the washington post wonkblog.com. that's "hardball" for now. thank you for being with us. "the ed show" with ed schultz starts right now. good evening, americans. welcome to "the ed show" live from minneapolis. 74 days until the 2012 election. move over donald trump, mitt romney is now the top birther in america. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> ann was born in henry ford hospital. i was born in harper hospital. no one's ever asked to see my birth certificate. >> mitt romney blows the dog whistle of right-wing hatred on the stum. >> they know this was the place we were born and raised. >> and the haters on the right are eating it up. >> right on, right on, right on. >> tonight, michael eric dyson on the birther of a candidate and richard wolffe on mitt romney's political gamble. >> an avalanche of dirty money

is pouring into the state of ohio to take out senator sherrod brown. tonight, the senator tells me how todd akin, medicare, and voter suppression are moving the polls in the buckeye state. and director spike lee says republicans are doing the wrong thing. >> everything that's happening now is really, i think, a plan to stop barack hussein obama from getting a second term. >> tonight, my exclusive interview with spike lee. >> thanks for watching. another day at the office with the mittster. today, mitt romney reignited the fringe, those in his party who don't see president obama as a legitimate president of the united states. here's romney in commerce, michigan, today. >> i love being home in this place where ann and i were raised, where both of us were born. ann was born in henry ford hospital. i was born at harper hospital.

no one's ever asked to see my birth certificate. they know this is the place that we were born and raised. >> afterwards, the romney campaign offered a very weak explanation. romney senior adviser kevin madden said the governor has always said and repeatedly said he believes the president was born here in the united states. he was only referencing that michigan, where he is campaigning today, is the state where he himself was born and raised. later, romney went on cbs evening news and said this. >> we're in michigan, and ann and i were both born in detroit. of course, a little humor goes a long way. so it was great to be home, to be in a place where ann and i had grown up, and the crowd loved it and got a good laugh. >> but this was a swipe at the president. i wonder why you took it? >> no, no, not a swipe. i said throughout the campaign and before, there's no question about where he was born. he was born in the u.s. this was about us and coming

home. and humor, you know, we have to have a little humor in the campaign as well. >> you threw a little red meat at the conservative wing of the party there. >> no, this is all about being home in michigan, the place we were born and raised. >> but once and for all for the record, you believe barack obama is the legitimate president of the state? >> i have said that 30 times by now and 31 probably won't hurt. >> then why did he say it, why did he bring it up? it sounded deliberate and calculated to me. >> no one ever asked to see my birth certificate. they know this was the place we were born and raised. >> they know? who is they? donald trump, sheriff joe arpaio and all of the other birthers in the country he needs to support of? they know romney was born in the united states, but they aren't so sure about president obama, are they? in three days, romney will go to his convention in tampa, florida. seven birthers or birther

sympathizers will be speaking at the republican national convention, including donald trump. here's the obama campaign's response today. to what was said in michigan by romney. throughout this campaign, governor romney has embraced the most strident voices in his party instead of standing up to them. it's one thing to give the stage in tampa to donald trump, sheriff arpaio, and chris kobach, but governor romney's decision to directly enlist himself in the birther movement should give pause to any rational voter across america. romney knew exactly what he was doing. how many times -- think about that, how many times has he appeared in his home state of michigan in this election cycle without raising this issue in front of a crowd? i say it was calculated. this is an issue that's been dead in the media for months now. and romney just kicked it up all over again, and a few days before his convention to let the crazies know that, hey, he

hasn't forgotten them. he's out there with them. just minutes later in the same speech today, romney said this. >> these kinds of challenges, we can overcome in one way. by coming together and being united. it's time to have a president who believes in uniting the american people, not dividing the american people. >> just a couple weeks ago, romney said this about president obama's campaign. >> his campaign and his surrogates have made wild and reckless accusations that disgrace the office of the presidency. so mr. president, take your campaign of division and anger and hate back to chicago and let us get about rebuilding and reunited america. >> well, it sounds like romney is bitter and he's ready to create division of his own. we know it was deliberate because in the past, romney has flirted with this issue through his surrogates. he and his wife accepted the warm embrace of donald trump's

endorsement. donald trump, birther in chief. romney held a las vegas fund-raiser with trump in may at a time when trump was raising this birther issue like never before across the country. >> they make these birthers into the worst. why doesn't he show his birth certificate? >> i want him to show his birth certificate? >> why? >> there's something on there that he doesn't like. >> you have to be born in the country. there's no birth certificate, only a certificate of live birth. >> you ask about a birth certificate. how come there are no records that his mother was in the hospital. >> you have a certificate of live birth, that's not a birth certificate. >> that was trump's issue all along. romney's campaign was offering donors a chance to dine with the donald. when asked about the issue, his adviser said this. >> i can't speak for donald trump, gloria, but i can stelyou that mitt romney accepts that president obama was born in the united states.

he doesn't view the place of his birth as an issue in this campaign. >> a few months earlier in december of last year, romney's son matt romney, said this when he was asked if his father would release more tax returns. >> i heard someone suggest the other day that as soon as president obama releases his grades and birth certificate and sort of a long list of things. >> matt romney later tweeted, i repeated a dumb joke. my bad. the conclusion we can draw is mitt romney knew exactly what he was up to today. in the past, his campaign tried to keep a little daylight between romney and the birther issue. not today. here's rush limbaugh loving it up. >> romney test drives that line about nobody has ever had to ask to see his birth certificate. i'm going to tell you, you know, my prediction for you, it's

going to be fascinating to watch. the obama bashing at the republican convention is going to be delicious. it's going to be five-star restaurant type stuff. you're going to love it. >> i don't know if i agree with him, but it seems as though mitt romney was taking birtherism out for a test drive today. certainly floating up the balloons to see which way they were going to go, and also signaling to the birthers, i haven't forgotten you and damn it, i really need you if i'm going to be president of the united states. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question, was mitt romney joking or pandering to the radical republican base? text a for joking, text b for pandering to 622639. you can go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com and leave a comment. we'll bring you the results of the poll later on in the show. joining me tonight is congressman shaka fatah of pennsylvania. great to have you with us

tonight. i guess i view this whole thing as another romney lie. i mean, we had a lot of lies out there by the romney campaign, so what theelle, they might as well throw one more out there and embrace the birthers. i want to ask you, do you think this was a joke on the stump, a slip of the tongue, or was this a calculated political move? >> i honestly think when todd akin was skipping out on science class, mitt romney decided not to go to geography class. maybe he thought that the imperial japan had it wrong thinking that pearl harbor was united states territory. hawaii is where the president was born. i think it's been clear even while he was serving justice on bin laden, he had an opportunity to share his birth certificate to donald trump. i guess the air on the high end jets, whatever they're pumping through the oxygen pipes must have touched mitt's funny bone, but the truth is when he's

telling the truth about what he thinks it's more dangerous. when he said, you know, you did a lot of work in wisconsin, when he said he got the message what america didn't want was more police, teachers, or firemen, that was scary. when he goes out every day and tells mistruths, he constantly, you hear him and paul ryan say that 23 million people are unemployed. they slip these numbers in. so the problem for mitt is that the campaign he has waged which has not been one, i think, he should be proud of, is not working, you see the polls in every single instance. the only place he can find a place to win is on that other network. every other poll shows the president winning. he's getting ready to walk into his convention, and anyone who has rush rooting for him and sheriff joe out in arizona, really has a challenge on his hands in terms of rational voters in our country.

that's why he's doing so poorly. >> do you think it was a calculated move, interesting just a few days before the convention, he throws some raw meat out to the birthers. he's been to michigan numerous times and never brought this issue up before. what do you make of that? >> he's a very calculating person. and i'm sure everything he says as he goes forward, he has thought through. now, maybe he thought it would be taken as, not just either/or but as both. to some, he could play it off as a joke. to others, they'll see it in the same way that some other messages like his -- these inaccurate, proven to be false ads around welfare, that they are sending certain signals to people that they want to make sure are included, and they seem to feel as though since they have lost a significant opportunity to get any african-american votes, latino votes, college-educated americans votes, they're going after votes that they think are

available, and part of that is that maybe red meat is necessary. >> do you believe mitt romney when he and his surrogates say that they believe the president was born in the united states and is legitimate? >> well, i think this is that we know that the president is legitimate. and number two, we know that he's been palling around with donald, the trump, and donald is leading him astray. and i think when this election is over with, we're talking ability a convention where they're going to embrace a platform that embraces no exceptions even if you're raped or a victim of incest, or the life of the mother. they're talking about embracing the arizona immigration laws and what mitt romney wants to do is stand up and say forget the platform we just embraced. listen to what i tell you i believe. >> the platform is so radical, what the heck, they might as well bring in the birthers, too?

>> they might as well go for it all. >> great to have you with us tonight. remember to answer tonight's question at the bottom of the screen. share your thoughts on twitter and facebook. coming up, richard wolffe and michael eric dyson will join me to the discussion. mitt romney is going full birther. why? he's desperate. we're right back. imes have led to an increase in clinical depression. drug and alcohol abuse is up. and those dealing with grief don't have access to the professional help they need. when you see these issues, do you want to walk away or step up? with a degree in the field of counseling or psychology from capella university, you'll have the knowledge to make a difference in the lives of others. let's get started at capella.edu you have a plan? first we're gonna check our bags for free, thanks to our explorer card. then, the united club. my mother was so wrong about you.

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coming up, mitt romney goes full birther on the campaign trail. is he testing out a new strategy? throwing hail marys? michael eric dyson and richard wolffe will weigh in on that. mitt romney tells the truth about big business but continues to lie about president obama's attitude towards small businesses. and smipike lee says when i comes to voter suppression, the fix is in and republicans will do anything they can to stop and defeat president obama. my interview with the legendary director is ahead. share you thoughts with us on facebook and on twitter using the hash tag "ed show."

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now, i love being home in this place where ann and i were raised, where both of us were born. ann was born in henry ford hospital. i was born at harper hospital. no one's ever asked to see my birth stoecertificate, they kno this was the place we were born and raised. >> welcome back to "the ed show." that was mitt romney going full birther on the campaign trail in michigan today. romney has no problem tossing out red meat to the base right wing before the republican

convention. a lot to be talked about. let's turn to msnbc political analyst and george town university professor michael eric dyson and political analyst richard wolffe. you know, gentlemen, when politicians go in front of crowds, i think they know their crowd. i'm going to play this piece of tape if i can of a lady in the crowd who isn't convinced president obama is legitimate. here it is. >> you think he was born in the u.s.? the governor alluded to that today. >> i don't know. >> you don't know? >> no. >> that's a real issue for you. >> why doesn't he bring up his certificate? why? why doesn't he? why doesn't he bring forth where he was in school? why doesn't he let everybody know that like they want romney to divulge his income taxes. >> he showed his birth certificate. >> that's a phony birth certificate. >> i think mitt romney knows exactly who his crowd is and he's on a mission to make sure

this story doesn't go away especially before the convention. michael eric dyson, your thoughts on this? timing very interesting, and respond to that lady's sound bite. >> it was a calculated move by mr. romney to try to infer. see, stewart hall talks about two different forms of racism. overtracism which is explicit and infrarengsal which is suggesting it beneath the surface. he didn't come out and outright say he was not born in the united states of america, but by implication, he is suggesting that he is still not truly american. this is the ultimate othering of the president of the united states of america. it's a calculated move to stir up the pot of racial animus in just the way it was predicted with the outcome of that woman. here she is going, bless her heart, he wasn't born here. why doesn't he show his school? we know where he went to school. why didn't he show his birth certificate? he showed his birth certificate.

nothing will trump the bias mr. romney has appealed to today. not only did he not stumble into it, it was a calculated move to make sure that the far right understood he was still in thar corner. >> richard wolffe, i have to ask the question. there are some people out there rendering judgment on mitt romney's campaign. you mean it's come to this? this is what he's saying on the stump? the political calculation here. where is it, what is it sph. >> a dumb one because the people who believe this stuff, like the woman you played the tape of, they're in the crowd, with this guy already. where are the birthers going to go? they're not going to be tempted to vote for the democratic candidate in this election. why does he need to do this? he's already given the idealogs the real radical republicans, paul ryan, and now he takes this on. yes, okay, he tried to deliver a joke. it's not funny in the way that walking a blind teacher into a closed door wasn't funny for the young mitt romney, but maybe he

finds it funny. maybe the people around him find it funny. not a great joke. not great politics. who is he reaching out to? it undermines the fundamental premise that there's a clean start. he's an outsider, a governor, not a businessman. he can do the things obama promised but is not delivering on it. he's not to do that with this kind of approach. i think the political judgment is in question here, and yes, all of the things that michael eric dyson just said, there's a strand running through the romney campaign saying that the other guy is not authentically american. he's not loyal to america. he doesn't have american values or culture and this just fits into it. >> michael eric dyson, the man you're looking at there on the screen, mitt romney, he is scoring in the polls. the latest nbc poll, a zero with african-american voters. has he come to the point saying, well, we're not going to get african-americans anyway so i

might as well have at it and get the birthers? >> it wasn't a happy birth to you moment to speak about being born in detroit, michigan. it's a calculated dissing of african-american people, and this is where perhaps apart from the birther element here to answer richard wolffe's question, maybe some of the swing voters who still would have anything but an african-american in the office. they're not outright and explicitly racist, but they find a problem embracing this african-american man. here is where the gray realm of the racial animus exists, and this is where mitt romney has calculated he can show, hey, i'm willing to take on black people, and done forget, bill clinton had his cyst sister soelga mom. i'm suggesting here that mitt romney doesn't have that sophistication of bill clinton, but he does understand there are enough people out there who are still on the fence and the dissing of black people counts tremendously on their side of

the ledger. >> richard, does the president say anything? does he leave it to his spokespeople? >> i think he leaves it well alone. this kind -- look, if you're going to be charitable about it, this was a joke that misfired, and it's too low. you don't punch down if you're the president of the united states. you keep the debate where it should be. in this case, yeah, he's taking the fight to the other side, but the fight is about tax policy, it's about that priorities and the values. this stuff, he's going to brush off his shoulder. >> all right, michael eric dyson, richard wolffe, great to have you with us tonight on "the ed show." tonight in our survey, i asked you, was mitt romney joking or pandering to the radical republican base with his birther comments? 3% say he was joking. 97% of you say pandering. coming up, a small business owner will address the republican convention next week. interesting, isn't it? will she mention the millions of dollars she received in government loans?

e.j. dionne will weigh in on that and much more. then, the paul ryan pick and the akin controversy are shaking things up in a lot of races, especially in ohio. senator sherrod brown is here to talk about his senate race and so much more. stay with us. we're right back on "the ed show." ask me what it's like when my tempur-pedic moves. [ male announcer ] why not talk to someone who owns an adjustable version of the most highly recommended bed in america? ask me about my tempur advanced ergo. goes up. goes up. ask me what it's like to get a massage anytime you want. goes down. goes down.

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welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for watching tonight. did you know that big business is doing just fine? despite what the romney campaign has been telling the american

people, those words are not only true, but they were spoken by mitt romney. romney told folks at a fund-raiser last night, big business is doing fine in many places. they get the loans they need, they can deal with all of the regulation. and he's right. according to the bureau of labor statistics, big businesses are hiring at a faster rate than smaller businesses and were not as negatively impacted by the recession, yet when president obama expressed those sentiments, romney came out with this attack ad. >> the private sector is fine. where we're seeing weaknesses have to do with the state and local government. the private sector is doing fine. >> but romney's hypocrisy wasn't the worst part. romney says the reason why big businesses are doing fine is due in part to offshore tax havens. he sure likes them.

he says, they know how to find ways to get through the tax code, save money by putting various things in the places where there are low tax havens around the world for their businesses. of course, romney's recent focus hasn't been on big business but rather on small business. in fact, next week, republicans will devote an entire night to mocking the president's belief that success in this country comes from an individual's hard work and help from public institutions and government investments. the republican convention, they will call next tuesday "we built that" night. the evening will feature small business owners, including a woman named sharon venin za zuwaila. she's running for governor, and taking a look at her resume, there are a few details she may not want to talk about at the convention, maybe keep to herself. according to a source, her

company, first state manufacturing, they have received millions of dollars in federal loans and contracts valenzuela has admitted she's been successful because of these loans and she's encouraged other small business owners to take advantage of the same opportunities to get ahead. i'm joined by e.j. dionne, msnbc contributor, washington post columnist and author of the book "our divided political heart." great to have you with us, e.j. this is going to be fun to watch because we can pull out archive after archive of tape and what not that are in the archives about how they have been railing on small business, railing on the president's comment. it almost harkins back to hillary clinton's it takes a village. i thought about that when the president first said that. how is this going to play out? how are they going to put lipstick on this bpig? >> first, you don't understand that if a republican says business is doing fine, that's a pro capitalist stamp, and if

obama says business is doing fine, that's a socialist statement. isn't that perfectly clear? i find this whole argument very strange. whenever i run into somebody who says i'm self-made, my first instinct is to say, you had parents, didn't you? i mean that not only in the biological sense but in other senses. you had teachers, didn't you? you had coaches, didn't you? you had people who gave you help along the way, and in the case of a lot of businesses in america, they do a lot of business with government. we have a small business administration. we have all kinds of benefits the government gives to business. i love senator fritz haulings who used to thel the story of a business guy who went to college on the gi bill, bought a house with an fha loan and said he was voting for ronald reagan to get the government off his back. there's something very strange and very old about this argument they're making. >> well, how do they dress up the argument to make it look good to the american people?

on one hand, they're railing against any kind of government help. on the other hand, they're going to put a person up there who has had success with the help of government. it almost illustrates exactly what the romney campaign is all about, doesn't it? >> you know, they have had this problem before. i think, if i'm not mistaken, this is the second or third business person they have pulled out to make the point that there was something terrible about obama's statement, where it turns out that that business did business with the government or got some help from government. maybe they'll put somebody out there who got help from the stimulus package. it's just very hard to find somebody in america who is totally pure and has never gotten any help from government. and so i think they're going to have this problem over and over again. >> quickly, e.j., i want to know what you think about todd akin. how much of a problem is he going to be at the convention?

you have mike huckabee, who is going to be speaking, and has embraced him. your thoughts on how this is going to unfold? >> the fact is that you ask that question shows the problem they have. we are a few days before the republican convention. not only are we still talking about todd akin, but he chose today to put himself in the news with that news conference. so i think this is going to be a problem with them all week. we're paying attention to a republican platform we might have ignored because of him. so i think it's a problem. >> velocity that won't go away hurricane todd. great to have you with us. a lot more coming up in the next half hour of "the ed show." stay with us. >> if you're someone who cares about fairness and justice, it is all of our responsibility to stand up and tell the truth. and the truth of the matter is that it's republicans who are suppressing the vote. >> ohio's secretary of state shoots down yet another attempt to expand early voting in the buckeye state.

senator sherrod brown responds next. al qaeda linked websites are threatening an ex-navy s.e.a.l. turned author after fox news leaks his name. we'll have a full report. and the great director spike lee is out with his new movie "red hook summer." ♪ i remember >> tonight, he joins me to talk about mitt romney's african-american supporters. >> the funny thing for me is when they have these rallies, with my man mitt, and they have these one or two black people behind him who are placed perfect perfectly. who are those people? i think, what corner did they grab them from? endless shrimp at red lobster. with a wide variety, you can mix and match all day. scampi, grilled, the fried -- there's nothing better. [ male announcer ] at last, red lobster's endless shrimp is back, but only for a limited time, for just $14.99. try as much as you like, any way you like,

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request your free decision guide. call or go online today. after all, when you're going the distance, it's nice to have the experience and commitment to go along with you. keep dreaming. keep doing. go long. show." hurricane todd struck again today with pretty good velocity, i might add. congressman todd akin announced

he's staying in the missouri senate race. this is pretty much icing on the cake for a tough couple weeks for the republicans. and of course, it all started when mitt romney announced paul ryan as his pick for vice president. he was really hoping for a jump in the polls. but i think we can say after a couple weeks, it's pretty much backfired. all romney ended up with basically was talk about paul ryan's immoral budget. it brought to light ryan's massive cuts in medicare, medica medicaid, food stamps, and education. it's estimated 6 of every 10 dollars ryan cuts comes from programs for the poor. it just isn't fair. and after a tough week for republicans, new polling shows that president obama is doing okay, with a four-point lead over mitt romney, and in the key swing state of ohio, president obama has a six-point lead. so is it affecting other states? there's also an important senate race going on in ohio between senator sherrod brown and republican josh manddel who is

definitely a radical. senator brown has a seven-point lead over his opponent, but the spending from the big pacs is pretty much unbelievable. for more, let's turn to senator sherrod brown of ohio. he joins us tonight on "the ed show." good to have you with us. it's been calculated as not a real good couple of weeks for the republicans. is that in any way affecting your race and the conversation in the state of ohio? >> i think that clearly romney, ryan, my opponent, their extremism, their proposed cuts to medicare, their proposed cuts to pell grants, their whole issue of what todd akin was talking about, forcible rape, all of that clearly shows they're out of the mainstream, but the problem is the huge wash of money all across the country, and what's keeping these races even close at all, i'm not sure i would have much of a campaign if it weren't for the 15, literally $15.2 million in

outside spending from interest drupe groups, we don't know who they are because they're not accountable and they don't have to disclose who they are. that's kept some of the candidates afloat. in mice race, it's exactly that. >> if the pac money had not been coming into the state of ohio, you think your lead would be greater than it is right now? >> there's no question. we have seen this money has -- as this money is continuing to pile on, they're spending -- there's either, we're not sure, either five or six different groups in ohio in august now outside groups, we think all orchestrated by karl rove, directing the orchestra. they are spending $4 million in august alone. we expect that to be even more in september, october. that $15.1 million clearly has caused by negatives to go up. they're all attack ads. most of them are misleading, but you can't -- nobody is accountable because we don't know who they are. we kind of figure we know why they are. we figure it's wall street because of my bill to break up

the six largest banks. we figure it's the oil companies because of my opposition to oil company tax breaks. but you know, when you're a target like that, and i'm a big boy, i can handle it, but when you're a target like that, it's because you stand for something. that's why we need a citizen's movement to fight back. >> well, let's get back to the akin situation for a moment. has he done the democrats a big favor? i mean, doesn't this give you something to go out on the campaign trail and talk about and say, look, they're divided over on the other side. we know what they're all about. this radical right now is really what their party is all about? hasn't this been a good opportunity for you to illustrate to your constituents who the republicans are? >> yeah, i think it has. i mean, the fact is it's not just akin who has no -- rape and incest or no -- also can't have an abortion even if it's you're

a victim of rape or incest. it's not just akin, it's paul ryan, the vice presidential nominee. we don't know quite what romney thinks because he's been all over the board. it's my opponent who wants no exclusion there. >> you're right, senator. it's not only akin. it's even the candidate on top of the ticket. mitt romney interjecting the birther conversation. do you hear birther talk in ohio? >> i hear -- i don't go to rallies where they do the birther talk. that's where my opponent goes. i think it would be comical if it weren't tragic. this crowd has shown themselves not ready to leave. they have shown themselves way oud of the political mainstream. when they have that kind of money from the oil companies and from wall street and from the moguls, casino moguls, they can keep these candidates afloat and keep the races close. >> when they're not doing that with money, they're doing voter suppression. your thoughts on the early voting ban and the hours that have now been cut back and

restricted in the state of ohio, all 88 counties. is this going to affect your race? >> it's going to affect our race if we let it, but the point is we have got to be organized. we've got to fight back. i ask people to come to sherrodbrown.com, join our citizens movement to fight against the big money and help us organize because when they try to cut back on voting hours, one of the answers is we just organize better and get our people to the polls early for early voting or on election day and make sure they have the opportunity to cast their votes. but it really is all about organizing at sherrodbrown.com, it's about organizing better than they do. >> it is about organizing and getting people to the polls. right now, it's about republicans trying to suppress the vote. would you agree? >> absolutely. they're trying it in state after state. they have always done voter suppression. every four years in ohio. >> at this level? >> never been quite at this level from the top down.

it's never been by using state law. it's been doing kind of sleazy underhanded things in the neighborhoods. this is well beyond what's we have seen in the country in 50 years. >> senator sherrod brown, ohio, great to have you on "the ed show" tonight. thank you so much for joining us. coming up, fox news is putting the life of a former navy s.e.a.l. at risk. the disgusting details are coming up next. stay with us.

up next, fox news blows the cover of a s.e.a.l. team six member who stormed osama bin laden's compound. and to the big finish tonight, director spike lee is speaking out about voter id laws and the effect on the african-american communities in america. don't forget, you can listen to my radio show on sirius xm radio channel 127 monday through friday and on progressive talk shows around the country, noon to 3:00 p.m. monday through friday. follow me on twitter at ed show and like me on facebook.

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welcome back to "the ed show." earlier this week, a former s.e.a.l. team six member announced he would be releasing a book detailing his firsthand account of the raid that killed osama bin laden, to protect his identity and for the safety of his family, the author used the pen name mark owen. because of fox news, he remained anonymous for exactly one day. fox news published the retired s.e.a.l.'s real name in a report on their website. this show and this network will not use the man's real name. the reason -- nbc news reports that militant islamic websites affiliated with al qaeda have already posted his name. they are also posting death threats. on top of security concerns, the man known as mark owen now faces legal trouble. the justice department for not vetting his account with the pentagon. justin fishal is the fox news

contributor who outed the author. let's go back to may of 2011 when he wrote an article stressing the importance of protecting the identities of s.e.a.l. team six members. in the same article, he slammed the obama administration for leaking operation details to the press. now, he and fox news have blown the whistle on one of the leaders of s.e.a.l. team six because mark owen's book highlights one of the obama administration's signature achievements? here's fox news' response to criticism over the leak. once you write a book, anonymously or not, you have no reasonable expectation of privacy. really? that's about the most un-american response i think you could ever get considering the accomplishment on s.e.a.l. team six and what it meant to the world and fighting the war on terror which that network loves to promote all the time. coming up, director spike lee has a new movie out.

he'll join me coming up. we're talking voter id laws, president obama, the gop obstruction. they studented. we're coming right back. i take insulin, so i test... a lot. do you test with this? freestyle lite test strips? i don't see... beep! wow! that didn't take much blood. yeah, and the unique zipwik tab targets the blood and pulls it in. so easy. yep. freestyle lite needs just a third the blood of onetouch ultra. really? so testing is one less thing

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welcome back to "the ed show." we've been following the republicans' effort to suppress the vote across the country. these voter id laws disproportionately affect the young, the elderly, the poor, and are hitting minority communities big time. folks are taking notice, and

they're speaking out, and they need to. director spike lee says the fix is in when tit comes to these nw voter id laws across the country. seize, we know all these new rules have been implementing to stop the president from getting a second term. lee, of course, has chronicleized the african-american experience in his fm films for over 25 years. he's a master storyteller exploring themes such as race, poverty, and religion. his latest film "red hook sum r summer" is opening in theaters across the country. >> is this what your mother, sister prayed for all these years, is that what she wanted for you, son? >> you need to take that claw off me, preacherman. the next time you mention my mother's name -- >> no disrespect. i just wanted you to meet my grandson. he's going to be here for the rest of the summer.

>> okay, i met him. >> joining me now is director spike lee. spike, great to have you with us on "the ed show" tonight. thanks for your time. >> what's up, ed? >> i'm still working for a living. that's good news. >> got a job today, baby. >> absolutely. spike, i'm intrigued by the clip we just played. what are you trying to accomplish in this film? what is your mission on this production? >> well, eld, it's really just what i have been doing from the beginning. even started in nyu film school in 1979. i'm a story teller and working hard to build a body of work and tell different stories and show what i feel are the truths and realities of the world we live in today. >> focusing on the african-american community, here we are in 2012, and there is actually a political party at work in this country to suppress the vote. after all the documentaries you have done and after everything you have seen in your life, how

does that strike you on the verge of what some people call the biggest election in the nation's history? >> well, you know, politics is a dirty business. and people are going to do what they feel they have to do to get their candidate elected. they have to break laws or not. and i think that once you become aware of that, you have to jump those hurdles. and everything that's happening now is really, i think, a plan to stop barack hussein obama from getting a second term. >> you said president obama is not perfect. but people have expected too much. your comment was that he was a savior black jesus -- >> i said people thought he was. i'm not saying he was jesus. the perception was that. >> okay. but you basically are saying you thought the expectations were too high. what about that? >> it's a natural -- how could

that be natural? this is the first african-american president in the history of the country. how could people -- not just black because people forget it was a coalition of everybody that got president obama elected. and so with that came one of the greatest moments in history, so i think it's natural that expectations were up that high. >> what -- how do you feel about the republican obstructionists that have taken place? a record number of filibusters in the senate, a stated effort by republicans to make sure that this president wasn't going to have any legislative victories, that it was going to be tough. that it was absolutely a road map put together by republicans to make sure that president obama was not successful? >> i think history will state that what you just said is true. that when the president -- when obama put his right hand on abraham lincoln's bible, the decision was made, that's the

last time he's doing that. his hand is not going to be in the bible two times. and everything, i think, has played out like that. >> you know, the republicans and the media especially this show, has made a lot out about the fact the war on women is taking place in the country. you look at their agenda, at their gop platform. it's pretty easy to see. what about the war on minorities? going into the convention, you see what the republicans, they don't have anything on the table for minorities. in fact, the african-americans right now are polling that romney is going to get zero percent of the vote, and the latino vote is also not going to be there for romney. what does that say about where we're going as a country that you have a political party that scores so lowly with a lot of americans? >> i think, to me, ed, to be honest, that's very troubling because as you know, united states census bureau said by early 2040, i think, white americans will be a minority in

the country. this is not spike lee saying this. this is the united states census bureau. the funny thing for me is when they have these rallies with my man mitt, and they have these one and two black people behind him who are placed perfectly. >> yeah. >> who are those people? i'm always thinking, what corner did they grab them from? >> actually, spike, there were two people behind him at the uss wisconsin down in norfolk, virginia. but then when he started talking, there was only one. i don't know if you noticed that. >> i missed that. >> before the speech was over, there was only one. i don't know what happened to the other. >> the other guy split. said i'm out of here. >> must have heard too much. spike, good luck on your film. you always do great work. you're always welcome on "the ed show." >> thank you for being a big supporter of me. love you, man. >> thank you. and that's "the ed show." i'm ed schultz. the "rachel maddow show" starts now.