>> cenk: somebody inside the vatican's been watching porn. tonight on theyoungturks.com. >> john: good evening, tonight on "viewpoint," the families of the newtown victims are in washington, d.c., hoping to shame senators who are apparently shameless. the mother of a victim of the tucson massacre joins us. the drug war it is deeply unpopular, it costs too much and makes nonviolent americans into criminals so why is it still going on? because prisons are big business. naacp president ben jealous joins us to describe how we throw drug users in jail while the wall street crooks are completely sober. you won't hear much in the mainstream media about bradley manning or his trial but the controversial parliamentary to released the wikileaks

collateral video is visiting america and he joins us in studio. today is the birthday of, there he is again the brilliant tv programming executive jeff zucker, also the birthday of former congressman joe scarborough who works for another brilliant news network and it is the birthday of mitt romney supporter jenna jameson. she's not as rich as mitt but he's given out way more jobs. this is "viewpoint." >> john: good evening i'm john fuglesang. this is "viewpoint." now, it looks like there will be at least one vote in the senate this week on a bill to curb gun violence. majority leader harry reid says he has scheduled a procedural vote for thursday to open debate on a bill that would expand background checks for gun buyers, make gun trafficking a federal crime and support school security programs.

reid made the announcement after eight republican senators said they would join democrats in opposing a filibuster threat from 14 republicans including the senate minority leader kentucky's mitch mcconnell. meanwhile, parents of some of the 21 chirp killed in december's sandy hook massacre were on capitol hill going door-to-door to implore senators to please support president obama's efforts. vice president joe biden who met with the parents this morning described one mother's reaction to senators opposing the bill. >> how do they explain not doing anything? my baby was hiding in the bathroom. she got shot through the heart. it was just such a profound way of asserting, don't they understand? we're talking about filibustering. what are they doing?

>> john: at the white house, press secretary jay carney said senators owed their constituents at least a vote on the issue. >> if senators don't have the guts to go on the record, to vote how they feel on this issue, background checks or the other issues, that would be a shame. that would be disservice to their constituents and to the 90% of the american people who want this passed. >> john: opposition to wildly popular gun control isn't limited to the g.o.p. democratic senators mark pryor of arkansas and max baucus of montana said they may oppose the bill. baucus suggested he was only following orders. the orders of his voters, telling reporters and i quote... >> john: because that's called leadership. for families who have lost children to gun violence, the time for waiting is over. sandy hook parent neil his lon

who lost his son jesse in the shooting explained why he's pushing for new laws in an ad released by mayors for illegal guns. >> i owe it to my son, jesse to speak up. i'm his voice. i feel if i didn't, i would be letting jesse down. >> john: for more, i'm pleased to be joined by emily. her son gabe, was a staffer for former congresswoman gabrielle giffords and was one of the six people tragically killed during the 2011 attack at a tucson shopping center where giffords and 11 others were wounded. mrs. giffords, thank you for your time. it is a pleasure to have you. >> thank you for having me. >> john: what a pleasure. i understand you're planning to meet with arizona senator jeff flake, tomorrow. what is the senator's position on the pending gun legislation and what do you plan to say? >> my understanding is that although he has concerns about the legislation that he does

believe that there needs to be a vote. i really hope that's the case and so i'll be trying to find out about that. i'm pleased senator mccain has taken the lead on oppose a filibuster as well. >> john: i am, as well. were you surprised by that? >> no, i'm not surprised. he has supported background checks in previous years and i -- i hope that he will take a leadership position on this issue because it is so important. >> john: it does appear he has already taken a leadership position. are you surprised so many senators are afraid to even give this an up-or-down vote? when you consider these men, who are demanding senate hearing on benghazi but after 21 dead children, they don't think the victims deserve an up-or-down vote? >> i don't understand that. criminal background checks are in many senses, a no-brainer. we decided 20 years ago that people who were proven to be dangerous to themselves and others shouldn't have easy

access to a gun. we established this background check system but it's got some problems. serious problems that need to be fixed. so not having a simple discussion about that just doesn't make any sense to me. >> john: some of the sandy hook parents are on the hill today lobbying senators to support the pending gun bill. do you think efforts like theirs and yours can succeed in turning minds around? >> i don't know but i think that we have to do it. it is our responsibility to try to do what we can to reduce the number of deaths of other people's children and grandchildren and loved ones. and so we really need to speak up. and i hope that we're heard. >> john: oklahoma senator james inhofe, i'm sure you heard this said the sandy hook families were lobbying on the hill because president obama "made them think this has something to do with them when, in fact, it doesn't." ma'am, what do you think of this comment? >> well, i disagree with that

comment, seriously. i know that this has a lot to do with me. and the other survivors of gun violence. to suggest that it doesn't is just not clear to me how that could happen. >> john: i agree with you on that. let me ask then, what are your priorities for a new gun bill? what would you like to see made into law, at this point? >> well, i think our first order of business is to make our background check system more effective. as i said, it is something we decided long ago, as a society that should happen. that people who are felons, people who have serious mental illnesses, should not have easy access to guns. that's the first order of business. i personally, also feel it is important to limit high-capacity magazines for guns. and i think that could go a long way to reducing the number of

deaths and injuries when gun violence does happen. >> john: so, as you know, limits on high-capacity magazines aren't expected to pass even the senate. do you buy the argument that having more than ten rounds in an ammo clip is a second amendment right? >> no, i don't. you know, the supreme court has already ruled that reasonable restrictions on guns are constitutional. i think we should get past that argument and talk about what is reasonable. but i understand that that has a long way to go. i think that we need to focus step by step and the first step is cleaning up the background check system. >> john: then speaking to that, are you surprised so many in congress are opposing expanded background checks when polls show 90% of adults, including most gun owners, support them? >> i am surprised by that. honestly. all i can figure is that it is some sort of slippery slope argument which i just think is a

basic fallacy. this is -- should be a no-brainer. we already have a background check system. we're just trying to make it more effective to reflect the world of the internet. reflect the world of gun shows to reflect the world that makes it easier and quicker to do a background check when you're purchasing a gun. >> john: earlier today, we saw the president flying the families of the newtown children down to d.c. on air force i. were you impressed with the images and do you feel the president has used the bully pulpit adequately in this fight? >> i'm really proud of the president for sticking to his word that he would be persistent about this issue. i think it is important that he has stepped up. and i think that we have to stand up behind him to support what he's doing. >> john: are you associated with any organized groups that are fighting for new gun measures and do you plan to continue this fight? >> i do plan to continue it. it is not easy. i'm a private person.

this is not something i do normally nor easily. but i think that if things had been different and if i had been killed two years ago that my son would have been out there trying to do this. and so i'm trying to do it on his behalf. i have been working with mayors against illegal guns and with several local organizations in tucson. we were really proud last friday to deliver 30,000 petitions to our senators and we hope to continue to collect them and to begin working with our members of congress as we move forward. >> john: ms. nottingham, earlier, we heard the vice president say how can they not understand, the politicians who still oppose the very popular and, as you pointed out constitutionally legal modest gun control measures. what do you think is the answer to that? how can they not understand? is it just so simple that they're bought and paid for by the nra?

>> i don't think it is that simple but i would hope that they could look beyond thoughts of culture wars or thoughts of political gain or political positioning and really think about what we can do to make our children more safe. if it can happen to me and my family in front of a grocery store on a bright, sunny day in tucson it can happen to your family and their families and we need to think about how we can reduce the likelihood that it will. >> john: emily nottingham, to have endured the loss of your son and taken the pain and turned it into advocacy to protect the lives of others, it is an inspiration to all of us. thank you for your continued efforts to curb gun violence in america. >> thank you. >> john: why are so many americans in jail? there must be a better way. the president of the naacp ben jealous will join us next to talk about it. documentaries that are real, gripping, current.

alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. >> john: welcome back. our thing of the day tonight is

our clarification of the day and it has to do with the late margaret thatcher. now, in last night's show, i gave mrs. thatcher credit for voting to decriminalize homosexuality back in the 1960s, a brave time for that kind of thing but i forgot to mention she forbade schools from teaching the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship. that's right. legal but not acceptable. because after all, how can you have a british class system without a few second class citizens. now, americans love to boast of our exceptionalism and in at least one measure we're second to none. our incarceration rates. the u.s. leads the world in both incarceration rate per capita and total prison population and my friends it ain't even close. in fact, in recent years the u.s. has made up 5% of the world's population but 25% of the world's prison population. which is why in a letter sent yesterday to president obama sponsored by the naacp and russell simmons global grind over 175 figures in the world of

politics entertainment, culture and social justice came together to urge the president to change the paradigm in our criminal justice system writing we believe the time is right to further the work you have done around revising our national policies on the criminal justice system and continue moving from a suppression-based model to one that focuses on intervention and rehabilitation. so we're so privileged to be joined by the president and ceo of the naacp and by the way another hero in the fight for marriage equality, ben jealous. sir, thank you so much for coming on the show. >> good to be here. >> john: i want to start off simple why are there so many people in prison in this country? >> because, for about 40 years we decided that this is how we solve almost every problem, whether it is homelessness or drug addiction just put them in prison. we've gotten to a place where black men, in this country are three times more likely to be incarcerated than black men were in south africa during apartheid when they were the world's leading incarcerator.

not only have we taken over this spot that quite frankly, the last two countries that held it no longer exist the former soviet union and the former south african republic, we take it to a whole other level because we decided incarceration was a panacea. what we now know is that, for instance for drug addicts we habitation is seven times more effective dollar for dollar than incarceration. so what we're saying is if we know it, then let's act like we know it. let's move on because we're tearing up families needlesly. by the way despite the disparity, an equal number of white and black families being torn up by people being incarcerated every year and a lot of those unnecessarily. some of the dangerous people need to stay there. but poor people at the end of the day need the same thing as rich people. their issue is that they're hooked on drugs. they need betty ford. they don't need prison.

>> john: that's the defining trait that combines the poor, white folks and the poor, black folks. it is not about color except for lack of green. what extent do you think our prison rates are the result of the extensive privatization of the prison industrial complex? >> well, it starts off a little bit in the reverse right. the corporations target because it is growing so fast. but now, what we're trying to drive it down, we run into the same corporations, many of them have signed contracts with states states have signed contracts with them, guaranteeing that they will have 90% of their beds occupied for 20 years out. >> john: indeed. >> so whether or not it helps ratchet it up, it has become an obstacle in ratcheting it down. >> john: i remember in virginia, they had to start importing inmates from other states to fill the beds. >> that's what's so exciting, what's happening now, at the state level is more and more states, because their budgets are under pressure, have started to say look, if we know that

rehab is seven times more effective dollar for dollar then let's do more of it. so you've seen georgia you've seen texas actually move into the lead, you know, new york, move into the lead in actually shifting from what we call failed tough on crime policies, lock them all up to proven smart on crime policies. if rehab works let's do more than that. >> john: when you say seven times more effective dollar for dollar. you're saying it is seven times more efficient for the taxpayer? >> yes. that's factoring in -- may have to go to rehab a couple of times. >> john: naacp wants a paradigm shift in our prison system from incarceration to rehabilitation and it sounds great and most sane people would agree with it. how do you actually move that from being a great idea to policy? >> one of the things here is you have to be willing to recognize that we have a broad spectrum of people who agree on this issue and some obstacles are right in the middle. so take a state like georgia or texas, when you add --

politicians who are affiliated with a number of civil rights organizations on one side, politicians affiliated with the tea party on the other coming together and saying we can agree on this. let's push from both ends toward the middle. >> john: you mean the libertarian edge? >> all three. of course, the libertarians are right there. but then you have the christian conservatives in the prisons. you understand what a human and moral catastrophe this. when you have the attention of the other two groups, then the fiscal conservatives, they'll pay attention. we can show them the numbers. the numbers don't lie on this issue. they say oh, okay, count us in. >> john: very diverse group of signatories. how did you get them all to come together? >> russell simmons is at the middle of all of this. he's a man of incredible achievement and charisma and networks. and that's why you see on this list, you see al sharpton, cameron diaz, you see will smith and scarlett johansson jayda pinkett smith it is a wide range of folks.

quite frankly this letter, it was a complimentary letter to the president. he's done a lot. most folks on there are his friends saying you've done a lot but you've promised to do so much more. let's get on with doing more while there is time to move the ball forward. >> john: how would you grade this policy when it comes to crime in this country? >> on a lot of issues, the hope lies in the second term. the first term, had to deal with two wars with a big recession and something that felt like sort of the eve of a country tearing apart at home with the whole tea party issue. you've been re-elected. now, we want to give you an a on this term. that's why we're coming to you early. >> john: a lot of progressives have frustrations this president has never said prison industrial complex. do you feel the drug war the continuation of the drug war is the greatest obstacle toward real prison reform or does it work the other way? the prison industrial complex

keeping the drug war alive? >> the way we talked about -- the prison industrial complex that is slowing gets in the way of reform efforts. the good news is you've got impassioned people on both sides of the spectrum willing to bust through the walls. so we rolled out a report two years ago called misplaced priorities and at the same press conference aclu -- on the other side, we had newt gingrich's top policy reading a two-page endorsement from his boss, grover norquist in the flesh and the head of the largest prison guard union. when you have that sort of people who, at the end of the day, believe in their ideas and willing to fight for their ideas, you can get through almost any obstacle. you have to be willing to put pressure on the middle because the folks in the middle like the democratic party who say i don't want to be portrayed as soft on crime. so i know what's right but i'm going to wrestle with my conscience and by god i'm going to win. i won't do it at any cost.

those are the folks we push out of the way. look, it is time to man up and woman up. time to just say darn it. this is the right thing. we're going to do it because it is about people's families. what we've seen in the last 20 years is the numbers skyrocket. when mom goes to prison, kids go to foster care. they don't get out until mom is home from prison and finds a job. finding a job when you have a felony record is very hard. >> john: it is smart patriotic, moral. how can people help? >> go to naacp.org and sign up. you can go to global grind and give them your e-mail. get organized and join up with groups like the naacp who are committed to fighting this because at the end of the day it is organized people who have the power in this society. you can have power in this equation but you gotta get organized. >> john: president and ceo of the naacp, ben jealous big fans over here. you're seriously great at your job. >> thank you.

>> john: okay, investigating a member of iceland's parliament over wikileaks. that member joins me in studio to talk about exposed atrocities.

>> john: today on wtf ohio, we take a look at ohio governor john kasich. like many modern-day republicans, he really wants to lower taxes on the rich but the man's not so closed-minded he won't look at other options like raising taxes on the poor. governor kasich here has proposed a new tax plan that would cut income taxes for many ohioans but also increase sales

taxes for additional goods. a tax which as you know, tends to fall on poor and working people. so as far as kasich is concerned, this is a tax with no collateral damage. in this plan, the poor would have their taxes raised $63 annually while the rich would get a tax cut of $10,000. you see, according to republicans like john kasich, the really needly people in america are the rich and the rich can't get richer on their own. they need help from a powerful interest group like the poor. wtf, ohio. are you aware that you folks elected a fox news guy to lead your state. you know that but you got it backwards because the trajectory is to disgrace himself or herself in office then getting a job reading prompter for fox. now that i think of it, you might be on to something ohio. why don't you elect bill o'reilly and sean hannity as your next two senators. they would have to give up their show to serve. your state might be down the tubes but fox news will become a

little less unwatchable. 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: one of the confidential items that bradley manning is accused of leaking was a video of u.s. apache helicopters gunning down more than a dozen people in a baghdad suburb. the official story of the 2007 attack said the victims were shiite fighters who had been firing machine guns and rocket propelled grenades at american soldiers but in the video, as you can see, there are a few men in the street including a couple of men who wound up being reuters reporters carrying cameras. later when a van came by to pick up the injured the helicopters fired once again, killing more people and injuring two children. wikileaks released that footage three years ago last friday. in a video called collateral

murder. since then the u.s. department of justice has subpoenaed private twitter information from several people involved with wikileaks including my next guest. burkita is a member of parliament in iceland and a former wikileaks volunteer who coproduced this video. it is a pleasure to meet you. >> pleasure to be here. >> john: how did come to be involved with wikileaks? >> i was invited to speak at a freedom of society event in iceland. and they were also speaking and they were speaking about this idea of creating sort of a reverse tax haven inspired by barlow, one of the cofounders. and i thought this was like -- i had just been elected as a member of parliament and i come from the background and the first icelander woman to go into development. i had one of the first on the

internet in 1996. i saw how important this would be because one of the reasons we have this tremendous financial collapse in iceland was because we didn't have enough transparency. we didn't have good enough source protection laws. we didn't have enough sort of holistic approach to how to get information to the general public. >> john: you were one of the people who actually put this video out on the web. >> yes. i started to work with julian and some other people on wikileaks on this because they had hands-on experience in keeping stuff up no matter what. no matter what the leak. and he -- julian assange stayed on in iceland. he showed me this video in february. since i had tried very much to stop this war from happening like millions of people from around the world i felt obliged to actually show people in iceland and in the rest of the world where people are on the list of the coalition of the

willing, what was being done in our name. >> john: very soon, of course, the u.s. department of justice began trying to get your twitter records from twitter despite the fact that you're a member of parliament inistland. what is your legal standing in america right now? >> well, actually, they started to do this after all of the other leaks. to be fair, i can understand when they realized how much stuff wikileaks had and what they were releasing but there must have been massive panic because maybe they weren't aware of what was in there or what the processes would happen. i can understand the hysteria in relation to this. as i try to put myself into their shoes. however, everything that has happened since, i feel is a little bit out of proportion of the seriousness of it. so they claimed -- they sent a letter to twitter demanding to hand over my personal messages and my ip numbers and many other

details that are very personal. since i'm a member of parliament, this was considered very -- very serious issue with the international parliamentary union, with the other members of parliament in iceland and with parliamentarians from around the world that understand that this is really putting our work into danger because we often are encouraged to work globally on global issues. i work a lot for tibet, for example. i know that many senators and congressmen in the united states do the same. how would they feel if the chinese government would request similar authorities -- authorization to go into their private stuff. so i mean we're in a global community so we have to start to work on this new era of borderless reality in an entirely different way. that's why i'm a legislator. i want to make our laws so they

fit into the 21st century. >> john: you've been in the states for more than 24 hours. you were able to talk to me. do you feel that things have cooled off and do you feel safe coming to america? >> i'm still a member of parliament so i do feel safe. i am, however going to come again in june. i don't know if i will be a member of parliament then because we have an elections on the 27th of april. i wanted to come while i was a member of parliament. i wanted specifically to come on this date because i feel, you know, it is three years on, bradley manning the soldier that has recently claimed responsibility for leaking this to wikileaks the video, has been in prison for more than 1,000 days and i feel it is a little bit bizarre that many people who have been associated with wikileaks and of course bradley manning are getting such a heavy hand because i

personally -- and i know many people agree with me that blowing the whistle on war crimes should not be classified as a crime. >> john: let me ask you one more question, the big debate about bradley manning among americans and even among americans on the left is should he be freed? there is a large free bradley manning community. or those who think i admire what he did we have a right to know what's being done in our name but he did break the law and he needs to pay a penalty for it. where do you stand? >> i think he's paid enough penalty already. he's been in prison for 1,000 days. i haven't seen any casualties for what he did. the people that, for example are responsible for the war crimes, none of them have been held accountable. so i think like why don't we have a little bit more balance. in particular, the united states was a society that wanted to be a society where you have a much

more fair and balanced justice system than what it looks to me from outside. and i've been quite shocked to see the changes that have happened since i lived here in 1991. >> john: it is rather shocking to see the politicians who put our soldiers in harm's way accusing bradley manning and wikileaks of endangering our soldiers' well-being. thank you for your time today and for your bravery and taking the time to visit us on "viewpoint." a member of parliament in iceland and coproducer of collateral murder. this can still be seen on youtube, correct? >> oh, yes. please watch it. >> john: i think every american who cares about the future of the country really should. >> thank you so much. >> john: mitch mcconnell may seem like a jerk in public but behind closed doors, it turns out that's exactly the same. his secret audiotapes are coming up. headlines. real, gripping, current. documentaries...

on current tv.

>> john: on social media i asked if all y'all if ashley judd had a chance to meet mitch mcconnell. kay frederick said all it takes to beat a good woman is a man with bad integrity. in the race for the governor of texas, ann richards was a good woman and it took two men with little integrity to beat her. but if you have a comment for the show, please tweet us at john fuglesang or post it on our facebook page. now this one might leave. >> little bit shell-shocked. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell is outraged after a secret recording of mcconnell and aides discussing opposition research was leaked by mother jones. the recording from a strategy session at his louisville

campaign headquarters last month includes a discussion about how to best attack actress ashley judd who was then thought to be a potential challenger to mcconnell. here now is one of senator mcconnell's aides from the audiotape. >> john: that's right, they dug up dirt by reading her published autobiography. according to said book, when she considered suicide, she was in the sixth grade. and wouldn't you if you were related to the judds? mcconnell is asking the fbi to investigate the leak even going so far as to refer to it as watergate tactics. it is like watergate because it is a story about trying to smear a democratic candidate. for more on this, i'm pleased to be joined by tonight's panel of nonexperts. welcome to the show direct from l.a., writer and performer jennifer rawlings who has performed in over 300 military

shows. i went to haiti with her. comedian jeff kreisler, author of get rich cheating and comedienne and blogger leighann lord returning to the show. thank you, all. for those of us who are not politicians, it may seem egregious and mean. isn't the standard research for any campaign? >> boeing, brides and kickbacks they're on target. >> john: this isn't unusual. >> that's reassuring to me to know there are villains in the world. mitch mcconnell fits everything. frankly, it is great he might want to bring mental health into the debate. we can talk about ashley judd in sixth grade or his voting record. >> john: lee ann isn't it strange that a state as red as kentucky where, on the pro-life issue alone -- on the pro-life issue alone mitch mcconnell could clobber her seriously with the conservative voters. they would go this ferociously into her personal life as a

child? >> you know what? i think they didn't go far enough. they should have joked about her in utero and joked about her lineage. i felt like i was listening to an episode of the gang of thrones. >> john: is attacking someone for being depressed as a child crossing ethical lines? >> i think it is totally going too far. the reason he's picking on her is because she's a smart woman and she does have a chance to win because kentucky is 50% women and so you have all of the rednecks with the rhetoric. he's just playing to like the people in the primaries that are going to fund them. >> john: actually very good point. you have to consider they wouldn't have gone this deep into it if they weren't a bit afraid she had a legitimate chance. >> if they're attacking some obscure personal thing like this, you don't have anything else to stand on. >> john: in the expanded tape, you do hear them talking about how they would fight her on the issues. >> what i don't understand is all the thing is about the tape that they recorded, they're all

upset somebody leaked the tape to mother jones. why isn't ashley judd upset that they taped her? who provided that tape? >> john: this is what's happened now. you look at the reaction to the wikileaks we're talking about, the guy who is in trouble. the guy who leaked the information. the animal rights people, you can't videotape cruelty. >> whistle-blowers never win in our culture. we say we want them and then treat them like dirt. >> john: mitch mcconnell saying he's contacting the fbi right away. he showed what a great politician he is. may be crap as a senator but as a politician, the fact he immediately shifted the discussion from i'm a creepy guy with no soul to let's get the fbi in here because my office may be bugged and completely got us off the fact if you listen to the tape, you hear clothes rustling. it was someone on his staff that did it. >> they say how the office was bugged, anybody with an iphone

could have pulled this off. >> he doesn't know about the technology. >> he doesn't know about the iphone and the interweb? >> classic republicans always playing the victim. >> doesn't the fbi have other things to do besides go after -- >> john: the fbi won't be investigating this. they said they were going to look into it. they aren't going to drop everything. >> how did you get this number? >> john: mcconnell and his cohorts also questioned judd's interpretation of christianity. take a listen to this. >> john: now, even worse than that, later on in the tape, they begin mocking her talking about saint francis who said, of course that he was one with nature and talked about how the animals were his brothers and sisters.

they began laughing at this, clearly showing they know nothing about the saints of -- and the new cult of the religion they claim to represent. is someone's religion off-limits? because if they're going to go after her for how she interprets christianity, i want to start going after mitch mcconnell for how he does it. >> have you seen this show? [ laughter ] i would love like you to be a conversation. to let them come out and defend the old pay patriarch. let's have that conversation. >> i was confused. were they upset because she got it right. >> apparently no matter what she says, she's wrong because she said -- >> john: by interpreting a female attitude toward god which is how humans used to look at it -- hammer her with that. i agree with you i think we need to have a lot more discussions. if you're going to be a guy like mitch mcconle who claims to

love jesus that much but loves the death penalty that much -- >> there could be someone's todd akin moment. they could find themselves suddenly defending years of subjugation and this could be the moment that could lead to it. >> john: senator mcconnell several times pointed to an attack last month that called into question the ethnicity of his wife born in taiwan and moved to america as an 8-year-old. is mcconnell being hypocritical when he was prepared to attack a mental issue? >> he's upset because they addressed her ethnicity and they're addressing ashley judd's religion. >> john: but at the same time his wife is not running for office. ashley judd was considering it. isn't his wife off-limits? >> there is family being off-limits unless someone could influence policy. >> she was in the department of labor. >> what a lot of people didn't

mention is when this happened, ashley judd spoke out and said that this wasn't a correct thing to do. >> john: the fbi is looking into it. the person who recorded this and leectd it is the one being unethical. >> i think that's a greater hypocrisy. pay theory act tactics are bad when that's the victim. portman, his son was gay and then bashing people -- what's good -- what's soft for the goose -- >> it is kind of like this same thing that evolutionists were wrong for being abolitionists. what they were doing was stealing property. >> john: they were hurting prophets. i agree that family is off-limits unless you're bristol palin and getting paid a lot of money as a single teen mom to preach abstinence. it is confederate history month we're glorify the right to take away the rights of others. that's in the f bomb.

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: welcome back to "viewpoint." one more quick question for my guests. april is confederate history month. how do you plan on celebrating blond white woman? >> i'm going to celebrate the fact that they lost. they lost big-time. >> john: you're from kansas. thank you jennifer rawlings. >> i'm saving myself for nazi history month. saddam hussein history month and other losers. >> john: leighann lord, how are you celebrating confederate month? >> road trip. >> john: you know, it brings me to tonight's f bomb because it is fitting that confederate history month falls every year in april as it honors both racists and fools. which is not to say that everyone who celebrates confederate history month is a

racist but they've certainly been duped by the races. six states currently celebrate the proud and noble heritage of the confederacy which is to say the proud heritage of quitting the united states and taking up arms against the american flag because you really want to keep people as pets. i'm half virginian. i grew up seeing martin luther king's holiday celebrated as jackson lee king day, honoring him after two men who fought to make sure king would be born as the human property of a white man. the "new york times" reports on a controversial move in memphis tennessee to rename several city parks previously named for confederate leaders which has upset white folks in which 63% of the residents are african-american and they might not want to visit a park named for bedford former wizard of the can you ku klux klan. by now, i know a few of you are screaming at the confederacy quitting america to start their own country. it is about state's rights, right? of course it was. the state's rights to quit

america to keep people livestock. under the old law slaves who couldn't vote counted as 3/5 of a person which allowed the southern states to have a disproportionate amount of representation. when america did away with this, it made some southern whites feel like they were being moved it the back of the bus. the state's rights argument is just what the rich slave-owning elite told the poor whites as they handed them uniforms and rifles to fight the yankees. under the 20 negro law slave owners with at least 20 piece of human property were exempt from military service. that, my friends is the real scandal and why this issue is still very contemporary because poor southern whites went to fight for the wealthy plantation owners sort of like underpaid kid rock fans canvassing for mitt romney. most southern white folks get this. they don't fly the flag. they don't care for it but you still hear the state's rights argument all the time. so allow me to recommend the famous cornerstone address a

speech by the confederacy's vice president, alexander stevens. he said "our new government is founded upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition, this our new government is the first in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical and moral truth." that's the vice president of the confederacy and i'm pretty sure he didn't mention the words "state's rights" in that one. i'm not saying you guys who celebrate confederate history month are traitorrist racist slavers. you're publicly celebrating it. you don't get to have an american flag and a confederate flag at the same time. all of the millions of beautiful inspiring areas of southern heritage, why would you guys want to celebrate those four years? just those four. the terrible deaths of 600,000 americans, the bar barry of slavery. you're better than that. celebrate lynyrd skynyrd.

if you really care about southern pride then elect politicians who aren't racist but pander to racists. stop electing these guys and then, if you want to help the south, do something about truck nuts. google it. but if you're a southerner who is still voting for politicians whose only goal is to redistribute wealth and destroying traditional marriage, who lie to you about the government coming to take your guns, who lie to you about tax cuts for the rich, then congratulations. you're continuing the proud confederate tradition of being a dupe for the plantation owners. that's "viewpoint" for tonight. i want to thank my guests jennifer rawlings who has performed in over 300 military shows, comedian jeff kreisler of the final audition.com and comedienne and blogger leighann lord. >> veryfunnylady.com. >> finaledition.com. >> jenniferrawlings.com. >> john: we'll be back tomorrow night continuing our