O'Reilly on Letterman Round 2

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O'Reilly's Round Two with Letterman Centers on Letterman's Disgust with Iraq War

FNC's Bill O'Reilly returned to the Late Show Friday night for round two with David Letterman over Iraq. In the show taped on Monday but not aired until Friday, Letterman expressed disgust with the war: "So we've made a mistake in war, so we stay there and kill as many Americans as we possibly can? That's the way you get out of a mistake?" At another point, Letterman fretted: “It's all about oil. That's why we're there. Big deal." When O'Reilly asserted that “it isn't 'We're a bad country, Bush is an evil liar.' That's not true," Letterman retorted that "I didn't say we were a bad country. I didn't say he was an evil liar" and charged: "You're putting words in my mouth just the way you put artificial facts in your head."

Unlike the January 3 confrontation, however, each time it seemed to get too personal, O'Reilly would always -- and Letterman sometimes too -- interject a humorous rejoinder to try to keep the interview from becoming too hard-edged. “We're really friends. This is all an act. We're buddies. We bowl," O'Reilly proposed in an effort to cut the tension. For a look at the January session, check my NewsBusters post of the time (with video), “Letterman Denounces Iraq War, Sheehan Critics.” My Friday night posting, “O'Reilly Returns to Late Show Friday Night, Letterman Calls Him a 'Liar,'” recounted comments Letterman made on his Thursday night show. (Partial transcript from Friday's show follows)

Video clip of the most animated portion of the O'Reilly appearance (7:10): Real (5.3 MB at 100 kbps) or Windows Media (4.5 MB at 81 kbps), plus MP3 audio (2.5 MB)