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careful with what you say also. How can you possibly take exception with the motivation and the position of someone like Cindy Sheehan?”
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    O’Reilly: “Because I believe she’s run by far-left elements in this country. I feel bad for the woman.”
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    Letterman: “Have you lost family members in armed conflict?”
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    O’Reilly: “No, I have not.”
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    Letterman: “Well, then you can hardly speak for her, can you?”
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    O’Reilly: “I’m not speaking for her. Let me ask you this question. This is important. Cindy Sheehan lost a son, a professional soldier in Iraq, correct? She has a right to grieve any way she wants, she has a right to say whatever she wants. But when she says to the public, that the insurgents and terrorists are freedom fighters, how do you think, David Letterman, that makes people who also lost loved ones, by these people blowing the hell out of them, feel? What about their feelings, sir?”
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    The conversation continued in this contentious vein and exploded into this final confrontation:
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    Letterman: “I’m very concerned about people like yourself who don’t have nothing but endless sympathy for a woman like Cindy Sheehan. Honest to Christ.”
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    O’Reilly: “No way a terrorist who blows up women and children…”
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    Letterman: “Do you have children?”
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    O’Reilly: “Yes, I do. I have a son the same age as yours. And there’s no way a terrorist who blows up women and children is gonna be called a freedom fighter on my program.”
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    David Letterman then went on to say that 60 percent of what I say is “crap.” But then he admitted he does not watch
The Factor.
The next day, millions of people were talking about the shoot-out. Everyone, it seemed, had a different take.
    And that was great because, finally, the culture war was vividly displayed on late-night TV. I hope you got to see the interview; it was an important moment on the culture battlefield. By the way, in yet another example of how the “elite” media handles itself, CNN and NBC News ran stories about my dustup with Dave. In their presentations, they aired his most provocative statements to me but cut out my retorts back to him. Nice.
    Some of my friends thought I should be mad at Letterman for insulting me on the air. But I wasn’t. I don’t care what he thinks of me. He’s entitled to his opinion, and I have confronted folks on my program in a similar manner, although I am always familiar with what they have done. I enjoyed the debate and told Dave so. But if you saw that display, you can no longer have any doubts that David Letterman is a passionate advocate for the left. I won’t say he’s an officer in the S-P corps, because I’m not sure of that. But he is certainly not part of the traditionalist cadre.
    That Letterman debate could never have happened on Jay Leno’s program, because Leno is pretty much in it for laughs and is rarely confrontational. His famous line “Politics is show business for ugly people” is hardly partisan. I like going on his program, because he’s not trying to make you look like an ass. He wants a few chuckles and appreciates the fact that I play along and set him up to mock me. Here’s an example that aired on
The Tonight Show
just before the Iraq war started. He began by suggesting that if I interviewed Saddam Hussein, an opportunity might open up:
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    Leno: “Would you kill Saddam Hussein? Here’s a pen. You