"President Obama is in a tough spot over the police shooting in Ferguson. Some on the far left want the president to promote the belief that police are mowing down young black men. So far the president has not made any anti-police statements. He has appropriated $75 million for police to have cameras on their person, which is a good thing. In areas where police officers wear cameras, charges against them by civilians have dramatically dropped. The cameras protect honest cops, as well as discourage police abuse. Other than that, Talking Points believes the president should stay out of the controversy. He obviously has to uphold the grand jury decision not to indict Officer Wilson because if he subverted that, the rule of law could collapse. On the issue of race and policing, opinions vary. Former NBA star Charles Barkley said, 'If it wasn't for the cops we would be living in the wild, wild West in our neighborhoods.' But anti-white fanatic Louis Farrakhan is threatening to 'tear this goddamn country up.' Haters like Farrakhan will use any excuse to demonize white people and stir up racial hatred. It's a shame that some Americans buy into it because we are all in this together. If only that philosophy would take root that all Americans have a common interest in prosperity for all, if only we all helped each other out, all of this garbage would dissipate. Would it not?"

The Factor pursued the issue with black conservative Alfonzo Rachel and white liberal Michael Skolnik. "If black people feel the system is rigged against them," Rachel said, "part of the reason is that they voted for that system and gave it power. You can't be dependent on someone without allowing them to control you. Maybe the way to change cops' behavior is to change your own behavior." But Skolnik denounced the grand jury proceeding in Ferguson and policing in general. "The prosecutor did not put up a case to the grand jury that was fair to the deceased, he was prosecutor and defense attorney. There is an epidemic of distrust between police departments and communities of color, and that is leading to many deaths."

Monica Crowley and Kirsten Powers analyzed reports that some conservative Republicans in Congress are devising a plan that would disable President Obama's executive order on immigration by starving the government of funds. "The leadership doesn't want them to do that," Powers reported, "and John Boehner will do everything he can to make sure it doesn't happen. But we've seen it in the past - if there's a revolt and there's a way for the conservatives to do it, maybe they will." Crowley predicted that House Republicans will embark on a two-step process. "They will vote that the executive branch does not have the constitutional authority to do what the president did last week, but that's a symbolic vote. Then John Boehner will come up with a funding bill that separates the immigration agencies from the rest of the government."

It's that time of year! An atheist group has created a billboard that actually advises kids to skip church on Christmas because Jesus isn't real. The Factor asked psychoanalyst Karen Ruskin why some atheists are so determined to declare war on Christmas. "When you feel like you are in the minority," she theorized, "you experience a desire to sell your belief in a loud way to others and to make yourself feel better. This is not unlike the bully who tries to push other people down in order to make himself feel better." The Factor contended that atheists are actually damaging their own cause: "It's so counterproductive - putting up a sign like this just makes people angry with you because they feel they are being insulted."

Fox Business host John Stossel recently hit the streets to ask people about major news stories. Even though he found that many Americans are clueless about their government, Stossel insisted that people should have as much freedom as possible. "People run their own lives very well," he declared. "They buy cars and computers and go to church and raise their families, they make good decisions. But not everybody pays attention to politics." Stossel also took a good-natured jab at The Factor. "It is true that there are many dumb people out there. I see it when I look at the ratings and see how many more millions watch your show than mine." The Factor returned the favor by mocking Stossel's doctrinaire libertarianism: "The Founding Fathers knew that the 'mob' couldn't rule, but you want the mob to have free drugs. I don't want a bunch of stoned zombies walking around, but that's what you want!"

A Pennsylvania man named Anthony Elonis was sentenced to four years in prison after issuing threats on Facebook. The Factor scrutinized the case, which will be heard by the Supreme Court, with legal aces Kimberly Guilfoyle and Lis Wiehl. "His wife left him with their two children," Wiehl reported, "and he went on Facebook and wrote about how he wanted to kill her. He went into a lot of detail, but he now says he was just doing this as therapy." Guilfoyle picked up the story after Elonis was visited by an FBI investigator. "He posted that he wanted to slit the throat of the female FBI agent. He was convicted and lower courts have upheld the conviction. This is the first time the Supreme Court will hear a case of this sort and I believe they will say this is not protected speech."

The Factor invited Charles Krauthammer to evaluate the state of race relations in America in the wake of the Michael Brown case. "When you think about the span of the past 50 years," Dr. K said, "the division between the races has been dramatically reduced to a point that would have been unimaginable. 50 years ago there was legal segregation against black people! We have a black president who carried North Carolina, Florida, and Virginia in 2008. Clearly there are people who don't like African Americans, but they are outnumbered by the number of whites who felt it would be a good thing to elect an African American as a way to symbolize the change in the country. I would defy you to name one country in the world where that attitude change has been so radical." Nevertheless, The Factor lamented the fact that many black Americans still feel the deck is stacked against them: "The black underclass, the people who live in dangerous neighborhoods and feel they have no chance, is entrenched. And then there are demagogues like Al Sharpton who tell them white people are keeping them down."

Mike McDonald, Colorado Springs, CO: "Mr. O'Reilly, you say you make judgments on the facts, but you called the football players who did the 'hands up' routine dumb. They all went to college. You owe them an apology."

Ronald Hertzog, Florence, AZ: "Bill, as a retired police officer, I thank you for reporting the stats on police shootings in America."

Rich Covert, Bel Air, MD: "Bill, I commend you and your interview with Benjamin Crump. You were fair. The left needed to see you extend an olive branch, the right needed to see you practice tolerance."

If you're in the market for some outstanding reading material, Wall Street Journal columnist Bret Stephens has written a sobering new book called "America in Retreat"