"In a provocation the United States has not seen since the Vietnam War, the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is trying to humiliate Barack Obama. Apparently the Russians have now violated a 1987 treaty by testing a new type of cruise missile. Also, Putin continues to attack Ukraine and Russian allies continue to block the investigation of the downed Malaysian airliner. So today President Obama imposed new sanctions on Russia. Mr. Obama also said Europe will impose more sanctions, but don't hold your breath on that. The Europeans have acted cowardly in the face of Putin's aggression. President Obama had to take the action today because all around him things are going south in a hurry. In Israel, fighting between Hamas and the Israelis continues and the USA is powerless to stop the carnage. In Iran, negotiations over nuclear weapons continue because the Obama administration has given that country nearly $3 billion to stay at the table. In Iraq, intelligence reports say that the ISIS army, a vicious offshoot of Al Qaeda, is poised to attack Baghdad. These jihadists are murdering Christians in the streets, but President Obama has taken no action at all. In Afghanistan, a report says the Obama administration can not account for 750,000 weapons given to Afghan forces. In Libya, the USA has now closed its embassy in Tripoli because security is so terrible. Finally, on the southern border, the chaos continues as U.S. authorities can not stop the flow of illegal aliens into this country. On just about every front there is danger - terrorism is growing, there is a mini-war in the Middle East, Iran will most likely get a nuclear weapon, and Putin is causing an enormous amount of trouble. President Obama still has his supporters who spin the situation his way, but his foreign policy has failed miserably. It is long past time for all Americans to demand that the federal government admit failure and devise effective strategies to protect us and other people around the world. Talking Points is sounding the alarm and all of us should take this very seriously."

Guests: Monica Crowley & Kirsten Powers
Monica Crowley and Kirsten Powers evaluated the Talking Points Memo and the threats to America. "I agree with you that there is a lot of chaos around the world," Powers said, "but I tend to feel there is generally chaos in the world. There were plenty of horrible things happening when Reagan was in power, so I think it's a little unfair to lay all of this at Obama's feet." But Crowley scoffed at the suggestion that President Obama is not responsible. "Reagan was about restoring American power and prestige, but what you have now is President Obama presiding over the collapse of American power and prestige. The international world has always been dominated by chaos, and the only time you get any relative order and peace is when there is a dominant power, when the United States is perceived as strong. This president has allowed our enemies to advance, abandoned our allies, and gutted our military."

Guests: Howard Kurtz & Lauren Ashburn
Colorado is suffering some unintended consequences from the legalization of marijuana, including an influx of homeless people who come to partake in legal weed. In light of that, The Factor asked FNC co-hosts Howard Kurtz and Lauren Ashburn to opine on the New York Times editorial calling for legalization across the land. "I agree that the editorial page underplayed the potential impact," Kurtz began. "But with two states having legalized pot, with medicinal marijuana being widely used, and with 54% of Americans saying they favor legalization, this isn't some wacky hallucination." But Ashburn depicted the Times editorial writers as elite and effete snobs. "This is an Upper West Side mentality, people thinking their opinion is right and cherry-picking studies that buttress their argument." The Factor added that the Times considers legalization an issue of racial justice: "They feel like police departments across the nation are corrupt and that they target African American youth and put them in jail for smoking a joint."

Guest: Dr. Phillipa Cheetham
Hundreds of people in West Africa, including some Western medical experts, have died from the Ebola virus. Dr. Philippa Cheetham, who has been following the situation, suggested that Americans have little to fear. "Air travel has made any infection potentially very contagious," she stated, "but I am not fearful about this. There are many reasons why this is a big problem in Africa, but this is not like a flu virus. You're not going to get Ebola virus from someone coughing on you, the typical transfer would be through blood, saliva, urine, and vomit. There are no reported cases in the U.S."

Guests: Kimberly Guilfoyle & Lis Wiehl
Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura has won his defamation lawsuit against the widow of famed Navy sniper Chris Kyle. The war of words began when Kyle claimed that Ventura had slandered the American military and Navy SEALS. Legal analysts Lis Wiehl and Kimberly Guilfoyle scrutinized the case. "This is unbelievable," Wiehl declared. "The jury believed Jesse Ventura to the point of $1.8 million, which is the judgment. Eight out of ten jurors found that Kyle lied." Guilfoyle theorized that Ventura may have lost the case if Chris Kyle was still alive. "You didn't have the live testimony from Kyle, and Ventura is a larger-than-life personality, very brazen and bold. Ventura should be ashamed to take money out of this widow's pocket, he should refuse the award." The Factor expressed surprise at the verdict and monetary award, which will surely be appealed: "I thought that anyone would sympathize with the widow of Chris Kyle, and I wanted to believe that what Chris Kyle told me on this program was true."

Guest: Charles Krauthammer
Returning to the theme of the Talking Points Memo, The Factor asked FNC's Charles Krauthammer to analyze the many threats facing the world. "Iran going nuclear could be the greatest threat of all," Dr. K surmised. "We have an administration that has just paid Iran $11.8 billion to engage in six months of negotiations that ended with nothing, and now we're paying $2.8 billion to give us another four months of useless negotiations. Even if we end up with an agreement, I guarantee it will leave Iran as a nuclear threshold state. I think that is the biggest of all threats because terror at the nuclear level could give us unbelievable destruction." Krauthammer also lamented the current state of American leadership. "The thing that has held the world together, the thing that has maintained the freedom of the free world, has been the United States. But now the world is looking around and asking, where is America?"

If you're a political zealot or fanatic, you're likely to avoid entire arenas of discussion and may miss out on opportunities to learn and grow.