David Letterman vs. Bill O'Reilly

I never had much respect for David Letterman, host of the Late Show. I always felt he had a great opportunity to do actual satire, send smart messages to a critically receptive audience, but that he wasn't seizing that opportunity. This video changed everything:

I now realise David's plan was simply to entertain, with his particular style, without trying to push his personal views to the people. That is respectful to a certain extend, as long as the issue we are talking about are not critical. But when too much is too much our true nature reveals, and I loved how he responded to that idiot of Bill O'Reilly. He showed he's capable of deep critical analysis and thinking, together with smart jokes that don't come out of a script, but they genuinely come from him. He just exercises this ability when he wants too, and that is when the limit is passed.

Here's an excerpt of their exchange:

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:
Letterman: "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."
Bill O'Reilly: "it isn't 'We're a bad country, Bush is an evil liar.'
Letterman: "That's not true, 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."