Guests: Juan Williams and Mary Katharine Ham

"A bunch of us at The Factor went down to New Orleans over the weekend. We didn't stay for the game for various reasons, but I did have a good look around and New Orleans has come back big time from Katrina. And what was mostly on display was Super Bowl commercialism; companies like ESPN and DirecTV spent millions of dollars on social events and marketing. And then there were the Super Bowl commercials, which cost $3.8 million for each 30-second spot. Those commercials tell us a lot about America. My favorite was a Paul Harvey voiceover that celebrated traditional America and heroic farmers. On the downside, there were plenty of candidates, but the worst was the GoDaddy spot that showed an extreme closeup of model Bar Rafaeli kissing a young man. It was hard to watch, there was no message, and it was dumb and unnecessary. Also foolish was the Taco Bell ad that mocked senior citizens. The commercial sends a message that elderly people are clowns, that they're desperate and frivolous. The ad turned my stomach; we need to care for our elderly, not demean them."

When The Factor invited Mary Katharine Ham and Juan Williams to evaluate the Talking Points Memo, Williams strongly disagreed with the notion that Taco Bell's spot was offensive to the elderly. "I didn't think it was demeaning," he protested, "I thought it was evidence of life in old bones and people having great fun. The idea that seniors have some sexuality about them and that they're not simply to be ignored is a good thing. You see it as clownish, but I saw it as people having fun." Ham found herself in rare agreement with Williams. "I thought the commercial was goofy and exaggerated," she conceded, "but it was good-natured and not demeaning. Who are America's favorite elderly people? Betty White and Joan Rivers, who are pretty crass."

Guests: Brit Hume

According to a report in the National Journal, President Obama is confident that his coalition of minorities, union workers, and white liberals make up a powerful and enduring electoral force. Fox News analyst Brit Hume expressed some skepticism. "If you draw a straight line from this past election day into the future," he said, "you get the result that the National Journal is talking about. But politics rarely moves in a straight line and, in my judgment, it will not be easy to replicate the coalition and the turnout that Barack Obama had. This President had a declining proportion of the electorate from 2008 to 2012 and it required the greatest voter mobilization effort ever for him to win. That can be matched by another party."

Guests: Matt McGill and Normal Livingston Kerr

Unlike many other large cities, Chicago's murder rate is on the rise and even innocent bystanders are being killed. The Factor asked Norman Livingston Kerr, a community activist in Chicago, to explain the carnage. "You don't have the big gang structure like we used to," he said, "so there's a lot more fighting among smaller groups. It's not necessarily about drugs, but sometimes simple disrespect, and there is access to guns and it escalates." Radio talk show host Matt McGill implied that white racism is partly to blame. "For years I thought the Daley administration allowed crime in the African American community as long as it didn't bleed over into downtown or the north side and criminals got comfortable with that. Mayor Emanuel has walked into a situation that has been going on for twenty years." The Factor contended that Mayor Rahm Emanuel has been totally ineffectual: "You don't have 'stop-and-frisk' in Chicago, which drove down all gun crime in New York City, and you don't see big squadrons of Chicago cops being a presence on the street. Emanuel hasn't done anything! He's a big mouth, but he doesn't do anything."

Guests: Scott McEwen

Chris Kyle, author of "American Sniper" and one of the most efficient sharpshooters in military history, was murdered at a firing range over the weekend. The Factor explored the crime with Kyle's co-author Scott McEwen. "It's been reported that the man charged with the murder is an ex-Marine," McEwen said, "and that he was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. Chris was working with him and trying to help him, he tried to help guys who were suffering with all kinds of disabilities." The Factor lamented the passing of a true American hero: "Chris was doing a charitable thing and this is what happened to him. He was a good man across the board, this is a big loss to the country."

Guests: Bernie Goldberg

New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez has been under investigation for his links to a shady physician, Dr. Salomon Melgen. The two men flew on Melgen's jet to the Dominican Republic on various occasions and they've been accused of consorting with underage prostitutes. The Factor asked Bernie Goldberg how the media should handle the story. "The three major broadcast networks," Goldberg said, "have not covered the story at all on their weekday evening newscasts. If I were in charge of one of the networks and I got a tip from a shady source and it was 'backed up' by prostitutes in the Dominican Republic, I wouldn't go on the air with such an explosive allegation. But where this story became legitimate is when the FBI got involved in the investigation." The Factor agreed that the major networks have thus far avoided a genuine story: "You can't be throwing out all this lascivious crap without some kind of backup, but Menendez acknowledged that he didn't report the private plane trips and then you see what a sleazoid this Dr. Melgen is. You've got to cover this story, but the networks declined."

Guests: Adam Carolla

The Factor ended Monday's show with Adam Carolla, who also evaluated the Super Bowl spots and heaped praise on the ad in which former NFL star Deion Sanders pretends to be a young prospect trying out for the league. "I loved the commercial," Carolla said, "and I feel bad for Vin Deisel, who has to sit home and realize that Deion Sanders is actually a better actor than he is." But Carolla gave two thumbs down to the Coke spot with a bunch of odd characters in the desert. "It was boring and confusing, I didn't get it, and I don't even get why Coke advertises. They could either bore and confuse America or open another bottling plant for the same price." The Factor concurred, calling the Coke ad "a waste of time."

Kaye Ellis, Whitianga, New Zealand: "O'Reilly, I cried when I read your column entitled 'What the Babies Would Say.' I had a difficult pregnancy and was told I could die if I delivered. I chose to put the baby's life over mine. We both survived and now I have three grandchildren!"

Carleen Kelly, Basking Ridge, NJ: "I was disappointed by Charlie Rose's response to Jesse Watters in the Al Gore piece. Mr. Rose just lost a viewer."

Brett Deschamps, Frenchtown, MT: "It turns out that Al Gore is a better capitalist than climatologist."

Whenever and wherever you travel, you'll benefit from interacting with local residents as much as possible.