c-span.org/connect. word for word gives you the most interesting daily video highlight with no commentary. you an upcoming look at authors and the american history tv newsletter gives you programming exploring our nation's past visit c-span.org/connect. ew cline and isr a contributor to "usa today." he writes the following, "president trump is a symptom, not a cause. paul ryan is a serious man and a non-serious time. it is jettisoning adulthood." explain what you mean. guest: pleasure.

i think a lot of this talk is that is it paul ryan's party or jeff flake's party or donald trump's party misses the bigger picture here. went frommp are not mars and put a spell on republican voters and take over the party. he grew out of a culture. voters grew out of a culture. my argument is we have a combination here of ascendant youth culture in america that is combined with our social media and our technology to produce what i like to call a sick burn culture. everybody has to get in a sick burn. everybody is interested in getting the last word and being thrilled and excited and you can see it on twitter. getting the last dig in. everything is focused on andulation and the moment

it's focused on the today makes -- the dynamics you in schools and the way that we seek attention and the way that we jockey for position. and the 2016 election dynamics we are seeing in today are a product of that culture. politics is downstream of culture. we are seeing a moment where somebody like paul ryan who i consider a serious, sober, judicious person's trying to make logical arguments and is having a tough time getting oxygen in washington because the culture is so fixated on the latest excitement, the latest stimulation of the moment and that stimulus and has to be coming from president trump's tweets and other forms. it was part of a culture before

that. that is my argument. washington has adopted this broader youth culture and technology through which we transmit information has amplified that culture and away that makes it really hard for people like paul ryan to be successful in d.c. anymore. host: did you have a chance to watch either of the services from the barbara bush funeral yesterday? guest: i did not. host: this is the headline from "the washington post." an old-school farewell to a first lady and a political hero. i'm wondering if what we saw yesterday was part in a different -- of a different chapter for the republican party. guest: i would not put it only on the republican party. i think you are seeing right now a cycle in history. ist. not a declin i'm one who thinks things are better now than they have ever been.

i don't want people to mistake this as well. i think we go through cycles. the cycle we are in is one in which dignity and decorum and professionalism and responsibility are not trendy. they are not in. somebody like barbara bush or george h bush, those people feel like they are from a past era. paul ryan is somebody i think who has a lot of dignity and talks that way. he is viewed by a lot of people as being from this past era. we communicate a little bit differently now. things are in soundbites and quick hits. there is not the sort of time that people give to that and people have grown up in the united states in the last century really. there were people in the 1940's complaining about the rise of youth culture and having children grow up in a public education system where they are

grouped together and there appear groups. the p or group becomes their dominant social influence. that is how they are acclimated socially. tot is how they learn how behave. adults are not as much in the picture as they used to be. we had a century of this youth culture rising and changing our culture and its combined with technology to affect the culture as well. i think we have reached a point in history where it has become a problem. i'm not saying that's the future. the "usa today" headline says it's the future. i think its a moment right now and i think it can cycle back, but that's where we are at the moment. if you are dignified and soft-spoken and very interested in details and policy, that does not get you very far these days because it's hard to get attention.

the currency of the moment is attention. somebody like donald trump, who is a master of commanding people's attention, is going to suck the oxygen out of the room and make it difficult for anyone to be heard , which is what we saw in the 2016 primaries. host: out sober injudicious, in loud and obnoxious and the social dynamics of the nursery. you also write the following, "the rise of youth culture in the mid-20th century remains one of the most important social development in american history. worstits ascendancy, the mistake of politician can make is to be uncool. every losing presence of candidate since 1980 was the least cool candidate in the race." guest: i think people can misread that. and isly it's an op ed don't have time to give a long explanation. i don't mean that is the only factor contributing to somebody's win, but it's interesting to note that for decades now, and obviously you

can go back to jfk, being dignified and adult in the presidential race is a weakness. it is not a strength. itng hip and cool and with is a strength. that is something that our culture has produced an something we have to deal with. if you look at barack obama and mitt romney, this is not just something that you can lay at the feet of the voters. go back and read "the washington post" coverage of this race. example, "the washington post" mocked mitt romney's clothes. this is a political reporter at one of the most procedures papers in the country writing that mitt romney's genes were not cool and two square.

these are the coverage that we get out of our major procedures papers. this is a problem and a product of youth culture. likeannot expect somebody paul ryan to thrive and survive in a culture where even the most prestigious publications we have our fixated on popularity, are fixated on presentation, are fixated on how with it and cool you are. it's a product of our culture and it's something we have to learn and navigate and deal with. host: our guest is drew cline. he is the president of the josiah bartlett center for public policy, a name that dates back to the 1700s. who is josiah bartlett and why does he have a center named after him? guest: he was well before

president of the united states and "the west wing." he was governor of the have just -- new hampshire. he was a president. as first governor, he was leaning toward republicanism. he was someone very concerned in creating a state where the people had control and power. the think tank is a free market think tank founded in the 1990's named after him. host: elected to the senate but never served, correct? guest: that is true. host: nick is joining us from norfolk, virginia. caller: good morning. my question was, as an independent, what role do you think technology and instant information plays a role in what is happening according to your article please?

guest: thank you. that's a great question. i think technology is absolutely critical. we had a growth of youth culture in the united states now going back a long time. in the past, we have had pockets of these youth uprisings. it's i will go back to my alma mater. there were riots, they were student riots. they grew out of the american revolution and this idea that the people own these institutions. in 1799, students beat the president of the university and stoned the professor.

there have been used uprisings throughout american history. youth culturen of as it grew out of our public education system and the combination of technology today , videoou have twitter games, social media. social media is really important. it continues that clustering. schools, we have a situation where kids get together and appear group is the dominant social factor. that's only amplified with technology and with social media. adult influence in their culture. that's a problem. cocoon andeople to it creates this sort of rapid .esponse that we have greater

just hours.are it used to be a day. technology is responsible for that. twitter and social media and the newspapers and tv stations are posting things immediately online. everybody wants to go to the story of the moment. that is a product of technology. that's what enhances the youth culture of fact. now andng is focused on making a long sustained argument just as irrelevant. it's not getting covered, except on c-span. host: does the president's twitter account redefine the

bully pulpit? guest: it completely does. you don't have to have twitter to be caught up in this. the president makes policy announcement on twitters. he makes hiring decisions on twitter. it's the medium in which he communicates to the public and the press. i subscribe to a lot of newspapers online. you will see depending on the moment a lot of stories on the front page of the paper, president tweets this. with social media as a common medium through which we communicate, our politicians are learned to communicate.

the mainstream media is following that. it's catching up to that. it's become an important vehicle. it's actually changing the way we communicate. that's lending i mean by the sick burn culture. creates incentives to be get out a be short, big or insult in a way that generates lots of likes and followers. communicator, you have incentives to be outrageous. you can do some in this going to give you an immediate feedback. some people have likened it to addiction.

we see this feedback and the is to get ar this lot of attention. the way twitter and other social media platforms work, it just amplifies that and shortens the time frame. it encourages us to be even more outrageous. way wehanging the communicate with each other and the way politicians communicate with us. opinion is an contributor at usa today. he is the president of the josiah bartlett center for public policy. james from atlanta, you're next. caller: thank you. politics is a 360 degrees. was donald trump did recycle old talking points from

donald graham -- ronald reagan. everybody else is here. that, donald trump says what he wanted to sacred people will leave him. this is what democrats need to do. say what you have to say in order to get elected. yourself -- the democratic party does not need to defend's food stamps. more white people get food stamps and welfare. guilty west virginia. donald trump the start a called them united states every other

country, no democracy has lasted for the government goes on. we are on that time. this man is corrupt. he is evil and these people calling themselves christians that follow him, i feel like they are called members. this is what the country was built on, immigrants. , theyf these people on tv are one generation immigrants. stateo not know what we've been through and suffered through. everyone is jumping on the coattails to use freedom fighters and this and that. room --u great

caller: that black caller made some fairly valid points. ancestry is german. my wife is from taiwan. you take a look. we are a nation of immigrants. primarily, when we started as a nation, the ofrwhelming majority europeans that came in were germanic. primarily set up in the midwest and the south.

you take a look at germany, it's not the size of texas and you look at how advanced the nation of germany is in the areas of science, mathematics, engineering. i'm going to lay it on the table right now. we are a superior people. and the story. we just get the job done. that's the nature of who we are. donald trump was not a successful businessman. his father was successful because he constantly worked. he didn't fool around with women either, the father. my wife is chinese. you take a look, she showed me something when china ruled the world. amazing, this is what he said in 1922.

the white race in the yellow race are basically the smart ones. all other races are feeble and stupid. i didn't say that. adolf hitler didn't send that. you can check that. 1922.d that in host: what are you hearing this morning? i would like to address both of those points. just make the general point that culture as we've been talking about today, culture is a factor we are looking at in terms of whether a society is successful or not. if you look at the chinese and the germans, the chinese were more advanced than any western country for centuries. the reason they fell behind the last was because they shut their country off.

because it was open to exchange of ideas. when you look at the chinese did before the west, it's exhaustive. the idea that any particular country in europe is superior in any way is nonsense. familyhat as some of his emigrated here from germany in the 1700s. culture is what drives things. that's what we are talking about today. the reason china has stayed dominant is because of the culture. because of opening up the country to opportunities, getting rid of those obstacles and barriers to advancement that aristocratic societies always have through human history. ae american revolution was

world changing event because for the first time in history, it every opportunity. every position in society is open to everyone. people complain about that now that donald trump is president. one of the seller to point out to people who are impatient he got elected because there was a sense of impatience. people have been complaining about the same issues for decades. they don't feel like their concerns are addressed. there are lots of reasons why that is. one of them is because of the structure of government. slow so itted to be couldn't become oppressive. technology, we live in an age where

gratification feels like it should be instant. sense india gives us a the way our technology works, we should get things done right away. one of the reasons is the government was created to be slow and deliberate. we have delivered of oddities and argue about things so all sides can be heard and we can come to compromise. americans are impatient. wedding for that compromise the happen is getting more challenging and more difficult given the technology that we have. i think one of the reasons why donald trump was elected is he came in like clint eastwood and said he would sweep away these protocols and get things done.

doesn't that washington work that way. it's not supposed to work that way. institutions give us the ability , byontrol the government design slowing deliberate. you have attention now between the institutions and the people who are impatient. that's something we're going to have to deal with even more as technology grows and becomes more immediately satisfying to us. how do we deal with that as a culture? how do we do with the idea that everything we have, every impulse we have to be satisfied immediately? this photograph of paul ryan as he goes into great detail on the budget plan and his health care bill. following:he

let's go to a democrat. lyndon is joining us from north carolina. caller: i have two questions. 43ould like to know why republicans are running for the hills? vladimirresiding paid keep mittable to

romney from being secretary of state, can he block mike pompeo? why eachcan't answer of those are retiring. picture,ok at the big you see a culture where it's them,or people, some of they find it difficult to break through the noise. there is a sense that there is a democratic title wave coming. themwould rather retire get swamped in an election. host: do you take paul ryan at his word? he has been in the house for two decades. his oldest is 16 and he was to spend time with his kids before they go to college? guest: i think that's been tugging at him for long time.

that's been pretty clear. i don't want to get into second-guessing his motives. dynamic in the washington, if you are a person like paul ryan who is interested and making things more responsive and dealing with some of our structural issues like the national debt, it doesn't feel like you're going to be able to make a lot of headway. that can be frustrating. the don't feel like you're going to achieve results, why not go home and be with your family? host: martin is joining us from michigan. good morning. caller: good morning. i want to ask mr. klein, how do we reset the culture?

will it take a national calamity like what the germans and japanese faced? thank you. guest: that's a great question. i don't know that culture can be changed from the top down. it generally generates in the bottom up. there are institutions in effect the culture. tolic education, we can look the way it structured. i am deeply in favor of public education. at senator ben sas book, he notices a phenomena in the 20 century.

the way we do public schools, we groups withn large very little adult supervision or influence. we are surprised when they ,raduate and they are passive not self-reliant. there are ways we can work on the education system to focus more on making kids self-reliant. them to be active learners and participants in their education. a lot of states are working on it. it's been growing a long time, to make education more participatory and what kids have more agency as they go forward. rather than have them feel like they are passive recipients of education. that could help a lot.

the: he is working for josias bartlett center. good morning. caller: can you hear me? i have a question. i am wondering how much he believes the fast pace of media that goes on and the constant negativity affects the use ability to comprehend all the political aspects of the government? feelecond question, do you that because the middle area of the united states primarily president versus peoplenia, the middle

wanted him in because they weren't being heard? they werelike forgotten and they wanted their voices heard? way, to have aly bombastic person like tromp trout -- trump? the youth don't seem to think for themselves unless they are in a group mentality. i'm just concerned and worried about that. you're referring to flyover country? you may have seen this before. chuck todd put them out on meet the press about a year ago that water, out if you test

you voted for hillary clinton. beyond that, it was donald trump as we moved inside. that's an interesting sidebar. on your last point, there a dynamic where people felt left out. trump talked about the forgotten man in that resonated with a lot of people. feeling lefts were out. they felt like they were being ignored. they felt like the government believeng attention to coastal communities and big cities and they were being ignored. that was clear in the election. ,he first part of the question

i do think social media and current communication technology does play a role. people cluster, makes them alienated from other groups. that has a dynamic in it. if you feel left out or marginalized, you are going to cluster in these social media communities of people who are like-minded. there's been research that shows that happened. it becomes an echo chamber. that is a very bad thing. is designed to engage people with different points of view in a broader discussion of policy so we can come to an agreement. if we are not talking to each

other, it's impossible to have that conversation. all we do is shout at each other. maria from atlanta, good morning. good morning. i came in a little late on the conversation. i just caught the end of the comments on immigration. i have a couple related to this. i come from a family of immigrants. have members of my family who had to wait 20 years to get into the united states. we followed the rules. host: where do they come from? caller: several countries. rico, argentina.

host: puerto rico is not a country. caller: it's not a state. it's actually not part of the united states. host: it is part of the united states. rico, youe in puerto are an american citizen. go ahead with your other point. caller: that's one issue. you have to go through things like proof that you are of good health. you would have to get x-rays to prove you don't have tuberculosis. line, the united states used to choose peopleally to import

that have passed those players of tests. host: your response? guest: we heard from the voters, people who elected donald trump. they felt excluded and marginalized and one of the reasons they felt that way is there were lots of complaints in uncheckedt about illegal immigration, about what you said about people not feeling like the process was fair. we had immigrants who came through the legal process. it's not just because it was unfair, there was the perception that illegal immigrants were taking jobs and opportunities from people who were here first. trump really caught on to that.

that's an example of an issue the public has been saying is a problem for decades and washington has not responded to. health care is another example. polls show health care being a top five subject for years and years. congress didn't address it in any way and that allowed barack obama to take control of that issue. republicans had congress. they could have pushed by health care reform law that addressed a lot of the concerns. that was the sense biggest priority. when congress is not responsive to people's concerns, you build up pressure in anger until they find a way to take it out on washington. is ank donald trump

example. host: we welcome our viewers in great britain. we only have a minute or two left. thanks very much for listening. i don't recognize the democratic party from the way it was many years ago, from the 60's and 70's. people were voting for donald trump because it was a fresh approach to things. there and all those children were kidnapped in africa, he tried to tie conditions because he knew where they were from the secret service. you tieed to say unless this to abortion and same-sex marriage. this is just totally immoral.

triedk donald trump has to put back this moral order. things wesome understand, if god is left out, all evil abounds. there are people fighting abortion. we know that where abortion is concerned, there won't be peace until this ends. house,look at the white she gives a marvelous exposé that there will not be peace until abortion finishes. it is a moral doubt between good and evil going on. i'm quite optimistic the american people know what they are doing. host: we are short on time. your thoughts? i think 2016 showed

thought issues were black and white. i will leave it at that. i appreciate you have a son. host: how can people follow your work? guest: i am on twitter. also on twitter. website is a mess right now. we are in the process of updating it. it's kind of like a 90's website. social media is a great way to catch up with us. host: thank you very much f announcer: c-span's "washington journal," live every day with music policy issues that impact you. coming on monday morning, will

call's white house correspondent john bennett and erica warner discussed the week ahead in washington. then michael sergeant of the heritage foundation looks at the faa's role in airline safety. be sure to watch "washington journal," live at 7:00 a.m. eastern monday morning. join the discussion. announcer: monday on landmark cases, the independent community school district, a case about student free speech. in 1965, five students from des moines, iowa wore black armbands to school to protest the vietnam war, violating school policies. the students challenged the school board's free-speech restrictions, and the resulting supreme court decision established that the students keep their first amendment rights on school grounds. our guest to discuss this case is gary beth tinker, one of the five who challenged the

school district. after two decades as a pediatric nurse, she began working as a free speech advocate for students. and eric jaffe, an independent federal held litigator who's experience at the supreme court includes work for justice clarence thomas in 1956. watch "landmark cases" monday at 9:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. join the conversation, and follow us @cspan. we have resources on our website and background on each case. the "landmark cases" companion book, a link to the interactive constitution, and the "landmark cases" podcast at c-span.org/landmarkcases. announcer: next, the confirmation hearing for the head of the u.s. pacific command and u.s. northern command.

they were asked about north korea's nuclear program, china's presence in the south china sea, and military relations with asia-pacific allies. this hearing was held by the senate armed services committee. it's just under an hour and. -- our into half. >> in this meeting will come to order. required certain questions. that takes a little bit longer. let me start with an opening statement. then senator reid will give his opening statement and we will move on. this committee is considering nominations. several of