Wake-Up Call: O'Reilly v. Churchill

David Lane presented his last witness in Denver District Court yesterday -- Ward Churchill's wife, Natsu Taylor Saito -- and the University of Colorado lawyers started delivering their defense. But if you happened to tune into The O'Reilly Factor on Tuesday, the day Churchill finished his testimony, it's all over...

By Patricia Calhoun

March 26, 2009

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David Lane presented his last witness in Denver District Court yesterday -- Ward Churchill's wife, Natsu Taylor Saito -- and the University of Colorado lawyers started delivering their defense.

But if you happened to tune into The O'Reilly Factor on Tuesday, the day Churchill finished his testimony, it's all over but the shouting. O'Reilly and his legal pundits agreed that Churchill has little chance of winning his wrongful dismissal case.

Not so fast.

O'Reilly himself has played a supporting role in this case: On the stand, former governor Bill Owens was quizzed about his appearance on the Factor at the height of the Churchill/chickens-coming-home-to-roost controversy, when he was as full of bravado and bombast as, well, as Churchill himself. And those who saw Owens testify gave Lane's shot at winning the suit for Churchill a better-than-even chance -- based on the former guv's appearance alone.

By the way, O'Reilly was once a Denver resident, decades ago when he worked for Channel 7. And as he's said more than once on his show, if he were still in Denver, he'd get this city straightened out.

Too bad he can't start by taking the stand in Denver District Court.

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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