the fact is over the last two years Pelosi, Reid, he, all the dems . . . they built a Jenga tower of BS, and when that 9.8 unemployment came in last week, that was the last piece that tipped the Jenga tower.

While a good Jenga reference is always appreciated, when talking about the current debt-ridden state of he U.S. economy shouldn't the board game of choice be Monopoly -- as in the money the government continues to throw around on tax cuts and stimulus?

Earlier this week, Jimmy Kimmel ran a segment in which he replaced the Grinch's voice in the animated 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' with the audio from the recent 'The O'Reilly Factor' (weekdays, 8PM ET on Fox News) talking points memo that had O'Reilly calling for the execution of WikiLeakers.

"Finally tonight, Pinheads and Patriots, our pal Jimmy Kimmel used the Christmas season to make fun of me," O'Reilly said.

Then he played the clip in question:

"You know everything needs to freshen up from time to time, so we took out some of the tired old voice of the Grinch, and replaced it with audio of the very popular 'The O'Reilly Factor,' Kimmel explained."

After the clip played, O'Reilly left it up to to audience to decide if Kimmel was a pinhead or a patriot for mocking him. But it was pretty clear from the thoroughly entertained look on O'Reilly's face that the cable news king had concluded that he made a rather convincing Grinch.

During Glenn Beck's weekly appearance on 'The O'Reilly Factor' (weekdays, 8 PM ET on Fox News), the two Fox News hosts discussed the latest cache of WikiLeaks documents, and the organization's controversial leader Julian Assange.

So how long did it take before Beck tried to tie Assange to George Soros, who Beck has been spending the last month railing against as the nefarious 'puppet master'? Not long at all.

"Assange is a guy who loves to have just all open society," Beck said near the beginning of the segment. "Sound familiar, 'open society,' Beck repeated, before making the point that Soros is chairman of a foundation called the Open Society Institute.

Then Beck added the Assange is represented by a lawyer who also does pro-bono work for the Open Society Institute.

Per usual, O'Reilly was fairly skeptical of Beck's conspiracy theories, although the two hosts were united in their belief that Soros represents a danger to society.

Perhaps the most disappointing thing about the segment was that Beck and O'Reilly didn't have nearly as much fun pronouncing Assange's perfect super-villain last name as other cable news figures have been lately.

It was only a matter of time before a prominent voice called for heads over the WikiLeaks security breach.

On 'The O'Reilly Factor' (weekdays, 8PM ET on Fox News), Bill O'Reilly expressed the opinion that those who have been feeding information to Julian Assange's rogue media organization should pay the ultimate price.

"Whoever leaked all those State Department documents to the WikiLeaks website is a traitor and should be executed or put in prison for life," O'Reilly said.

In the past, O'Reilly has been quick to point out his opposition to the death penalty. However, there is clearly something about Assange's infuriatingly aggressive hair stylings that can push a man into questioning his principles.

When Whoopi Goldberg appeared on 'The O'Reilly Factor' (weeknights, 8PM ET on FNC), she and Bill O'Reilly readdressed their confrontation when he visited 'The View.' During that October episode, O'Reilly said, "Muslims killed us on 9/11," and Joy Behar and Goldberg walked off the stage in protest of his refusal to refer to the terrorists as Muslim extremists.

"I just left out the word 'terrorist,'" he conceded. Goldberg said, "In this day and age when kids are getting their butts kicked because they're Muslim--" O'Reilly interrupted her with statistics from a new study that state: "Jews in America are far more likely to be persecuted than Muslims." Goldberg continued defending her viewpoint.

O'Reilly then called her "Ms. Goldberg" and she snapped, "What is this bulls--- about 'Ms. Goldberg'? Stop that, Bill. Just call me Whoopi." And so he did.

Bill O'Reilly is easily the most watched and probably the most influential personality on Fox News. Does that make him the most powerful media figure in the world? Well, reading between the lines of what O'Reilly said on Monday's 'Factor' (weekdays, 8 PM ET on Fox News), he just might think that he is.

"Here at Fox we have emerged, and correct me if you think I'm wrong, but I think Fox News is the most powerful media agency in the world, not just the country, but in the world," O'Reilly said to media expert Bernie Goldberg.

Goldberg disagreed, suggesting the New York Times wields more influence because it sets the agenda of the traditional broadcast networks. O'Reilly countered by arguing that "Fox News can sway public opinion much faster than the New York Times."

What do you think? Has Fox News become the world's most powerful media organization?

Following the lead of his Bold and Fresh co-conspirator Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly has incorporated puppetry into his cable news program.

Friday, on 'The Factor' (weekdays, 8 PM ET on Fox News) O'Reilly interviewed ventriloquist Jeff Dunham's curmudgeonly puppet Walter on the state of the nation and president Obama.

"I have a simple philosophy, and I don't think (Obama) and I share this," the old wooden grump told O'Reilly. "If you don't love this country, I'm sorry, then get the hell out."

Apparently, Walter isn't much of a fan of Sarah Palin either, but he had only nice words for O'Reilly, who Walter complimented on making him feel "warm and fuzzy."

So while Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly are both currently spreading the puppet love, as far as we can tell it's only O'Reilly who's getting the puppet love back.

In a much circulated op-ed piece published in the Washington Post, former 'Nightline' host Ted Koppel bemoaned the death of "objective" journalism, and criticizing partisan cable news channels Fox News and MSNBC as "not good for the republic."

Bill O'Reilly was one of a group cable news personalities Koppel called out in the article. O'Reilly's response to Koppel, which he delivered on 'The Factor' (weekdays, 8 PM ET on Fox News) was actually fairly measured, and at times even complimentary. But he did issue Koppel a challenge:

"Koppel names me and a bunch of other people, and said look, these guys are just lying, they're just making up facts," O'Reilly complained.

"(Koppel) couldn't give examples of me lying on the air, using an opinion not based on facts. He couldn't do it. And if he could he ought to come on here and do it and then he'd shut me up for good.

To be fair, Koppel never used the word "lying" in his op-ed. And, surely, Koppel could find examples of O'Reilly -- or anyone else who has been doing what O'Reilly's job for as long as O'Reilly's been doing it -- issuing an opinion that isn't totally "based on facts." Regardless, we'd still like to see Mr. Koppel take a seat in the No Spin Zone.