Guests: James Carville & Kate Obenshain
"While many people are small-balling President Obama's speech last night, Talking Points is taking a broader view. The president's speech was okay, he says he'll finally confront the ISIS threat. Good, I hope the USA can destroy these killers. But does the Obama administration really understand what's happening in the world? Former White House spokesman Jay Carney, now working at CNN, said this last night: 'The United States and a lot of the world was stunned by the rapidity with which ISIS was able to move into Iraq and take territory.' But many were not stunned by the ISIS ascent. I knew about it, and many others in the media and government saw the dramatic rise of Muslim terrorism inside Syria and across the Middle East. Talking Points can state with certainty that there is deep anger within the U.S. intelligence community because President Obama was indeed warned about ISIS. He was advised explicitly that withdrawing all troops from Iraq would cause chaos, and now look what we have. So again the question is, does the administration know what's really going on? The next few months might tell the tale on that. If the terrorism situation gets worse, the president's legacy is doomed."

The Factor invited reaction from Republican Kate Obenshain and Democrat James Carville. "I think President Obama understands the nature of the threat," Carville said, "he knows we've been at war for 13 years and we'll be at war for another 13 years. We made a big dent in Al Qaeda and then these guys come up, somebody else always comes up." Obenshain contended that President Obama is still not showing enough toughness. "He wasn't clear that this is going to be a prolonged effort. It was an okay speech and I'm glad he has this new outlook, but he also referred to ISIS as a small group of killers. He is still minimizing the threat they pose to America." The Factor concluded, "President Obama's main job is to protect us, and I believe that by being derelict in many foreign affairs situations he has not done that."

Guest: Laura Ingraham
Some intelligence officials worry that ISIS terrorists could sneak into the United States from Mexico or Canada. Radio talk show host Laura Ingraham analyzed that threat. "13 years ago we had vulnerabilities on the homeland," she said, "and today we have vulnerabilities on the border. Some of us have been talking about the border being vulnerable for twelve years - we have created a big magnet and we don't know who is in this country." Nevertheless, Ingraham lamented that Americans don't have the appetite for an extended war. "We're weaker than we were 13 years ago, our country is more pessimistic, and I'm not sure the American people are going to be all in with what it takes to defeat ISIS. You have to have the people with you, but the people don't want to get involved again in a long and protracted war in the Middle East.

Guest: Ben Carson
Dr. Ben Carson, the conservative black surgeon and Tea Party favorite, entered the No Spin Zone with his take on wife-batterer Ray Rice. "I'm not sure that demonizing people is ever the right thing to do," Carson began, "but that doesn't mean I don't think appropriate punishment should be given. For someone to do something like that, it means there are some really deep psychological issues. There are consequences for bad behavior, but we need to recognize that we are all human beings." The Factor was not nearly as willing to forgive Rice's abhorrent behavior, saying, "Ray Rice did a terrible thing, and battery of women in this country and around the world is out of control."

Guest: Alfonzo Rachel
Protesters have returned to Ferguson, Missouri, where people are still angry over the shooting death of Michael Brown. The Factor analyzed the situation with writer Alfonzo Rachel. "If you want cops to not shoot black people," Rachel declared, "don't rob liquor stores and don't throw things at cops when you're protesting. I'm sad about the death of Mike Brown and I don't know what happened, but I know that there are certain things that lead up to this tension between cops and civilians. Doing things like robbing liquor stores and bullying people isn't going to help the situation. Black people have to take responsibility for our own lives so we don't invite this kind of stigma." The Factor again called for self-control from both cops and civilians: "The police are given training and a gun and power, but coming with that is the responsibility of restraint. This looks to me like it was a mistake, and if that's what the ruling is, the black community is going to go wild. Some people want vengeance."

Guest: Bernie Goldberg
FNC's Bernie Goldberg, who has been monitoring the media's handling of Ray Rice and the NFL, analyzed the coverage. "This is a feeding frenzy and a reign of terror," he declared. "The speech police are out to destroy anybody who says things that they deem inappropriate. You, Bill O'Reilly, just made a comment about a woman spokesperson at the State Department, and you were called 'sexist.' What you did was the opposite of sexism, you treated her as an equal. This is something very important going on in this country and liberals ought to be leading the offensive against this kind of thing." Goldberg also argued that Ray Rice, while deserving of punishment, should not be hit with a lifetime ban. "I think he should be allowed to come back into the NFL at some point. There have been drunk drivers who have killed people and they were allowed back! I'm not comfortable with Ray Rice having to lose his job forever."

Guests: Greg Gutfeld & Bernard McGuirk
Greg Gutfeld and Bernard McGuirk critiqued President Obama's Wednesday night speech on the ISIS threat. "He realized that if you're actually going to get the country behind you in battle," Gutfeld said, "you have to act like a conservative, you have to be tough. He essentially put on the conservative super-hero costume because nobody takes you seriously as a liberal when you're jumping into battle. But this is not how he envisioned himself as president, this is not him. He likes to play president, but he doesn't want to be president." McGuirk gave the president a decidedly negative review. "He's acquiescing to the polls and what some might say is the hysteria, but he looked very tentative and unsure and not confident. On the upside, I was happy he wasn't wearing the jaunty seersucker suit last night, but I wish he had said we won't be sucked into another quagmire."

Dan Jeffs, Apple Valley, CA: "Bill, excellent Talking Points about protecting the folks from terrorism. Unfortunately, I believe the President is the greatest threat to national security."

Tim Stipp, Nixa, MO: "O'Reilly, congratulations on achieving the goal of perpetual war. Eisenhower warned us, but no one listened."

Roberto Otanez, Houston, TX: "Bill, I'm surprised Jorge Ramos wasn't more prepared when he debated you. He walked into a terrible KO."

If you have an ant infestation, sprinkling some lemon juice around the area will make the little critters very unhappy and inspire them to search for a new abode.