Guest: Douglas Napper
"Over the years we have taken on the role of protecting the federal holiday of Christmas; as you know, some Americans are offended by any reference to Jesus Christ. President Grant signed the holiday into law in 1870 and everything was swell until about ten years ago when creeping secularism and groups like the ACLU began attacking the Christmas holiday, demanding that the word 'Christmas' be removed from advertising and public displays. There are three primary culprits seeking to diminish Christmas - the American Civil Liberties Union, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and the American Humanist Association. The most aggressive is the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which routinely threatens to sue small towns and school districts if they dare utter the word 'Christmas' or allow choirs to sing carols in public schools. The irony is that nobody is bothering the atheists, who are free to celebrate whatever they wish. But that's not good enough for these people, who want to banish any mention of Jesus from the public square. They are the oppressors, while the Christmas spirit people are just upholding a nice tradition. So once again, I will keep an eye on the situation with help from The Alliance Defending Freedom organization, which has been very successful in defending traditional rights in the courts. I say to them, 'God bless you, each and every one,' with apologies to Dickens."

The Factor welcomed Doug Napier of the aforementioned Alliance Defending Freedom, which defends traditional Christmas celebrations. "Everybody should have the right to enjoy this season," Napier said, "without the interference of a few 'bah humbug' bullies. Recently we've seen three cases where schools have banned music from their schools based on misinformation from groups like the ACLU and the Freedom From Religion Foundation. One case involved a school band - there weren't even words being sung, but 'Joy to the World' and 'O Come All Ye Faithful' were banned from the schools. Our group sent a letter and told the truth that Christmas is constitutional, and they allowed these back in the schools. Armed with the truth, Christmas can come back in and the 'bah humbug' folks can get out!"

Guests: Dr. Keith Smith & Dr. Mitchell Brooks
Some Obamacare opponents predict a doctor shortage as Medicaid rolls expand and physician reimbursement stagnates. The Factor pursued the issue with surgeon Mitchell Brooks, who doesn't accept Medicaid or private health insurance. "To get a good history on a patient," he said, "takes ten or fifteen minutes. But the fees are so low that I couldn't afford to keep my doors open, so I had to make a choice - do I practice medicine quickly or do I get rid of insurance and practice medicine the way I want?" Oklahoma surgeon Keith Smith also explained his decision to not accept Medicaid. "I prefer to give the care patients need rather than the care that a bureaucrat tells me to give them. We'd rather treat those patients free of charge than take money with the strings that are attached by the federal and state governments." The Factor predicted that the Obamacare mess may get worse, saying, "You're going to squeeze these 30-million people enrolled in Obamacare into fewer and fewer doctors, which is a recipe for chaos."

Guest: Jesse Watters
A recent poll indicates that 57% of Canadians are happy with their single-payer, government-run health care. Jesse Watters ventured north to speak with some Canucks about their system. "In our emergency department," one doctor boasted to Watters, "we have homeless people and bank presidents side by side." Out on the street, everyday Canadians gave the system mixed reviews: "We pay a lot of tax but we also get a lot for the tax we pay" ... "There are doctor shortages in certain specialty areas" ... "We don't enjoy waiting months for an appointment." Back in New York, Watters concluded that most Canadians enjoy what they perceive as "free" health care. "One guy told me he waited four months for knee surgery, but the surgery was free. Another guy has had AIDS for 20 years and he's been kept alive with all these expensive medications."

Guests: Mary Katharine Ham & Juan Williams
The Factor asked Mary Katharine Ham and Juan Williams to opine on a possible physician shortage in the USA. "The whole system is changing," Williams said, "and most doctors will tell you they don't think they're going to get a lot of money out of this system. But there will be health care clinics expanding with more doctor's assistants and more nurses." Ham was not nearly as sanguine. "We've had a broken website, we've had rate shock, and the next step will be 'doc shock.' People will find out that their insurance or Medicaid will not enable them to see a doctor quickly or see the doctor they had before. With Medicaid, you're adding maybe 10-million new folks to a system that wasn't working well to begin with. Passing a law does not necessarily mean people will be getting good care." The Factor worried that Obamacare's ills will fall primarily on lower income Americans: "Juan and his fellow political travelers want better health care for the poor, and so do I, but the way to get to that is not by destroying the entire medical system for everybody except those with big bucks."

Guest: Brit Hume
FNC analyst Brit Hume entered the No Spin Zone with his take on Barbara Walters' interview with Barack and Michelle Obama, during which they spoke of their deep mutual affection. "Presidents tend to benefit from their association with the First Lady," Hume stated, "and many First Ladies are more popular than their husbands. So it benefits the President to be seen in a loving and supportive relationship, but I don't think it goes very far. If you're in the kind of political jam this President is in, this tableau of family unity probably won't help very much."

Guest: Bernie Goldberg
Singer Katy Perry is taking heat from the P.C. crowd for performing in a geisha outfit, and Bernie Goldberg is on the warpath (no offense to American Indians!) "Conservatives have their own craziness," he said, "but only a liberal could come up with this nonsense. If Robert DeNiro wants to play the Ayatollah Khomeini in a movie, who does he see to get permission from all the Muslims in the world? Also, a geisha is a woman who tries to please men and in liberal circles playing such a woman is a felony. If she were wearing the same outfit but was kicking men in the head she would be a feminist icon! A lot of the journalists who are writing about this are young liberals who want their own 'civil rights' movement, so they go after kids who wear Indian costumes on Halloween and they go after Katy Perry for wearing a kimono."

If you pay a visit to IndependenceFund.org, your purchase of a poster showing all five living presidents together in one place will help provide Track Chairs to severely wounded vets.

Mardig Sheridan, Seattle, WA: "Dr. Ablow is a bloviator! I'm depressed because the President is disempowering me? Find someone with a brain, O'Reilly."

John Trapani, Hollywood, FL: "Dr. Ablow nailed it! I hope everybody hears his words."

Gary Alan Kauffman, Studio City, CA: "I am not a fan of Watters. I find it horrifying and shocking that there are so many uninformed people walking the streets."

Lolet Valeros, Hercules, CA: "Watters is my definition of handsome. Second only to Bill O'Reilly."