"The ISIS terror Nazis have murdered a second American, journalist Steven Sotloff. As with James Foley two weeks ago, they posted the beheading on the net for the world to see, proving once again that Muslim terrorists are as barbaric as the Third Reich. By killing two Americans, ISIS has declared war on the United States...
"If President Obama does not formally declare war on Muslim terrorism, he is doing all Americans a great disservice. We need to send a powerful message to the world and stop the nonsense...
"There is no question that Mr. Obama does not want to wage war; he wants to punt, to deflect the attack on Americans onto the international community...
"All Americans should absolutely understand two things: 1) Muslim terrorism preaches that murdering Americans is a good thing. 2) President Obama has been far too passive in the face of grave threats to this nation...
"President Obama is also calling for international consensus to deal with Putin. Once again, the President is not leading the effort to stop the Russian tyrant. He is waiting, taking meetings, considering...
"Mr. Obama seems to be confused about how international terrorism can destabilize the entire world. It is obvious the President has not thought these things through, has no strategy to confront them, and is putting America in danger."

Guests:Monica Crowley & Juan Williams
How is President Obama handling the threats to America? He's said himself that he doesn't have much of a plan for stopping ISIS. Should Americans have major concerns here?

Juan claimed there's no evidence the President is afraid of Putin or ISIS. He expressed concern that Obama is facing criticism for being he's too calm and acting with restraint because, according to Juan, there's no proof ISIS has the capability to directly attack the U.S.

The Factor argued that with our porous southern border and ISIS' recruiting, they could very well get the opportunity to attack us here.

Monica reiterated that words matter but actions matter more when it comes to presidential leadership. She shot down Obama's idea that we need to rally the international community, and instead pushed for a sustained bombing campaign and some boots on the ground.

What bothers the Factor is that the President seems to be doing the bare minimum. He wants the White House to send a strong message with a declaration of war on Muslim terrorists.

Guests:Carl Cameron & James Rosen
James Rosen asked the State Department why the administration hasn't declared war against ISIS.

Rosen conveyed that the spokesperson sees no utility in placing new labels on the rules of engagement, which Rosen said means the administration doesn't view the murders of two U.S. journalists as acts of war. Meanwhile, Rosen explained that the President is setting forth contradictory missions when it comes to ISIS - he wants to destroy them vs. he wants to manage them.

The Factor wondered why John Kerry isn't saying much on this topic. He theorized that the Secretary of State has been neutered because he's more hawkish than President Obama.

Rosen concluded that the only statement that will actually resonate with the American people is the President's confession that he doesn't have a strategy regarding ISIS yet.

Carl Cameron responded to Congressman Louie Gohmert's (R-TX) call for a declaration of war against ISIS. Cameron posited that Gohmert and many members of Congress want the President to expand airstrikes beyond Iraq and into Syria. He forecasted that a bill authorizing the use of force beyond Iraq will be introduced soon.

Guest:Karl Rove
A new George Washington University poll asked folks if the country is headed in the right or wrong direction. Just 21% of Americans believe we're headed the right way, while an astounding 70% say we're going in the wrong direction.

The Factor pointed out that with numbers like this, you'd think Republicans would dominate the midterm elections in November, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Rove predicted there's a 60% chance Republicans take the Senate, but cautioned that it's too early to tell because we're right at the start of the fall campaign. He said Republicans are more energetic and more enthusiastic, but as always, the election will be decided by independent or swing voters.

The Factor expressed confusion that Al Franken has a 99% chance of re-election. He questioned if Minnesota is so crazy the voters there don't understand Obama hasn't done a very good job and that Franken is his primary supporter in the Senate. But Rove contended Franken is downplaying his support of Obama while campaigning at home.

Finally, the Factor put forth that President Obama doesn't really care if the GOP controls both the House and Senate because he'll just veto everything and use executive orders.

Rove countered that the President can't veto everything, and he'll also have to worry about Democrats who will say they can't stand with him on certain things, especially spending bills.

Guest:Dennis Miller
Regarding the ISIS beheadings, the Factor feels impacted emotionally and believes the terrorists are now taunting us. Miller warned these guys aren't targeting journalists - they would do this to each and every one of us. He deduced that our administration is overthinking this - these ISIS guys are animals and we have no choice but to kill them.

But the Factor joked the President seems to need Belgium and Angola to sign off on it before taking action. On a serious note, he said always going for an international consensus is not the way to govern.

Miller worried that in Obama's remaining two years in office, these ISIS guys are going to whack a lot of heads off.

Switching gears, leaked nude photos of Academy Award winner Jennifer Lawrence and others hit the web this weekend after a hacker got a hold of them. The Factor maintained ignorance about how this hacking stuff works and asked Miller for some guidance.

But Miller took the opportunity to rail against the FBI for investigating this celebrity photo hacking case when we're facing so many real problems in this country.

Guest:Tina Nguyen
In a Talking Points Memo last week, your humble correspondent talked about why some African Americans are failing in the marketplace. To make that point, we compared African American economic stats to those of Asian Americans. Some folks on the web said this was an unfair comparison.

Mediaite Editor Tina Nguyen entered the no spin zone and contended our comparison was off base because statistics only tell part of the story.

The Factor defended his analysis by saying we're talking about an overall problem and education is the key. In his estimation, a strong stable home life that encourages education, as you see in many Asian American homes, gives them an advantage. The culture that is permeating low-income African American quarters is harming them.

Tina still insisted it was comparing apples to oranges. She said a large percentage of the Asian population is not succeeding by the metrics provided by the Factor. While Korean, Japanese, Chinese Americans have college graduation rates above 50%, she informed the Factor that Vietnamese and Cambodians immigrants here have much lower graduation rates.

The Factor protested her rationale, saying you have to go with the aggregate statistics, and made the overall point that African Americans would be better served modeling their families and focus on education after what we often see in the Asian American community.

Comedy Central's Jon Stewart mocked the Factor for returning from vacation to cover the Michael Brown shooting, but per usual, he distorted our coverage. Here's the tip: when you hear something on a partisan-driven program like the Daily Show, don't believe it!