. .

you know i last eight minutes in a -- for the festival tonight. jay rockefeller who chairs the subcommittee on health care. great, thanks for your time tonight, senator. >> thanks, pete. i was there. i didn't realize it was that bad. >> it was that bad. politico reporting tonight that the blue dog democrats in the house want to delay their floor vote until after the senate has its bill completed. that that shed any light on what you call the substantial slow

walk in your own committee? >> no, because we don't have any blue dogs on our committee. we have republicans, and that more than makes up for it. it is absolutely extraordinary. i think the average amendment that the republicans offered, or ones that they were trying to beat down that we offered took up one hour in which people talked endlessly, endlessly, endlessly. and i've never seen anything like it, but i love the way you put that together into a montage that just showed how really pathetic it was. under the guise of doing something that the nation desperately needs, which is to lower the cost of health care and raise the quality of health care. and which is what the public option is all about. that will happen tomorrow. and what they will try to do with that, you probably ought to have a couple shows on. >> well, fortunately we do. roll call reporting tonight on the subject of the public option that you don't seem to have by their tally, the votes to get

the public option into your bill when that amendment comes up tomorrow, there was a telephone news conference tonight in which you said you have a good shot, but did not explain why you think that. so i think the obvious question here is why do you think that? >> well, one reason i think that is that near the end of today's earlier session, we passed something 15-3, which everybody said would never, ever pass the senate finance committee. and that is something called medpac, which takes away from the lobbyists and takes away from the senators. and congressmen. the right to set reimbursement rates for hospitals, doctors, and all of the rest. that needs to be done professionally. right now, it's a political exercise, a fund-raising exercise, and it's shameful. and, you know what? everybody went along with it. you know, maybe they were just ashamed not to, i don't know. but the amendment passed. so to me, nothing is impossible, and that particularly includes the public option.

>> shame works under these circumstances, as i'm sure you know. senator roberts said he openly said this, that he wants the medical companies to have a chance for their people to go over the final legislative language. why big companies, specifically? >> well, i mean, that whole thing is a joke. the idea of kent conrad took out and said -- this is -- this is what you're gonna have, mr. roberts. and he took out three legislative pages written by lawyers. and not one person in the room understood a single word that was said. however, the point wasn't registered on mr. roberts or others. it went right ahead as usual. obviously, you don't write legislation, you write it for lawyers. now, it's all posted on all of the websites available anywhere in the western world. i'm sure this is true in

lithuania, scandinavian and all over. but they want the language printed. and it actually is printed. and it's there for people to see. options and different amendments are coming up almost as we speak. and it makes it very difficult. but it's a terrible demonstration, keith. it's a terrible demonstration of public irresponsibility, the way the republicans are behaving on this. i mean, health care, look, i come from west virginia, i went there as a volunteer. i lived with people that have a whole lot that they need in life, including health care. they are under the control of insurance companies. this congress, at least a part of it, appears to be under the control of insurance companies. in fact, what we basically are doing is raising more subsidies to subsidize insurance companies to do what they ought to be doing anyway, which is why the public option is so important, because it doesn't have to make a profit, it doesn't have any shareholders, it doesn't have to report to wall street, it doesn't have any marble

buildings. and when it passes, people are going to have a real choice, and they're going to -- a lot of them are going to pick. and what's interesting with that is the public option. what's interesting is that, including single payer, which is about 20% of all doctors in this country, an additional 50 or 60% of all doctors in this country want the public option. no, they're not afraid of the public option. they want the public option. because it's going to make things a lot clearer and take away a lot of paperwork. in other words, get -- minimize the insurance companies' roles. >> senator jay rockefeller of west virginia and the finance committee, thanks for making time with us tonight, and tomorrow the vote on the public option and your committee, good luck and bring your sandwiches with you. you'll probably be in there for a while. >> yeah, you got it. thank you. >> thank you. let's turn now to msnbc political analyst howard fineman, senior washington correspondent and columnist for "newsweek" magazine. >> hi, keith. >> you heard senator rockefeller

just now, enthusiastic, at least optimistic or hopeful invoking the medpac 15-3 vote today. will he get what he wants? >> i'm not sure he is, keith, because the senate leaders are lag at the big vote on the floor of the senate. they want to try to get 60 votes to shut off debate if they can, so they can pass off a real bill, not a swiss cheese bill through reconciliation. they've got their new senator, they're going to have their temporary senator from massachusetts, paul kirk, who is going to fill in. they have a chance to get it, and if that public option is in there, i think the possibility exists they could lose two or three conservative democrats in the senate, they wouldn't then get that 60 votes to have the real bill. so i'm not sure it's going to work. i think there is a lot of sentiment for it, and it's good for the democrats on the house side for senator rockefeller to be touting this, and to be talking about it, and to be

passionate about it, because there is more passion on the house side for the public option, we want to keep those house democrats in the ball game, want to keep them enthusiastic. all this is pointing toward that conference committee that they hope to have sometime down the road. >> is that the white house strategy at the bottom of this, that the democrats would let the republicans try to kill all reform, which they can't do, where they don't clearly have the votes to do it, but exhaust their possibilities, and the democrats pass whatever they can in each chamber. then in the conference, the senate democrats and the house democrats decide between them what goes to the president and the president has his people in there saying, you've got the public option from at least the house side, probably not from the senate side. can the public options survive the conference? i guess that's the bottom line. >> well, it might be able to. and that might be the plan. although i've got to say, down at the white house, and i've heard this for months, they've downplayed the public option from the very beginning, keith, because they realize the treacherousness of it in the senate. so it's a very complicated m

machiavellian game going on. i think advisors have said if you're too public about it, if you insist on it, if it's too hard, it will complicate things and let's wait to see what we can get at the end. i wouldn't rule it out. i totally agree with you. i wouldn't rule it out. commit at the very end. let's see. >> does it mean anything that senator snow did not appear at the news conference that the gop members that the committee members held today? >> i think it means a lot. i think she is still in play, i think she is the big kahuna on the republican side. i think she clearly wants to be part of it. i think she wants to vote for it in the end, if there is any way she can see her way to do it, she will do it. even though paul kirk is coming down from massachusetts, olympia snow is a very key player and will be to the end. howard fineman, it will be a big day tomorrow. thanks. >> can i also say, keith, you

said you would last eight minutes in politics? i think you're being generous. >> howard won't be back. thanks, howard. talk to you soon. >> okay. >> so, of course, the president has dealt with nothing but health care since, i don't know, the late 1800s, which is why spoke on climate change and peace, and nuclear proliferation, went to troy, new york to investigate job retraining and its impact on the economic bounceback. yet the latest role is the president has taken his eye off afghanistan, because he is thinking only of health care reform. ironies untold continue to unfold. this is from the same people who took their eye off afghanistan so we can go into iraq! brighte, smooth, hydrate, and lock-in moisture, all in one clever little package of total effects.

republicans say obama is ignoring afghanistan to focus on health care, forgetting that the president who cannot mutlitask left office. one year ago today, john mccain's campaign crateterred on letterman, and you were there. by you i mean me. thus, your special guest tonight here in the studio is michael

moore, and you are really going to take off on glen beck for, in fact, endorsing slavery. and i am watching "countdown" on msnbc.

call or click today. one year ago tonight when senator john mccain suddenly announced it would be necessary for him to stop campaigning for a time so that the nation could focus on the economic crisis for which he had tried to blame his opponent, and, oh, by the way, had to postpone that week's first presidential debate. then senator barack obama responded saying he believes, quote, it is going to be the part of the president's job to deal with more than one thing at once. after eight years of president bush, republicans still incredulous that a chief

executive might be able to walk and chew gum at the same time, now accusing this president by putting troops at risk by not focusing on them, but instead an either or on health care reform. the gop's continuing effort to make sure there is no health care reform, you will call the commander in chief now reviewing his administration's strategy in afghanistan, his top commander there, general stanley mcchrystal, having recommended earlier this week in a memo that unless more troops are sent to that conflict, it will, quote, likely result in failure. senator jim waterlao demint complained that the president is dragging his feet on the request because he has taken his eye off the ball. >> the problem is, is at the we are in afghanistan and our economy are our two biggest issues. but he is working on other issues such as health care, and he's putting off the decision on afghanistan, which i think puts our troops at risk. so he needs to focus on priorities right now, and not try to ram so many things down our throat here in congress. he needs to address the issue of

afghanistan quickly. >> we have to make one meal at a time. time now to call in our own jonathan altar, senior editor at "newsweek" magazine. that being the topic du jour in a moment, but this is how the gop somehow convinces america that the health care system is not a crisis, is not a priority and is anybody buying that? >> it's a pretty lame argument. i don't remember jim demint saying when george w. bush was trying to reform social security a few years ago that he was putting the troops at risk in iraq because he was worried about some domestic issue. look, the republicans at this point are basically irrelevant to the process. i know that sounds like a harsh and definitive thing to say, but they have taken a hard right off the main highway of american politics. and democrats don't need their votes. and whatever noise they make is

ambient noise. it's not really relevant to how any of this shakes out. >> or in this context, it's ambien noise, perhaps. you have bizarre behavior that there may not be any memory of later. and demint is a great example of this. there is a harvard study that says 4500 americans dying because they don't have health insurance, one every twelve minutes, five per hour. this is a legitimate argument -- does that not qualify as a stunning casually list if that's what we're talking about, to compete with the worst conflict imaginable? and why does jim demint hate american sick people? >> well, it's ten times as many people as we lost in iraq, ten times as many as we lost on 9/11. look, it's possible to overstate this. there are a lot of things that are very good about the american health care system. a lot of people come from other countries to get treatment here. but there are fundamental flaws that anybody who is involved in this system knows are deeply

problematic. and the one you pointed to, which is basically discrimination against sick people, that's what the status quo does. it discriminates against people, and pushes them into medical bankruptcy for no other reason that they're sick. and this bill, whatever version passes, will end that, and in that sense, it's the most important civil rights legislation we have had in this country in a generation. >> the political audacity of this, demint was the one who said health care reform, when obama lost on it, would be his waterloo. so the republicans spend the summer whipping up the politics of this situation to near revolt status, at least that's the way they would like to portray it, and obama is criticized for devoting any time to it? i mean, it seems like -- one side starts a fight and is offended when somebody stands up to the bully in the equation. i don't understand this. >> yeah, well, you saw they said that when wilson was reprimanded, that that somehow was a distraction or taking our

eye off the ball of health care and took all of five minutes to push through. so they're getting to the bottom of the barrel of their arguments. and i think that is a happy indicator that we are moving towards some kind of resolution. there are a lot of tough issues. there are a lot of moving parts in this bill. there is an opportunity, senator rock eller said, at the 11th hour, get some real important things like a public option back into this bill, in approximate conference. they also need to pay attention to insurance regulation, which has not been talked about nearly enough. you have a lot of people in this country who have been hit by 20% annual premium increases that those increases need to be capped, they need to be rock-solid regulations of the insurance companies cannot get around, so they stop gouging people. so there are a lot of details here, and i think it's important for the press and all of us to stay on top of this, and sort of follow the way we follow sports

and really get into the sausage making factor. >> last point. it's not just demint. mccain has done this, boehner has done this, and the comparison to afghanistan and not prioritizing it. am i hallucinating this, or were these not the same men who enabled george bush to take his eye off the ball and get out of afghanistan and focus on nothing in iraq for seven years? >> great point. the reason that we're in this soup right now, in had afghanistan, is because they did not pay enough attention to it. and barack obama ran partly on that. and that complicates his situation right now, because he did make such a big deal during the campaign of us getting distracted from the real fight in afghanistan, that it's going to be a little bit hard for him to walk away from this war. >> well, but it's a separate -- those two issues could be dealt with simultaneously. not either/or. jonathan alter of "newsweek" and msnbc. thanks for coming in. i just mentioned this is september 24th, mccain day. let's flash back to the exact

moment his campaign jumped a shark on letterman and yours truly. we're sick to death of this guy, but when he starts embracing that clause in the constitution that made it illegal to ban slavery, i've got to call him out again. worst persons ahead on countdown. than wages. pay your ceo twenty four million dollars a year. deny payment for 1 out of every 5 treatments doctors prescribe. if the insurance companies win, you lose. tell congress to rewrite the story. we want good health care we can afford with the choice of a public health insurance option. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 when my broker said, "i make money when you make money,"

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michael moore in a moment and then glen beck's endorsement of not just constitutionally approved slavery, but for another 20 years. genius, i tell you. 2008, john mccain lost the election. suspect the campaign, and worst

of all, scheduled to be david letterman's only guest a year ago tonight, mccain bailed out forcing mccain to bring in as a guest, guest me. and he lied to letterman about where he was going stephon his own show, and i got to watch. >> our people here were told, so serious, he is getting on a plane immediately and racing back to washington. and now we've just been told -- take a look, do we have it on the thing? this is going live. there he is right there. doesn't seem to be racing to the airport, does he? this just gets uglier and uglier. see what he has to say here. this will be interesting. i wonder if he'll mention me. hey, john, i've got a question! do you need a ride to the airport? >> it will be in all the history books, like this. look, the caption will read, "letterman shown on the right, man on the left, unidentified." let's play "oddball."

got to hear him twice tonight. to noting ham, england where stag parties are grand tradition but can be expensive so with the poor economy, the brits turn to frugal and unusual outings like zoshing, which as you can see is climbing inside a big inflated ball and falling down a hill. it does tend to make people dizzy, but far better than a hangover and you will not wake up with a stranger in your bed, although there might be one lying on you. another, driving a tank around. i don't know, you might want to stick to something less lethal as you celebrate your last few days of freedom. to india, watch carefully, the elephant either does not like cars or failed his drivers test by a lot. and down goes to the car. the incident involved a worker elephant pulling logs when it suddenly turned violent, attacking three vehicles in all. where's the cash for clunkers program when you really need it? the rampage continued for hours, reportedly with villagers obviously not too thrown by

this, halfway trailing behind. the pachyderm was eventually tranquilized and shipped to notingham, england for a stag party. now he premiers capitalism. really not going to like this. michael moore joins me here next. and what the republicans used to say about the democratic politicians, criticizing bush while he was out of the country and they were out of the country. obviously, sarah palin can do it. you are watching "countdown" on msnbc. if you're taking 8 extra-strength tylenol...

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monday, may 10th, 1886, the detroit wolverines surprised the national league favorite, new york giants, 9-2 in detroit. senator john sherman of ohio, brother of general tecumseh sherman celebrated his birthday, and we had a little number we call santa clara county. republicans were real people, you couldn't tax in the ways you tax real people, but also

couldn't send them to jail for anything, and they could be immortal. and the ruling also gave film maker michael moore his latest topic and our country the 23 years of hell on earth it is, the legally sanctioned greedy empire. it's for controversy always, but what you will not hear about the film "capitalism" is that it was produced in traverse city, the state which has the nation's highest unemployment rate, 15%. so moore is looking through that window when he takes aim at companies that benefited the 1% of our populous. the message of the injustices that still persist and prevail in our society, that's a powerful message. as always, in michael's documentaries he attempts to explain with dark frankness. >> in attempts to swindle people out of the homes they already owned was masterful.

here's how it worked. first, tell the homeowners they own a bank. and that bank is your home. so if your home is worth $250,000, that makes you a quarter millionaire. you're sitting on a gold mine. you own your own bank. the bank of you. and you could use your bank to get more money. just refinance! everyone's doing it. of course, hidden in the dozens or hundreds of pages of fine tribute are tricky clause that is allow the bank to raise your interest rate to a number perhaps so high you wouldn't be able to repay your loan. but that's okay. if you can't repay it, we'll just take your house. >> joining me now, as promised, michael moore, whose new documentary, "capitalism," a love story, opens nationwide next friday. welcome. >> thank you for having me here. great to meet you. >> the mess exposed a year ago

this week which has become more shocking by the day which while we have realized what we fund this money into, was it sadly inevitable, or were there other ways to deal with it by the time it hit the tipping point? >> no, it was always going to happen, because we actually started on this path about 30 years ago with the election of ronald reagan. and reagan and his people, don regan in particular, his secretary of treasury, who happened to be the chairman of merrill lynch at the time, they decided that the way for them to get even more filthy rich than they already were was to throw as many people out of work as they possibly could. they still were going to keep the company running, still going to make cars, but let's see if we can get rid of half the work force and have the remaining half work twice as hard. don't give them any raise in their wages, and think of the money we're going to make. and that was the plan. and for a while, it worked. because for short-term gain, you get ready of people, i mean, your bottom line is going to immediately look better, because

that's your biggest expense. but what it did in the long run is it decimated the middle class, and it killed the very people that were supposed to buy their cars or their tvs or washing machines or whatever was being built. and we stopped making things in this country, and we turned it over to a bunch of really psychotic people who had these crazy schemes about how to create virtual casinos down on wall street. take people's pensions and their 401(k)s, create betting schemes where they would take out a bet, and bet against the bet and then take out an insurance policy against both bets. and it was just absolutely, absolutely crazy, insane. and it has almost wrecked us. >> the statement a year ago at this time was, if we did not intervene, if we did not pour in as much money as necessary for the banks, the insurance industries and everything else, if we didn't give that money, it meant another great depression. in retrospect, was there any truth to that?

>> well, we'll never know. >> yeah. >> but they are masters at manipulating the fear in people. i mean, it had -- everyone had to act right away. we couldn't have any hearings. you could -- don't even read the bill. >> no. first off, it's written on the back of somebody's cocktail napkin. >> right. two-and-a-half pages long, about a billion dollars a word. >> don't read the bill, just pass it. and i mean, these guys are -- boy, they're great at what they do, and it was almost a replay, because here it was six weeks, eight weeks before the election. you know, go back to 2002, six, eight weeks before the election, mushroom clouds, missiles hitting london, et cetera, et cetera. you know, steel rods, balloons. >> lighters that could make it here from baghdad. don't forget the gliders, and the trailers full of latrines. >> all that stuff, to get everybody all, like this, and to do it to congress before they're

up for re-election. and make them afraid that if they vote against this -- >> yes. >> -- then they're for saddam. and so now flip ahead to 2008, if you don't vote for this bailout, you're against the american people. you want to destroy the teachers' pension fund! i mean, if they really -- they had -- geez. you know, this is what bugs me, keith, is they actually are smarter than you and i. they pull this stuff off, and they get away with it, and they get away with murder, and here we are a year later. remember that first few weeks, what we need are more regulations, just get the rules back in place and we'll be okay. so here we are a year later. >> nothing. >> where's the rules? and i tell you something, a year from now won't be anything either. >> exactly. >> until the people at home decide to say that's it. >> all right. now, is that still capable of happening, because as i mentioned, it's 1886 since the santa clara decision, which changed -- created these sort of semi humans. has there ever been a real

chance to get control of the nation back from the corporations after that point? >> well, there have been attempts to do that. but, of course, especially with the conservative court of recent years, they want to protect the rights of these corporations, they believe that money equals free speech. i mean, there's a case they're going to decide this year that i got kind of wrangled into, because of this anti hillary movie that was made with an ad. saying, well, michael moore gets to make "fahrenheit 911" of course that movie actually wins the palmdor, and i don't work for the democratic party. it's an actually movie, it's not an ad. but the supreme court may rule in favor of these corporations, and may be able to not have to follow the election laws and do things like -- that business did. >> is the -- the one saving grace in the corporate system we were talking about this before was that it -- the reason -- the reason you can make your films and the reason i can do my show without being thrown out of the windows up there, the corporation is not necessarily

immoral, it's a moral. if you make it money, most of the time it will let you do -- is built in to sustain itself, even when we're at -- doing whatever it is we do best, correct? >> right. because -- well, because the corporation is obviously just in the business of making money. and it doesn't really matter how it makes -- this is why i say capitalism is such an immoral system, because it is only about making the money. but you and i are -- because of that crack in the system, that allows even us to do this, because we make the money. trust me, if we didn't make the money, it would be the last you would hear from us. >> that's right. good night, everybody, yeah. >> but so -- but here's the thing, though. this is when they'll stop putting you on the air and when they'll stop distributing my movies. if people, after they get done watching "countdown" each night, they actually get up off the couch, get out of the theater seat and do something. if your boss is at ge or my distributor at viacom and

liberty media decides that oh, my god, look what happened, we put this movie in theatres and now the people are revolting? and our lobbyists aren't get their way in congress? the representatives are actually doing what the people want? that's when they're going to maybe say, okay, this is a mistake. so my appeal to the viewers is, put keith and me out of business. >> i was just going to say, you're willing to make that trade? >> absolutely. >> me too. >> oh, god, yes, sir. >> let's go fishing, that's it. and we can go to a ball game. michael moore's movie is "capitalism: a love story." great luck with it, good to meet you. you have done great work for this country, sir. >> thank you for being here every night. >> thank you for being here this night. and we better stop with the thank yous or the rest of the show won't happen. the subject in action. sarah palin talking to chinese communist bankers and ripping the president as she does so. perfect. and then our friend, lonesome rowings, article 1,

section 9, clause 1 of the constitution, the part that made it illegal to ban slavery, and he is in favor of that. worst persons ahead. and when rachel joins at the top of the hour, an exclusive expose' about a.c.o.r.n., namely that 80% of the mainstream media stories done about a.c.o.r.n. are not true. outdoors for your indoor cat. fueling an exhilarating adventure. each entree is bursting with high-quality protein... plus wholesome grain and garden greens. specially formulated to promote hairball control... and healthy weight. friskies indoor wet cat food. feed the senses. now turn treat time into party time... with friskies party mix cat treats. get the party started! all around the world, men with erectile dysfunction have asked their doctors about cialis. ask your doctor if a cialis option is right for you because in addition to 36-hour cialis, there's another dosing option: cialis for daily use, a low-dose tablet you take every day

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did sarah palin really close a speech to the media and then wonder why her dramatic explanations of death panels and tea panels didn't get more coverage? >> and glen beck eater just endorsed constitutionally mandated slavery, or he thinks the slaves were immigrants. how i wish i were kidding. have your kids ever gone snorkeling before breakfast?

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call 1800royal22 or your professional travel agent today. sarah palin explains death panels. no, me first. sarah palin explains death panels to youth in asia. not youth, really, most middle-aged dudes. first, worst persons in the world. to sean han re, demagoging live from central valley, accused the administration of clausing a drought there in order to protect the fish called the delta smelt. >> today, their water is done. shut off by the government. with all the money being spent on a failed stimulus, health care reform and bailing out wall street banks, the solution here is relatively simple. turn the water back on. >> the department of the interior turned the water back on on the 30th of june. the pumping restrictions ended

nearly three months ago. you missed it, sean. so too with the "washington times" editorial page. the rest of the more ron's echo chamber. check the water you're standing in, sean, there is a shark you just jumped. chuck norris describes a 9/12 washout as a revolutionary movement, and writes to keep it going you should take down your heath an american flag. and replace a betsy flag, or any representation that tells the story of old glory and makes a stand for our founder's vision. if you insist on posting a modern usa flag, get one that is tea-stained to show your solidari solidarity. stain the flag? why does chuck norris hate the american flag? but our winner, loansome rogues embracing section 9, clause 1 of the constitution, which reads, the migration or importation, shall not be prohibited by the congress prior to the year 1808,

but a tax or duty may be imposed on such i am pore facial. glen riwrites, the founders put tax on them coming to this country, apparently there was a value to being here. not anymore. these days we can't ask anything of immigrants, including that they abide by our laws. glen, article 1, section 9, clause 1 of the constitution. it's a little confusing. it is, after all, 18th century legalese. but the key word is in there is that the start, the migration or importation much of such persons, buying slaves from other countries. the cause beck thinks has something to do with a price tag on coming to this country was, in fact, a clause that made it illegal to ban the importation of slaves until at least 1808, but gave congress the right to tax a slave owner ten bucks for each slave he brought in. this is the fool who thinks he

is thomas payne or thomas jefferson or somebody, or he thinks he and he alone is interpreting the meaning of the founders of the country! and he thinks that clause requiring the continuation of slavery and making it constitutional for one american to own another is about immigration! immigration! this guy may well be the "it loe on the road right now," proclaims "gq" magazine. did you see that? the interior "positively oozes class," raves "car magazine." "slick and sensuous," boasts "the washington times." "the most striking vw in recent memory," declares-- okay, i get it already. i think we were in a car commercial. ♪ yeah ♪ yeah. how to get rich, by america's health insurance companies. raise health insurance premiums 4 times faster than wages. pay your ceo twenty four million dollars a year.

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as of two days ago, sarah palin's main foreign policy credential was her proximity to russia. now freed from her pesky day job, the ex governor of alaska uses her coming out speech to while on foreign soil rail against the president. a number one story, ex governor palin shares her world view and hints at her political future. maybe she can see 2012 from her

podium. close to the press, now governor palin has daned to post an excerpt on her facebook page, slamming the defense budget. we need to go back to fiscal discipline, and unfortunately that has not been the view of the current administration. though we are engaged in two wars, it is the defense budget that has been reduced from current levels. palin also disparaging the u.s. policy toward china. today the chairman of the house foreign affairs committee congressman howard burrman saying, leaving aside the propriety of crediticizing the government, ignoring disagreement with china is flat wrong. and after palin explained fake euthanasia to a roomful of bankers as opposed to youth in asia, it was time for tea parties and her own unemployment status. it's part of a growing grass roots consciousness among ordinary americans who decided if they want real change they must take the lead, not wait to be led. real change, and you know, you don't need a title it. on the way out of town she had

this to say about her political ambitions. >> you know, i wish i could predict the future. can't answer that question right now, but look forward to more opportunities to send good messages from the u.s. and hopefully help meet some of the challenges. >> kind of got lost in that last sentence there. joining us political analyst, craig crawford. good evening, craig. >> you've got a pretty good palin impression there. you've got a future. >> well, i've listened to tina fey very carefully. did we just get a glimpse at the future, according to palin, even though she said she can't see it, if it involves these highly paid venues, and she can be as inflammatory as she damn well pleases? >> as much as we trash her, keith, she is in the cat bird seat. she has got us all, because i think she can tease this forever. and go all the way to the next presidential election.

my hunch is she is going to tease it all the way into new hampshire and iowa, maybe make trips there, and she'll up and -- we'll all be wondering all the way up to the filing day if she is going to will you know. but my guess is, she won't run, because fame and fortune is more important to her than power. >> and you have to run for a long time, and that's not getting it done. the idea of criticizing the president while abroad, this whole politics ends at the water's edge stuff, if a democrat had spoken to president bush in those terms when either the democrat or bush were out of the country, that would have been considered akin to treason. where is the outrage from the right about her doing it in china of all places? >> well you know, like i think i've said before, if hypocrisy was a virus among politicians, they would all be dead. the thing is, i do recall -- i remember bill clinton getting impeached while he was running a war, in bosnia. and republicans, if that had been reversed, republicans would

have called that treasonous, i suppose. but it's -- it's all in the eye of the beholder. and i think -- you know, increasingly, what we're going to find is republicans are just, because they're out of power, are just going to say anything. >> well, yeah. but why bring up death panels or tea parties in that environment if you don't invite the media along? isn't that basically just wasting those references to your favorite topics? >> yeah, i think part of her strategy in not inviting the media is because she is targeting the media, and because it makes us complain about it, and then -- and then we look like the accusers that she wants us to be. and she is the marter. so it's hard to win in this situation with her. >> well, let's give her a minute to spin on this one here. in alaska, the permanent fund, which is this dividend that every man, woman and child gets from the state's oil income, lost 18% of its value this year, and the thing is -- the pay is going to be less than what it

was last, by about a half -- i guess 50% or so. is this the palin legacy, when the going is going to get tough, get out well in advance? >> i think, yeah, when the going gets tough, the smart get out. she has left alaska perhaps just in time, in that sense. but i think now she has it made. she doesn't have any responsibility to govern. that's why i think she may not actually ever run for president, because so long as she is not a cannibal to voters or for her views, she can say absolutely anything. and she can lead her charge among conservatives who love to listen to her all the more, because she is avoiding scrutiny. >> and she gets to keep the clothes this time. craig crawford of cqpolitics.com. thank you, craig. >> and great to almost follow michael moore. >> between michael moore and ken

burns. how about that? >> it's a privilege. >> that's "countdown" since the previous president declared mission in iraq. stay classy, "countdown" land, and now how a.c.o.r.n. started world war i and other news coverage about the organization that's only slightly less bizarrely inaccurate. here is rachel maddow. >> good evening. and thank you tore staying with us the next hour. we are still trying to determine the truth about the hanging deaths of census bureau worker bill sparkman. we will talk to the friend who warned mr. sparkman that it could be dangerous for him to do census fieldwork door-to-door in clay county, kentucky. we have some news also for you this hour you will not hear anywhere else about why it is you're hearing so much about the group a.c.o.r.n. these days. it's another "rachel maddow" show, follow the investigation. and ken burns will be joining us live this hour. this next hour, frankly, is sort of like ten shows in it one.

but we are starting it off with some breaking news from d.c. on health reform. some unexpected indications tonight that by this time tomorrow, we will know if there's going to be a public option for health care. we will know if americans will have the choice of a government-run public insurance plan, alongside the private insurance we can choose now. many americans believe that adding a public option to the mix of choices we've got on health care is the only way health reform will really reform anything. although the public option has been proclaimed dead many atime over the course of this debate, we have learned that it is actually very much still alive, and, in fact, tomorrow, two amendments for a public option will be presented before the senate finance committee. democratic senators jay rockefeller and charles schumer announcing this evening that they will demand a role call vote on those proposals. what does it mean? it means tomorrow is the judgment day. time for senators to pick sides.