"It looks like marijuana will soon become acceptable in this country. Millions of Americans like to use the drug and do not want to be told they are wrong to do so. On the flip side, most drug counselors will tell you that pot harms children and many adults can not handle it either. The primary argument for legalizing pot is that booze is legal, but that argument is foolish. You don't add another intoxicant to the marketplace unless there's a good reason to do so. That being said, I'm not an anti-pot crusader. The law of the land should not allow public use of marijuana, but what you do in private is your own business if you're an adult. The USA was founded on individualism and many of us do not want the federal government to control our lives. We want to be able to protect ourselves, we want to be able to make a living without the feds taking 50%, and we want to be able to recreate in a way that pleases us. Talking Points is somewhat amused that the liberal agenda is pro-drug, but anti-gun and pro-nanny state. Today the New York Times scorched the cigarette industry, but the same newspaper doesn't think THC is so bad. Believe me, the health hazards, both mental and physical, of using marijuana are at least as pernicious as using tobacco. In a perfect world all Americans would discourage the use of destructive chemicals, so why don't we have an anti-pot campaign while we decriminalize it? Why do we want children to think intoxication is a good thing? When you alter your state of consciousness, bad things happen. Children should hear that message over and over. Is that too much to ask?"

The Factor asked Fox News White House correspondent Ed Henry about the President's recent comments in which he downplayed the danger of marijuana. "They feel inside the White House," Henry said, "that the president's comments are reflective of the fact that the country is changing, much as it has on same-sex marriage. A growing majority of the public believes that marijuana should be legalized. But where the President may run into trouble is by saying he doesn't believe marijuana is any worse than alcohol. His own drug czar's office still classifies marijuana as a very dangerous drug, so that's contradictory."

FNC host Mike Huckabee is under fire for saying this: "Democrats are insulting the women of America by making them believe that they are helpless without Uncle Sugar coming in and providing for them a prescription each month for birth control because they can not control their libido." The Factor invited reaction from Democratic strategist Alexis McGill Johnson. "How could that not offend me," she asked. "He's saying women can not control their libido, we're so promiscuous that we're going to 'Uncle Sugar' to help with our contraceptive needs. That is suggesting that women are un-empowered and dependent." But Penny Nance, head of a conservative women's organization, fully endorsed Huckabee's comments. "I am relieved that he spoke up, I am tired of Republicans going weak in the knees when this issue comes up. What he said was accurate, Democrats have portrayed us as weak, powerless, and dependent." The Factor summarized, "Huckabee's point is that the Democratic Party wants subsidies for the behavior of women, while the Republican Party generally does not."

A new study claims says the world's 85 richest people have as much wealth as the 3.5 billion poorest. Author and economist Ben Stein opined on that disparity. "I don't applaud it," he began, "but it's always been true that a tiny minority of the richest people control an enormously disproportionate amount of the wealth. The media has been playing this as if there is a finite amount of money in the world and so if rich people have a lot, poor people have less. But if the rich people started new businesses and new technologies that provide employment to other people, then everybody gets richer. Nobody should be starving, but the fact that there are 85 very rich people is not the cause. The issue is how we make the poor people better off."

In anticipation of the big pre-Super Bowl interview with President Obama, The Factor asked Geraldo Rivera what question he would like to see posed. "My first question," Rivera said, "would be, 'Mr. President, when was the last time you smoked marijuana?' You want an opening salvo he doesn't expect and marijuana legalization is the hottest issue in the country. I'd also ask him, 'Mr. President, you sounded so disillusioned in your New Yorker interview, what happened to hope and change?'" The Factor laid out the difficulty that is inherent in next week's interview: "My questions will be tough, but I'll be respectful. I have to be respectful, but as soon as I'm respectful the Obama-haters will hate me."

Now that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is in trouble over the bridge fiasco, late-night comics are again making jokes about Christie's ample girth. Greg Gutfeld and Bernard McGuirk opined. "It's easy to make jokes about fat people," Gutfeld said, "because you won't be accused of racism. But if this were an overweight woman, none of these jokes would be made because it would be sexist. I am pro-fat because it means that person is less into vanity. A guy consumed by his abs can not run a state." McGuirk pointed out that Christie is a very inviting target. "They make jokes because it's easy, but there is a movement to turn telling fat jokes into hate crimes. It's called 'fat shaming,' but along comes this popular Republican white male and all that p.c. gibberish goes out the window. The media have all turned into a bunch of Captain Ahabs."

Gutfeld and McGuirk returned to name the week's most outrageously stupid people. McGuirk went with alleged comic Sarah Silverman, whose new video uses a Jesus-like character to mock abortion opponents. "This is a manifestation of religious bigotry," McGuirk said. "This chick was on SNL for one year and was fired, then Jimmy Kimmel and Comedy Central dumped her, so she turned to political activism and offending targets like Christians, but not Muslims." Gutfeld selected the recently-arrested pop singer Justin Bieber, but not for the obvious reasons. "You don't drag race in a rental car because no one can win ownership of the car. Also, he can not be deported because the crime must involve 'moral turpitude' and his crime is 'moral twerpitude.'" The Factor singled out IRS boss John Koskinen, whose bureaucracy is giving a hard time to a conservative group called Friends of Abe. "A liberal group out in LA called People for the American Way does advocacy on the left and they are tax-exempt, but Friends of Abe can't get a tax exemption. The most powerful agency in the country, the IRS, is politicized and that is so dangerous!"

Dave Byrnes, Chatham, NJ: "O'Reilly, congrats on landing the interview with the president. I'm sure your questions will be pointed, but make sure you let him finish his answers."

Hank LaBate, Traverse City, MI: "I submit that your upcoming Obama interview, Bill, is happening because you give him the benefit of the doubt excessively."

Dennis Roland, Valdese, NC: "O'Reilly, thanks for the heads-up, but I will not watch because you'll be just as soft as the mainstream media."

Drinking a cup of Japanese tea in the morning is good for you and can actually be a calming influence.