>> at some point you're going to learn, if you go up against me on a challenge of fact, you are going to be wrong. just that simple. >> except this time when the facts have caught him red handed. and friday's with thurber, four of the fables of the master, including the very proper gander. all the news and commentary now on "countdown." good evening from new york, after tea partiers held hundreds of rallies yesterday, tax day, focusing on president obama's tax policies, the president replied to them last night. the fifth story tonight, his immediate message was, you're welcome. his long-term message, concurrent with a predecessor and campaign committee, democrats are mad as hell and they're not going to take it anymore. speaking in florida on the day

tax returns are due and on the day tea parties lashed into the president for raising taxes, which he has not done, even conservative think tanks acknowledging taxes are at they lowerest levels in decades. he has lowered taxes for just about everyone, except of course rich people, which should tell you something about who's behind the tea parties. >> since today happens to be tax day, i should just point out that one-third of the recovery act went to tax cuts. tax cuts that strengthened the cornerstone of the american dream. working for a living. earning an education. owning a home. raising a family. we cut taxes for 95% of working americans. just like i promised we would on the campaign. that made a difference for 7 million families in florida alone. we cut taxes on small business. we cut taxes for students and parents paying for college. we cut taxes for first-time home

buyers, more than 128,000 here in florida. in all, we passed 25 different tax cuts last year. and one thing we haven't done is raisin come taxes on families making less than $250,000 a year. another promise that we kept. so i -- i've been a little amused over the last couple of days where people have been having these rallies. about taxes. taxes. you would think they would be saying thank you. that's what you'd think. >> one of the speakers at the capitol's tea party rally yesterday, republican congress wam michele bachmann did not say thank you, although her sentence essentially ended in the word something you. she called it, quote, the gangster government. in an interview later, former president clinton responded to the remarks. they are not gangsters, they are

elected. he referred to bachmann's remarks quoting again, you can attack the politics, criticize their policies, don't demonize them and don't say thing that's will encourage violent opposition. mr. clinton was speaking on the eve of his key note address today for a symposium marking the 15th anniversary of the oklahoma city bombing which targeted a government building, housed a day care and after several years of right wing attacks depict being the clinton administration as un-american and a threat to traditional american values. let's bring in richard wolffe, also of course, author of "renegade, the making of a president." richard, good evening. >> good evening, keith. >> are these clinton and obama push backs coincidental or is there a sense of democratic leaders drawing a rhetorical line in the sand? >> first of all, in the white house you've got a distinctly, more confident, more robust

approach, having come through the tree veils of health care and taking the fight to republicans. so with the economy taking a decisive turn for the better and within their view the political fortunes having turned, they think they've got a record to run on, and they have enjoyed taking this fight and challenging republicans at every turn. now we're seeing that with financial reform. there is another thing going on, it is true, that the -- for people who lived in the clinton era, inside the clinton administration, especially president clinton, there are parallels going on. they notice them all the time. not just because of health care, not just because of the economy. but because of this inchoate sense of anger out there, this cultural dislocation that president clinton was talking about. so there are parallels with the culture, with the politics, but i also think there is a new sense of vigor from this white house. >> to president obama's point, taxes are lower. why aren't tea partiers saying thank you? this is what we wanted? >> well, there's nothing that rational about this group of people. i mean, if you look at "new york

times" poll of these folks, most of them say the amount of tax they pay is fair. and this is from an anti-tax group. they want smaller government but the kids go to public school and they support social security and medicare. this is not rational, it is only unified by its hatred of barack obama. nine out of ten of them disapprove of barack obama. so it really doesn't matter what the reality is, it's not about rational logic, it's about the hatred of the president, who they see as i will lee jllegiti. >> if actually lowering taxes does not make even these americans realize, you know, their taxes are lower, how are democrats going to change that by november? >> well, for this 18% of the population in a tax -- in the tea party, there's nothing you can really do. they are suffering obama derangement syndrome.

there's nothing you can do about that. but for the rest of the population, for that 82%, for a start, the president, the white house, needs to be more robust about saying, talking about that tax record. not just on tax day but every day. message repetition and discipline has got to be a part of this as they move into campaign mode for the midterms. this goes beyond taxes, where people are feeling dislocated it's attached to the economy. the economy is turning. they need to go out and explain that to people, because we are seeing evidence of that, anecdotally and in the statistics. >> and poll number that's more people believe that things are getting better. most of the members of these tea parties are older, which would seem to suggest they should remember that the same anti-government stuff was hurled at clinton while the country was prospering in way it's had not previously under clinton. is the tenet of this group which is i want something for nothing and i don't want anybody else to have anythings, it that overpowering, which it gets -- i

know you keep saying it's not rational, but there's got to be some self-rationalization in here. >> i do think there is this fear and -- the idea that the country is changing in ways that aren't expected. clinton, president clinton, was very eloquent about this. the culture is changing and it's personified by having a african-american president. the values people grew up with, whether it's a job in their own lives or what washington would behave like or look like, these are all changing. it's not going to be easy to keep those people on board or happy. but having economic security, having a social welfare system that they can rely on, whether it is social security that they say they like or a health care system that can look after them, these things are important stories to tell to those folks to reassure them the country is on the right track. >> richard wolffe, have a good weekend, please. >> thank you, keith. of course, as the media are reporting today, you simply can't trust the tea party -- oh,

wait, that's not the media, that's fox news saying that. after more than a year of promoting the tea parties, the palin network no longer trusts them. it began when sean hannity agreed to appear the a cincinnati tea party event urging viewers to buy tickets for $20 to 100 bucks each. proceeds to benefit the tea party. journalism watch dogs called foul on this and at last night's event, no hannity. the cincinnati tea party writes on its website, quote, fox news producers on-site informed the cincinnati tea party leadership that mr. hannity had to rush home for a personal emergency. the senate tea party expressed a statement of support and concern to hannity and family. we believe them, said the party founder. but, there was hannity on tv last night in new york. seems okay. the "los angeles times" reporting that furious fox news executives canceled his appearance at the event, quote, fox news never agreed to allow the cincinnati tea party

organizers to use sean hannity's television program to profit from, your move tea party. quote, despite knowing this was not true, fox caved. help us chris wallace. who can we trust. >> i don't know that sean's in trouble, but i think that there's -- people are look at fox, how do we avoid being taken advantage of. >> maybe the real problem is that a very senior fox executive was asked about the tea party just ten days ago and had this to say. >> your business network host told network viewers they needed to visit the tea party website to buy merchandise and your graphics said fox day tea parties. is it appropriate for a news network to engage in that much politics? >> no, i don't think we should be supporting the tea party or any other party. but i -- i'd like to investigate what you're saying before i condemn anyone. >> investigation underway,

sleuth. let's bring in eric byrnes with media matters. >> thank you, keith. >> are you happy now? you split up the fox and the tea party romance. >> look, i have no doubt they're going to be back together tomorrow morning. this is a long and deep relationship that's very serious. fox is invested an enormous amount of time and money in the tea party movement. essentially they did all but create the tea party movement to begin with. they've run over 100 promotional spots on fox news, touting tea party events. they've lent their talent out over the last year to host tea party rallies, they've even sponsored tea party rallies. so this is a very, very deep relationship, and i'm sure they're going to get past this one. >> well, they're america's sweethearts, i guess they'll get back together again. fox makes these tea parties a hell of a lot more money with cheerleading than ticket sales. why is that not a problem for fox or for mr. murdoch? >> it should be a problem for

fox and it should be a problem for mr. murdoch. it hasn't been because americans have largely become desensitized to what we're seeing from fox news as the unprecedented, you know, politicization of our news. it's operating as a political campaign not a news organization. so as you look at this, i think what's happening now is in the wake of murdoch's comments last week or my colleague in the question put to mr. murdoch, there's been a lot more heat from the media on fox and their relationship with the tea party. and fox really needs to maintain this illusion of journalistic credibility to be able to continue to operate as a 24/7 political campaign that you use a a fear tactics, that deliberately lies to their viewers and the american people. so for them, i think it's an important business decision. that, and i think hannity

embarrassed the boss. >> so is fox right in suggesting that somehow they didn't know what hannity was doing, they were taken advantage of by the tea party? and if the tea party and its members realize fox will lie about them, might it just -- might that little spark jump from one synapse to another and turns out fox will lie about anyone that would be clear to even people in tea parties? >> look. i think we both know it's absurd to think that fox really believes that they were lied to by the tea party organizers. because, as i've said before, they've been so deeply in bed with the tea party group since the very, very beginning. but i do think there is an opportunity here for well-meaning individual who's have been wrapped up in the tea party movement and the tea party protests to really look at this and step back and see that, you know, it's actually fox that's the enemy. it's fox that will throw their friends under the bus, that will lie, because we know this is what they do.

it's a core part of their business model. it's how they shape the political environment, through fear and dison city. and you know, i'm not going to hold out hope, but you never know. wouldn't it be a great day in america if folks in the tea party did wake up and realize that fox, they're not their friends. >> it's a great day for america, everybody. that's somebody else's show. last point, did mr. murdoch get back to you at media matters about that question your colleague asked? >> we didn't wait for him to get back to us, we sent him a letter offering our help with the investigation. we even conducted some of the investigation ourselves and sent them a packet of information highlighting fox's long and deep involvement with the tea party movement. we faxed it to him, we e-mailed it to him, we sent it to him by courier. i don't think we've done carrier pigeon yet but we have yet to get a response. i'm not holding my breath. but i will tell you this, keith, i do think since fox is operating as a political operation, we all know that they're running the conservative

movement and the republican party. the press in this country need to treat rupert murdoch and roger ales as politicians and need to hold them accountable to that promise. rupert murdoch promised an investigation and i hope every member of the u.s. media will actually hold him to that promise and make sure he actually conducts one. because that will be the best thing we can do for the political discourse in this country. >> the investigation by the way, rupert, is probably handling right now, i know from personal experience he's trying to figure out how he can fire you, even if you don't work for him. eric burns, president of media matters, good luck with that. great thanks. not limited to what two presidents said in the last two days, there is the ad pointed directly at the top republican spinmeister. and the startup-capital- for-barbers business. and the this-won't- hurt-a-bit business. because we don't just work here. we live here. these are our families. and our neighbors.

and by changing lives we're in more than the energy business we're in the human energy business. chevron. ♪ [ male announcer ] of all the things being said about our cars... the most important is what comes from you. if you are shopping for a new car, we invite you to put ours to the test. put us up against anyone. and may the best car win.

after how he managed to convince the saps that health care reform that would save them money would actually kill them, the democrats seem to have realized they have to stop this man's lies as financial reform looms. two years ago today before her

successful career as whatever the hell she is now, she urged alaskans to convene what she calls death panels. this man speaks to hundreds like he used to on tv, and gets facts wrong just like on tv. and thurber, "countdown" continues. choose from. so i can find someplace familiar... or somewhere more unique. nice. then expedia lets me compare dates to find out when i can save the most cash. done and done. we should do this more often. where you book matters. expedia. because with national, i roll past the counter... and choose any car in the aisle. choosing your own car? now that's a good call. go national. go like a pro.

a year and a half since the onset of the worst financial crisis since the great depression, virtually nothing has been done to prevent a repeat. today republicans with a little help from frank lutz, officially

announce their plan, block the democrats' plan. remind you of anything? chris dodd says his banking committee bill would put an end to too big to fail banks and would help fill in the regulatory gaps that led to that financial crisis. mitch mcconnell claims the bill would do the exact opposite. today he got all senate republicans to sign a letter to harry reid that says so. we are you know nightsed in our parent legislation reported by the senate banking committee. this allows for bailouts of wall street and established regulatory power that's will stifle small businesses and community banks. notably, however, the letter does not threaten a filibuster preventing the dodd bill, however, it contains prints of frank luntz, it was his group the word doctors which last year authored the anti-health care reform memo which coached republicans about fearmongering and government takeover. another blueprint for defeating

financial regulation reform, a 17-page document convincing americans that any democratic legislation will lead to more bailouts even though the republicans supervised the first round of bailouts. the republicans are taking the luntz advice. today an ad linking the senate floor to words luntz instructed him to say. >> this bill not only allows for taxpayer funded bailouts of wall street banks, it institutionalized them. >> republicans seem to be taking a page out of a recent strategy memo by poll center frank luntz. >> let me say that again. this bill not only allows, not only allows for taxpayer-funded bailouts, for wall street banks, it actually institutionalizes them. >> the single best way to kill any legislation is to link it to the big bank bailout. >> it's a bill that actually

guarantees future bailouts of wall street banks. >> another bailout and call in editor of "the nation" magazine, chris hayes. good evening. >> good evening, keith, how are you? >> before the politics, the substance of this, chris dodd says the bill, his bill, will end bailouts forever, and 41 republicans have today signed this letter that says dodd's bill will instead cause endless taxpayer bailouts of wall street. are either of these somewhat mutually exclusive statements correct? >> i would say neither are in this case. first of all, let's talk about the republicans. it is a staggering act of bad faith to say this institutionalizes bailouts for two reasons. one is the status quo is bailouts. this is the party that engineered the largest bailout in the history of the american republic. we all know exactly what's going to happen if something like this happens again under what we have now, which is that chamber of commerce, the big banks are going to go up to capitol hill and they're going to panic everyone and glenn beck is going

to get on the air and say we need the bailout. that's an important piece of history for everyone, and the bailout's going to pass. that is the status quo. second of all, when you look at the actual substance of the bill, the money that this $50 billion pool of money that's going to be used to pay for a, quote, bailout is coming from the banks. it's not taxpayer money. it is taxed off the banks. in terms of dodd saying it will end bailouts forever, look, the precedent has been set. if things get bad enough, congress will be there to sort of patch the holes of the leaking ship. so i don't even think you could say that. but what's happening on the republican end is really, really remarkable bad faith. >> is there any indication luntz's message regarding endless bailouts is resonating the way some of his health care misstatement? >> i think it's really early in this, and i think there's an encouraging aspect of this which is that unlike death panels, et cetera, and all the craziness that came out in health care, democrats are pushing back much more ferociously, quickly and

much more effectively and they sense that they have the politics on their side in this contest. people don't want to be on the side of the wall street banks so they're trying to pin their opponents that way. it's going to be a contest over who is most against the wall street banks. but i -- i do wonder how much, you know -- it's early in this. one of the things about the death panels and all that misinformation is that it kept getting repeated so long by the right wing noise machine that made it sink in. >> but that's -- isn't that the essence of this, because the president today framed the -- in debate again by asking this rhetorical question about congress, are they going to sides with the special interest and the status quo or are they going to side with the american people? when opponents of this government, of this president obviously will believe anything, they're just looking for a rationalization to justify what they want to believe to begin with, if that's the case, what happens if, as seems to be the indication here, both sides are making the same argument and the same claim? we're going to do this and the other side is not?

if both of them say that, do they neutralize each other? what happens? >> that's what's so remarkable about this debate. we're looking through some post modern looking glass. there's a democratic operative i know who uses the word post truth politics to describe this dynamic which i think is quite apt. democrats shouldn't fool themselves nooz thinking and i just saw on the internet before i came into the studio they're now talking about, okay, we're going to get rid of the $50 billion fund. in this environment of post truth environments, policy concessions will not affect the politics. you'll be accused of creating bailouts in perpetuity no matter what the actual policy grounds are. the reason i think the democrats have the upper hand is that in this case, they can draw from the sort of store of reputati reputational capital which has build up in which people are more inclined to think in a contest between the two parties about who is most opposed to the bank's intreftss the democrats are. that might be less true than

people quite realize but they actually have that leg up. >> chris hayes of "the nation" take care. >> you too, keith. so this icelandic volcano detonates and you're stuck in norway and you're due in brussels and nobody can fly, how do you get there? john cleese had a novel solution. in calories.

v8 juice gives you 3 of your 5 daily servings. it's a tasty, nutritious way to make this number go up... and help this one go down. v8. what's your number? so, doctor... i've been thinking... no. you know how... no. so, doc, i've got this friend... [ male announcer ] talking to your doctor about erectile dysfunction isn't easy. actually, doc, there is something i want to talk to you about. [ male announcer ] but it's definitely a conversation worth having. twenty million men have had their viagra talk. when you're ready for yours, visit viagra.com for helpful conversation starters and to learn how viagra can help. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. don't take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects may include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help

for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. it's time to take a deep breath... and ask your doctor if viagra is right for you.

two years to the day since sarah palin encouraged alaskans to hold what she now calls death panels. hip, hip, hypocrisy day.

first, twitter update, numbers of self posted today, none. tea baggers are more educated than an average person, they attended each high school grade twice. ouch, babe. let's play "oddball." we begin with the continuing wrath of the icelandic volcano, eyjafjallajokull, which is almost poetic. i'd say europe is getting prettied off at this thing. creating a nonflying circus leaving hundreds of thousands of flyers, including john cleese, mr. cleese visiting oslo in norway. for an appearance on a talk show whe

where. his flight canceled, all boats and trains full, so he got a cab. the tab? 30,000 norweigian or 5100 bucks. he plans on taking the euro star to arrive tomorrow. telling norway's tv, i will think about a joke you already heard, how do you get god to laugh? tell him your plans. to nevada and the exhibition game between the aces and wolf pack. between innings, ace's mascot arch chi the red guy and wolf if i junior, wowing the dance -- oh, you see what's going to happen, don't you? wolf if i does the moonwalk on the dugout and finishes it in the dugout. according to the wolf pack facebook page, he's doing well and is excited for the upcoming football season. national health care decoration

day two years ago, sister sarah was insisting they were right for alaska, now she's calling them death panels. (announcer) we're in the energy business.

but we're also in the showing-kids- new-worlds business. and the startup-capital- for-barbers business. and the this-won't- hurt-a-bit business. because we don't just work here. we live here. these are our families. and our neighbors. and by changing lives we're in more than the energy business we're in the human energy business. chevron. ♪ could open a world of wonder ? ♪ ♪ so sensory ♪ so satisfying ♪ the discovery ♪ never seems to stop ♪ ♪ it's the magic friskies ♪ ♪ makes happen ♪ every day ♪ in so many ways ♪ friskies ♪ feed the senses

two years ago today, sarah palin urged alaskans to sign advanced health care decoratil n declaratio declarations, coverage from their insurers about such meetings, palin dubbed it obama's death panel. today is national health care decisions day and president obama has now made it easier for gay men and lesbians and others who want to designate legal surrogates not conventional family members. health and human services kathleen sebelius issue new rules to require hospitals to extend rights and respect patient's choice about who he or she designates to make decisions

for them. it also includes religious orders. two years ago governor palin marked this day by encouraging people in her state to create their own advanced directeders. it was former half governor, former presidential candidate palin who posted on her facebook page last august quoting, the america i know and love is not one in which my parents or baby with down syndrome will have to stand in front of obama's death panel whether they are worthy of health care. such a system is downright evil. the america i know and love is not one in which that would happen. palin reveled later in broadening that claim. >> we're not going to back off on our criticism of the problems of the health care bill, and one aspect of it is the death panels still, if we have our health care paid for by government, we're going to be subject to bureaucrats deciding which,

panels and commissions, deciding, just like they do overseas, who will be worthy of receiving the health care that government is going to provide. so that is the death panel that i referred to, and i won't back off on criticizing that aspect of the health care bill. >> this woman is an idiot. i want to address that truth and the realities of the directives with the attorney and chair of national health care decisions day, nathan kothcamp. >> thanks. it's great to be here on this important day. >> two years ago it seems that the then-governor of alaska took it seriously. are you familiar with the proclamation that she signed two years ago? >> i sure am. it's actually very similar to the proclamations that were issued with bipartisan support in both houses of the congress, and also in several states around the country in addition to alaska. >> we've described advanced

directives previously at great length. explain them for us in the -- in a substantive way. >> sure. advanced directors are documents used to enable individuals to provide their wishes for situations in which they cannot speak for themselves. and this can be caused by any kinds of things, whether it's a sudden illness, a car accident or some sort of terminal condition. there's two key types of advanced directives. one is an agent who stands in your shoes and speaks for you when you cannot speak for yourself. the other is a living will, a document that provides written instructions, often instructions with respect to ends of life care in the event of a terminal condition but provides those in written form. >> there was a study, the new england journal of medicine published earlier in the month, finding more than 90% of adult who's had living wills wound up requesting either limited care or comfort care, as my father

did. 2% asked for all care possible and obviously they have the right to do that and i have witnessed firsthand the importance of those distinctions for not only the patient but for the family. in your experience, in the nuts and bolts at the bedside, is this an issue, is this a right, is this a system that draws support from people across the political spectrum? is there really a divide right when you get down to the nitty gritty? >> no, i really don't think there is. and one of the best examples of that is if i go to national health care decisions day.org and click on participants, you'll see organizations on the far right, far left and everywhere in between. i think what we see with this event all across the country is no matter what your ideological perspective is on the meaning of life and end of life issues, everyone seems to recognize that it's important for us to be able to state what our wishes are and then have those wishes be honored. >> mr. kottcamp, health care would have changed this on

declarations how? insurance would have paid for doctor's time and insight in these discussions and the people who demonize that somehow got that cut out of health care reform? >> they did. there's an unfortunate disconnegligent. we've got federal regulations that require hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, even dialysis facilities to raise the copy of advanced directives to provide forms for patients but there isn't a payment mechanism for those facilities to do it. obviously we want patients to talk about these choices with their physicians and there's no payment mechanism there in most circumstances. if we really want these conversations to be enabled we have to put our money where our mouth is and put some reimbursement into the hands of physicians so they'll actually have incentive to have these conversation. >> and conversations, plural, is the key to it as well. i don't know how many i had. the same treatment for my father was a different set of circumstances every day. we had to go through it every day and see where we were.

so my thanks to you and for all the good work you're doing, nathan kottcamp, thanks for your time. have a good weekend. >> thank you so much. fitting, isn't it? one of our four fables from james thurber which i will read tonight is called "the very proper gander." lou dobbs in worst persons. i know what you're saying, i didn't know he was still alive. well, of course, how can you tell? and rachel's special guest, senator claire mccaskill trying to unravel the boondoggle of military contractor who's basically take your money and give our troops nothing. [ vrrroooooomm! ]

black one! where? [ vrrroooooomm! ] black one! where? [ vrrroooooomm! ] black one! ow! where? [ male announcer ] the volkswagen tiguan. the only compact suv with a turbocharged engine, standard. [ vrrroooooomm! ] black one! where? there. [ male announcer ] lease the 2010 tiguan for just $269 a month.

it's a whole new volkswagen. and a whole new game. while insisting he was not wrong the first time about unions and the west virginia mine disaster, he get it's wrong again. and his competitors in worsts. two men fired a combined three times by cnn and nbc. and it's thurber night. stay tuned for four fables, including "the very proper

gander." and choose any car in the aisle. choosing your own car? now that's a good call. go national. go like a pro. called it "one of the best family cars of 2009." the insurance institute for highway safety calls it a 2010 top safety pick. with automatic crash response from onstar that can call for help, even when you can't.

we call it peace of mind. a consumers digest best buy two years in a row, chevy malibu. may the best car win. the weekly visit with the works of james thurber brings us among other fables "the very proper gander." that's next. but tonight's worst persons in the world. tucker carlson, he said daily caller would be a news site conservative but nod id yo lodge cam, a detached version politico or huffington post, except they

co-hosted a tea party event. grover norquist's americans for tax reform and the man guilty of the original sin of astroturfing dick armey. poor tucker. fired by cnn, can't even keep a website going for six months before it becomes just another shill for the right wing. the runner up, lou dobbs. in a fawning interview with "gq" showing he's at the top of his game, provided the game is seen nilty. dobbs replies, do you think they'd have the guts to bring an independent on to msnbc? are you kidding me? have you looked at their ratings? if you looked, they're scared to dea death. nbc is ge's gift to the obama

administration. and please, give us some more defense contracts. it's all good. in the last four months of his television career before cnn fired him, here were in of the ratings, compared to 294,000 watching "countdown" an hour later, lou proving again he is independent. independent of facts, independent of viewers, independent of supporters. but our winner, boss russ h. limbaugh. today he claimed the volcano eruption was god protesting reform, worst again, he lied about the tragedy at the upper big branch mine, blaming it on unions. unions must have frightened him as a child. there were union worker there's so united mine workers should have been yore seeing their safety. united mine workers of america, there were union workers there.

they say that's a nonunion shop. that ceo got rid of all the unions. at some point you're going to have to learn, pardon me for this sandwich. if you go up against me on a challenge of fact, you're going to be wrong. it's just that simple. no. the only thing simple is you lose the challenge of fact. there were 85 union coal miners brought back by massey energy, the owners of the mine, but not to the upper big branch mine, the one that exploded, they brought them back to another massey energy operation, mammoth mine in smithers, west virginia, 50 miles away. rush was wrong by 50 miles. that's actually real good for him. rush "wrong on the facts again" limbaugh, today's worst person in the world. to grasse, france

to work with roxane. here in this centuries old town cargill creates flavors. and food companies come to collaborate with cargill. creating unique tastes from thousands of rare flavors. helped by roxane... an ingredient mixing robot. and a team of flavor experts. food companies find the recipe for success. this is how cargill works with customers. male announcer: be kind to your eyes with transitions lenses. transitions adapt to changing light so you see a whole day comfortably and conveniently

while protecting your eyes from the sun. ask your eyecare professional which transitions lenses are right for you. female announcer: thanks to the eyeglass guide, it's never been easier to find the right pair of eyeglasses. check out eyeglassguide.com today, brought to you by transitions.

we end, as always, with friday's with thurber, readings from america's all around greatest humorist, essayist, playwright and cartoonist, james thurber. i read nearly all of thurber's stories to my late father in his hospital room, and he insisted it would be good for the show. turns out the thurber family thought so too. the book from which i read "thurber writings and drawings" along with the many thurber titles available appeared on amazon's movers and shakers lists, books suddenly taking off. get me, i'm oprah winfrey. tonight, fables for our time, illustrated in 1940. available again in a perennial edition from harper and row. let me begin with "the little

girl and the wolf." one afternoon, a big wolf waited in a dark forest for a little girl to come along carrying a basket of food to her grandmother. finally, a little girl did come along and she was carrying a basket of food. you carrying that basket to your grandmother? asked the wolf. the little girl said, yes, she was. the wolf asked her where her grandmother lived. she told him and he disappeared into the wood. when the little girl opened the door to her grandmother's house, she noticed somebody in bed with a nightgown and cap on. she saw that it was not her grandmother but the wolf. for even in a night cap, the wolf does not look anymore like your grandmother than the metro golden lion looks like calvin coolidge. so the little girl took an automatic out of her basket and shot the wolf dead. moral? it is not so easy to fool little girls nowadays as it used to be. "the little girl and the wolf,"

by james thurber. now to something a bit more political from the same book, "the birds and the foxes." once upon a time, there was a bird sanctuary in which hundreds of baltimore orioles lived together happily. the refuge consisted of a forest, entirely surrounded by a high-wire fence. it was put up, a pack of foxes who lived nearby protested that it was an arbitrary and unnatural boundary. however, they did nothing about it at the time, because they were interested in civilizing the geese and ducks on the neighboring farms. when all the geese and ducks had been civilized and there was nothing else left to eat, the foxes once more turned their attention to the bird sanctuary. their leader announced there had once been foxes in the sanction wary but that they had been driven out. he proclaimed that baltimore orioles belonged in baltimore. he said further more that orioles in the sanction wary were a continuous men us to the peace of the world.

the other animals cautioned the foxes not to disturb the birds. so the foxes attacked the sanction wary one night, the orioles rushed out and were instantly killed and eaten by the foxes. the next day the leader of the foxes, a fox from whom god was receiving daily guidance, got up on the ross trum and addressed the other foxes. his message was simple and sublime. you see before you, he said, another lincoln. we have liberated all those birds. moral? government of the orioles by the foxes and for the foxes must perish from the earth. "the birds and the foxes." i mentioned this one last week. here it is in full. it is perhaps my favorite of the fables. "the bear who let it alone," by james thurber. in the woods of the far west,

there one lived a brown bear who could take it or let it alone. he would go into a bar where they sold meade, a fore meanted drink made of honey. he would put some money on the bar and say, say what the bears in the back room will have. he'd go home. finally he took to drinking by himself most of the day. he would reel home at night, kick over the umbrella stand, knock down the bridge lamps and ram his elbows through the windows. then he would collapse on the floor and lie there until he went to sleep. his wife was greatly distressed. and his children were very frightened. at length, the bear saw the error of his ways and began to reform. in the end he became a famous teetotaler in a tell prance lecture. he would tell everybody that came to his house about the awful effects of drink and boast about how strong and well he became since he gave up the stuff. to demonstrate this he would

stand on his head and hands and turn cart wheels in the house. kicking over the umbrella stand, knocking down the bridge lamps, and ramming his elbows through the windows. then he would lie down on the floor, tired by his healthful exercise and go to sleep. his wife was greatly distressed and his children were very frightened. moral? you might as well fall flat on your face, as lean over too far backward. and lastly tonight, a limb bit from the political end of things, we go to page 15, and the famous "the very proper gander." not so very long ago there was a very fine gander. he was strong and smooth and beautiful and he spent most of his time singing to his wife and children. one day somebody who saw him strutting up and down in his yard and singing remarked, there is a very proper gander. an old hen overheard this and told her husband about it that

night in the roost. they said something about proper gan da, she said. i've always suspected that, said the rooster and he went around the barn yard the next day telling everyone the very fine gander was a dangerous bird, more than likely a hawk in gander's clothing. a small brown hen remembered a time when she had seen the gander talking with some hawks in the forest. they were up to no good, she said. a duck remembered the gander had once told him he did not believe in anything. he said to hell with the flag too, said the duck. a guinea hen recalled she had once seen somebody that looked very much like the gander throw something that looked a great deal like a bomb. finally everybody snatched up sticks and stones and descended on the gander's house approximate he was strutting in his front yard singing to his children and his wife. there he is, everybody cried. hawk lover, unbeliever, flag hater, bomb thrower. so they drove him out of the country. moral? anybody who you or your wife thinks is going to overthrow the

government by violence must be driven out of the country. the very proper gander, by james thurber. that's "countdown" with portions written by james thurber. "the rachel maddow show" show is next. good night, and good luck. good evening. thanks very much to you at home for staying with us tonight. we have a very big friday night show ahead, including senator claire mccaskill joining us. very excited for that. but where we begin tonight is tiny town, usa. it's a very, very tiny town. it's a very close-knit community tiny town. and in tiny town, essentially there is one doughnut shop. we've decided to call it ye olde doughnut shoppe. right next to that is ye olde swimming pool.

that's basically all of tiny town. it's the doughnut shop and the swimming pool and then the main drag. this is the main drag here. across the street from both of these institutions, is where -- ah-hah. the mean old man in town lives. he's across the street from the doughnut shop and swimming pool. you can tell he's mean because of his menacing facial hair or something. i don't know. one day the mean old man notices that when the delivery truck arrives to drop off the swimming pool chemicals for ye olde swimming pool, when the driving truck arrives for the pool, it's chlorine and all that stuff, that delivery comes at the same time that the delivery arrives for the doughnut shop. and it's like the flour and the sugar and the nondairy creamer, all the other dry goods supplies for ye olde doughnut shop. so mean old man in town, in tiny town, spies with his little eyes, from across the street, he see