Earlier this week, we had a lively discussion about whether or not President Obama is a socialist. You may remember radio guy Rush Limbaugh mocked me for not putting the s-word label on Mr. Obama. Also, Fox News analyst Newt Gingrich agreed with Mr. Limbaugh that the president is a socialist, at least philosophically.
We then spoke with Bernie Goldberg, who agreed with me that the socialist label might be very damaging to Barack Obama because it scares people.
Most Americans don’t like socialism. If the s-word sticks to Mr. Obama, it will hurt him politically.
On the other side, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an admitted socialist, was ranting about the global warming situation the other day, actually comparing it to the Third Reich.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, I-VT.: The reason that this debate is so important is that it reminds me in some ways of the debate taking place in this country and around the world in the late 1930s. And during that period with Nazism and fascism growing, a real danger to the United States and democratic countries all over the world, there were people in this Congress, in the British Parliament, saying don’t worry, Hitler is not real. It’ll disappear. We don’t have to be prepared to take it on. Global warming is real.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
I could be wrong, but I believe old Bernie is trying to scare us.
And then there is top presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett, who was asked about the Tea Party movement at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VALERIE JARRETT, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISER: It’s always a lot easier, again, to scare people and to get them angry when they’re already scared and they’re already uncertain. I think that’s what the Tea Party has tried to capture.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
All right. Now, unlike the statement from Sanders, Ms. Jarrett may have a point. Many Americans are frightened. They see the Obama administration spending record amounts of money, funds the country doesn’t have. And there are controversies over terrorism, taxation and other things important to the folks. So yes, some Tea Party people are in the game because they’re afraid. But “Talking Points” doesn’t think that’s a bad thing.
Fear is a tremendous motivator. If you think your roof’s going to collapse and you build a stronger roof, that’s positive, is it not?
It is a rational and distorted fear that is damaging, that can lead to violence and heartbreak. It can also paralyze people, making them incapable of correcting problems.
So fear is a double-edged sword, and there is no question it is being wielded all over the country these days.
And that’s “The Memo.”
Pinheads & Patriots
Just the pinhead element tonight.
You may remember that the Obama administration hired a man named Van Jones to be the green jobs czar. Well, that didn’t go down very well because Mr. Jones is a supporter of some very radical causes, so he eventually got fired.
Now there’s a new controversy, as the NAACP is honoring Van Jones this week. So our pals at “Fox & Friends” were a bit perplexed, and they put together this montage.
Click here to watch “Pinheads & Patriots”!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VAN JONES, FORMER GREEN JOBS CZAR: You’ve never seen a Columbine done by a black child.
The white polluters and the white environmentalists are essentially steering poison into the people of color communities.
Aren’t you an oil company? Aren’t you killing (EXPLETIVE DELETED) in Nigeria?
Some cowboy cliques in the police department who have a frat boy mentality.
The president of the United States sounded like a crackhead, like a crackhead trying to lick the crack pipe for a fix.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are Republicans able to put things through when they had less than 60 senators, but somehow we can’t?
JONES: Well the answer to that is they’re (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Well, it gets worse. Remember what you just heard because here’s what Van Jones is now saying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: I will never say anything publicly about any other leader that will make it hard for my kids and their kids to be friends. Doesn’t mean we won’t disagree, but you’ve got to conduct yourself in a way that we’re one country. You’ve got to conduct yourself in one way that we’re one people and that even when we disagree, at the end of the day, we’re going to have to figure out a way to work together, live together, be together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Maybe he has undergone an epiphany. Obviously, Mr. Jones is a pinhead. And we can’t really figure out what’s going on with the NAACP.
— You can catch Bill O’Reilly’s “Talking Points Memo” and “Pinheads & Patriots” 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
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