ratings. the reason that happened is fnc filled the void. up until 1996 cable news was very liberal few conservative voices heard. fox news changed all that giving access to the right, center, and the left and you the american people responded. looking back on the first edition of what is now the o reilly factor, i m kind of embarrassed. listen to next change with the late edwin newman over the debate between president clinton and bob dole. bill: i don t know what dole, is he much stiffer than the president. yes, he is. bill: he doesn t have liquid eyes. one reason is he much stiffer than the president is he has the use of only one arm. bill: that s a good point. bill: how stupid was that. quiet crowley. but even on our first program there were demonstrations of the now well-defined no spin zone. drug abuse in america is down by 50% in the last 15 years. there is good news there. bill: i disagree with you. i disagree.
protesting at funerals or other people s private events. so i don t think that there is a huge concern that we re going to have people copycat this group sort of speak and go out and harass people at funerals. so, the slippery slope, at least as it pertains to funerals isn t really applicable in this case but the slippery slope does go both ways. if can you harass people at a funeral i suppose can you harass them at a wedding. you can harass them at their home, their school, their work place. bill: all right. now, mr. snyder, you have observed the opening arguments in the supreme court. what struck you as interesting? i think sean did a really good job. i think he touched on the major points, bill. i think that, you know, he laid out that this was harassment. and that s what it was. it was it was targeted. i think sean pointed that out right and like he said the slippery slope does have two sides.
that s so ridiculous. the far left accused the right when we were discussing health care reform in this country of death panels and saying we were going to have death panels under obama care. how does this sound to you. bill: that s in england. this is what is coming to america. bill: if somebody said that to the united united states thed be in trouble. this is outside the mainstream even in england. this is outrageous. spurred a huge amount of reaction editorials, commentary about it whether collapsing unwanted and disabled, you know, the value of a life is still, you know, full and the quality of life for people who are disabled. bill: i don t want children to suffer, who does? i mean, nobody does. but i m going to say, you know, i m going to put the pillow over their head, you know. that s murder. there is no such thing as compassionate murder. how many people have we interviewed in our years
i m not exactly sure what mr. dean is talking about. joining us now from harrisburg, pennsylvania, the democratic governor of that state ed rendell. do you agree or disagree with dean? well, i have to admit, bill, i m a little upset because i do understand what howard is talking about. i think what howard is talking about is some members to call themselves tea party members. the basic thrust of the tea partyites is something many democrats agree with and partially i agree with. there are clearly people who are flying the tea party banner who are saying bizarre and extreme things and it is helping the democrats because it ising that he those voters who are disenchanted. bill: you would agree any group has extreme nuts in it? absolutely. bill: dean says that mainstream voters are becoming frightened of the tea party.
castle-o donnell was? bill: anything can happen. sure, onorado is coming on. bill: i m not making the reservation yet but i m writing it down. all right. i m happy. bill: directly ahead, analyze the supreme court case where a hate group verbally attack as military family who lost their son in iraq. later, why do some people want you to vote naked? the culture warriors looking into that moments away.