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>> cenk: ralph nader got a democrat to admit the most important line i've seen in a long time in politics.

what is it? we'll tell you tonight on a whole different online show we do on theyoungturks.com. we'll see you there. stay right here right now because "viewpoint" is next. >> john: good evening. i'm john fuglesang and tonight on "viewpoint," congressman paul ryan has presented a new version of the paul ryan budget but i'm calling it the agoraphobia budget because it is never leaving the house. we're joined by louise slaughter and alan grayson. the papal conclave begins in rome. we've got a big conclai. everyone agrees the cardinals should pick a vibrant young man in his early 70s. we're joined by progressive theologian john shelby spong. christmas is coming early for comedians because sarah palin is writing a book about christmas. birthday of liza minnelli, darryl strawberry, governor mitt romney and adult film star ron jeremy, three of whom are actually quite wholesome people.

black smoke rome, cardinals the big vote. this is "vatican idol." >> john: good evening i'm john fuglesang and this is "viewpoint." democrats and house republicans agree, the nation needs a budget. house budget chair paul ryan led his committee to a podium where he unveiled his latest if you'll excuse the term path to prosperity. so just how are you going to do it this time, paul? >> we cut wasteful spending. we repair the safety net so that we can help those in need. we protect and strengthen key priorities like medicare. >> john: you don't say. that sounds like a pretty progressive plan for mitt romney's running mate. maybe not. you see the reality is congressman ryan's budget cuts $4.6 trillion in spending over

ten years repeals new wall street regulations like dodd frank, without specifying what would or should replace them. replaces medicare with a health insurance subsidy a very nice gift to the private insurance industry and of course, repeals the affordable care act which is always on paul rye -- ryan's greatest hits. didn't paul ryan and and his pal mitt romney lose over issues like healthcare. didn't the voice of the people and a republican-led supreme court count for something? no! according to paul ryan. >> the election didn't go our way. believe me, i know what that feels like. that means we surrender our principles? that means we stop believing in what we believe in? look whether the country intended it or not we have divided government. what we believe in this divided government era, we need to put out our vision. >> john: the landslide will of the american people is not as important as the need for vouchers.

as for the senate democrat's vision, the contrast couldn't be more stark. the senate's budget adds $975 billion in increased revenue mostly due to closing the tax loopholes on the rich. adds $100 billion in stimulus spending. compensates for the $85 billion loss of a sequester and fights unemployment and cuts $975 billion in spending. for more, let's go to our old friend, florida democratic congressman, your friend and ours alan grayson, good evening, congressman. thankthankthank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> john: paul ryan wants to cut while repairing the social safety nets. wouldn't cuts of that size pretty much slash the safety net? >> absolutely. look, let's start with the affordable care act. he wants to eliminate the affordable care act, repeal it but he wants to count all of the billion dollars in affordable care act down to -- in order to say that he's paying down the

deficit. let's talk about medicare. in order to save that program he's going to destroy it. he's going to eliminate every single guaranteed benefit under medicare, replace that with a check that everybody knows will not be enough to get the same benefits. >> john: exactly. >> in one case after another you look at his principles and his vision, they're a nightmare for america. he wants americans to work until they die. he wants poor people who get sick knob not to be able to get the care they need, not to be able to get better. he wants them to die. he wants an america that consists of nothing but cheap labor for his patrons. >> john: you mentioned the cuts in payments to medicare service providers. he factors those into this budget while still eliminating the affordable care act despite the fact that he spent all of last fall running tv ads demonizing the president for the cuts he's hinging his budget on. what kind of cuts did he bake in

his plan? >> the tax cuts that, again would benefit his benefactors the people who own the republican party lock, stock and barrel. he wants to lower corporate income tax rates even though corporate income tax revenue is at the lowest point in 50 years. we came close to collecting zero in corporate income tax revenue when, in fact, over the course of time, it has averaged 4% or 5% of gnp. that alone would go a long way toward eliminating the deficit paying down the debt. they're not interested in that. >> john: ryan doesn't over details on what he would do to social security except in his words, require the president and congress to put forward ideas to sustain its solvency. sir, i didn't know the house could require the president to do anything. what do you think ryan would do with social security if he had the chance? >> paul ryan believes social security is unconstitutional. just like anyone who follows the writings of ayn rand would believe. if you read "the point head" --

if you read the fountain head, these are people who believe government itself, anything that does anything for people, other than defend the borders is fundamentally immoral and unconstitutional. so if you actually administered sodium pentothal to paul ryan and asked him the question, he would say yes i believe social security is unconstitutional. he, like my opponent in the last election wants to raise the retirement age to 70 or 72. would eliminate the program if he thought he could get away with it. >> john: paul ryan renounced ayn rand before the election although in fairness, i don't think she would be a big fan of these guys either. i want to talk to you about the democratic party and the president. president obama met with senate democrats today. according to politico, i found this disturbing, he warned them social insurance programs including social security and medicare would need to be cut in some way in order to keep them going. now, we've discussed this before. the president also said republicans would have to agree for more revenue before he would agree to changing the programs.

what do you think of that particular bargain sir? do social security programs need to be cut? >> the answer is they don't. social security has almost $2 trillion in the bank. it is the largest government fund in the entire world. that's what they've got sitting in the bank and that's what the rest of the government and the american people owe that fund. under current law, social security can pay out out 100% of its benefits for the next 25 years which is probably longer than i'm going to meed it. after that point 85% to 95% of its benefits, a minor tweak like for instance raising the cap on who has to pay social security taxes above the current roughly $100,000 or, for instance, making investment income, either one would make the program solvent forever. the situation is not terribly different with medicare. >> john: does the president mean it when he talks about putting the cuts on the table sir? >> i take no pleasure in saying

this. i voted for the president twice. he's the leader of my party but on this regard, the president is wrong. >> john: before we go, congressman, what do you think of a senate budget that came out today? >> i think the senate budget that came out today is a stab at trying to deal with a lot of different problems. without focusing necessarily on our core problems. i would like to see all effort devoted toward putting people back to work, improving education standards making sure that everybody who is sick can see a doctor and making sure that people who lose their jobs don't end up living in their cars. that's the america i see when i look around in central florida these days. that's the problem we should be all concentrating on solving. i think this preoccupation, this terrible preoccupation with austerity, with deficits, with debt is mistaken. the government has never been able to borrow at such low rates for my entire lifetime, in fact, going back 100 years the government has never been able to borrow 2%. that shows you there is no fiscal crisis. what it is we have given into

the republican mindset of crisis. >> john: representative alan grayson, thank you. a pleasure to have you on "viewpoint" yet again. we'll see you soon. >> thank you. >> john: gun control legislation was also on the agenda on the capitol hill. the senate judiciary committee took up bills to expand background checks to private gun sales and help schools improve security. the school security bill passed 14-4 with four republicans voting nay. i'm going to say that number again. i think it's interesting. four republicans voted no on the school security bill. while the background check bill passed 10-8 with all of the republicans on the committee voting nay on background checks. iowa senator chuck grassley said he didn't think a bill like this would do much good. >> criminals do not comply with existing background check laws.

why? why would anybody then think that they would comply, the criminal comply with broader background check requirements? >> john: why should robbing banks be illegal when criminals are just going to rob banks anyway. new york senator chuck schumer didn't buy grassley's argument. >> it's sad. right after newtown, there was a view that maybe the right place that we could all come together on was background checks. we never see the argument that oh, the bad people -- we shouldn't have laws because the bad people will get around them anyway. only on this issue do you and it makes no sense in my judgment in all due respect. >> john: for more on the gun debate let's go to new york state democratic representative louise slaughter. thank you for joining us. >> my pleasure. >> john: congresswoman, you were part of a forum where victims and first responders talked about the need for gun trafficking legislation. what did you hear there and do

you think trafficking legislation could ever pass this current republican house? >> well, it has already passed the committee. the judiciary committee in the senate. i think it will pass there. it is a bipartisan bill in the house. remarkably. we just simply have to get it to the floor. i think if we can get it to the floor, people will vote for it here. it makes such imminently good sense. we had first responders today talk to us about it. i'm sure you know about ten days after newtown in my district in webster, new york, two firemen were killed. they were ambushed by a man who had spent 17 years in prison, was an absolute felon. he had killed his grandmother with a hammer. served 17 years in prison. came out and coerced a young woman to go to the gun store with him where she bought an ar-15 and a rifle. and -- for him. now, unfortunately, because we

have no trafficking laws now the only thing we can -- anything that has a federal attachment to it, she lied when she bought the guns that they were for her. we have got to stop this trafficking. what we found from cheech of police from los angeles, also one from a town in pennsylvania, chief ramsey, used to be chief of police here in washington, how awl it is that -- how awful it is that it goes hand in hand. if we can do the same thing with guns that we do with drugs, we would be able to stop a lot of this handing out drugs. but there is even a correlation with that. and one of the chief of police told us that there sometimes are young men who have serious drug habits when they need some money. they go buy some guns and sell them at inflated prices to people who have no right to them. they know what they're doing. they need to be punished. >> john: a lot of congressmen are trying hard to stop drug pro-livelation but not stopping

gun proliferation. >> because of the lobbying. >> the nra fronts the gun industry. the gun manufacturers we've got no second amendment. what are we supposed to do when we go to the theatre or the store or send our grandchildren in my case, off to school? what do they do for protection? they've got nobody to protect them. the only protection, apparently in the constitution is for people who want all of the guns they can have. i was encouraged this week to see that fewer homes have guns in them. but that people who have guns are buying even more. and the idea of fighting the federal government with an ar-15 and i know that that is an idea that a lot of people have. if they ever looked, as i have, at what the federal defense budget is, i think they would dismiss that notion. >> john: i watched your volume. you might find chuck grassley trying to unarm children on school buses. i want to ask about the bock

ground checks. our senate friends voted unanimously against private background checks for gun sales today. you heard senator schumer lamenting that. do you think that bill could pass the house? >> for some reason, that is one of the stickiest wickets with the nra. as you know, that even when they do background checks, they can't keep them very long. they have to destroy them. of course, it is important we know that the idea somebody will come and confiscate their guns is utterly ridiculous. how awful it is that 30,000 people lose their lives here and i'm so appalled at what happened to that 6-month-old baby in chicago today where a gunshot wound and death are just commonplace. for a 6-month-old baby to be shot five times america knows it has to do something. and it has to do something now. >> john: it is appalling and sadly preventable. you heard schumer say there was a moment after the newtown massacre where he thought congress could come together, at least over background checks.

>> we were going to. but it took too long. we were all worry about the that. i will say that we never let it be forgotten we keep it up all the time. i wear a bracelet myself for the students in newtown. i think all of us were so stunned by that as we were at what happened in aurora, at columbine, all of them. but the notion now that americans aren't safe anywhere. few years back when dr. teller from kansas was killed while he was in church, i had the congressional research service do a survey for me because i grew up thinking that a place of worship was sanctuary. if you could make it to the church they did -- that's not the case anymore. >> no place is safe. >> john: and sadly the rest of us in america have all of our eyes on d.c. where you are ma'am. do you think the moment where major gun control legislation posts newtown -- post-newtown has passed us by? >> no, i don't.

because it has to be done and we were saying today if you could have heard first responders today, i tell you the firemen we lost in rochester one was 19 years old. what he wanted to do more than anything was pick up other people. the other one had little girls 4 and 5. looking at them holding on to their older brother's hand at the funeral nobody will ever forget that. the bravery they had. the firemen tharp here today had been shot three times. he's still recuperating. i thought he looked pale. he has to get back to rochester tonight. he and his wife came down today. a lot of tears. a lot of hugs. but the fact of the matter is it is our responsibility. those of us who have been elected to come here and serve. because we are the only people in the federal legislature that can really do something for the 50 states. >> john: representative louise slaughter, democrat of new york.

i thank you for your service. it is great to have you on "viewpoint." >> thank you so much. >> john: the s.e.c. certainly needs a change but does it need this particular change? you don't want to miss it coming up next. people with sore throats have something new to say. ahh ! mmm ! ahh ! finally, there's cepacol sensations. serious sore throat medicine seriously great taste. plus the medicine lasts long after the lozenge is gone. ahh ! mmm ! cepacol sensations. rich, chewy caramel rolled up in smooth milk chocolate. don't forget

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(vo) later tonight current tv is the place for compelling true stories. >> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. >> john: tonight our political gymnastics of the day. the lovely and nimble phil gingrey from georgia attempted a rare double airborne backflip on two of his prior positions monday. the republican congressman no longer supports a ban on high

capacity gun magazines. on the other hand, he also said it was "stupid" when he defended todd akin for saying last year that a woman can stop herself from getting pregnant during a so-called legitimate rape. phil also mentioned he might run for senate. yeah that, will work. i'm sorry congressman but the judges give you a score of 2.3 for that move because you kind of landed on your head. okay, today during mary jo white's confirmation hearings to become chairman of the s.e.c., the senate banking committee had the chance to question her thoroughly. the questions however about how strictly the former wall street defense attorney will actually enforce regulations on the finance industry will remain to be answered. among the major topics covered during the hearings were her willingness to pursue litigation on the banks considered too big to fail and her willingness to pursue litigation on companies she or her husband have worked with as wall street lawyers. on both, she proved more than logical to give the right answers.

>> the s.e.c., there's no institution too big to charge. in this instance, if i'm confirmed, the american public will be my client. >> john: since too big to fail has proven to be too big to jail, let's hope she provides with us that service. here to help evaluate mary jo white's performance today and whether any questions were actually answered is robert borosage codirector for the campaign of america's future who wrote a great column on ms. white in yesterday's "huffington post." good evening. >> good evening. >> john: what did you make of ms. white's performance in front of the senate banking committee? did anything she say surprise you? >> she did what you would expect her to do. she looked them in the eye and said she would enforce the regulations and get the regulations written. she would be enforcing the law without fear or favor. you wouldn't expect her to say anything else. what did surprise me was they only spent a little less than two hours investigating this nominee to one of our most important commissions which has been doing just abysmal job in

terms of policing the banks and the financial committee. i was really surprised they didn't spend more time going through what needed to be done. >> john: when you say they, you're talking about democrats because we would assume our republican friends wouldn't be grilling her on that subject. >> everybody has a stake in financial communities but yes you would assume democrats would and democrats are the majority in the senate. so they controlled the committee. >> john: in your piece in "huffington post," you wrote about how the senate banking committee should test white's positions on compensation. you make some very great points on that. did they do this to your satisfaction and why is the issue of executive compensation so important? >> no. they had a generic conversation about you know, will you get the regulations done since the s.e.c. is way behind on a whole range of regulations required under dodd frank, the financial reform bill. she promised that, she vowed it was important to get it right but it was important to get it done too. she would move on the

regulations but it was all very general. the compensation stuff is very important. dodd frank required the s.e.c. to put out rules. so that companies would report annually the ratio of their ceo pay to that of the average worker pay and their global factories. that would be an incredibly important statistic for investors and for activists and for people within the company. and needles to say, it has had a huge lobby trying to stop it. >> john: of course. >> the s.e.c. promised the regs would be out last year. we've heard nothing from them. they've been basically deep sixed. it would have been nice for her to be forced to make a commitment that she would get on that specifically. >> john: is that done in europe? do they reveal how much more the ceos make than the employees? >> what's interesting in europe is they've gone way beyond that. the spis passed a referendum that -- the swiss passed a referendum that required companies to put their pay before a mandatory shareholder vote so shareholders can veto

the ceo pay and also limited golden parachutes, the stuff you get when you leave or the golden hand shakes, the stuff you get when you join a company. the swiss and european union are way ahead of us. >> john: in europe, the shareholders can veto the ceo pay. i think i know why that wasn't brought up here today. mary jo white was described as jamie dimon as the perfect choice for s.e.c. chairperson. did anything ms. white say alleviate concerns about her with biggest banks? >> jamie would know because she represented jpmorgan chase. she also represented ubs and she represented kenn lewis at bank of america. she knows where all of the bodies are buried because she's defended a lot of the people who were doing the burying. and the question is you know, what she said today is look, now the american people will be my client. i will defend their interest as avidly as i have defended the

interest of banks. we hope that's true. but it would have been nice to press her on it. for example she gets a $42,000 a month pension from her law firm that will be paid out of its operating profits. its operating profits depend on the offense of major banks for the most part. it would have been nice to go into that and that conflict of interest. >> john: she mentioned her husband' conflict of interest as well. we're almost out of time. also facing confirmation hearings was richard cordray. his confirmation back to that post continues to face severe obstruction from our republican friends because they don't believe consumers should be protected. do you think there's any chance he gets confirmed? >> no. they'll filibuster and they've made that perfectly clear. it is astounding. this is a bureau everybody agrees is necessary. he's done an extraordinary job. even the business community says that. even republicans say it. but they're going to filibuster his nomination because they want to make the bureau toothless.

they want to weaken it dramatically. they're intent on doing that. >> john: toothless seems to be the status. robert borosage wrote an excellent piece on huff poe that you all need to read. >> thank you. >> john: black smoke rose in the vatican meaning the future of the catholic church is unclear. then again we've all known that for awhile. that's coming up.

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>> john: our wtf america series continues now with a week-long wt fing of the great state of kansas which in the area of reproductive rights has pulled out all of the w it, f stops. the capses a state house has passed an an anti-abortion bill that's an all you can judge of anti-women anti-choice anti-laws of the land initiatives. this bill prohibits public schools from using sex education instruction from planned parenthood. it bans state medical schools from performing any abortions. it removes tax exemptions from any health clinics that provide

safe and legal abortions and restricts citizens from being allowed to say abortion in a crowded theatre. okay. i made the last one up but i only wish i made the other stuff up. mary kay culp, executive director for kansans for life wants to keep children away from planned parenthood because they can learn where the local abortion clinic is. that's right miss culp. as long as planned parenthood is kept away from the kids, they'll never know where the pesky abortion clinics are as kids have no idea how to use google or mapquest. it banned abortion providers and their staff from volunteering at their own children's schools. this was deemed too extreme even for kansas republicans although public stonings of anyone seen walking on the same block of the clinic haven't been ruled out. kansas republicans declare this bill that life begins at fertilization which means we're

one step away from saying life begins at foreplay. in kansas, firmly has established itself of the wtf capital of the midwest. most republicans in kansas don't believe in foreplay, either. thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. (vo) she's joy behar. >>current will let me say anything.

>> john: so whoever is the next pope, god help him! cardinals at the sistine chapel haven't decided who that man will be yet but no one expected this beauty contest to end on the first day of deliberations. the bigger question is what exactly the next pope can do to save the church. where do you even start? how does an institution regain trust and respect and esteem after a widespread cover-up of child molestation and for that matter, the recent criminal record of money laundering with the vatican bank? how do you bring the church into

the 21st century when it is barely out of the 16th. when it is bound by outdated sexism homophobia, vows of celibacy and hangups of dead guys that have nothing to do with the modern world or with anything jesus christ ever said. what more do you do? more and more followers in the u.s. and europe won't accept your rules anymore. conservatisms are flocking to you in south america and africa. joining me is john shelby spong the former ebusiness -- episcopal bishop whose latest book is "re-claiming the bible for a nonreligious world" which i recommend highly. bishop, what a pleasure to have you on "viewpoint." >> good to be with you john. >> john: i've been pitching you for the show for awhile. we first met on bill maher's show ten years ago. even though you're not a catholic, i wanted your perspective on what the church is going through. many people consider you to be one of the foremost theologians

working in america today. i think that's the kind of leadership the catholic church really needs if they want to stay viable. >> it is not likely. i find it a really disturbing institution today. and that grieves me because if the roman catholic church is weak every christian church is weak. it is such an important part of the whole consistency of the christian people of the world. but i don't know where they're going to come out. you said 16th century. i might even say 13th. they haven't engaged the revolution of the last 500 years. the theology is badly dated. benedict xvi the former pope now, has written two books both of which i've read in the last two years. they're on the gospel story of jesus. the first one is on the life of jesus. second one is on the birth narratives of jesus. i found them so lacking in basic

scholarship as if he were not even aware of what has happened in the last 200 years in the field of biblical studies. >> john: those are the one who don't get promoted. >> one of my great fears about this church is they've suppressed all of their creative thinkers and they did this, interestingly enough, when joseph cardinal ratzinger was the head of the inquisition office, they don't call it that anymore but that's what it was. he had charles removed from his position at catholic university. hans is probably the most read. you could go on, matthew fox was into spiritual, new creations kind of thing. lee -- leonardo was the best theologian. >> john: it is like the bush administration. those who are loyal are the ones who get promoted.

>> one of the bad things about it is people claim that somehow in their formulations, they have possessed the truth. and they get themselves convinced of that. they can't incorporate into their thinking. any idea that it is different from their conception of truth. that's called idolatry. you can't get away from it. they're so busy trying to protect their reputation of the church they've almost destroyed it. they've not been honest about the child molestation. and they haven't been honest yet. you can't have cardinal law being translated to a promotion in the vatican -- >> john: after what happened. >> and think you're trying to go into that and clean it up. this man is really guilty. >> john: i would argue that the problems this church faces in its marginalization began long before the molestation scandals came to life. i do want to ask about the selection of the next pope because right now, do you think the church's future lies in africa or in south america? and if that's the case, can they

ignore the dissatisfaction in europe and america with the church? >> well, i don't think it lies in latin america or in africa. i think those are important parts of the world. but the money that supports that institution is not in asia or latin america or africa. it is in western europe and in the united states. that's the group that's been most deeply alienated. the roman church is almost dead on the continent. in this country, this is a more religious country than europe is. but we're maybe 50 years ahead of europe and another 50 years we'll probably be in the same place. see, i don't think you can deal with the church's life if you don't engage the thought forms of the world. and you know, we still tell the christian story in terms of -- there was a perfect creation from which we fell into sin and jesus had to come and rescue us. that doesn't make a lot of sense after charles darwin. it was never a perfect creation.

it is an unfolding evolution process. >> john: the vatican doesn't dispute the theory of evolution. >> but the theology still assumes it. it is from the garden of eden. we have to get a rescue from outside the world. so the whole story of jesus is that god incarnated god self in the person jesus of nazareth to rescue us from the fall. well, if there has never been a perfect creation, there can never be a fall because you can't fall from that which is not yet perfect. you don't need to be rescued so the whole way we tell the christ story is confusing and backward to modern men and women and i think we've got to learn to sing the lord's song as the psalms say in a new world it can be done but not in you don't open up the symbols of your faith. >> john: bishop, i read your books. i've been most drawn to the fact you're someone who speaks of

biblical lit rim of. as i travel the churches in this country and i see lots of seniors who can't understand that priest from africa or india, i know the church needs someone like you to bring them into the 21st century. i hope you'll come back on "viewpoint." >> any time. >> john: i would like to say it will be a progressive guy. >> they don't have one in the college of cardinals. there is not one like that in the college of cardinals. they're not going to elect somebody who is not already a cardinal. you might get somebody who is a closet liberal. you might get another john xxiii >> john: my first book i ever read was rescuing the bible from fundamentlism and that still scares the right-wingers. we'll be right back. sarah palin says she's writing a book about christmas. speaking of losing your religion and your lunch my panel of nonexperts joins me next.

>> john: welcome back to

"viewpoint." now, sarah palin who? announced she has a new book coming out about the war on christmas. so on facebook, collette posted... yes, collette, you're right to lol because she's publishing a book just in time for christmas. and also on facebook, tom posted... how dare you tom. garage sales are a redistribution of wealth. it sounds socialist to me. jesus would hate that. if you have a comment for the show, tweet us at "viewpoint" ctv or post it on our facebook page that's right. it is a christmas miracle. it is. sarah palin's writing a christmas book. the upcoming book and i'm not making this up the title. a happy holiday is a merry christmas. it will call for renewed interest on the holiday and it will be the first book ever written made up of facebook

status updates. she says... that's not what scrooge tried to do but i would hate to say palin might know her stuff but dickens does describe scrooge as being a clutching, covetous old sinner and miss palin has had experience with guys like that. for more on this, i'm joined by a panel of nonexperts, comedian sherrod small. editor chief of the contributor.com, tina dupuy and author of moment of clarity mr. lee camp. welcome, folks. >> thanks for having us. >> john: half governor palin is writing her third book as long as she doesn't quit halfway through. isn't this really a story about a cry for attention? i mean at what point a book about the meaning of christmas. is she going to release a country album next? is this a stab at still being in the public eye?

>> thank god she's back. i was lost and now i am found john. she's my guiding light. there is a war on christmas. you know that. most of the media won't talk about it. but you know -- you know who's writing it. it is the easter bunny. you're not talking about it, john. >> john: i'm letting you talk about it lee. tina, are you pleased sara palin is back? >> first i thought it was going to be a chirp's book. i'm disappointed. it was kind of condescending. >> john: it is sort of is. >> holiday is actually -- a form of holy days. so it means holy days means a merry christmas which is so redundant and redundant and repet at this. this is not her war. i don't get it. the whole thing is just like really? >> john: it is a vulgar title. happy holiday is a merry christmas unless you're jewish. right? >> you're right about that.

it is kind of double talk. holiday really only works on flag day when you don't have -- but i think that -- first of all, sarah leave the writing to the judy blumes of the world. >> john: you love her. >> i even watched her on "dancing with the stars" in the audience. >> john: my whole problem with the war on christmas thing is by saying happy holidays, you're trying to have a more inclusive thing that overs love and support to everyone regardless of what fan club they belong to. happy holidays is more christian than merry christmas. >> i'm christian. we don't want any part of it. you can have it. >> when people say happy holidays, they say it after christmas and before new year's. >> john: that's because you hate kwanzaa. >> i always say merry christmas. >> is it possible we can just send her a certain amount of money and she won't put out the book? >> john: you wouldn't like that. every time she opens her mouth

a democrat gets a vote. when we first announced we were going to be talking about this, asking people for their comments, the number one thing i got from our progressive friends is what do you mean stay relevant? she's not relevant. hundreds wanted to talk about how irrelevant this woman is. >> they're making her elvant. >> john: she is relevant whether we like it or not. comedians love her. number two because there is no republican politician alive outside of dick cheney who will criticize sarah palin ever because they covet her endorsement. >> is disagree. she's not a kingmaker even in the last election. the last two elections no, she picked people who were already ahead and then said i endorse them. >> john: she picked gingrich over romney. name me a republican. >> john, relevant is not a kingmaker. she was disinvited from the rnc happily. she got kicked off of fox news. now she's at cpac. >> what makes her relevant?

>> john: rock star at cpay. they'll turn out for her. because they need a hero. >> this is a push for her. her star is really on its dissent. s no -- not assent. >> it is paul ryan. he's a weenie. that's why. >> i just forgot my point. sarah, what was i going to say? >> sarah out there. >> here it is. she's always relevant because whenever you say her name in any room you're in, 20 people got 20 opinions about her and they all want to be heard. she's always a fire starter. >> john: she's crack for ratings. maybe not this network. >> i think that used to be true. i don't think really, you used to be able -- from internet hits, from being an editor on an internet site when do you a sarah palin story, it blew up. >> john: i want you to come back after the cpac speech.

>> fox even dropped her. >> for that reason. because she was more money than she was -- >> john: by the party starved for leaders they'll take a phony fake celebrity. >> that's all she ever was. she's not -- she's not -- >> john: must be the first person ever who should have run for president to keep her celebrity going. she missed her chance. she needed to run last year. she would have been an embarrassment. she would have stayed in the final four. >> she didn't want to study for the debate. >> that took a lot of effort to run for president. that's the thing. could have someone else write a book you put your name on it and you have someone else pin your opinions on facebook and you tweet about your husband and put up pictures and then you're making money. >> john: is there a republican alive more popular than sarah palin? >> i think chris christie is who everybody is looking for. if you never voted republican before, he's your only option. >> john: i have a lot of

conservative people who still love palin. >> i think she's the president of facebook. [ laughter ] >> john: it is probably true but you know, i look forward to seeing what happens with more speaking time allotted them, i think it will be the sarah palin show. we might not like it but who likes her more than any republican is the news media because fox might have dropped her but cnn loves her, even the sarah palin hate industry is so luck rootive. that's -- lucrative. she's like another limbaugh. >> people that like to hate on her that enjoyed that. but i'm going from an editorial stance. you put that up. it doesn't go viral anymore. no one cares. this is the most interesting thing she's done in about a year. >> john: what you're saying it is all up to herman cain. >> pretty much. he's the hope of the party. >> john: my panel will stay with me after the break. the most important question, who

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>> john: how do you think history will remember america's sweetheart sarah palin? sherrod small? >> i think america will remember her fondly. >> john: why? >> i said it from the green room. because she was a good laugh. >> john: nice. >> she was more fun than susan b. anthony. no one cares about susan b. >> john: she'll look hotter on money. >> you mean her-story for our feminist icons. working mother. >> john: how will she be remembered? >> in her-story? fondly. >> john: lee camp? >> as the savior of christmas. no. as the last gas of idiot america. >> john: maybe the woman who got barack obama elected. that brings me to tonight's f bomb because governor jeb bush shocked a lot of people this week when he said history would be kind to his brother former

president george w. bush. the fact that george bush isn't in the hague indicates history has been generous. don't get me wrong. history will be kind is a better choice of words than history will vindicate validate or redeem him. big brother george is dependent on the kindness of strangers. jeb, we learn the new controversy in the louisiana private school system. remember how last year we learned how governor bobby jindal's voucher system allowed kids to go to private schools that the public has to pay for? we talked about how the lack of oversight has taught kids that the loch ness monster is a proof that it is a myth. or as one textbook put it, the majority of slave owners treated their slaves well. well now the louisiana textbook america, land i love published by beka books is teaching louisiana's e