Guests: Betty McCollum, Steve McMahon, Tom Tancredo, Bill Press, Susan
Molinari, Karen Hunter, Terri Stock.
HOST: Good evening, Americans, and welcome to THE ED SHOW
tonight from New York.
These stories have got my hot buttons going tonight.
I‘m really, really trying to keep it down, but I‘m boiling inside. On
the anniversary of the worst domestic terror attack in the United States‘
history, thousands of right-wing nuts decided to get locked and loaded on
the border of the nation‘s capital.
Much more on that in just a moment.
Republican senators are back to Waterloo. Now they‘re determined to
kill the bill that would actually rein in Wall Street. How could they be
against that?
And proof that the nut jobs across the street that like to play with
TV cameras, that they‘re just a political arm for the Republican Party.
We‘ll talk about that.
Contributors for the so-called news channel have raised millions for
Republican candidates running in 2010. We‘ll have the details of that.
But I want all of you to know, I‘m not allowed to think about running
for public office without the RNC siccing their attorneys on MSNBC. I
don‘t think I‘ll ever get over that.
Here‘s what has me really fired up tonight—my anger. I‘m angry
tonight.
I‘m angry tonight because I think that these people who are on the
Potomac River are embarrassing Caucasians in this country. I‘m upset that
we just can‘t come to grips that we have a black president and we have
black people in the Congress who chair committees, and we have people of
color in our society, the United States of America, advancing. We should
be proud of this.
And they‘re all a bunch of phonies, because President Obama hasn‘t
done anything to take anybody‘s gun away. But tonight, at this very
moment, there is an extremely dangerous and toxic atmosphere in this
country.
On the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, dozens of Second
Amendment rights advocates are touting their handguns and their firearms.
They took part in a gun rights rally in northern Virginia. I guess it
makes them feel better. A couple of hundred more protested without their
guns on the National Mall.
Now, hold it right there. Here‘s the thing. Why didn‘t they do this
in the last eight years? Why now?
What has Barack Obama done? What have the Democrats done? What have
the liberals done?
They don‘t even know why they‘re upset. Government takeover of health
care, is that it? Wall Street. OK, well figure this out.
The Democrats want to reel in Wall Street and the Republicans are
against it. Where do these tea bag nut jobs stand on that one?
Former Alabama Minuteman leader Mike Vanderboegh told the crowd armed
confrontation should only be used when the government threatens people‘s
lives, but he left the door open for violence if people refuse arrest for
refusing to buy health insurance. Vanderboegh said—and I can‘t believe
I‘m quoting this guy tonight—“If I know I‘m not going to get a fair
trial in federal court, I at least have the right to have an unfair
gunfight.”
Oh, he‘s a smart one, isn‘t he? This is the same guy who advocated
throwing bricks through windows to protest the health care bill. Fox News
and the hard right wing fueled all of the stupidity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN ®, FMR. ALASKAN GOVERNOR: It‘s not a time to retreat.
It‘s a time to reload.
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN ®, MINNESOTA: I want people in Minnesota
armed and dangerous.
GLENN BECK, FOX NEWS: If you don‘t get into their government health
care, there will be jail time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you imagine a prison yard? “What are you in
for?” “Murder.” “I‘m in for rape.” “I didn‘t have health insurance.”
(LAUGHTER)
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS: Well, I don‘t mean to laugh, but, I mean,
this is the reality.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Oh, yes. Six idiots you can always count on.
The conservative right is doing everything within their power to push
the low information voter right to the edge. They‘re convinced nut jobs
like this President Obama, he‘s just a gun grabber.
Former president Bill Clinton sees parallels between this kind of
rhetoric and the events heading up to the Oklahoma City bombing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When
I went back and started preparing for the 15th anniversary of Oklahoma
City, I realized that there were a lot of parallels between the early ‘90s
and now, both in the feeling of economic dislocation and the level of
uncertainty people felt, the rise of kind of identity politics, the rise of
the militia movements and the right-wing talk radio.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Clinton‘s statement got “The Drugster‘s” attention today.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: You have President Clinton here
simply lying about a terrible tragedy, to try to chill free speech, and
libeling me and the Tea Party at the same time. It does not get more
despicable than this, than what President Clinton is trying to do and how
he‘s being aided and abetted by government-run media.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Rush, there is no such thing as government-run media, and
you know that.
“The Drugster,” Bachmann, Palin, see, they want you to believe that
government is the problem. All of the hate merchants on the right, they
just love these guys protesting with their guns. That‘s really what they
want America to see.
See, they‘re the base. They‘re old. They‘re angry. They‘re white.
They‘re scared. They‘re misinformed.
They watch Fox. They live in the bullet-point culture.
Let me give you something real easy to understand here tonight, if
you‘re watching, you righties. Barack Obama has an F rating. Meaning
fail, suck, bad. An F rating from the Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence.
Now, I want the informationally-challenged voters to listen very close
to me when I say this tonight, that President Obama does not want your gun,
and I think you should understand that. He hasn‘t proposed a single thing
that would infringe on your Second Amendment rights.
Not one. Not one thing.
The more people that buy into this anti-government nonsense coming
from the right, the closer we‘re going to get to another Oklahoma City. If
we face another anti-government attack like the one we saw 15 years ago, I
think that we could spiral out of the control.
There could be a lot of civil unrest in this country for no reason,
only because we in the media seem to focus on this. And I‘m doing it.
I‘m doing it because I think that they are irresponsible across the
street. I think that they just have a dartboard mentality. They just
throw it up there and if it sticks, let‘s run with it.
And they are playing with the emotions of a lot of Americans out there
who are easily misguided, who are challenged by so much information that‘s
out there. There‘s a lot of people in this country that don‘t do very well
in this information age. They become overwhelmed and they want to take the
easy route out, and they just want to accept a little bit of information
and live by it.
I guess today we call it the two-word culture. It‘s kind of scary
stuff, isn‘t it?
We have a society today that‘s reading less. We have a society today
that doesn‘t think it‘s important to have all the facts.
Last week I repeatedly on this show talked about the number one cable
guy over there, and in all of cable, Bill O‘Reilly, that he just couldn‘t
let his ego get out of the way. He was flat-out wrong. His own people
called him on it but he didn‘t back down. Hell, he came out and made
another story about it.
What does that tell you about responsibility in broadcasting? What
does it tell you about responsibility of making sure we have the facts?
For some reason, we just can‘t divide the facts from commentary
anymore. We mix the two up so much that we‘ve got people with their guns
on the Potomac River trying to make a statement, when the president of the
United States and his administration hasn‘t done one thing to take away
your firearm.
And for some reason, the left—and I‘m a lefty, I‘m a strong lefty -
I get the hate mail, I get the targeted phone calls, I get all the stuff
because I‘m willing to say that I think Michele Bachmann is irresponsible.
And I think Sarah Palin is flat-out stupid. Just because you know how to
make a lot of money in this country doesn‘t mean you got the brains.
And I just feel good about the fact that I was angry to start this
broadcast and I feel better now because I‘m calling them out on it. And
just so you know, since we‘re measuring everybody‘s gun, I hunt and fish
more than any of them.
I have property out in the Great Plains. My sons would go crazy if I
said we‘re selling the land and we‘re not hunting anymore. See, it‘s part
of our culture.
And it‘s kind of a family thing. Not once has Christian (ph) or
Joseph or David ever said to me, “Dad, Obama wants to take our guns.” They
know better. They know better.
Why is it that there are some people that know better and some people
that don‘t know better? Why is it that some people have a hard time with
what really is happening out there?
What‘s happening out there in America is that we are fed lies every
day. There‘s a difference between debate and lies.
O‘Reilly fed lies to his audience last week. And he probably beaucoup
ratings for it.
I will say this, that I believe that the Tea Partiers are misguided.
I think they‘re racist, for the most part. I think they are afraid. I
think they are clinging to their guns and their religion. And I think in
many respects, they are what‘s wrong with America.
And sometimes I think we, the media, we are what‘s wrong with America
because we cover them. We covered 3,500 people that showed up in
Washington, D.C., last week for the Tea Party. And that‘s supposed to be a
huge story?
It‘s out of whack. It‘s absolutely out of whack.
Get your cell phones out tonight, folks. I want to know what you
think about some of the things that are happening in the world.
Do you worry that anti-government rhetoric will lead to domestic
terrorism? Text “A” for yes, text “B” for no to 622639. I‘ll bring you
the results later on in the show.
Joining me now is Minnesota Congresswoman Betty McCollum. She had the
courage to call out her colleague, fellow Minnesota lawmaker Michele
Bachmann, for her inflammatory rhetoric.
Congresswoman, good to have you with us tonight.
REP. BETTY MCCOLLUM (D), MINNESOTA: It‘s great to be with you, Ed.
Thank you for covering this very important topic.
SCHULTZ: What do you have a problem with Michele Bachmann for? What
has she said that you think is out of line and needs to be straightened
out?
MCCOLLUM: Well, I have a problem with any legislator, any member of
Congress who doesn‘t stick to the facts when we‘re having a debate on the
House floor and who turns to inflamed rhetoric and name-calling rather than
keeping civility in a debate. You know, the people expect us after we‘re
elected to go up there, respect one another, and work towards a common
good. And when you‘re name-calling, when you‘re not using the facts, it‘s
a little hard to work together for the common good. And that‘s what the
people want us to do.
SCHULTZ: I‘m a Minnesota taxpayer and I‘m not in her district.
Collin Peterson, who was a turncoat on health care, he‘s my congressman in
the 7th District. She wants all Minnesotans armed and dangerous.
How am I supposed to take that? I‘m a Minnesotan, and she wants me to
be armed and dangerous. What do you think of that?
MCCOLLUM: I thought that was inflamed rhetoric, and it did—it
scared a lot of people. And there are some people who are very much on the
edge. And when they hear elected officials speak that way, it causes them
great concern. And so that kind of rhetoric coming out of an elected
official is not helpful in engaging people in a thoughtful debate about
what was taking place with health care.
People in our party—Tea Party people who came in and said, I don‘t
want the government providing any kind of health care at all, I want the
government out of health care, and then people—we‘d engage them in
questions and say, “Well, how do you feel about Medicare?” “Oh, I like
Medicare, but I don‘t want the government to be involved in it.” Where
people who had been given misinformation, and that sometimes it‘s coming
from elected leaders in this country, and that‘s wrong.
SCHULTZ: Congresswoman, good to have you with us tonight. I
appreciate your time tonight. Thanks so much.
Joining me now is Democratic strategist Steve McMahon.
Steve, at this point, how do we tone it down?
STEVE MCMAHON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, you know what? That‘s a
really good question, Ed.
You know, obviously, you can‘t pass a law to tone it down, although
you certainly can pass a law that prohibits someone from yelling “Fire!” in
a crowded theater because of the damage that it causes. You can pass a law
that prevents people from inciting riots if you can determine that‘s that
what they‘re doing.
The problem here is that people are using political speech in a way
that‘s incendiary, and that encourages the kind of behavior, frankly,
that‘s no different than the kind of behavior that was encouraged in
Oklahoma City by Timothy McVeigh and the people around him. And that is so
dangerous every single day all across America.
The reason people walk into schools and open fire is because of
rhetoric like this and because of attitudes like this. The reason people
walk into military bases and open fire is because of rhetoric like this and
attitudes like this. Really, what they‘re doing is not that much different
than what Osama bin Laden is doing in recruiting people and encouraging
them to hate America.
SCHULTZ: And what should the president do? How should he handle it
at this point? No other president‘s had to put up with this.
MCMAHON: No other president‘s had to put up with it. And I think
what the president needs—I mean, the president signed a law that
permitted these people to go to a federal park with their guns and protest.
The president‘s administration provided the security that enabled them to
do it safety.
This president, as you pointed out earlier, has nothing against the
gun rights of Americans, but these people are not really about gun rights
either. They‘re angry, they feel like they‘re losing their country. And
they say that they want their Constitution back, but they were there today,
able to protest with their guns, because they have their Constitution
already.
SCHULTZ: Steve, great to have you with us tonight. I appreciate your
time. Thanks so much.
MCMAHON: Thank you, Ed.
SCHULTZ: Coming up, it‘s hard to outdo today‘s antics, but Tom
Tancredo has found a way to up the ante. He just told a bunch of Tea
Partiers we should “send President Obama back to Kenya.”
I‘ll go head-to-head with him at the bottom of the hour. We need this
discussion.
And when they‘re not getting paid to lie on the right-wing network,
“Caribou Barbie,” “The Newtster,” “Turd Blossom” and “Slick Rick,” well,
they‘re just raising millions of dollars for their own political action
committees.
All that, plus I‘ll show you a back-to-back hole in one in the
“Playbook.”
And “The Drugster” is going to go up in smoke in the “Zone.”
And we are debating the black agenda tonight here on THE ED SHOW.
Stay with us. We‘re right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW, and thanks for watching
tonight.
The Republican Party again is showing that they‘re firmly on the side
of the Wall Street fat cats. All 41 Republican senators have signed a
letter opposing the financial regulatory reform bill. Democrats are set to
bring the bill to the floor this week, so we‘ll see if the Republicans will
stick together and mount a filibuster.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd doesn‘t think they‘ll do
it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD (D-CT.), CHAIRMAN, BANKING COMMITTEE: As I read
the letter from the Republican leaders, the words about filibusters were
not in that letter. They expressed opposition to the legislation. And,
look, in light of events over the last week or so, again, where the SEC is
now moving on actions here, the Lehman Brothers problems, I don‘t really
believe Republican members want to be in a position where they‘re talking
about filibustering a bill that would allow us to address those issues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: For more, let me bring in NBC‘s Kelly O‘Donnell on Capitol
Hill tonight.
Kelly, is there any climate for cooperation on this? What do you
think?
KELLY O‘DONNELL, NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, some of the calmer
voices here, Ed, seem to indicate that there might be a chance, that there
are some conversations between Democrats and Republicans, behind the
scenes, looking for ways to maybe make changes to the bill before it would
come to the floor that might satisfy some of these concerns.
Now, Democrats will tell you there are a lot of Republican ideas in
the Dodd bill. But most Republicans that we‘re talking to—in fact, all
of them—say they are united in their opposition to the bill in its
current form.
They say you‘ll hear from both sides everyone wants to say that they
believe Wall Street needs some reform and the financial institutions need
to be changed, and that the public has to be protected. It‘s all about
how.
Now, the politics involves a lot of strategy, and the Republicans are
united at the moment to try to stop this bill from coming to the floor.
And part of the reason for that is if it were to get to the floor, debate
begins, amendments could change it. The difficulty is once substantial
disagreements exist about a bill, it‘s very hard to make the changes once
it gets to the floor. So Republicans really want to try to work out
anything they can before that point.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
O‘DONNELL: As you heard Chris Dodd say, the Goldman Sachs issue has
come up, and there are people on both sides saying that that shouldn‘t be a
part of this, not to politicize that and this legislative action.
SCHULTZ: What is the Democratic reaction to the bullet points that
are being thrown out that this is a permanent bailout? Does that get them
boiling under the collar?
O‘DONNELL: Well, Democrats really get upset about that, because what
they say this would do, it‘s a $50 billion fund that would be fueled by the
financial institutions. They would put in the money, and if some future
bank or financial company gets into big, big trouble, it could be
liquidated with some of that money.
Now, here‘s where it gets interesting. The White House doesn‘t really
have a strong feeling about this fund. They could kick that aside.
We‘ve been told that Secretary Geithner has told Republicans he‘s not
in favor of the $50 billion fund. And Republicans have called it a bailout
fund that would create a culture of permanent bailouts.
Democrats say that‘s just not the case. And even today, one
Republican, Bob Corker of Tennessee, said that he also does not believe it
would create a permanent bailout.
So there is disagreement within the parties, within both parties, over
how this kind of a fund should be used and what precedent it might set. So
it‘s a big issue because so much of the bailout fatigue is behind all of
this need to make changes on Wall Street.
SCHULTZ: Kelly, thanks for joining us tonight. Appreciate it.
O‘DONNELL: You bet.
SCHULTZ: Coming up, holy smokes. I think “The Drugster” has been
breathing in some of that volcanic ash that‘s floating across the pond.
He‘ll erupt all over the “Zone,” next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And in “Psycho Talk” tonight, you educated geologists,
you‘ve got to listen up to this one.
“The Drugster” has a new theory about the reason behind the volcanic
eruption in Iceland. It‘s a very highly scientific reason as well. He‘s
blaming it on the health care bill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIMBAUGH: A couple days after the health care bill had been signed
into law, Obama ran around all over the country saying, hey, I‘m looking
around. The earth hadn‘t opened up and no Armageddon out there. The birds
are still chirping.
I think the Earth has opened up. God may have replied.
This volcano in Iceland has grounded more—I mean, airspace has been
more affected than even after 9/11 because of this plume, because of this
ash cloud over northern and western Europe. Earth has opened up. I don‘t
know whether it‘s a rebirth or Armageddon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: So, by “The Drugster‘s” logic, God is mad about the health
care bill the president of the United States signed into law.
What, he thought he‘d show his wrath by sending a massive cloud of ash
over Europe? Nice try, Drugster.
But a good conspiracy theory should at least have a whiff of reality.
The guy hiding in the basement wearing a tinfoil hat isn‘t even buying this
one.
Saying that the Icelandic volcanic eruption is God‘s reaction to
health care reform is “Psycho Talk.”
Coming up, given that it‘s the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City
bombing, I don‘t understand why anybody would think it‘s appropriate to
hold an anti-government or pro-gun rally on this day. I‘m talking to the
woman who put it all together coming up later in the show.
Plus, Tom Tancredo thinks that we should send President Obama back to
Kenya? We‘re going to talk about that in just a moment, for sure.
And two regular dudes outperform Tiger by crushing one in 17 million
odds at the tee box. That‘s coming up in the “Playbook.”
You‘re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to “The Ed Show.” Thanks for watching tonight.
There seems to be a pattern of conservatives spewing hate than playing
dumb. Like when Sarah Palin claims the media just doesn‘t understand what
she means when she says it‘s time to reload. Well, I‘ll tell you exactly
what we mean when we talk about irresponsible rhetoric. It‘s telling an
angry and uninformed crowd absolute lies. Like fueling the lie that the
President of the United States wasn‘t born in the United States. Former
Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo who will join me in just a moment spoke
at a tea party rally in South Carolina over the weekend, this is what he
said to the crowd. “If President Obama‘s wife says Kenya is his homeland,
why don‘t we just send him back?” Maybe it was just a joke, but here‘s the
reality. 59 percent of tea partiers won‘t say President Obama was born in
the United States. If you don‘t believe the president was born in the
United States then you can‘t believe he‘s the legitimate leader of the
country, can you? Rhetoric like this and rhetoric that‘s being tossed out
there is really, I think, asking for trouble.
Tom Tancredo joins me now, former Congressional member from Colorado.
Congressman, what did you mean by that? I want to give you a chance to
clarify it. Were you just making a joke? Do you really think President
Obama ought to go back to Kenya?
TOM TANCREDO, FORMER GOP CONGRESSMAN: First of all, I am a little bit
disappointed, Ed, I have to tell you because I think Rush beats me out all
the time on your “Psycho Talk.” I mean, what more can I say?
SCHULTZ: I have to tell you—you know, we are exhausted in the
office day after day trying to determine whether it‘s going to be you or
Limbaugh or Beck in “Psycho Talk.” And I‘m sorry you‘re getting your ass
kicked by those two guys but they‘re off the charts.
TANCREDO: I‘m trying. I‘m fighting back. I‘m fighting back.
SCHULTZ: I still consider you at least somewhat reachable. Okay?
TANCREDO: Okay. All right. So let‘s go to this. Now, look, many, many
times with many, many presidents or actually people holding office at
various levels someone will say, let‘s send these guys home, you know?
Meaning at the end of their term, let‘s vote them out. Send Bush back to
Texas, send Carter back to Georgia, Clinton back to Arkansas. I was talking
about sending them home and I said, if home is where Michelle Obama says it
is, which she said it was Kenya, who am I to argue with her? You know,
she‘s the one determining. You should be yelling at her for bringing this
up because I‘m just referencing what she said.
SCHULTZ: Tom, I have to tell you I think that‘s a racist remark.
President Obama is an American. He was born in Hawaii. And you know he was
born in Hawaii.
TANCREDO: I didn‘t say he wasn‘t born in Hawaii.
SCHULTZ: His roots may have come from Kenya but sending him home, he
is home, Tom. You‘re leaving the impression—
TANCREDO: She says home.
SCHULTZ: -- that Barack Obama, this is not his home. Fueling the
rhetoric, is it responsible—
TANCREDO: Ed?
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
TANCREDO: It could be, you can take this in a variety of ways. You
can say she was just referencing—when she said this, Kenya, is his
homeland or home country, you can say, well, she probably meant it in terms
of where he was, I guess people who are the, quote, birthers—
SCHULTZ: You know what you‘re inferring, Tom. You know exactly what
you‘re doing.
TANCREDO: Or you can say she was talking about where he is, you know,
spiritually, emotionally.
SCHULTZ: Oh, come on.
TANCREDO: Whatever it is, it‘s not America.
SCHULTZ: Tom, you know what the climate of the country is right now.
TANCREDO: She should have said his home is America.
SCHULTZ: What you said is irresponsible. It wasn‘t fair.
TANCREDO: She shouldn‘t have brought it up.
SCHULTZ: Look, it‘s what you made out of it.
TANCREDO: You should be yelling at her, not me.
SCHULTZ: Let me ask you this about the tea party movement. It‘s race-
based, isn‘t it?
TANCREDO: No. It is not.
SCHULTZ: Okay. So the hatred for President Obama has nothing to do
with the tea party?
TANCREDO: I think you guys on the left are totally engulfed in this
concept of racism. Everything to you is racist. Nobody can say anything
without you throwing that back at people and really I have to tell you if
you guys are only thinking about everything that is said in terms of racial
terms you are racist, not me, not us.
SCHULTZ: Tom, you know, I‘m thinking about—
TANCREDO: These issues are not race related.
SCHULTZ: I‘m thinking about Congressional members who are civil
rights icons, Mr. Lewis who was called the “n” word, Congressional members
spit on, Congressional members having stuff thrown through their window,
bricks after being advocated by tea party nut jobs out there.
TANCREDO: How much of it was proven?
SCHULTZ: It was all proven. You know it was. That‘s a hoodwink in the
world. It was proven.
TANCREDO: It was not.
SCHULTZ: Why to you associate yourself with these people?
TANCREDO: Because firsts of all I‘m telling you, these people—even
the way you say that I think is—that‘s what I‘d call bias or racist.
What do you mean these people? These people are Americans. They were there,
by the way, in every color, shape and size.
SCHULTZ: They weren‘t in every color. That‘s not true.
TANCREDO: Well, they were—
SCHULTZ: Come on, now. Even Bill O‘Reilly said last week at the
national conference he said it is a white movement. It‘s a white movement.
TANCREDO: I didn‘t see you there.
SCHULTZ: Yeah. Okay.
TANCREDO: I didn‘t see you there. I‘m sorry. I must have missed you.
I guarantee you there were plenty of people there of various colors.
SCHULTZ: Do you have a problem with people of color? People of color.
Do you have a problem with people—
TANCREDO: No, I do not, absolutely not, Ed. None whatsoever. I know
what‘s in my heart, buddy. I know what motivates me. I know why I say the
things I say and do the things I do and I guarantee you there is nothing
that motivates me based on some sort of racial idea. It‘s not race-based.
Issues matter to me. Issues matter to me. And because I argue them and
because I bring them forward and the president is black. That‘s got
absolutely—I‘ll tell you what. If this guy, if he was a conservative my
car would be covered with pro-Obama stickers. I want a conservative. I
argue with liberals and I don‘t care what color either one might be.
SCHULTZ: Tom Tancredo, good to have you on the program tonight. I‘ll
try to work you back into “Psycho Talk” a little bit more.
TANCREDO: I‘ll do my best, buddy. I‘ll do my best.
SCHULTZ: Let‘s get rapid fire response on these stories. More proof
Fox News is a 24 hour political commercial for the GOP. Fox contributors
have raised millions of dollars to help Republicans in the midterms and
getting TV time.
Former President Bill Clinton says the midterms won‘t be as bad as
1994. He thinks Democrats will hold on to both houses of the Congress.
And a new poll shows Arizona Senator John McCain with a razor thin
lead over tea party nut job J.D. Hayworth. I‘m just kidding. That‘s a
little hard on him. He‘s just a little misguided politically. With us
tonight is Bill Press, nationally syndicated talk show host., and Susan
Molinari, former Congresswoman and Republican strategist. All right, Bill,
how come I can‘t raise a bunch of money for the Democrats here on MSNBC,
but they can raise a bunch of money for the Republicans across the street?
What‘s happening here?
BILL PRESS, NATIONALLY SYNDICATED TALK SHOW HOST: I think the real
answer is the federal commission is asleep at the switch. Fox is a
political organization. I used to be chair of the Democratic Party. They‘re
doing everything I used to do as state chair. Recruiting candidates,
sponsoring events, speaking at events, registering votes and we know
they‘re raising money for candidates. Their people own their air. It is
against the law. You can‘t do that if you‘re on television.
SCHULTZ: Rupert Murdoch is operating against the law?
PRESS: The whole Fox News is I believe. Those people who are paid,
Fox contributors raising money for candidates you can‘t do that.
SCHULTZ: All right. Susan, let‘s take a look at the numbers. You‘ve
got Newt Gingrich out there on just about every night on Fox. He‘s raised
$14 million. You‘ve got Sarah Palin‘s Sarah Pac, $2.5 million. Huckabee has
his own show, he‘s raised $1 million. Santorum‘s America foundation Pac,
$1.2 million. Isn‘t the mission of Fox News and these people to give a
strong foundation to the Republican Party? Do you see it differently?
SUSAN MOLINARI, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think if we had to look and
say does Fox News lean toward the right? Of course it does. Does MSNBC lean
toward the left? Of course it does. Look at how many shows MSNBC has on
every night that does nothing but hammer the Republican Party, the tea
party and everybody else you mentioned there. They also employ a
significant amount of people who work for Democrats who now are—
SCHULTZ: I don‘t disagree with you on that. I can‘t speak for the
other hosts. I‘m a progressive. I‘m a lefty. There are some Republicans I
like. You‘re one of them.
MOLINARI: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: You know, the fact is that but I‘m not out there raising
money and I‘m not out charging tickets for tea parties for candidates and
everything else. What‘s the mission of Fox News?
MOLINARI: Here‘s why I don‘t have a problem with this. People know
this. This is transparency. People who watch that—the TV show, who watch
Huckabee they know Sarah Palin, they know Newt Gingrich when he gets on.
They know the spin they‘re going to get from him. That‘s why they‘re tuning
in.
PRESS: Susan, the distinction is it‘s not just expressing an opinion.
It‘s doing political activity, organizing events, speaking at events,
sponsoring candidates and raising money for candidates. That‘s political
events. CNN is not doing that and MSNBC is not doing that.
MOLINARI: Except with the exception of Mike Huckabee the rest are
paid contributors.
SCHULTZ: They‘re on a payroll.
PRESS: They‘re on the payroll.
SCHULTZ: They‘re on the payroll. Let‘s go to the next subject. Bill
Clinton says this about the upcoming midterms about who‘s going to hang on
to the house and Senate. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FMR. PRES. BILL CLINTON: I think the outcome of the election is
likely to be far less dramatic than it was in ‘94.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So no Republican revolution, no takeover?
CLINTON: I don‘t think they will win either house. If history is a
guide, they should make a few gains.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Susan Molinari, what do you think about that comment?
MOLINARI: Well, shocker. President Clinton said the Republicans
aren‘t going to win the majority. I was trying to go back. I‘m sure the
night before the election in 1994 he said the same thing. Look, it is a
long time, you know, between—to those of us who have lived this cycle
after cycle. It‘s a long time between now and November. The truth is if the
election were going to be held today because of the way we‘re polling in
generics right now where typically the Democrats including in 1994 in the
generic balloting before the election the Republicans were down. The
Republicans are up.
SCHULTZ: What about that, Bill?
PRESS: President Obama is at 40 percent. Where we are in November I‘m
not going to forecast. Today we would win.
PRESS: Susan, I might have agreed with Susan in December. I think you
missed the boat on this. With health care now the law of the land, with
Wall Street reforms, they‘re going to come, Ed. Jobs are now, we‘re growing
jobs. We‘re not losing jobs. The economy is coming back what‘s happening
with the Dow. I think all the momentum is in the Democrat‘s favor. Bill
Clinton is right. Democrats are going to lose some seats. They‘re going to
hold on to the house, hold on to the Senate. Here‘s the best part. John
Boehner and Mitch McConnell will be out of a job.
MOLINARI: The Democratic incumbents are still below 50 percent. That
has to give the Democrat Party pause after everything you said has given
them momentum.
SCHULTZ: Let‘s go to Arizona and all of a sudden John McCain, the
turtle in political—he doesn‘t move very fast. He is ahead of Hayworth
by 47 percent, 42 percent. What do you make of that, Susan?
MOLINARI: I think, you know, there‘s some disruption in terms of the
anti-incumbent feeling out there hitting both Republicans and Democrats.
Harry Reid, we can see that. I think John McCain‘s going hang on. I think
he‘s been through tougher battles. Obviously personally and professionally.
SCHULTZ: Going to hang on, Bill?
MOLINARI: Let me say one more thing. He‘s got Sarah Palin. If you‘re
worried about tea party people turning on an incumbent, the fact he‘s the
person who introduced Sarah Palin will help save him.
PRESS: Here‘s what‘s disturbing. In January McCain was ahead 53-31.
Now he‘s barely ahead. He‘s within the margin of error. I‘ll tell you
what Ed. It makes me want to go to Arizona and walk precincts for John
McCain.
SCHULTZ: Bill Press, Susan Molinari good to have you with us tonight.
Thanks so much.
Coming up, a staggering 16.5 percent of African-Americans do not have
a job. The old white angry tea party thinks President Obama does too much
for the black community. I‘ll explain my vision for the black agenda next
in the “Playbook.” Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: It‘s not too late to let us know what you think. Tonight‘s
text survey question is, do you worry anti-government rhetoric will lead to
domestic terrorism? Text “a” for yes, “b” for no to 622639.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
REV. AL SHARPTON, NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK: We‘re in a new century
with new circumstances and we need a new conversation that leads to
tangible results. We must hold everyone accountable from government to our
own institutions. We must be accountable from the white house to your house
and my house.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Reverend Al Sharpton introducing a panel discussion on black
leadership in his national action network conference over the weekend. Here
at MSNBC we devoted time to debate the black agenda yesterday with a
special on the network talking about what the agenda should be and whether
we should be one of the first to step forward and talk more about it.
In tonight‘s “Playbook” I want to continue the discussion, first let
me give you a few statistics. 50 percent of African-American students fail
to graduate high school on time. 16.5 percent of African-Americans are
unemployed and 24.7 percent live in poverty. 24.7 percent live in poverty.
Furthermore, blacks are six times more likely to be incarcerated than
whites. Meanwhile a recent now “The New York Times”/CBS poll found 25
percent of tea partiers say the administration favors blacks over whites,
just 11 percent of the general public thinks so. The fact is we‘re quick to
throw money at Wall Street and tax dollars at tax breaks at corporations
but for some reason we are reluctant to make specific targeted gains for
the black youth of America. I think President Obama can have a profound
impact on the youth of this country if he develops a targeted set agenda
with targeted goals for black Americans.
Joining me now, journalist and publicist Karen Hunter. Thanks for
joining us yesterday on our special on MSNBC. I appreciated your work and
also Tamron Hall anchoring with me, was just absolutely outstanding.
KAREN HUNTER, JOURNALIST: As were you.
SCHULTZ: Do you see it the way some Americans see it? What I just
said?
HUNTER: I mean, I hate statistics and I hate when you round
statistics out because they become self-fulfilling prophecies in many ways.
If you can‘t pull up yourselves by your boot straps, if you don‘t have any
boots that you can create them because that‘s been our history in this
country. We‘ve always found a way to do it. Most black people I know don‘t
want a handout from the government. They know that if we pool our resources
we can get it done together. Every time we do these black agenda things,
we‘ve been doing them now—
SCHULTZ: Wall Street got a handout. Wall Street got deregulated.
HUNTER: Absolutely. They should not have.
SCHULTZ: It seems that we‘re quick to do something like that but when
we have a serious number and lives are being affected why not have a black
agenda?
HUNTER: We should have a black agenda. I think it should start as
reverend al said in the homes first. If we‘re being honest, there are a lot
of moneys already poured into the school system. That‘s not why kids are
not passing and are dropping out. In New York City we spend almost $14
billion on the school system and most of that money goes to the inner
cities. We can‘t see it‘s a money issue. If we throw money at the problem
it‘s going to fix it. It starts, why aren‘t people reading to their kids?
Libraries around this country are empty. There are books everywhere, turn
the television off for an hour or two and devote time to make sure your
children are reading.
SCHULTZ: What is the political downside if the president were to say
we have to do something for African-Americans and focus on this?
HUNTER: He was elected President of the United States. Most African-
Americans who voted for him understood he was not going to be the black
president, you know, which unfortunately that memo didn‘t get to the tea
party members. We recognize he‘s here for all of us. If we‘re really being
honest, Ed, this kind of thing divides us more than it brings us together.
We‘re all Americans. We should all be working to make sure all Americans
have health care. That—
SCHULTZ: I agree with you there, Karen. I think our ignorance divides
us because I think—I think white folks in this country are afraid to
admit that we did what we did. We are where we are. And for some reason we
have this complacent attitude that, ah, it‘s just numbers, don‘t worry
about it. This is our inner cities. We‘re quick to throw resources overseas
to Iraq and Afghanistan and third-world countries that need financial help,
but for some reason we‘re afraid to step up and say we need a serious
agenda that is going to help Americans who are struggling right now. That‘s
how I see it.
HUNTER: I can‘t disagree with you, but there‘s a series—needed for
all Americans who are struggling. Not just black Americans. If we start in
the homes with ourselves and fixing things we can fix we wouldn‘t have this
big problem with these numbers.
SCHULTZ: Karen, come back later in the week. We want to talk more
about this.
HUNTER: I‘d love to.
SCHULTZ: I appreciate your time. Karen hunter accomplished Pulitzer
Prize winning journalist here on “The Ed Show” tonight.
Coming up, the leader of the pro-gun protest on the national mall will
be here to tell us why she‘s afraid of President Obama. That‘s next on
“The Ed Show.” Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to “The Ed Show.” Finally tonight in Virginia
today a group of armed protesters carried handguns and rifles to a rally to
honor the second amendment. Okay. Across the river in Washington, D.C., a
few hundred unarmed Americans gathered at the national mall to advocate in
favor of gun rights. Organizers say it was not a hate fest but love fest, a
chance to show their appreciation for the founding fathers who gave them
the right to bear arms. Joining me now, Terri Stock. She is President of
the Second Amendment March.
Terri, nice to have you with us tonight. I understand you‘re a member
of the PTA and also a hockey mom involved in youth hockey. Thank you for
being involved with your kids. What‘s the big deal? Why would you protest
or why did you—afraid somebody is going to take your gun? What‘s
happening here?
TERRI STOCK, PRESIDENT, 2ND AMENDMENT MARCH: We hear that a lot, Ed,
that no one‘s coming to take your guns. That‘s what we‘re afraid of.
Really, it‘s just about the founding fathers said freedom isn‘t free and
the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. That‘s what it‘s about. We‘re
being vigilant here and seeing things that are concerning. We don‘t believe
that people are going to come door to door and necessarily take our guns.
There are things that come through legislation that many Americans aren‘t
necessarily aware of. That we‘re keeping an eye on. And, you know—
SCHULTZ: Okay, so you‘re aware that President Obama has an “f” rating
from the Brady Foundation?
STOCK: Well, yeah. There—a lot of people say Obama has done more
for gun ownership than many of the presidents in the past. Certainly gun
ownership has soared in the last year.
SCHULTZ: Why is that?
STOCK: Well, I‘m not exactly sure. I think that there was some fear
that firearms would be taken away. I think that some people were afraid of
the change taking place, and knowing the fact from his Chicago record
coming from Chicago that he didn‘t support—what he‘s saying isn‘t
reflecting what he‘s actually done. At every turn in Chicago he was anti-
firearm, anti-freedom.
SCHULTZ: You think that President Obama is anti-gun, anti-freedom?
STOCK: Well, I‘m looking at his voting record.
SCHULTZ: You think he‘s anti-freedom?
STOCK: Well, if—well, that‘s not exactly what I said, but—
SCHULTZ: That‘s what I‘m asking. I want you to clarify it. You don‘t
think he‘s anti-freedom, do you?
STOCK: Well, you know, I don‘t want to be cornered into saying
something like that.
SCHULTZ: I don‘t want to corner you into saying something. I just—
STOCK: Right.
SCHULTZ: I‘m out of time. I have to run. We‘ll have you back another
time. Thanks for being involved. I‘m a little amazed some of the rhetoric
floating around these protests today.
Tonight in our text survey question, I asked do you worry about anti-
government rhetoric will lead to lead to domestic terrorism, 92 percent of
you said yes. That‘s “The Ed Show.” We‘re back tomorrow night. “Hardball”
with Chris Matthews is next.
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BE UPDATED.
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