Guest: Karl Rove
"Some Democrats are trying to destroy New Jersey Governor Christie because they see him as a threat to Hillary Clinton in 2016. Christie's traffic scandal is pretty bad and lots of people were adversely affected. He says he didn't know about it and fair-minded people should believe him until there is evidence to the contrary. Mr. Christie's style, which propelled him to political success, is now hurting him. One reason Mitt Romney lost to President Obama was that Governor Romney is too much of a gentleman, he apparently did not have the 'fire in the belly' to deliver a knockout blow. But Christie does and is therefore a threat to the Democratic Party. Therefore, Christie must be marginalized and a good way to do that is to use his bluster against him. If you are passionate and state your position firmly and flamboyantly, as Governor Christie does, you become a huge target, especially if you make a mistake. Talking Points believes the Democratic Party does not fear hard-right conservatives like Senator Cruz and Senator Paul. At this point Governor Christie is the biggest threat to the Democratic Party, so we are seeing a personal campaign lodged against him. It will not calm down any time soon."

The Factor invited reaction from FNC analyst and GOP strategist Karl Rove. "Any time there's somebody at parity with Hillary Clinton in the polls," Rove opined, "as Christie has been, Democrats are going to seek an opportunity to knock him down a notch or two. With this bridge closing, they had the opportunity to knock Christie down and they jumped on it." Rove praised Christie for his handling of the bridge affair. "People are seeing a leader say, 'My people screwed up, they lied to me, and I took definitive action and fired them.' Most people outside of the New York area like seeing a leader who owns up to mistakes and apologizes. Democrats are going to try to make hay out of this, but most people will see that Christie owned up to it."

Guest: Brit Hume
FNC's Brit Hume, who has opined that Chris Christie is paying a price for being too "masculine" in a feminized culture, entered the No Spin Zone to explain. "It's a fact of our contemporary life," he observed, "that if you have that tough guy image, if you speak bluntly and sometimes even rudely, you run the risk of being a 'bully.' In the eyes of some people unsympathetic to your agenda, that will stick and it will be used against you." Hume also analyzed a new book that claims Hillary Clinton's staff kept a "hit list" of Democrats who failed to support her candidacy in 2008. "Some of these were people for whom Hillary or Bill Clinton had done things. When they didn't get endorsements from these people, they considered it a betrayal. This was being done by Hillary Clinton's staff - the staff of politicians are often far more vindictive than the politicians themselves."

With marijuana use gradually becoming more acceptable across America, The Factor put forth this exposition: "Every sane person understands that intoxication is bad for kids, but all the polls show that the legalization of marijuana is now favored by the majority of Americans. That's a big difference from just ten years ago, when marijuana legalization was opposed by most Americans. The change has been brought about by the media, which generally glorifies pot use. And kids are getting the message - pot use and the acceptance of marijuana is quickly rising among American teenagers. There's a big difference between drinking a glass of wine and ingesting the THC that pot contains. Alcohol abuse is a tremendous problem in this country, and so is drug abuse, and now a major gateway drug is becoming socially acceptable. Unfortunately, there's no turning back this tide. Therefore, American children will face another obstacle, another socially acceptable temptation. As if they don't have enough!"

Guest: Mary Katharine Ham
Fox News analyst Mary Katharine Ham, who has argued tenaciously with The Factor about marijuana legalization, returned for another round of verbal sparring. "I'm glad you pointed out that some 56% to 58% of Americans are pro-marijuana legalization," she said, "and I stand with that majority of Americans. But that does not mean I am indifferent to drug use and I stand with you on kids. When it comes to the drug war, it's a failure - we spend huge amounts of money and we incarcerate many people. I do not want my daughter to smoke marijuana when she's a teenager, but I also don't want her to drink a bunch of alcohol or get a tattoo, and those are legal." The Factor took issue with Ham's conclusion: "If adults want to use marijuana, I have no problem with that. Alcohol is a plague and children are drinking all over the place, and you want to add to the problem by making another intoxicant socially acceptable."

Guest: Jesse Watters
As reported last month, the largest teachers union in Michigan is defending 39-year-old Neal Erickson, who was convicted of raping one of his underage male students for three years. Union boss Steven Cook refused an invitation to appear on The Factor, so Jesse Watters ventured to Michigan and confronted Cook, whose response came was terse: "No comment. This is private property, you have to leave." Watters then spoke with the victim, now a 21-year-old college student. "The education system is supposed to support their students and their well-being," the young man told Watters, "and the fact that the Michigan Educational Association is backing a child molester and a criminal is absolutely disgusting. Nobody will ever know what this man did to me, emotionally, physically, and mentally."

Guest: Charles Krauthammer
The Factor asked Charles Krauthammer to evaluate the situation in Iraq, where Al Qaeda has re-established a powerful foothold. "It's very clear what happened to Iraq after we left," Dr. K declared. "Obama says he ended the Iraq war? No, it was General David Petraeus who ended the Iraq war and we won. Al Qaeda was utterly defeated and humiliated and we were in a position to conclude a strategic agreement where Iraq would have been our ally. Obama had one job to do and three years to do it, and he failed! Iraq has become an air corridor for Iran to supply heavy equipment to the genocidal government in Baghdad. The bottom line is that Obama wanted to get out, that was the promise he made." The Factor reminded Krauthammer, "That's a pretty serious charge you're leveling at the President because of all the people who died and all the money we spent."

Jeff Keller, Bend, OR: "With all due respect to Geraldo, traffic problems in New Jersey are a non-story for us in flyover country."

Craig Landrum, Jackson, MS: "What's the difference between Christie's subordinates closing lanes to a bridge, and the federal government directing the closure of the WWII monument in Washington?"

When you're full, even if there's plenty of food left on the plate, listen to your stomach and put down the knife and fork.