"The Economist magazine recently asked a provocative question: 'What would America fight for?' The magazine editorialized that President Obama's 'cumulative message is weakness.' In Iraq, the Al Qaeda offshoot ISIS is 60 miles from Baghdad. President Obama has done little to degrade the ISIS army and now it is taunting the president, who told us weeks ago that he was 'studying' the ISIS situation. That's the pattern - the president studies, analyzes, then does nothing, which shows America's weakness. We all know about Putin's aggressive moves, China is threatening to take islands in the Far East, and all over the world there is fear in the air. Back home, the earning power of the American worker continues to decline, with median income down 7% since President Obama has been in office. This weakens the average American home, causing millions to turn to the federal government for financial support. That raises the debt, which is now projected to be $20-trillion by the time Barack Obama leaves office. Then there is social weakness. We are living in a society that is largely secular, where narcissistic behavior and selfish pursuits are on the rise. Millions of Americans are addicted to the Internet, spending vast amounts of times texting, tweeting, and watching dubious entertainment. The crusade to legalize marijuana is nearly hysterical, with pot proponents almost making it a Constitutional issue. Coupled with that is the incredible sympathy some on the left have for drug dealers of all kinds. When a society goes soft on evildoers, it becomes weak, and people who sell narcotics are evil. How about American children? In many public schools they are getting an inferior education. The cold truth is that American society is growing weaker, and anyone who challenges that trend is demonized by the liberal media. The left screams about income inequality when its own policies are downgrading job development and failing to help the poor. The Obama administration stokes that fire. Rather than laying out a road map of self-reliance, liberal politicians and the media encourage 'social justice' and income redistribution. Summing up, President Obama ran on a platform of prosperity, uniting American, and a bold new progressive vision that would provide for the poor and ensure a level playing field. None of that has come to pass. What we have is declining power overseas, an enormous debt, a porous southern border, and a population of 320-million Americans, many of whom are apathetic and ill-informed. I have never seen America weaker than it is today."

Guests: Juan Williams & Mary Katharine Ham
The Factor asked Mary Katharine Ham and Juan Williams whether they were provoked by the provocative Talking Points Memo. "We have a president who is pretty uncomfortable with the idea of American strength being a force for good in the world," Ham said. "I agree with you on the jobs and some of the worries about education, but I disagree with you about the marijuana issue, and when it comes to the Internet, I love it. There are some tendencies towards narcissism, but I don't think the solution is to go back to card catalogues." Williams argued that America has endured times that were just as rocky as today. "I would take you back 40 years to Watergate, which was a pretty bad time. We were still suffering from the aftermath of Vietnam and people were reluctant to do anything militarily. So there have been other times when we were highly divided and we are now still the unrivaled superpower of the world."

Guest: Steven Bucci, Ph.D.
Israel's war with Hamas has led to some anti-Jewish displays, in America as well as in Europe and the Middle East. The Factor explored the problem with Steve Bucci of the Heritage Foundation. "This is way more than an annoyance," Bucci lamented. "We have problems with it here but in Europe it is far worse - they have had major riots that are blatantly anti-Jewish. It's predominantly the immigrant Muslim populations in Germany and France, but there are also native citizens from the far left or far right in this anti-Jewish campaign."

Guest: Nick Adams
The Factor welcomed Australian columnist Nick Adams, who explained how his nation has controlled illegal immigration. "For the last seven months we have not had one single illegal immigrant arrive in Australia," Adams declared, "but it wasn't always that way. When a center-left government full of secular-progressive pinheads got elected, they dismantled our border protection policy with the usual claims that it was 'inhumane' and 'immoral.' Over the next four years more than 50,000 illegal immigrants arrived in 800 boats - they were getting free plasma TVs and free mobile phones. But the conservative government came in and said that we will determine who comes into this country and they used the Australian military and Navy to sort it out. Most important, our prime minister got out and said, 'If you come to Australia illegally, you will never get to stay!'" The Factor endorsed the use of the military, saying, "I've called for the National Guard on the border to physically turn people back."

Guest: Ron Kessler
Author Ron Kessler entered the No Spin Zone with a preview of his new book about the Secret Service. "The Secret Service is in serious need of an overhaul," he declared, "and it needs an outside director to shake things up. There is a culture of corner-cutting, which means they sometimes let people into events without metal detection screening. The agents are very impressive, but management has a lazy culture of making do with less." Kessler insisted that the gossipy details in his book are strictly non-partisan. "Hillary Clinton is so nasty to her agents that being assigned to her detail is considered a form of punishment. But on the other hand, Barack and Michelle Obama are very respectful of agents and treat them with consideration. The book reveals negative material about every Republican from Spiro Agnew to Jenna Bush."

Guest: Jesse Watters
The Factor introduced some of Jesse Watters' most memorable adventures, beginning with his visit to Brown University's "Nudity Week." "It's just providing a comfortable space for people to express themselves," one young woman told Watters. Another said, "We allow people to do whatever they want and whatever furthers their best interest." Watters also visited Toronto and asked some locals about their crack-smoking Mayor Rob Ford. Some of their responses: "He probably dabbled in it once or twice" ... "It's his personal behavior, it has nothing to do with the country." The Factor concluded with a viewer warning of sorts, noting that more of Watters' classic interviews will be featured this week.

Phil Pandes, Alaska: "Bill, Kate Obenshain was right when she told you to wake up. There is not a lot of hate against President Obama on the right, just concern about abuse of the Constitution."

Raleigh Johnson, Bellflower, CA: "Kate's response that there is not hate on the right demonstrates her naïveté."

Michael Ruiz, Missoula, MT: "James Carville lied when he said Rush Limbaugh called for impeaching the president. He only said it should not be taken off the table. It's your job to set the record straight, Bill."

Adventure is a great thing, but if you're doing something extremely risky such as shark-fishing, make sure you go with experienced people who know what they're doing.