the brother who wasn't there today, the senator who devoted his life and career to national health care. to knowing it, to feeling it, to driving it, and finally, to inspiring it to actually happen. that is "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. catch us again tomorrow night at 5:00 and 7:00 eastern. "countdown with keith olbermann" starts right now. which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow? a day for the history books. tuesday, march 23, 2010. the day health care reform became the law of the land. >> our presence here today is remarkable and improbable. >> president obama praises the fortitude of every american who helped win this battle. >> we don't fall prey to fear. we are not a nation that does what's easy.

that's not who we are. >> and for those who chose to lie about the bill, time will expose them. >> i heard one of the republican leaders say this was going to be armageddon. well, you know, two months from now, six months from now, you can check it out. we'll look around. and we'll see. you don't have to take my word for it. >> our special guest tonight senator chris dodd on being inside the white house today as a witness to history. yes mr. vice president, this is a big [ bleep ] deal. the senate takes up the reconciliation fix. can republicans succeed in changing anything to force another vote in the house? more than a dozen states join forces to try to block reform now that it is law. do they have any chance of convincing the court reform is unconstitutional?

john mccain couldn't stop health care reform so he says he'll just stop working on any other legislation. so why not quit, senator? don't run for re-election. and speaking of quitters, sarah palin's rhetoric gets more incendiary. not only does she tell opponents of reform it is time to reload, she announces her list of democrats to target and she uses cross-hairs. gun cross-hairs to target them. all that and more now on "countdown." good evening, i'm lawrence o'donnell in for keith olbermann. the firsthand president obama shook after signing the health

care bill was marcelis owens. his mother lost her life to a treatable illness because she did not have insurance and could not afford the basic care that she needed. today, the 5th grader wearing a tie matching the president's said it's tough not having my mom around, but she's been with me in spirit every time i talkp i hope i've made her proud. marcelis was standing by the president's side as he put pen to paper. with his signature, president obama made what once seemed impossible, the law of the land. >> today after almost a century of trying -- today after over a year of debate, today, after all

the votes have been tallied, health insurance reform becomes law in the united states of america. >> earlier in the evening, joe biden let a strong word slip into his feelings about the moment. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states of america, barack obama. >> thank you. >> no [ bleep ]ing necessary from there on out. nearly every president since teddy roosevelt has tried to enact health care reform of some kind. the 44th president of the united states thanked all of them plus teddy kennedy. >> i'm signing this bill for all the leaders who took up this

cause through the generations. from teddy roosevelt to franklin roosevelt. from harry truman to lyndon johnson. from bill and hillary clinton to one of the deans who has been fighting this so long, john dingell. to senator ted kennedy. and it is fitting that ted's widow, vicki, is here. i remember seeing ted walk through that door in a summit in this room a year ago, one of his last public appearances. and it was hard for him to make it. but he was confident that we would do the right thing. >> when it came time to talk about the legislation the president said health care reform would soon speak for itself. >> in a few moments when i sign this bill all of the overheated rhetoric over reform will finally confront the reality of reform.

this year tens of thousands of uninsured americans with pre-existing conditions, the parents of children who have a pre-existing condition will finally be able to purchase the coverage they need. that happens this year. this year insurance companies will no longer be able to drop people's coverage when they get sick. they won't be able to place life time limits or restrictive annual limits on the amount of care they can receive. this year all new insurance plans will be required to provide free preventive care and young adults will be able to stay on their parents' policies until they are 26 years old. that happens this year. that happens this year. >> president obama talked about the many who had doubted that this day would ever come. >> our presence here today is

remarkable and improbable. with all the punditry, all of the lobbying, all of the game playing that passes for governing in washington, it's been easy at times to doubt our ability to do such a big thing, such a complicated thing. to wonder if there are limits to what we, as a people, can still achieve. it's easy to succumb to the sense of cynicism about what is possible in this country. but today we are affirming that essential truth. a truth every generation is called to rediscover for itself. that we are not a nation that scales back its aspirations. we are not a nation that falls prey to doubt or mistrust. we don't fall prey to fear. we are not a nation that does what's easy. that's not who we are. that's not how we got here.

>> the president concluded by saying health care reform isn't about doing what's easy. it's about doing what's right. >> we're a nation that does what is hard, what is necessary, what is right. here in this country we shape our own destiny that is what we do. that is who we are. that is what makes us the united states of america. and we have now just enshrined, as soon as i sign this bill, the core principle that everybody should have some basic security when it comes to their health care. and it is an extraordinary achievement that has happened because of all of you and all the advocates all across the country. so thank you. >> among those at the white house for the signing ceremony was senator chris dodd, chairman of the banking committee. earlier tonight i spoke with the democrat from connecticut about this historic day. mr. chairman, thank you for joining us tonight. this is an historic day and i

appreciate you are busy on the senate floor tonight. we really appreciate your time. >> thank you, lawrence. good to be with you. >> you were ted kennedy's best friend in the senate. when i was looking at the images in the east room, with his widow vicki, son patrick, niece caroline, i expected at some point the camera was going to pick up that shock of white hair and teddy was going to move in there and throw his arm around you. if teddy had been there today, senator dodd, what would he have told you about what you accomplished? >> well, i think he had a great sense of history. i think he would have reached back and talked about the fact, teddy roosevelt, franklin roosevelt and harry truman. even richard nixon. teddy appreciated -- i'm sorry the president didn't mention nixon. richard nixon actually tried to do something on national health care in the first administration. never succeeded. but teddy appreciated the

efforts and appreciated the efforts as i worked with him in '93 and '94, president clinton tried valiantly in the same vein. so i think he had a great sense of that. the president graciously mentioned his appearance in that's room about a year ago, maybe one of the lasts other than a couple of votes he cast later that spring. the last real public appearance he made as kind of an appeal to get this off the ground. that is the national health care debate and the victory we saw today. so i couldn't help but think of him sort of reaching back to all of the battles, some won, some lost, the piecemeal efforts over the years. he was around for medicare. that battle in the '60s. he was, of course, the author of the children's health initiative. he was a great help to me when i wrote the family medical leave act, autism, premature birth, infant screenings, all these

pieces trying to fit the puzzle together. what was missing was this gap that every single american had the right to health care. i think he would have been thinking of those efforts over the years. >> senator kennedy literally handed you the gavel when he couldn't carry on any longer physically. you had to get this bill through the committee. in the senate. and you gave up on republicans. at what point did you know you weren't going to get any republican cooperation in that committee and did you believe there was no chance of republican cooperation the rest of the way? >> in retrospect i knew pretty early on. you can tell, as you'll recall from your days here, you can tell early on if you are going to have someone you can work with or whether or not this is going to be a struggle. they made a conscious decision not to be part of the final effort. that was clear early on. teddy kennedy, senator kennedy tried to work with the minority in his committee as he did on so many other issues.

>> it seems like the last two months may be the most dramatic part of this story. roughly two months ago, scott brown was elected to massachusetts. there were plenty of democrats, strong democrats who believed this bill was dead. how did you get this thing back up off the floor and moving? >> i'll tell you something. i don't know if i'm the only person with this view, i think the election of scott brown helped democrats. all of a sudden it wasn't 60-40, it was less than that. it reinvigorated the party. instead of relying on the numbers, it caused us to step back and figure strategically how we would get this over the finish line. i almost had a sense while we -- i think the period between the election in massachusetts and the events of the last couple weeks, it was a hiatus. a quieter period. there, obviously, was that

conference at the blair house, which i strongly recommended. i thought it was wise to calm down, take a breath, step back, regroup and then go forward. and candidly, i almost think that election in massachusetts actually helped produce the results we saw today. >> senator, quickly before we go, turning to financial reform bill, the next big crusade in the senate. you are the chairman of the banking committee. you have a horrible problem on the senate floor where you need 60 votes to move the bill on the senate floor. you need at least one republican to go forward. in what may be the most politically polarized era the senate has ever seen, with republicans and democrats just completely opposed to each other, do you think there's anyway you are going to find that route to 60 votes in the senate to move that bill forward? >> i do, lawrence. i actually think the events of today and the last couple of days will help in that effort. i can tell you the number of republicans who were never enthusiastic about just say no to everything. they didn't get elected to not

be at the table to work on issues like the health care debate and this one. i frankly think the just say no strategy was the political equivalency of a high wire act and it failed. now the question is are you going to get to the table and be a part of fashioning a product. i think i'm going to find some to do that. bob corker of tennessee has already indicated he wanted to work on this bill. richard shelby has worked with us on a number of bills. i think he wants to work on this one, too. >> thank you for your time and congratulations on this historic health care victory. pass on my congratulations to all the committee staff and the senate floor staff involved in getting that through the senate. >> that is a true senate staffer that made that comment. i'll do it as well. thanks, lawrence. coming up, the final front in the health care fight. the reconciliation fix is being debated in the senate at this hour. can the democrats beat back every republican challenge to change the bill?

and sarah palin's latest tweet. urging followers to reload on the health care fight. reload what, sarah? any coincidence that in her list of house democrats to target she actually uses cross-hairs? she needs: omnaris. (troops) omnaris! to the nose. (general) omnaris works differently than many other allergy medications. omnaris fights nasal allergy symptoms that occur from allergic inflammation... relieve those symptoms with omnaris. side effects may include headache, nosebleed and sore throat. her nose is at ease. we have lift off. (general) remember omnaris! ask your doctor. in the battle against nasal allergy symptoms, omnaris combats the cause. what are you really buying? a shiny coat of paint? a list of features? what about the strength of the steel? the integrity of its design... or how it responds... in extreme situations? the deeper you look, the more you see the real differences.

and the more you understand what it means to own a mercedes-benz. the c-class. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial. ♪

coming up, the senate gets to work on the reconciliation fix to health care reform. the biggest drama isn't whether the democrats have the votes to pass it. the big question is can they get it past the parliamentarian with every word intact? and later, senator john mccain is ready to give up on the senate. but he still wants to stay in his job. is there any truth to the claims the new reform law is unconstitutional? that's next, this is "countdown." [ male announcer ]h becomes even more pleasurable when you know that your water is being heated in an environmentally conscious way, while saving you hundreds of dollars on your water heating energy bill.

introducing the geospring water heater from ge with advanced hybrid technology. heating the water in your home any other way is just going to seem primitive. ♪

health care reform, even if you consider it mostly just insurance reform is now a reality. but the house only passed the senate version after the senate assured the house it would pass a package of fixes and the debate on those fixes began today. the trick for democrats is if a single word changes for those fixes it goes back to the house for another round at a time democrats are eager to move on to other issues. for that reason republicans are trying to force change, any change, no matter how trivial. it is up to the senate parliamentarian to rule on those changes. if he sides with republicans the democrats can overrule the parliamentarian but that takes 60 votes. another theoretical option is for vice president joe biden to overrule the parliamentarian. which happens so infrequently,

it would be, in biden-speak, a big f'ing deal. but republicans can do more than challenge whether the existing bill meets the budget reconciliation guidelines, they can offer amendments to the bill, and that's what they were doing today. republican judd gregg wanted to block use of savings for medicare for anything but medicare, but began his remarks by reiterating gop talking points about the bill. >> i wish i could stand here and agree with the senator from montana. i wish as i looked at the bills that just passed the house, and now that we're getting the trailer bill, the buy it bill, the bill that was used to purchase the votes in the house to pass the big bill, that i could say america's children were going to be better off. that the people who have health care issues in this country are going to be better off. but that's impossible to say. why is it impossible to say? because this bill as it passed the house was an atrocity. it was an explosion of

government the likes of which we've never seen in this country before. >> democratic senator max baucus chairman of the finance committee, pointed out the elephant in the room, the republican opposition to the original reform bill in the senate is now moot. >> this is a debate we had when we were on the bill. the senate has already considered the arguments made by the senator from new hampshire and others. the senate decided against those arguments. the senate has decided to pass health care reform as has the house of representatives, as has -- and the president signed it. >> democratic senator tom harkin took aim at the recent republican chore us chorus for repeal of the bill basically daring republicans to do what they say they want to do. >> in the near term, however, it is disappointing that some republican legislators may be taking their cue from the more extreme voices on talk radio or

fox tv, are pledging to repeal this new law. in fact, the distinguished minority leader, republican leader, a couple of weeks ago at a press conference said their motto was going to be this year, if we passed this bill, their motto would be elect republicans. they'll repeal it. this strikes me as bad public policy and quite frankly bad politics. do republicans really want to repeal the ban on denying insurance coverage due to pre-existing coverage? do they want to repeal the ban on insurance companies canceling your policy if you get sick? >> senator baucus conceded to roll call that one or two parts of the fix package might have to be changed which would send it back to the house. that could cause problems from the left for senator michael bennett, who led an effort to revive the public option by

inserting it in the reconciliation fix. an option that seemed shut off when democrats insisted on no changes to the fix but might be open if the bill has to go back to the house anyway. we are joined by ezra klein, columnist at "newsweek" who covers domestic and economic issues for the "washington post." good evening, ezra. if the republicans succeed in changing the reconciliation bill, what happens to the public option issue in the senate? will bennett be under pressure ? he has a primary challenger in colorado, putting him under pressure, to then raise the possibility of inserting the public option as an amendment in the senate bill? how might that play out? >> my understanding is senator reid made a deal with senator sanders and others to consider the public option later. my guess at this point is that democrats have decided they want this reconciliation bill passed, they are very very happy coming off the signing of the bill today, and they are probably going to stick together

procedurally here, they are not going to be tricked by republicans into tieing themselves into knots and reopening old debates. >> i had heard from staff yesterday who med with the parliamentarian that they felt there were maybe one or two pieces of the bill that might not make it past the parliamentarian. i was surprised to hear senator baucus say that publicly. because it seems to me that will give great encouragement to republicans on the floor, that if they haven't found it yet there must be something they can get struck out by the parliamentarian. >> my hunch is a lot of the democrats were surprised to hear senator baucus say that publicly. but i think that's correct. on the other hand, what i think you'll see is republicans attempt every challenge they can make. senator gregg has the dreaded 310-g challenge. the social security challenge which is going to derail the whole bill. that didn't work, so they can go after little bits and parts of it. if they do get a part of it, a provision struck out and it goes back to the house it isn't the biggest deal in the world.

the house doesn't have the difficulties passing things that the senate does. nancy pelosi has the votes and democrats are feeling good. at best, the republicans can annoy the democrats but i don't think they do much to harm them on this reconciliation bill. >> sending it back to the house, i never thought that was a big deal. that normally happens on these things. i suspect that maybe if baucus was thinking about it, after a big signing ceremony at the white house where this is law there is nothing to worry about, maybe he let it be known there might be one or two of these things so the house could prepare psychologically for that possibility, rather than have them come out of the blue and look like wait a minute, the senate is out of control. might that be what he was doing? talking to the house saying, don't worry if this happens is >> it is always possible. at the end of it, i think senator baucus may have been engaging the hypotheticals. yes, it is possible some things change and it goes back to the house. what is relevant for democrats

is how up they are feeling. i almost feel like the house democrats might be happy to take another crack at things. senator baucus was saying nobody should be surprised, it's not our fault, it's how the parliamentary rules, but at the end of the day it doesn't strike me as a big deal for either chamber. a lot of tension on reconciliation has died down now. democrats felt better about signing the basic senate bill than they thought and that has done a lot to ease the difficulties between the two chambers. >> there was a time when the thought was the senate bill would be signed in the middle of the night because it was such an embarrassing document. there was a complete change of strategy to make what is going on in the senate a redundant, unnecessary thing for anybody to watch, which may be exactly the way they should try to treat it. >> it was a very smart move by them, it took the air out of the republican tires. what republicans figured they could do is the senate bill could pass. if they could stop reconciliation that was the point of vulnerability. potentially they could do that procedurally.

they could draw it out. they could force biden coming in nobody was really comfortable with him doing, and maybe they could derail reconciliation. now that health care reform is already law and now the newspaper headlines have been written and the word historic has been used, the senate bill is just fixes. you really heard republicans saying today they think it will come into law by the end of next week. they don't seem to be willing to fight this out too much longer. >> ezra klein, thank you for watching the senate floor for us tonight. >> thank you. coming up, senator john mccain gets the sore loser of the year award. now that health care reform is law, he doesn't want to help make any more laws. why is he promising to be the laziest lawmaker in washington? why does sarah palin insist on playing with words that could incite violence? she tells opponents of health care reform to reload and puts out a democrat target list full of gun cross-hairs.

somewhere in america... there's a home by the sea powered by the wind on the plains. there's a hospital where technology has a healing touch. there's a factory giving old industries new life. and there's a train that got a whole city moving again. somewhere in america, the toughest questions are answered every day. because somewhere in america,

more than sixty thousand people spend every day answering them. siemens. answers.

ahead on "countdown," senator john mccain threatens he won't cooperate anymore in the senate. democrats fire back. cooperation, what cooperation? sarah palin encourages her supporters to reload in the fight against health care. and issues a target list. his coat is incredibly shiny and soft and very thick. everybody thinks he's the most handsome cat they've ever seen. [ woman announcing ] purina one for indoor cats... unlocks the brilliance of nature...

with a natural fiber blend that helps minimize hairballs... and maintain a healthy weight. [ laurie ] he's a character. he brings so much laughter into this household. and he's the best-lookin' cat there is. [ announcer ] it's amazing what one can do. what are you really buying? a shiny coat of paint? a list of features? what about the strength of the steel? the integrity of its design... or how it responds... in extreme situations? the deeper you look, the more you see the real differences. and the more you understand what it means to own a mercedes-benz. the c-class. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial. ♪

for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial. man: be kind to your eyes with transitions lenses. transitions adapt to changing light so you see your whole day comfortably and conveniently while protecting your eyes from the sun.

ask your eyecare professional which transitions lenses are right for you. woman: are you a vsp member? your satisfaction with transitions lenses is guaranteed. visit transitions.com/vsp or ask your vsp doctor for details. country first or revenge? now that the health care reform bill has passed, senator john mccain actually admits he has settled comfortably on the latter.

he's decided to take a big government salary, which his wife's wealth renders meaningless and do absolutely no work for it the rest of the year. the former republican presidential nominee is now, of course, in a primary battle to retain his senate seat and yesterday he went beyond merely condemning the health care reform bill, speaking to an arizona radio station he declared his intentions for the long term. there will be no cooperation for the rest of the year. they have poisoned the well in what they've done and how they've done it. white house senior advisor david axelrod responded that's okay on the sandlot, but that's not okay when you're governing the country. it is a disappointing attitude. the mccain camp now in the business of nothing but issuing

press releases immediately shot back. mccain spokeswoman staying in a statement, senator john mccain will always stand on the side of the american people. get used to it, mr. axelrod. that is what strong, independent members do. you'd know that if you had ever worked for one. harry reid couldn't resist taunting mccain. reid's spokesman saying in a statement -- for someone who campaigned on country first and claims to take great pride in bipartisanship, it's absolutely bizarre for senator mccain to tell the american people he is going to take his ball and go home until the next election. he must be living in some parallel universe because the fact is with very few exceptions, we've gotten very little cooperation from senate republicans in recent years. senator mccain, deep breath. calm down. you are not the only senator who lost the presidential election and returned to work in the senate. there is a model for how to do this with dignity while

fulfilling your oath to serve the people without violating your loyalty to your party. he's a bit younger than you are, but served in the same war. like you, he is a decorated navy man and he has much to teach you about controlling your temper and preserving your dignity. he's right there across the aisle. you can talk to him. he still likes you. the navy bond is stronger than the senate bond. go ahead. ask john kerry how he does it. let's bring in "washington post" associate editor, pulitzer price winning columnist and msnbc political analyst, eugene robinson. good evening, gene. gene, we are looking at a 73-year-old senator who will be 74 by the time he is re-elected if he is re-elected and he is asking the voters of arizona to keep him on as their senator until he is 80 for what possible

reason after just confessing that he is no longer capable of doing the job? >> well, lawrence, you remember tip o'neill said all politics is local. for john mccain all politics is personal. i think clearly the defeat at the hands of president obama in 2008 still rankles, really rankles for senator mccain. and i think he has decided that he wants to leave the senate on his own terms, not on j.d. hayworth's terms, his certain primary opponent in arizona. and so he has taken a stand. it is a bizarre stand to say send me back here, and by the way, i'm not going to do anything. >> with mccain there is always the question of his personality, of his character, of what is really going on here. in his case, the question arises, is this just pure bitterness?

the people who know him say that he's capable of steaming for a while and holding a grudge and acting this way just out of his own emotional reaction to things. >> well, you saw it at the end of the campaign, lawrence. you saw his, frankly, erratic reaction to the financial crisis. it is one of the main reasons he lost the election or lost the election by the margin he did. he didn't give the impression of being a cool, steady hand in a crisis. and he, you know, emotion fuels him. at times it has served him well and at times it has served him ill. i believe it is not at all serving him well now either in his primary contest or in terms of his pledge to serve as best he can for the citizens of arizona. >> eugene, for me, as a watcher of politicians, they never, never become more interesting to me than they do in defeat. it is in defeat where you see where the real character is or

what is left of the real character. and the mccain performance in defeat has been far below the dignified reactions we've seen by others, al gore, for example, who had plenty of reason to be bitter, to be angry, left the stage without rancor when the final vote was cast in the supreme court. where does mccain rank in the recent models of how to lose gracefully? >> clearly, well below average. you mentioned john kerry and al gore. you saw the classy way in which hillary clinton handled her defeat in the primaries. it's -- it does tell us an awful lot about a politician's character to watch them deal with disappointment and john mccain is not dealing with it well now. and again, i think it's going to

hurt him. i think it's going to hurt him in his primary battle. >> and in history. eugene robinson, of the "washington post" and msnbc, thank you for your time tonight. >> good to be here, lawrence. coming up, john mccain's running mate crossing the line yet again. the half governor tweets it is time to reload in the health care fight. melissa harris-lacewell on the dangerous path we are going down among the tea party followers. and is the reform law president obama signed today constitutional? more than a dozen states filed suit to block it. and when rachel joins you at the top of the hour, she will be a guest on her own show responding to fears from senate scott brown she will be his opponent in 2012. s today. fortunately, he has at&t's blazing fast 3g laptopconnect card. [ flight attendant ] sir, turn off all electronic devices. which means he can download all his pdfs, spreadsheets, and meeting notes, before you have the chance to say --

sir... look at that little truck right there, you don't see those out on the road, you know? that's a luggage cart. [ male announcer ] switch to the nation's fastest 3g network and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free.

i switched to a complete multivitamin with more. only one a day women's 50+ advantage... has gingko for memory and concentration. plus support for bone and breast health. just what i need! one a day women's. coming up, federal law trumps state law in the constitution. more than a dozen states filed suit today to block health care reform, making the case it is

just not legal. later after a weekend of ugly protests and spitting on elected government officials melissa harris-lacewell joins us to explain the conduct we are seeing now is worse than what we saw during the civil rights struggle. that's next. [ indistinct talking on p.a. ] okay, we're going to get going right away. [ announcer ] he's never met an appendix he couldn't fix! the abdomen-ator dr. bob bergowitz! yeah, woo! [ announcer ] she's the queen of clean! the 2009 surgeon of the year, dr. nancy mendelsohn!

[ male announcer ] doctors and nurses are true heroes. at ge, we're working to give them the innovation, fresh thinking, and advanced technology they need to keep bringing better health to more people. are you ready, mr. randall? let's do this! [ crowd cheering ] ♪ how a bill becomes the law. first the vote then the president's signature and now the lawsuits. more than a dozen states have filed legal challenges to the health care bill claiming it is

unconstitutional. it should be noted the complaint filed by the state attorneys general lacks any specific case law, as mark anbinder notes, there is no case law in the complaint to buttress the claim that the bill is actually unconstitutional. for an overview of the lawsuits, our correspondent is pete williams. >> we simply can't have washington make the rules and we get stuck with the bill. >> reporter: 14 states and counting. >> it is an unprecedented expansion. >> we have the individual mandate held unconstitutional. >> does trample the constitution. >> reporter: attorneys general from every part of the nation, nearly all of them republican are challenging the health care law in court. >> congress has exceeded its powers in terms of it requiring the individual mandate that anybody have to buy a health care policy or suffer a penalty of some sort. >> reporter: the new law does something the government has never done before, requiring

nearly everyone to buy something sold by private companies, in this case, health insurance. the constitution gives congress broad powers to regulate commerce, that gives congress power to regulate how cars are made and sold, it doesn't mean the government could require everyone to buy one. >> congress can no more make you buy insurance than make you buy a gm car in order to help out the government who have now subsidized gm. >> reporter: but supporter of the law says congress has broad power to regulate things that end up having an effect on the economy. they point out, it adds up when people without insurance go to the emergency room for their health care. >> it's part of the whole scheme of things to say that, you know, you can't just slack off and assume that somebody's going to take care of you if you have some sort of emergency. >> reporter: tonight the justice department says it will vigorously defend the law. some legal experts dismiss the lawsuits as a legal long shot, but they raise a question the courts have never directly answered. pete williams, nbc news at the

supreme court. >> i'm not a lawyer, but i occasionally play one on tv. in my humble opinion the case will not turn on the commerce clause, but the power to tax. in a previous life i wrote tax law and i can assure you there is no question that the federal government has the power to tax. the obama administration doesn't like to call the penalty for not having health insurance a tax, but that is exactly what it is. it is enforced by the irs and that's what they will call it in court. they will simply argue that having health insurance allows you a small tax credit that you won't get if you don't have health insurance. and a minimum of five justices on the supreme court, if it ever gets to them, will see it that way. coming up, sarah palin releases a target list of democrats to go after in the next election. in marking the districts she

uses gun cross-hairs. and in a separate message she tells supporters to reload. melissa harris-lacewell joins me with more on what's wrong with this disturbing picture. he wind on the plains. there's a hospital where technology has a healing touch. there's a factory giving old industries new life. and there's a train that got a whole city moving again. somewhere in america, the toughest questions are answered every day. because somewhere in america, more than sixty thousand people spend every day answering them. siemens. answers.

i thought i was invincible. i'm on an aspiriregimen now because i never want to feel that helplessness again. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. ta to your doctor, and take care of what you have to take care of. than two percent. so forget return on investment. let's talk return on insurance. switch your car insurance to allstate, and you can earn a five percent bonus. five percent of your premium, sent to you twice a year... for as long as you don't have an accident. the safe driving bonus check. only from allstate. safety pays. that's allstate's stand. are you in good hands? oh, just come snuggle with momma! missing something? now at sears optical,

get 2 pairs of glasses for $99.99. with bifocals just $25 more per pair. sears optical. don't miss a thing.

in case you needed another sign that the rage from the right is rising to a dangerous boiling point, a new poll shows that nearly 40% of republicans believe president obama is doing many of the things that hitler did. and now the half term governor of alaska is encouraging those angered by the democrats in health care reform to reload. sarah palin taking time off from negotiating a multimillion dollar reality show deal to tweet commonsense conservatives and lovers of america, don't retreat. instead, reload.

palin directing followers to her other social media outlet, facebook. with the president signing this unwanted and transformative government takeover of our health care system today with promises impossible to keep, let's not get discouraged. instead, palin supplies her flock with a hit list of 20 democrats to target in the midterm elections. all house members who voted in favor of obama-care, and represent districts that senator john mccain and i carried during the 2008 election. we're going to fire them and send them back to the private sector which has been shrinking thanks to their destructive government-growing practices. palin provides supporters with a map of the districts currently held by the targeted dems, including location through gun cross-hairs. with three of the 20 dems

retiring palin wants to focus attention on holding the others accountable for their disastrous vote. warning, we'll aim for these races and many others. meanwhile, some disturbing numbers unearthed by the latest harris poll showing the majority of republicans believe that president obama is a socialist and a muslim. 45% of the gop believe the birther line saying mr. obama was not born in the u.s. 38% of americans believe the president is doing many of the things hitler did and perhaps the most demented group, a major polling firm has ever exposed, 24% of republicans say that obama may be the antichrist. joining me now is associate professor of politics and african-american studies at princeton university, columnist for "the nation" magazine, and msnbc contributor melissa

harris-lacewell. good evening, professor. polling results rather troubling. you have written in the nation recently about a vicious new jim crow terrorism. in those polling results do you have what you need to almost prove it? >> well, not quite. one of the things i would like to know is who else they might think the antichrist is. >> follow-up questions for the poll. >> that's right. i would like to know a little more. what i will say is one of the sort of biggest steps that america took over the past 50 years was an enormous sea change in american public opinion. particularly on race, gender roles, an opening in the american system. in the 1940s and '50s, you had people willing to say racial discriminatory things, gender discriminatory things, by the time you got to 2008, even if people harbored those feelings,

they were unlikely to report them in a poll. so the reason i find these poll results so sort of anxiety producing it is an indication the kind of socially acceptable lid we have kept on these kinds of beliefs may be bubbling off the pot with some boiling anxiety underneath. >> there was a lot of over-boiling this weekend in washington. we saw the spectacle of congressman john lewis, a former civil rights marcher, being spat on, yelled at. exactly the kind of thing that happened to him when he was marching for civil rights, much worse happened to him then, very severe physical violence happened to him. what were yew feelings? >> that is hard for americans who know that history to watch. to actually see this same person, this same body being attacked on questions of race. for me there was this interesting shift because remember when he was marching as a young demonstrator, he was marching against the state, against the government saying that he had the right as did other african-americans to be full citizens. now -- >> and was being beaten by

agents of the government from those states. >> absolutely. now, in this context it is the racists who are the outsiders and he is an agent of the state now, right? on the one hand you see enormous transition. but it calls us to say this is not just a matter bigotry or prejudice. this is about people who are challenging the right of people like president obama, representative lewis to actually be making policy. they are duly elected leaders. and we have folks saying they don't have the right to levee taxes. >> part of this notion they don't have the right to do this has to do with their race and holding those positions? >> i have to say it looked so much to me like -- >> i mean when you hear the epithets, it raises that question. >> it does. because it looks like the turn of the century film "birth of a

nation," 1915 which looked back on different kinds of people holding office and the country had been lost and the fact that all of this had been backed up with the states' rights language, the same secessionist language we hear going on, we see in the lawsuit, pushing back and saying the federal government doesn't have the right to tell us what to do is what the civil war was about. it was about establishing that the federal government does have the right to make policy for the nation. >> now turning to sarah palin. i'm not one who believes she's trying to incite violence. i mean, i'd have to give her a very big benefit of the doubt this is what it sounds like when you are a hunter from alaska. there are enough people around her to say, you know what, when you say target a politician in a country that suffered assassinations, you don't use cross-hairs. you have to use other symbols. is she out of it or this is an

indication this movement likes to move in that provocative direction? >> i appreciate she said she is going to fire them and send them back to the private sector. that's a little different. >> firing them is okay. >> that is what democracy is. you are meant to, if you don't like the representatives, run for office or vote for someone else. i do know that there should be a kind of carefulness about people in public life. i think this is part of what sarah palin made a decision to do when she quit the role of an elected leader, one who had the responsibilities of being careful, she went rogue and made a decision she's going to organize on facebook and twitter. i love twitter so not to demean it. i'm a big fan of twitter. >> how many followers do you have? >> i think i'm up to 12,000. come on. join the party. >> not surprising. >> yet, this notion she has so little responsibility she would use cross hairs to talk about an appropriate action, a democrat