Fox News finally got around to discussing Rep. Joe Walsh’s callous attacks on his Democratic challenger, war veteran and double amputee Tammy Duckworth – now that there was an opportunity to “clarify” them, as FoxNews.com described the segment. Walsh appeared on The O’Reilly Factor tonight where guest host Laura Ingraham offered a sympathetic platform and didn’t ask any tough questions. Rather than apologize for having said Duckworth talks too much about her military service and suggesting she is not a “true hero” because of that, Walsh played the victim: “All she does is film me talking to people and the left-wing blogs just went crazy with it.”

Ingraham got right to the Republican Rehab with her first question. “I’ll just ask you point blank, do you think Tammy Duckworth, who lost both of her legs in a Blackhawk helicopter accident in Iraq, in combat, do you think she’s a hero?”

“Absolutely,” Walsh said. He never explained, nor did Ingraham ask why he had said in a now-infamous townhall, "I’m running against a woman who, my God, that’s all she talks about. Our true heroes, it’s the last thing in the world they talk about."

Walsh told The Factor viewers he had called Duckworth a hero “hundreds of times.” Then he immediately went on to play the victim and attack her for other reasons. “I’m running against a woman who’s got David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel running her campaign. They tape every word I say… All she does is film me talking to people and the left-wing blogs just went crazy with it.”

Ingraham said, “Of course that’s going to happen… That’s just the world we live in today." But she added solicitously, “I guess you’re in a position where if you criticize her back or you have to watch every word you say lest you be branded as insensitive to her plight as a disabled American and as war hero. So, I guess, what do you do?”

Walsh said, “You give her enough respect, you treat her like any other candidate. That’s the respect I want to give her.”

So in other words, he wasn’t a bit sorry for his remarks. Ingraham didn't seem to notice. She didn’t even bring up the possibility of an apology.

Walsh whined, “Because I’ve been so outspoken about this president, I’ve become the White House’s Number One target, so they’re throwing everything at me including this stuff and I’ve got to tell you again. She is a hero and I’ve said that hundreds of times.”

“She’s a hero with whom you disagree,” Ingraham said helpfully. “…Most disabled people that I know just want to be treated like everybody else and they don’t want to be babied.”

Of course, it’s not “babying” someone to remain respectful of their service and their record. But who knows if The Factor viewers caught that sleight-of-hand that took the onus off Walsh and suggested Duckworth was being oversensitive?