tv The Ed Show MSNBC March 1, 2012 5:00pm-6:00pm PST
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students getting birth control as part of their health insurance before the united states congress. well, this ladies and gentlemen, is the guy republicans members of congress treat like a pharaoh. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "the ed show" with ed schultz starts right now. good evening, americans, and welcome to "the ed show." tonight from new york, well, today is the first day of women's history month. the republicans, they celebrated it and kicked off the month by voting in the senate to let your boss take charge of your health care. and rush limbaugh doubled down on his ugly attack on a 24-year-old college student. sandra fluke is here to respond for the first time tonight. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> republicans are kicking off women's history month by bringing the blunt amendment to the floor in the united states senate. >> the war on women takes center stage in the senate, as 48 senators voted to roll back
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women's rights. >> we have men on the other side of the aisle here, for the most part, telling women what their rights should be. >> new hampshire senator jeanne shaheen will weigh in. what will it take for republicans to denounce their leading voice, as he attacks college student sandra fluke. >> it makes her a slut, right? it makes her a prostitute. she wants to be paid to have sex. >> tonight, sandra fluke is here exclusively to respond to rush limbaugh's disturbing comments. plus, reaction with "now's" terry o'neil and professor caroline heldman. a federal judge in montana is under fire for sending a despicable racist anti-obama e-mail. dr. michael eric dyson is here to talk racism in the republican party. good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. the first battle may be over, but republicans are vowing to continue the war.
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today, the senate voted to table the blunt amendment, 51 to 48. the measure would have given your boss a say in your health care. it would give an employer or an insurance company the authority to deny any essential or preventative care from contraception to cancer screenings for any reason. >> now mr. blunt is giving insurance companies a way to say, oh, we really feel sorry that you have cancer. we're really sad that you have diabetes. we're really torn apart that you might have a stroke. but, you know what, we have a moral objection to the kind of therapies that are out there today, so we're sorry. that's what the blunt amendment does. >> it's an effort to stop the obama administration policy that would require health insurance coverage to include birth control and emergency contraception. the president offered a compromise to religious institutions exempting them from the policy. but that wasn't good enough for
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the gop. senator bernie sanders says it's an attack on women. >> let me add my strong belief that if the united states senate had 83 women and 17 men rather than 83 men and 17 women, my strong guess is that a bill like this would never even make it to the floor. >> yet four out of the five republican women in the senate voted for the measure, including susan collins, who made this statement before the vote. >> this issue has become a sad example of election year politics. >> senator olympia snowe, who will retire at the end of the year, was the lone republican voting against the bill. three democrats, all men, voted with republicans. conservatives have claimed all along that this is about religious freedom. who better to weigh in on the subject of contraception and morality than senator david vitter of louisiana. >> catholics, many other
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christians, many people of faith do not believe in certain activity and treatment that is mandated now to be covered by this mandatory insurance. and that is crossing a line that we have never before crossed in this country. >> vitter, of course, admitted to frequenting an escort service a few years back, and according to the prostitute, mr. vitter reportedly patronized, the gentleman from louisiana used contraception. meanwhile, on the campaign trail, mitt romney attempt eed clean up the mess he created on the blunt amendment. romney came out against the measure just yesterday. >> i'm not for the bill, but, look, the idea of presidential candidates getting into questions about contraception within a relationship between a man and a woman, a husband and wife, i'm not going there. >> immediately after that interview, romney's campaign said the candidate supported the blunt amendment.
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romney tried to clear up the confusion earlier. >> i didn't understand his question. of course i support the blunt amendment. i thought he was talking about some state law that prevented people from getting contraception. >> rick santorum isn't buying it. >> we saw an insight into what's in the gut of governor romney yesterday, when he was asked a question about the blunt amendment. well, then after his consultants talked to him and then he came back and said, oh, i didn't understand the question. well, maybe he did, maybe he didn't. but i'll tell you, if i was asked a question like that, my gut reaction would be always, my gut reaction would be, you stand for the first amendment. you stand for freedom of religion. >> despite today's outcome, republicans say they aren't letting this issue go. >> i think it's important for us to win this issue. the government, our government, for 220 years, has respected the
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religious views of the american people. and for all of this time, there's been an exception for those churches and other groups to protect the religious beliefs that they believe in. and that's being violated here. >> and i am joined tonight by senator jeanne shaheen of new hampshire. senator, good to have you with us on "the ed show" tonight. thanks for your time. >> great to be with you, ed. >> senator, there are 48 members of the wriunited states senate voted for the blunt amendment. and this evening, roy blunt says the fight is not over. what does that mean and how much farther will the republicans take this? >> well, i don't know. i hope that they will decide that it's time to get back to making sure that we can get a highway bill passed that's going to help create jobs and invest in infrastructure, build the roads and bridges and provide the mass transit that this
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country needs, and stop trying to come between women and their health care and their doctors. >> republicans denied a georgetown law student, sandra fluke, from testifying about contraception before congress. she did give testimony in front of a house democratic committee. and now she's being targeted by the gop mouthpiece, rush limbaugh. here it is. >> what does it say about the college coed susan fluke who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have is sex. what does that make her? it makes her a slut, right? it makes her a prostitute. she wants to be paid to have sex. >> senator, we all know limbaugh's position with the republican party. is there any republican in the u.s. senate that would defend that? >> listen, i think those remarks are distasteful and they don't deserve a response.
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the fact is here in congress, we should be respectful of everyone who comes before us and this young woman from georgetown had a very important story to tell, about the real effect on women of making sure that contraceptives, like other medications, are available. and as she pointed out, for 14% of women, 1.5 million women, they use contraceptives not for birth control, but for other medical reasons. >> senator jeanne shaheen, new hampshire, thanks for your time tonight. appreciate it. >> thank you. in just a few minutes, the target of rush limbaugh's attacks, sandra fluke, will join me exclusively. first, i want to bring in terry o'neil, the president of the national organization for women. and dr. caroline heldman, professor of politics at occidental college. rush limbaugh doubled down on his attacks on this college student on his radio show today. here it is. >> i will buy all of the women at georgetown the university as
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much asprin to put between their knees as they want. we are paying for her having sex. we are getting screwed. so miss fluke, and the rest of you feminatzis, if we are going to pay for your contraceptives and thus pay for you to have sex, we want something for it. and i'll tell you what it is, we want you to post the videos online so we can all watch. >> terry o'neill, what's your reaction to limbaugh's broadcasting of this issue? >> honestly, i think he needs to be fired. i think that he should not be on the air. i mean, the level of offensiveness of his remarks, really, he has clearly crossed a line. not that when he does that, frankly, it makes a lot of money for my organization. i mean, you know, people are completely outraged, but i think
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that the offensiveness needs to be recognized and he just shouldn't be on the air anymore. >> should the gop get involved in this, with his connections to the republican party, and how often the republican party follows his lead? >> yeah, i don't know how the gop distances itself from him. he has been their leading spokesperson for quite a while now. the gop leaders really kowtow to rush limbaugh. so they are very much joined at the hip. and, so, yeah, they need -- they have a problem on their hands. and that problem is only getting worse when our elected officials in the republican party, when john boehner goes and says, gosh, this is something that we need to win, taking -- restricting birth control -- the way you win the birth control issue is by making sure that women have unfettered
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access to it. that is essential to women's reproductive health care, and it's really a question of public health as well. >> today, house democratic leader nancy pelosi railed on republicans for the blunt amendment vote. here it is. >> the republicans are kicking off women's history month by bringing the blunt amendment to the floor in the united states senate. instead of talking about jobs, which is what the american people expect and deserve us to be doing, what they sent us here to do, we've moved on to the blunt amendment. a blunt sweeping overreach into women's health. part of the republican agenda of disrespecting women's health issues. >> caroline, this seems to be going far beyond women's health issues, and now becoming a cultural issue about the standing of women in our society. how do you see it? >> well, i see it as a coordinated campaign, because it's happening at the federal level in congress, not just with this amendment, but other
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amendments, or proposals. it's happening at the state level. every republican-controlled state house right now is considering restrictions to abortion or contraception, and it's happening in the media, with rush limbaugh and others of his ilk, who are trying to silence women through is slut-shaming. which, yes, he should be fired for, but, frankly, i think it will backfire. i think that rush limbaugh should stay on the air and republicans should continue to try to restrict women's access to their sexual freedom and ability to make choices, because it can only help the democrats come november. this, i'd like to call it, the republican boys' war on women, it turns us back half a century and it exposes the hatred of women or the disdain for women that is inherent in certain parts of the republican party. and 26% of voters in the election in 2008 were single women. so they decided the outcome of the election, and they may well do it again if republicans keep promoting this hateful dialogue.
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>> terry o'neil, dr. caroline heldman, thanks for your time tonight. we appreciate it. we want to know what you think. get your cell phones out. tonight's question, does rush limbaugh have the character to apologize for his sexist remarks? text "a" for yes and "b" for no to 622639. we'll bring you the results later on in our show. you may be wondering, how is rush limbaugh allowed to go on the air and say these kind of things with absolutely no discipline, no repercussion? let me tell you something, in the radio business, apparently he is too big to fail. but i have to say tonight, as a broadcaster who has said things that he's had to apologize for, i find it absolutely disgusting that limbaugh doubles down on it. where is the right wing and where is the pressure being put on limbaugh as it was put on me? this student that you're going to see on "the ed show" coming up is not a public figure, doesn't have a chance to fight back, and limbaugh just picks on her. john hogan, you're the ceo of clear channel.
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you ought to be ashamed of yourself! we'll hear from the target of rush limbaugh's disgusting rant, georgetown university law student, sandra fluke joins me exclusively next. the outrageous racist e-mail about the president of the united states from a federal judge, michael eric dyson, joins me on that. stay with us. we're right back. calcium they te because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption. without the stuff that we make here, you wouldn't be able to walk in your house and flip on your lights. [ brad ] at ge we build turbines that power the world. they go into power plants which take some form of energy, harness it, and turn it into more efficient electricity. [ ron ] when i was a kid i wanted to work with my hands, that was my thing. i really enjoy building turbines. it's nice to know that what you're building is gonna do something for the world. when people think of ge, they typically don't think about beer.
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we can change the places where we live, work and play. because health doesn't only happen in a doctor's office, health happens here. coming up, sandra fluke, she joins me exclusively with her reaction to rush limbaugh's comments, and today's vote on the blunt amendment in the senate. later, arizona sheriff joe arpaio released his bogus birther investigation results. i'll talk with msnbc political analyst michael eric dyson about the republican's continuing problem with race. and we're expecting president obama to speak shortly at a fund-raiser here in new york. we'll bring you his remarks live. share your thoughts on twitter with us using the #edshow. we're right back. when i grow up,
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and in the war on women, the number one right wing talk show host in america has used his platform to attack a college student, attack a private citizen. members of congress are reacting. more than 75 democrats have signed a letter to house speaker john boehner urging him to denounce rush limbaugh's offensive comments about georgetown law student, sandra fluke. tonight in an exclusive interview, georgetown university law student sandra fluke joins me. sandra, thanks for your time tonight. we're not going to play anymore of that offensive sound. i just want to have a conversation with you tonight. and without a pointed question, i just want to ask you, what are
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you feeling right now and what's your reaction to what you heard? >> well, i guess my reaction is what a -- the reaction that a lot of women have when they've been called these names. initially, you're stunned, but then very quickly, you're outraged, because this is historically the kind of language that is used to silence women, especially when women stand up and say that these are their reproductive health care needs and this is what they need and what's been amazing to me today is the outpouring of support. everyone from members of congress to georgetown faculty, to so many women who have contacted me, and i think it's clear from what they've said that they're not going to be silenced by this. >> were you prepared for this kind of a reaction when you first agreed to testify? first, you were not allowed in front of darrell issa's committee. and then, of course, the democrats held a hearing where you testified at a democratic hearing and you got quite a bit of media coverage.
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but now all of this. were you prepared for this? >> well, i think when you enter the public spotlight, you do know that this is possible. and as i've said, i'm not the first woman to be treated this way by numerous conservative media outlets. hopefully i'll be the last. >> he defamed you, in the biggest way, on 600 radio stations, and it's reported he has a weekly audience of 20 million listeners. this now, many might think that this has cast you into a position of leadership. do you accept that role, if that is the case? >> well, i think what i'm going to be doing from here on out is just continuing to do what i have been, sharing the stories of the women who contact me and really trying to make sure that their voices are being heard. >> based on what limbaugh said, what doesn't he know that he needs to know? >> i think what's been said publicly today is all he needs
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to know. is that this is really inappropriate, this is outside the bounds of civil discourse. >> 75 democrats have signed a letter to speaker john boehner, urging him to denounce limbaugh's comments. they write, "using his radio show as a means for blatantly insulting a hard-working american with obscene and indecent language, because he disagrees with her personal choices is an abuse of the public airwaves. as leaders of the house that initially denied ms. fluke the right to speak, the republicans have a special obligation to condemn the atrocious and hurtful words spoken by mr. limbaugh." do you think that the republicans should denounce rush limbaugh and what he has said? >> well, i would just start off by saying thank you to all of the members of congress who have supported me in this. it really has meant a lot to me. and i think to women across america. but in answer to your question,
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i don't really see why anyone would not condemn this type of language. >> if you're asked to go back and testify again, will you do it? or have you had enough of this? >> i would always be willing to speak out in favor of women's health and the type of accessible, affordable health care that they need. >> sandra fluke, you're very brave and it's unfortunate that a college student has to put up with this. and now you have become a focal point in all of this, just because you went to congress to speak your piece to the american people. it's rather an amazing story. i feel like i have to apologize for you tonight, and i want to say that you're very brave to stand in front of the media and do what you're doing. i appreciate it. >> well, thank you. >> sandra, thank you for your time. >> thank you for having me. >> you bet. rick santorum is fuming mad at the romney campaign.
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his spokesman is saying romney rigged the michigan primary. we'll tell you what he's all -- what he's talking about. and the president is is attending a fund-raiser tonight in new york city. we'll bring you some of his comments coming up. stay tuned. you're watching "the ed show" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] at home, you play a lot of roles. [ son ] mom, computer's broke! where's i.t. mom? she quit. [ male announcer ] even with technology -- it's all you. staples easy tech can help with everything from new computers to set-ups to tune-ups. stapes. that was easy.
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split the delegates evenly between santorum and romney. today, michigan awarded two at large delegates to mitt romney after lengthy behind-the-scenes meetings. obviously, not everyone was on the same page. earlier this month, the state gop's chairman said the two at-large delegates get awarded proportionately. the santorum campaign wants to know why the two delegates were proportionately split yesterday, but belong to mitt romney as of today. santorum's spokesman e-mailed this statement to "the ed show" tonight. "there's just no way this is happening. we never thought the romney campaign would try to rig the outcome of an election by changing the rules after the vote. this kind of backroom dealing, political thuggery just cannot and should not happen in america." meanwhile, the president of the united states is keeping pressure on his republican opponents. in new hampshire today, the president called them out on fearmongering about gas prices. >> if there's one thing i know
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about new hampshire, it's that your political bull detector is pretty keen. anybody who tells you that we can just drill our way out of this problem does not know what they're talking about or they're not telling you the truth. >> i'm joined tonight by congresswoman betty sutton of ohio and also sam stein, political reporter for the "huffington post." great to have both of you with us tonight. >> thanks, ed. >> congresswoman, are the democrats happy the president is taking on the republicans as directly as he is on this issue? >> i think that the democrats and ohioans across the board are very happy about the president speaking to issues that they really care about in a direct, straight-on way. whether it's standing up for jobs, which is really what is on their mind, first and foremost, and, obviously, pushing back on the things that the republicans are trying to perpetrate related to gas prices. fearmongering, you know, no one
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likes these high gas prices, and maybe we ought to cut those subsidies we keep giving to big oil. that's what democrats would like to do. >> sam, today the president was using visual aids to back up his points. here it is. >> the bar on the left shows that six years ago, 60% of oil that we used was imported. since i took office, america's dependence on foreign oil has gone down every single year. every single year. >> sam, it's pretty clear that the president is jumping out in front of this before this becomes a political problem. what do you think? >> first of all, what a liberal elitist academic the president is. it's disgusting that he uses visual aids like that. secondly, of course, i think the white house obviously recognizes that the issue of gas prices is one of those things that could actually trip up the president going into the summer. gas prices have risen before, it's a complicating matter. the congresswoman's right. the politics of this are a lot
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more tricky than the actual science of it. the president has little control over it. so he wants to preemptively push back and i think he did that effectively today. >> congresswoman sutton, mitt romney supported the anti-collective bargaining bull in ohio that was defeated. here it is. >> i fully support governor kasich, i think it's called question two, in ohio. fully support that. actually, on my website, i think back as early as april, i laid out that i support question two and governor kasich's effort to restrict collective bargaining in ohio. >> you know, both he and santorum are making this big pitch to wage earners. is this going to hurt them in the primary, especially romney? >> absolutely. the fact that while we were out fighting for workers, standing up for our firefighters, police officers, our teachers, our nurses who were under attack by governor kasich, romney was standing next to him, trying to push that fundamentally unfair bill on our people. and i think that that just shows how out of touch that he is with
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ohioans, because ohioans overwhelmingly rejected issue two. >> sam, there's been some vote issues now, counting problems in maine, iowa, nevada. now there's an issue with the delegates in michigan. what do you make of this? how big a fight is this going to be? >> it's curious, because the if the romney campaign forces were trying to pick up one delegate, they certainly caused a big stir trying to do it. and i think they created more problems for themselves in the process. obviously, a lot of attention is being focused on what exactly happened at that credentials meeting with the michigan gop last night. we're not entirely sure whether it was by the rules or whether it was a violation of the rules, but it's created the perception that the establishment republican party is pulling levers behind the scenes in favor of mitt romney. and i think that plays to santorum's hands, going forward. >> and finally, congresswoman, one out of every eight jobs in ohio is related to the automobile industry. how can the president not win ohio? how do you feel about it? >> i have to tell you, it's amazing to watch mitt romney and
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rick santorum standing up and still opposing the efforts we took to revive the auto industry, which is now going strong. and you're right, it's not just about the cars, it's about the people. it's about the families who depend on the auto industry. i really do think that ohioans know what the president did and what we did was the right thing to do, and come the election in november, i think they're going to remember that. >> congresswoman betty sutton, sam stein of "the huffington post," great to have both of you with us tonight. >> thanks, ed. >> thanks for your time. >> you bet. a federal judge in montana is in hot water after sending a racist e-mail about president obama. tonight, dr. michael eric dyson is here to talk the republican party's race problem. and sheriff joe arpaio's witch hunt is over. >> i cannot in good faith report to you that these documents are authentic. >> arpaio has released the
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welcome back to "the ed show." the latest ugly case of racism from republicans who don't like the president of the united states. the chief u.s. district judge, richard siebel of montana, sent this e-mail to six of his buddies. "normally i don't send or forward a lot of these. i want all my friends to feel what i felt when i read this. hope it touches your hard like it did mine. a little boy said to his mother, mommy, how come i'm black and you're white? his mother replied, don't even go there, barack! from what i can remember about that party, you're lucky you don't bark." judge cebull was appointed by president george w. bush. when this e-mail became public, the judge said this, "it was not
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intended by me in any way to become public. i apologize to anybody who was offended by it and i can obviously understand why people would be offended. i'm not a fan of our president, but this goes beyond not being a fan. i didn't send it as racist, although that's what it is. i sent it out because it's anti-obama." judge cebull says he is sending a formal apology. at his own request, the ninth circuit will perform a misconduct review. there's more anti-obama craziness happening out there today in arizona. sheriff judge arpaio held a news conference on the president's birth certificate. >> we believe probable cause exists indicating that forgery and fraud may have been committed. >> well, this hour-long presentation by the sheriff included jerry coursy of right wing world net daily.
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how's that for objectivity? sheriff arpaio is currently the subject of a federal grand jury investigation into criminal abuse allegations. the united states department of justice has accused him of racial profiling. it is said that we are at this point in this country. these stories keep coming up. but a federal judge, a judge does this? a u.s. district judge, having fun with racism? would you like to go in front of him if you're a person of color? would you like to be in a situation where a judgment has to be rendered by this man on the bench? this man shouldn't be investigated, he should be removed! and the justice department should do everything they possibly can to get rid of this judge cebull in montana, and send a lesson to everybody on the bench that you're there as a responsible citizen to judge others by the law. and when you do things like this, it is extremely hard for
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the public to have confidence in our judicial system. this is way out of bounds. it parallels that of what limbaugh has done in his profession, which i'll have more commentary on later on in this broadcast. we are back with michael eric dyson on this subject right after this. stay with us. . my mom got a new car, so they stored her old car in a barn until i was old enough to drive. my parents put mothballs in the trunk to keep the critters out. they didn't realize that the smell would never leave the car. i went to school smelling like my grandma every day. i didn't care. i loved it. [ male announcer ] animate and share your first car story at firstcarstory.com. courtesy of the 2012 subaru impreza. experience love that lasts. ♪ the other office devices? they don't get me. they're all like, "hey, brother, doesn't it bother you that no one notices you?" and i'm like, "doesn't it bother you you're not reliable?" and they say, "shut up!" and i'm like, "you shut up." in business, it's all about reliability.
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the obama campaign challenges the koch brothers to reveal who's donating to the so-called grassroots organization, americans for prosperity. filmmaker robert greenwald will join me on that. don't forget to tweet us using the #edshow. stay tuned. we're right back. ut the stuff that we make here, you wouldn't be able to walk in your house and flip on your lights. [ brad ] at ge we build turbines that power the world. they go into power plants which take some form of energy, harness it, and turn it into more efficient electricity. [ ron ] when i was a kid i wanted to work with my hands, that was my thing. i really enjoy building turbines. it's nice to know that what you're building is gonna do something for the world. when people think of ge, they typically don't think about beer. a lot of people may not realize that the power needed to keep their budweiser cold and even to make their beer comes from turbines made right here. wait, so you guys make the beer? no, we make the power that makes the beer. so without you there'd be no bud? that's right. well, we like you. [ laughter ] ♪
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welcome back to "the ed show." racism in the republican party and also racism in our judicial system. the story, the chief u.s. district judge, richard cebull out of montana, sending a racist e-mail about the the president of the united states. let's turn to msnbc political analyst, michael eric dyson, also a professor at georgetown university, and the author of the book "can you hear me now?" professor, your reaction to the judge's e-mail? and i guess i have to get right to it, can this judge in any way, shape, or form be objective and be trusted in cases of people of color standing in front of his bench? >> i don't think he can at all,
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ed. here's a guy who obviously is colored by his own beliefs, tinged with bias, his anti-obama sentiments are one thing, but to connect them to racialized sentiments like he's done here is ridiculous. how do you think you could have an objective person who would consider your case, adjudicate, which is what judges are supposed to do, decide what's between right and wrong, between competing claims if he's already been informed by a certain kind of bigotry and prejudice towards african-american people, and this kind of vicious, vitriolic sentiment against the president. i don't see how you could expect him to be fair. >> is a misconduct review at his request just damage control for him, or do you think it could be a thorough process, which could end up possibly removing him from the bench? >> we certainly hope that a serious examination is in order here. how can we do anything except call for impeachment of this man and removal from the bench, because he has really sullied the reputation of the bench. we are not confident as a public that he's able to render fair judgments, and if he were a man
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of worth and integrity, he would step aside voluntarily, knowing that he has gone beyond the boundary here of fairness and objectivity and now his -- the very legal reasoning that he uses to make judgments is in question. >> and to the story in arizona, where sheriff joe arpaio put on his dog and pony show press conference today, after investigating whether the president of the united states has an authentic birth certificate. what do you make of it? >> it's just more of the same kind of, you know, refusal to acknowledge obama as a legitimate american. and this attack on him is really an attack on millions more of straction. rizona are and about to what degree america will be fully what it claims to be in its declaration ind
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obama is again an outsider, and as a person who deserves to be retreated as a common thug on the street. >> here's what arpaio said earlier this week about gop candidates seeking his endorsement. >> michele bachmann, herman cain, and of course, perry, i campaigned for him in iowa, which i see a lot of iowa people walking by. and romney called eed me briefl. >> if this story about the wacky, why are so many people out to get his endorsement? >> because they're wacky too. ultimately the disintegration of the seeking loony tune folks like this on the lunatic friend that have nothing to do with american
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democracy. we can say, we disagree. you're on the left, we're on the right, we can have an argument that's civil. but this is nothing more than race baiting and hatred that has to be ended. >> michael eric dyson, thanks so much. when we come back, we'll join the president of the united states speaking at a fund-raiser here in new york city. we're right back. stay with us. [ male announcer ] that. right there -- reminds you
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or if you have any allergic reactions such as rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial. welcome back to "the ed show." president obama is speaking here in manhattan tonight at a fund-raiser. let's listen in. >> -- it is because of your commitments to each other. it's not a vision of america where everybody is left to fend for themselves. it's a vision of america where everybody works together. and everybody who works hard has a chance to get ahead. not just those at the very top. that's the vision we share. that's the change we believed in. that no matter who you are, that no matter where you come from,
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no matter what you look like, no matter what your name is, that in this country, you can make it if you try. that was the change we believed in. and we knew it wasn't going to come easy. we knew it wouldn't come quickly. but i want you to think about what we have done in just three years, because of what you did in 2008. think about it. think about what change looks like. change is the first bill i signed into law. pretty simple law. it says, women deserve an equal day's pay for an equal day's work. because we want -- because i want my daughters to have the same opportunities as someone's sons. that happened because of you.
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change is the decision we made to rescue the american auto industry from collapse, even when there were some politicians who were saying, let's let detroit go bankrupt. and with 1 million jobs on the line, we weren't going to let that happen. and today gm is back on top as the world's number one automaker, just reported the highest profits in 100 years. with 200,000 new jobs created in the last 2 1/2 years, the american auto industry is back. that happened because of you. change is the decision we made to stop just waiting for congress to do something about our addiction to oil and finally raise our fuel efficiency standards. and by the next decade, we will be driving american-made cars that get almost 55 miles to the gallon. and that will save the typical family $8,000 at the pump and reduce our dependence on foreign
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oil and start actually giving us some the dependence from these gas prices that have been going up. that's what change is. that's what you did. change is the fight we want. to stop handing $60 billion in taxpayer subsidies to banks to process student loans and give that money directly to students and families who need it. so that millions of young people around the country are able to afford college just a little bit better. change is health care reform that we passed after a century of trying. a reform that insures that in the united states of america, nobody will go bankrupt just because they get sick.
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and already 2.5 million young people have health insurance today because this law lets them stay on their parents' plan and every american can no longer be denied or dropped by their insurance company when they need care the most. that happened because of you. because of what you were willing to fight for back in 2008. change is the fact that for the first time in history, you don't have to hide who you love to serve the country you love, because we got rid of don't ask, don't tell. and change is keeping another promise i made in 2008, for the first time in nine years, there are no americans fighting in iraq. we put that war to an end! and we refocused our efforts on the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11.
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and thanks to the incredible men and women in uniform, al qaeda is weaker than it has ever been and osama bin laden will never again walk the face of this earth. we've restored respect for america around the world. made clear that america will abide by those core values that made us the great country. we ended torture. we promoted human rights. we made it clear that america's a pacific power. we demonstrated that if countries like burma traveled down the road of democratic reform, they will find a new relationship with the united states. and we are leading again by the power of our moral example. that's what change is. none of this change -- none of -- nobody's announced a war,
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young lady. but we appreciate your sentiment. you're jumping the gun a little bit there. none of this change has been easy. and we've got a lot more work to do. there's still too many americans out there looking for work. there are too many families out there who are having a tough time paying their bills or making their mortgage. or that is house is under water. they're still recovering from the worst economic storm in our lifeti lifetimes, in generations. but over the last two years, businesses have added about 3.7 million new jobs. our manufacturing sector is creating jobs again for the very first time since the 1990s. our economy is getting stronger.
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the recovery is accelerating. america is coming back. and the last thing we can with afford to do right now is to go back to the very same policies that got us into this mess in the first place. but, you know, that is exactly what the other folks for this office who are running for this office want to do. i don't know if you've been paying attention. but they make no secret about their agenda. they want to go back to the days when wall street played by its own rule. they want to go back to the days when insurance companies could deny coverage or jack up your premiums without a reason. they want to spend $1 trillion more on tax breaks for the wealthiest individuals, even if it means adding to our deficit. or gutting education, or gutting our investment in clean energy. or making it tougher for seniors who are on medicare and their philosophy is simple. we are better off when
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everybody's left to fend for themselves, the most powerful can play by their own rules. we're at a crossroads here. we've got as stark a choice as we've seen in a very long time. >> president obama speaking to campaign donors here in new york city tonight, live on msnbc. when we return, big news on marriage equality in maryland. i'll bring you the details, next. this is "the ed show" on msnbc. stay with us. wouldn't it be nice if there was an easier, less-expensive option than using a traditional lawyer? well, legalzoom came up with a better way. we took the best of the old and combined it with modern technology. together, you get quality services on your terms with total customer support. legalzoom documents are accepted in all 50 states, and they're backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee. so, go to legalzoom.com today and see for yourself. it's law that just makes sense.
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and in the big finish tonight, maryland is now the eighth state in the nation to pass a marriage equality law. opponents of the marriage equality are already working to overturn it. democratic governor martin o'malley signed the bill into law in a ceremony today. he said at the end of the day, we want human dignity for all people. the law will go into effect in january of 2013. maryland businesses are already telling local businesses that they are looking forward to the economic boost that they will see when all people in the state are allowed to get married. maryland joins washington, iowa, new york, vermont, new hampshire, massachusetts, connecticut, and the district of columbia as the only places in the united states where all citizens have the same rights when it comes to marriage. conservative groups are already circulating positions to overturn maryland's new marriage equality law. tonight in our survey, i asked, does rush limbaugh have the character to apologize for his sexist remarks? 1% of you say yes, 99% of you say no.
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