helping to turn the hearts and minds against the taliban or in the other direction? a good question to ask. now more than ever. that's "hardball." for now, thanks for being with us. good evening, americans, welcome to "the ed show" from new york, less than 12 hours before the polls open in alabama, and mississippi, republican presidential candidates are flat out lying about gas prices and lying about job creation. you won't believe what else people in the deep south think about president obama. the shocking number the coming up next. this is "the ed show," let's get to work. one of my goals is to run as president. >> a campaign of fear to take down the president, new evidence it might be working. >> he is an avowed muslim. >> tonight brad woodhouse of the dnc and michael eric dyson have reaction.

>> does the hbo movie "game change" mean game over for sarah palin? >> for me, and the experience on this campaign is that there are worse things than losing. >> political analyst richard wolffe on the "game change" fallout. >> the limbaugh controversy is spreading to other talkers. radio expert holland cook and eric bolert have the analysis. >> sean hannity's harvard conspiracy theory was a bust but smeared the good name of derrick bell. tonight the late professor's widow joins me to defend her husband's memory. good to have you with us, thanks for watching. republicans have found their footing in their attacks on president obama. it looks like they are having an impact on the american people as well. it's all about gas. a new washington post abc new poll shows, 65% of americans disapprove of the way the president has handled gas

prices. a new cbs news-new york times poll has president obama's approval rating at an all time low? it's only one poll. but that is a number and 54% of americans say gas prices are something that the president can do a lot about. really. president obama tried to get out in front of the problem today. he did television interviews with local news channels from eight key election states. >> the single most important thing is reduce our dependence on foreign oil. the fact we reduced our dependence by a million barrels a day, that over time is going to have a big impact. >> republicans are hitting the president for not increasing energy production in reality this is meaninglist. over the last three years the united states paid an average of $2.64 a gallon while producing 5.4 million barrels of oil per day. in comparison, germans paid almost the said, $2.69 a gallon. germany produced 28,000 barrels

per day. go figure. but the facts haven't stopped newt gingrich from making his entire platform about gas prices. he continued to hammer the president while trying to court southern voters. >> i think the biggest issue this fall is going to be drilling versus algae, 2.50 a gallon versus $10 a gallon. which future do you want for your children and country. >> more on that sound bite in a moment. i'll get to it. not just gas prices getting republicans riled up in the south, public policy polling asked republican voters in mississippi and alabama their opinions on president obama's get this, religion. we're still there, folks. in mississippi, only 12% consider the president a christian. 52% said he's a muslim. oh, 36% said well, they are not sure. in alabama, the numbers were

14%, 45%, and 41% of the people in alabama, really aren't sure what faith the president is. three days ago we saw more good news about the economic recovery in america. but the president is now forced to address this persistent issue about his religion. >> when we start using religion as a bludgeon in politics, when we question other people's faith, we start using religion to divide instead of bring the country together then i think we have a problem. >> the root of this problem is at the doorstep of the mccain campaign of 2008. you don't have to look farther than the recent movie "game change" to see how this whole fire started to rage. >> senator mccain wanted me to congratulate you on a fantastic debate. you did a great job. >> thanks. tell john i want to bring up bill ayers, reverend wright,

time to go for the jugular. >> you have to discuss that with your running mate, i made it very clear that he doesn't want to touch wright. >> i'll talk to him about it. >> sarah palin poured gasoline all over this fire. she helped start the misinformation campaign. >> now, this is not a man who sees america as you and i see america. our opponent is someone who sees america as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country. >> so what happened? sarah palin made it acceptable for republican voters to disdain the president for his alleged otherness. she fostered the pitting of american people against barack obama. three-and-a-half years later, it is still a big problem for the

united states of america, and of course the president of the united states and pretty much a major concern for his reelection campaign. but i have to ask tonight, the people of alabama, the 41% that really aren't sure, how much news do you have to watch to be sure? are these numbers -- are we at a point in mississippi and alabama it's not really what you believe, but it's what you want to believe? culturally believe? isn't our country better than that. do you know why newt gingrich is telling people he can get them to $2.50 a gallon of gas? because apparently they will believe it. how sad it is. where is idiotsville, mississippi, anyway? do they do polling there. i'm talking to the two deep southern states tonight, mississippi and alabama.

get it together. president obama is not a muslim. he is a christian, and he called for the killing of the number one terrorist in the world, osama bin laden. did that reach the news down there? maybe the democrats in the mississippi legislature and maybe the democrats in the alabama legislature will step up and put forward a resolution to maybe turn this thing a little bit saying they proclaim that the president of the united states is a christian. come on, democrats, fight back down there. whatever happened to our 50 state strategy? the president is an american. he is a christian. he's not a muslim. and nobody is going to get you $2.50 a gallon of gas. nobody. get your cell phones out i want to know what you think. tonight's question, will republican voters ever believe the truth about president obama? text a for yes, b for no to 622639. go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com,

we'll bring you results later on in the show. joining me tonight is brad woodhouse communications director for the democratic national committee, brad, good to have you with us tonight. >> thanks, ed. >> are you concerned about the polling numbers that this many people in two southern states think the president is not a christian? >> well, look, should say we are maybe, but not really. we're not getting spun up over any one particular poll or any one particular finding. it's unfortunate, i would certainly agree with you about that. the president has made clear his entire history has made clear, he's an american, born here, he's a christian, i mean the same people that wanted to attack him for attending services at reverend wright's church, a christian church, seem to want to question his religion. it's unfortunate, like the president said it has 100% no place in politics.

because once this starts going both ways, you're dividing people on some very emotional turf of. >> dividing them and making them believe about a falsehood about the highest office in the land, the man who holds the office. what about gas price, the perception is the president isn't doing enough. >> we need to have an honest conversation with the american people as you outlined he did earlier today. there is no silver bullet for gas prices. they were $4.12 a gallon in the spring of 2008 when president bush was in office, if there was a silver bullet, certainly he would have shot it. he didn't. because there is not. crude oil as both the wall street journal and cato institute have said the price is not set by the president. >> it is not energy independence right away it's the wall street speculators and why can't the

democrats get on board and say it's wall street speculation? surveys have shown there is what, almost 58 cents per gallon cast on to the price of gas at the pump because of the speculators? if the people in alabama and mississippi can't figure out what faith the president is, how in the heck are they going to understand wall street speculators, you have a heavy lift, don't you? >> certainly that is an issue. as you know the attorney general has a task force that has been looking at market manipulation, looking at oil speculation, but the truth is that look, we're producing more oil and gas in this country than has been produced in the past eight years. oil imports are down, we have to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. there is no easy answer to this crisis. demand is up in china, demand is up in india, and what iran is doing and volatility in the middle east is contributing. >> brad woodhouse, good to have you with us tonight. appreciate your time. now michael eric dyson, msnbc political analyst, georgetown professor and author of "can you hear me now."

professor is sarah palin at the root of this issue and the mccain campaign, i watched it over the weekend on saturday night, i mean that is where it started. that is the impression i came away with. >> she is a woman of ill informed, no historical perspective, she is a woman who is viable because she is able to articulate through rhetoric the perspectives of the far right and lunatic fringe of the republican party. she suggests as you said in your introduction shun he is the ultimate other. this does not good for the politics of our country, it reinforces the division. >> here is a clip from cliff sterns at a town hall meeting in florida where he was confronted about whether the president was born in the united states.

>> all i can tell you is that the general consensus is that he has produced a birth certificate. the question is -- is it legitimate? that's why we stand now. because i think -- i have' seen a copy of it on television, the birth certificate, but you know the governor of hawaii couldn't get what he felt was an original of the birth certificate. he tried to do it and gave up on it. i think what obama is showing is a facsimile. >> music to the ears of old and stupid. why don't they do and shoot these theories down? >> it contrasts with senator mccain's valorous view point, to suggest i won't get in the mug and slug it out by personal assaults. and we've seen this more recently with the assault on pr -- professor derrick bell, to prove people who are not

informed well are trying to do the same thing now they did to obama then and i think that the republicans should stand up and say this is wrong, mccain's branch of the party should prevail. >> if people believe in alabama and mississippi that the president is not a christian, will these bigoted attacks against the president get worse this year? your call. >> well, perhaps so but i think what will come in contrast to that will people who will stand up and assert it's the right thing to do. i'm struck by so many white americans who see me on your show, keep up the great battle and fight. they understand the grand purpose of american politics and know that obama is a true american and therefore i think at the voting booth they will remember, answer the question on the bottom of the screen. how accurate was the movie "game change" one former palin advisor said it was true enough to make

me squirm. >> rush limbaugh is losing more advertisers. it's an avalanche that could be changing conservative talk radio. maybe. what makes the sleep number store different? the sleep number bed. the magic of this bed is that you're sleeping on something that conforms to your individual shape. wow! that feels really good. in less than a minute i can get more support.

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eric bolert and holland cook on that, stay with the hbo movie "game change" showed us how the pick of sarah palin as vice president was. i'll ask richard wolffe if the movie ends sarah palin's presidential dreams. later virginia's governor refuses to defend his state's invasive ultrasound law and secretary of state hillary clinton weighs in on the republican war on women with some blistering remarks. righties have spent the last week smearing a deceased harvard professor's good name. tonight derrick bell's widow, my exclusive guest and she will set the record straight. no doubt. share thoughts on using #edshow, we're right back.

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for me, the experience on this campaign is that there are worse things than losing. >> if you had any questions about sarah palin's competency they ought to be answered by now. the hbo movie "game change" showed america it dodged a political bullet. mccain strategist steve schmidt said the movie got it right. >> it was very accurate. i think for all of us who were in the campaign it really rang true, gave you ptsd at times. >> they found themselves dealing with a vice presidential candidate unstable, lacking knowledge, and completely unprepared for the national stage.

>> how do you plan on maintaining our alliance with great britain on iraq even though support for the war there is at an all time low? >> i think the united states has always maintained a great relationship with the queen. and john mccain will continue to have an open dialogue with her. >> governor, the queen is not the head of government in england, she is the head of state. >> well then who is the head of government? >> the prime minister. >> even if you didn't catch the movie, you know how the story ends. schmidt says the end result of the 2008 campaign was the best outcome for the country. >> when a result happens that puts someone who is not prepared to be president on the ticket, that is a bad result. i think the notion of sarah palin being president of the united states is something that frightens me, frankly, and i

played a part in that. i played a part in that because we were fueled by ambition to win. >> let's turn to msnbc political analyst richard wolffe, your basic take on what you saw on saturday night. >> ed, on any rationale basis this was a painful movie. and terrifying. it worked it here in austin, tex a the people around me had the same reaction, terrifying, reliving that moment in the 2008 election when in the words of one of the pundits, sarah palin was a 72-year-old heart beat away from the presidency. that is one side of it but also painful and frankly disgusting to watch the people who were responsible for this, and steve schmidt, he was one of the defenders of the president bush and dick cheney, you cannot question his republican credentials, but he was responsible and this movie goes

in this, he was responsible for the reckless decision, in part, for this reckless decision to put sarah palin in this position and for sarah palin to think she comes off worse than the mccain aides who put her in this intolerable position shows how clueless she is. here is a clip for her prep session for her interview with charlie gibson. >> are you okay, governor? >> why aren't there mccain-palin lawn signs in alaska. >> mr. obama has five times the money we have, five times, and alaska is only three electoral votes and it's red. >> todd and i are hearing things, i can't talk to the alaskan press. >> what are you hearing? >> things. none of it is good. can you at least do a poll to check my approval rating there? >> governor, that would cost the campaign $60,000. >> i'd feel a heck of a lot better if i knew where i was at.

>> wouldn't the gutsy thing to do would be to go to john mccain at the time and say "this isn't going to work she is not prepared there has to be another woman somewhere" why didn't they deep six her if it was this bad? >> it was so bad that nicolle wallace, again, a loyal bush operative, loyal republican, said she couldn't vote in this election because of sarah palin. that is what i mean about how shocking this movie is. the book and movie is called "game change" this is politics at the highest level, responsibility for life and death of the troops, about the jobs and welfare of the american people and they clearly chose someone who wasn't ready for the limelight, wasn't ready for the election, never mind for the responsibility of the job. honestly, if they realized this, along the way they had a clear responsibility to say something, that at least didn't appear in the movie, or from what we see in the book.

>> here is schmidt on the vetting process. >> showed a process of vetting that was debilitated by secrecy compartmentalized, led to a result that was reckless. >> this is an under statement but also a wake up call to future politicians, that you better get this right because mccain in his age, who know what's could have happened. this woman could have been the president of the united states. >> right, but look, ed, looking at the primary contests we have seen playing out on the republican field. do you think they have taken it more seriously than that vice presidential pick? yes, this was the republican establishment, everyone says where are the leaders? the leaders at that time took those risks, and again i have a lot of respect for steve schmidt and you have to give him credit for honesty and being frank but secrecy is always part of a vice presidential vetting.

there will always be that kind of pressure and secrecy involved. they rushed it. they wanted to throw the chess board up in the air, wanted to treat it like it was just a game, and for john mccain and people like steve schmidt to do that, that was the recklessness, they deserve more blame than sarah palin. >> what about her future, if this is an accurate depiction of the campaign and people around it say it is, how in the world could she ever move forward politically? >> look, sarah palin has done more damage to her own career than any book or any movie. she did damage when she quit her job, she did damage when she flirted with the presidential run and never did it, and look, she is damaging herself right now. here is someone who wanted to go out and tell her story to the press and even now, she is choosing not to engage with this movie, not to embrace the good bits and not push back against the bad bits for her, her judgment is as wrong now as it was three years ago. >> richard, always a pleasure,

good to have you with us. the governor of virginia gets a little tongue-tied trying to defend his position on mandatory ultrasounds. virginia state delegate charniele herring will join me. wisconsinites got great news today i'll give you details later in the show. stay with us.

welcome back to "the ed show." for a guy who was interested in being on the republican ticket in november, governor bob mcdonnell of virginia isn't terribly skilled at defending his positions. mcdonnell had a hard time explaining why he originally supported a measure that would force women considering abortion to undergo a highly invasive trans vaginal ultrasound. >> were you wrong initially? >> you said invasive procedure should be part of the bill? >> i never said that. david i think you're wrong. what we said we support the concept of an ultrasound for the the committee process i realized other things in the bill that needed to be amended. >> he only with drew support after public outcry. then he got behind a less invasive yet still mandatory and medically unnecessary ultrasound measure. he signed the bill in law last week, yet the governor didn't seem to be too eager to talk about the law. >> this constant focus on social issues is largely coming from the democrats. here what is i'm worried about.

>> i'm still asking about this issue. look, you ran in part talking about health care, the president's health care. >> i ran against it. >> precisely. this was the state of the virginia mandating women have an additional procedure, a mandated health procedure, i thought that is exactly what conservatives opposed. >> david, this was about stating what informed consent is and saying that women have a right to know certain things before procedure. every invasive procedure has an informed consent requirement. >> let's turn to delegate charniele herring, the minority whip in the virginia house and chair of the state's reproductive rights caucus. charniele thank you for your time tonight. i need you to respond to the governor who said the social issues are coming from the democrats. why can't he defend his position on this law? >> he can't defend it because it's indefensible. i find it amazing that he sort of shocked this issue has dominated the general assembly

session that just concluded. this is an extreme piece of legislation that he says he supported all along. either he doesn't know the facts or he does support something that is so extreme that it enraged thousands of virginians and still out of touch with virginia not to even recognize he's mandating a procedure but at the same time opposing obama's affordable health care act. >> it's like he knows the damage was done and doesn't want to fess up to it. do you think that is where he is? >> i think absolutely that is where it. i find it also interesting in the clip that you played. he got involved during the committee process. i sit on that courts of justice committee where the bill came through, let me tell you until the bill hit the floor of the general assembly, and until virginia became under national ridicule did he all of a sudden step in because he realized it was damaging to his reputation because he said he would support that bill. but hasn't he been radical in this position in his past

political actions? >> oh, absolutely. to mandate a procedure and to say that i think women have the right to know, it presumes that women are not talking to their doctors and that doctors are not providing information. so i do think it's radical he would walk in a doctor's office and tell people what type of procedure should happen and his alleged affix to the bill, let me tell you, 90% of those who are seeking to terminate pregnancy won't get anything from an abdominal ultrasound which is what he mandated. >> here is hillary clinton. >> why extremists always focus on women remains a mystery to me. with you they all seem to. it doesn't matter what country they are in or what religion they claim, they all want to control women. they want to control how we dress, how we act, they even want to control the decisions we make about our own health and our own bodies.

>> is that where we are in the world and in america? >> it certainly appears that way. it appears that way from the what happened in the virginia legislature and legislators all across the country, it seems to be an attack on women. from reproductive health rights to rush limbaugh calling a young woman a name that i do not care to repeat. it's unacceptable and women are becoming under attack. when we dominate the senate these bills were stopped. now we have republican control of the legislature, as well as the executive branch and this is what virginians are getting. an attack on women. >> latest polling shows people believe the democrats care more about women's issues, and i would assume this is pretty much proof your message is resonating with voters. >> yes. >> appreciate your time, charniele herring, thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> rush limbaugh's advertisers are running for the hills.

other righty talkers could be next. eric boehlert of media matters and holland cook will have the latest. the angry badgers were out in wisconsin this weekend, today their governor got crushing news about his recall election. that report is ahead. the right wing conspiracy theorists dragged the good name of professor derrick bell through the mud. >> his embracing the derrick bell, the racist professor. >> in an "the ed show" exclusive interview, the widow of the late harvard professor derrick bell is here to respond. it's time to get going. to put more giddy-up in our get-along. it's time to start gellin' with dr. scholl's... ... and mix a little more hop in our hip-hop. with the energizing support and cushioning of dr. scholl's massaging gel insoles ... you'll want to get up and go.

the numbers of advertisers that dropped rush limbaugh is 141. if it's permanent it represents possibly a real change in talk radio in america. we may be witnessing something

unparalleled in talk radio. it will have far-reaching consequences all the way to the gop, question mark. it's not just limbaugh getting a big lesson in the couldn't sequences of hate speech. limbaugh syndicator premiere radio networks calculate and circulated a list of 98 advertisers who want to avoid offensive or controversial content. for example, limbaugh, glenn beck, sean hannity, advertisers won't touch them. this is happening in two weeks time. since limbaugh's slur of sandra fluke, a wake-up call to every radio talker about what is ahead in the landscape and acceptable. racism and sexism aren't acceptable. all the advertisers leaving rush limbaugh are making a very big statement. i'm joined by eric boehlert, and holland cook, talk radio consultant, been in the business for some 30 years.

holland, i got to ask you, is this a sea change, is this temporary or is it permanent? what is on the horizon? >> every shock jock goes a word too far at some point and until now it seemed like rush limbaugh had nine lives, but i got to tell you, radio stations are nervous. i swapped e-mails with a guy who runs a group of radio stations and has rush limbaugh on some of them, and he says he's considering switching to that new mike huckabee show which is going to debut head-to-head against rush limbaugh 12:00 to 3:00 eastern. that is syndicated by the media which owns the biggest radio stations rush limbaugh is on. imagine rush losing wabc new york, wls chicago, and major stations in detroit, dallas, washington, that would be a death blow to his show on the scope we know it now. he'll probably always be on the radio but it won't be as big a deal.

>> eric boehlert, will the advertisers drift back? >> i don't know, they made it clear they want nothing to do with it. look, the same blue chip advertisers that abandoned glenn back are abandoning rush limbaugh and doing it a lot faster. glenn beck hung around after calling the president a racist, after 18 months, he had no advertisers. limbaugh lost advertisers faster than beck. the point about the rest of the radio, the right wing media, media matters points out in our new book fox he expect, this is the height of irresponsibility on fox, talk radio they are now paying the consequences and it's -- the best part is the punishment is being handed out by the free market place. >> holland, ownership has its privileges but if you can't sell it there is no sense in carrying it. is this big trouble for talk radio? >> those 98 sponsors were the

national ones. this ripples down to the local level and it's drawing very uncomfortable scrutiny to the stations at the local level. >> i'll ask you holland, where does this leave the gop? you know the connection between the right wing talkers and the gop and agenda they drive. this is going to drive women away from the gop? >> maybe too late. radio is the least of it. look at the pickle that limbaugh's gaffe put romney and santorum in. they are supposed to be ward cleaver, ducking cameras for a couple days. when they get asked about rush limbaugh, all they can say is it was a poor choice of words, he should have insulted her more politely. the collateral damage goes to the gop. the gender gap is wider and deeper. >> it's not just syndicated talkers on the right.

bill handle, very popular guy in los angeles talking about the kansas abortion law. >> the doctor has to show these dumb ass women -- >> you stepped in it once again. let me tell you something. >> what do you mean i stepped into it? >> whatever you just said will be taken so completely out of context. >> it is what it is, it's sexism, rampant all over talk radio. who will carry the shows, we have been monitoring wabc in new york, they have aired over the last three, thursday, friday, saturday, 200 unpaid ads during his program. >> public service announcements. >> they are losing money every day they put him on the radio period. >> the heart association didn't want their psa's. >> charities don't want to be on there. >> they can't give it away. >> that is a first to have the american heart association say we won't take the freebee. >> they can't give it away.

this is the canary in the coal mine. >> so what does this mean, quickly, holland, to a local operator? do you stay away from this stuff and try to develop something locally to stay -- >> i'm in baltimore, a big station that had rush limbaugh for years kicked him to the curb and restored, wait for it, are you ready? local programming. what a concept. rush used to enable stations to cut one job from the payroll. but over the years, his rights fees have gotten to the point where it's now more expensive to have rush than to go find a good local host and i think there are a lot of meetings going on right now to run those numbers. >> eric boehlert, holland cook, great to have you both on the program tonight. radical wisconsin governor scott walker can run but he can't hide. it's been a huge day for democrats in the badger state, we'll tell you about it next, stay with us.

>> coming up lots of bad news for wisconsin governor scott walker. updates on the recall effort and more, next. the big finish, the widow of professor derrick bell is speaking out about the right wing attacks on her husband. janet bell is my exclusive guest tonight. don't forget to use #edshow, you can tweet us we're right back.

welcome back do "the ed show." things air bought to get interesting in the great state of wisconsin. scott walker doesn't like any of it. on saturday, 35,000 people staged a reclaim wisconsin march on the capitol grounds in madison to highlight the one year anniversary of the walker's radical anti-worker bill becoming law. earlier today the wisconsin government accountability board ruled recall elections can move forward for four of the republican state senators who rammed walker's law through last march. the government accountability

board is expected to officially rule on the recall election dates for the senators. governor walker and lieutenant governor as early as this week, wednesday. in more bad news for the wisconsin republicans, dane county judge permanently stopped, stepped in and stopped the state's new voter id law. the ruling comes on the same day the united states department of just is the blocked the radical texas voter id law. wisconsin, texas and five other states passed id laws whether republicans won the 2010 elections. walker spokesman said it's a shame activist dane county judges continue to stand in the way of common sense. his name might be familiar to viewers, he's walker's spokesman who was granted immunity in the ongoing john doe investigation surrounding the governor's staff when he worked as a milwaukee county executive. the buzzards are starting to circle around the rookie governor on this john doe

investigation in a big way. on friday, walker became the first wisconsin governor ever to set up a legal defense fund. walker said the scott walker trust will be used to pay his two criminal defense lawyers to review documents and assist him in cooperating with the secret probe. folks, this is getting good. coming up the 20-year-old video of a hug didn't do anything to hurt president obama, but sean hannity did his best to lie about professor derrick bell, who passed away last year and couldn't defend himself. bell's wife joins me exclusively to do just that. stay with us. [ female announcer ] there's a science

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the sleep number bed. the magic of this bed is that you're sleeping on something that conforms to your individual shape. wow! that feels really good. in less than a minute i can get more support. if you change your mind once you get home you can adjust it. so whatever you feel like, the sleep number bed's going to provide it for you. at our semi-annual sleep sale, save $400 to $700 on our most popular bed sets. plus, free standard shipping - but only through march 18th! ly at the sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just $699 ed show survey tonight i asked will republican voters ever believe the truth about president obama? 8% said yes, 92% said no. coming up, sean hannity and friends attacked the character

of harvard professor derrick bell, now his widow is speaking out. janet bell joins me next, stay with us. [ male announcer ] what if an entire car insurance company was thought up and built and run to save people money? what if that company was born online, with tools and apps to make people feel like geniuses? and what if that company was now backed by the stability and reliability of allstate? well, what if that company was esurance and this wasn't just a bunch of hypothetical questions? could be cool-ish. esurance. insurance for the modern world. click or call.

>> embracing of derrick bell, the radical college racist professor. >> amazing. welcome back to "the ed show." sean hannity failed to create any controversy by showing a 20-year-old video of president obama hugging a harvard professor.

sean hannity and the righties did manage to lie about the character of the man who couldn't defend himself because he passed away last year. professor derrick bell's wife is joining us exclusively tonight but first, here is the moment when then barack obama some 20 years ago, the president of the harvard law review, introduced the professor in front of a crowd, derrick bell. >> open up your hearts, and your minds to the words of professor derrick bell. >> at the time professor bell was protesting harvard's failure to hire minority faculty. sean hannity and other righties tried portray him as radical and racist. derrick bell was the first tenured african american professor at harvard law school. he wanted it and wanted it to mean something for others.

>> i got hired after martin luther king was killed, after the riots and what have you, i applied a couple times before, and i came as a pioneer. i said it will be the first but i don't want to be the last. >> joining me tonight is janet dewart bell. great to have you with us. >> thank you. >> what is your reaction, are you angry? >> i'm angry and sad. i'm sad they could be so dishonest, and it's just really part of that radical right wing and the right wing media's patterns of distortion and misinformation. but you know, i'm smiling because i want to lift up the memory of derrick bell. derrick bell left a great legacy, not just to me and our family, but my husband was -- if he were here today, he would be standing up for sandra fluke, gloria steinem named him an

honorary woman, because he was a feminist. that is the derrick bell i know. a man of courage, conviction, always standing up for justice, didn't matter who it was. he accepted people as they were. >> sarah palin called your deceased husband a racist. i need you to respond to that. >> outrageous, an outrage, there is no other thing to say about that. but you know, unfortunately some people will say anything, but what concerns me as much as that is just this drum beat of negativity that you get from hannity, rush limbaugh, and even bill o'reilly. where are the good people who will speak up on the right side, you know? there should be moderate right people or moderate republicans

who speak up and say this is not right. >> what they are saying about your husband is totally false. >> yes, it is. >> here is bill o'reilly, speaking of him. >> would it be fair for me to say professor bell is -- >> wait. >> investigation says he doesn't like white people. >> did he ever say that, that he didn't like white people very much? >> no, i think the number of students of his were white at whose weddings he officiated. he is beloved by all his students, all races, and just all backgrounds. i think they would be very surprised to even think that would be the case in any way. >> this videotape was promoted before his death, andrew sailed he had something on president obama and then of course some of his associates came out and delivered this tape that was allegedly damaging, that your husband was a radical and didn't love the country. >> my husband was a war veteran and he was a patriot, and what he tried to do is make this country stand up to the ideals

he believed in. derrick thought that the ideals of fair play, social justice, equality, opportunity, those are things that should be shared, everybody should get a shot at the american dream. that is what derrick bell was about. >> are you shocked that you have to come out and speak about your husband's character? how many -- how many wives of deceased men have to do something like that? >> it is shocking, but part of it is that if it has to be done, i want to be out there because i know other people are speaking out on his behalf. really on our behalf. what derrick worked for was not for himself, it was for all of us. if they can do it, i can do it. >> did you anticipate these ugly things would be said? >> no, in fact what's interesting is that people tried to caricature of african american leaders or prominent

african americans and my husband was such a full -- we lived such a full and joyous life in the midst of the struggle, he made struggle very attractive, and one of the things he did was we have a -- we have season series to carnegie hall, we enjoyed the radical bastion of culture and we run -- i go out and turn on my cell phone and the world has erupted and all i could think of "have they no sense of decency, this cannot stop" i thought maybe it would blow over, but it was clear that it is not blowing over. >> you're brave to speak out, i appreciate you doing it tonight. this desk is too big i will hug you after the show. >> thank you.