Suwanee woman debates O'Reilly

[Charlie Brown]

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/0222gwxdebate.html

Mellinger, president of a child abuse counseling center in Suwanee, appeared at the end of "The O'Reilly Factor" on Fox News to debate the host in a segment called "Bloviate with Bill." She and her husband James flew to Los Angeles for the in-studio interview.

Mellinger was chosen from more than 4,500 viewers who applied to bloviate (Webster's defines it as "to speak at some length bombastically or rhetorically") with O'Reilly. She chose to debate "Jessica's Law," a Florida law that mandates a minimum 25-year sentence for first-time child-sex offenders. O'Reilly strongly supports mandatory sentences for sexual predators.

Mellinger debated with O'Reilly what she thinks is an unfortunate consequence of the law, which became Florida law in May 2005. If accused sexual predators face a mandatory sentence, Mellinger told O'Reilly, "these guys are not going to , and the cases are going to go to trial, risking them being loose without any jail time ."

Said O'Reilly, "I understand that fewer plea bargains may happen, but we've got to send a message. And don't you think it's a deterrent if a guy thinks he's going to get 25 years to life, not to do it?"

In that vein, Mellinger and the show host parried back and forth for about four minutes at the end of the show. When O'Reilly asked if her option "empowered" child molesters, Mellinger countered, "I didn't say it was a good option, Bill. We're talking about the lesser of two evils here."

Although she enjoyed meeting O'Reilly, Mellinger admitted to being a little intimidated by the cameras, the studio and a seat across the table from the well-known host. Said Mellinger, "It's called 'Bloviate with Bill,' not 'Sit and listen to Bill bloviate.' "

[CottonBear]

1. Brave woman. It sounds like she held her own against O'Lielly. n/t

[bunkerbuster1]

2. She contributed this piece for the Hillbilly Rag

aka the Gwinnett Daily post:

http://gwinnettdailypost.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=36&url_article_id=12202&url_subchannel_id=&change_well_id=2

Put it this way--she's far more diplomatic than I'll ever manage to be.