is it your birthday? >> it happens to be my mom's birthday. happy birthday, mama. >> just in time. that will do it. "hardball" is up right now. are the republicans blowing it? let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, bully pulpit. maybe both of the top two republican candidates right now are like the lead character in "the artist." better off seen, but not heard. rick santorum, not only did he criticize the concept of the separation between church and state, he said jack kennedy's famous 1960s speech on the subject made him one to throw up. throw up. then he called president obama a snob for focusing on higher education.

this may be great gut conservative politics, but what are we talking about in terms of running for president? then there's mitt romney who can't seem to get out of his own way. yesterday he was asked whether he follows nascar. his answer, not as closely as some of its most ardent fans, but i have friends who are nascar team owners. that doesn't help. he is trying to be a man of the people. the trouble is those people are all rich. and the killings and rights in afghanistan in the wake of burning of korans has a lot of americans asking, is this time to get out of there? who is the best guest to have when republicans are getting themselves into deep doo doo? bill maher. he's going to join us tonight. and remember i mentioned that perhaps the gop candidates might be better off like silent movie stars? seen but not heard. we'll have a show called "mitt, better off mute."

>> this is going to a riot. we begin with rick santorum's criticism of college, kennedy, and the separation of church and state. why not throw that in? john fooerer for the defense. and eugene robinson, who is an analyst. yesterday rick santorum explained why kennedy's speech makes him want to throw up. let's watch what he actually said. >> i don't believe in an america of a separation of church and state. the idea that the church can have no influence or no involvement in the operation of the state is absolutely

antithetical to the objectives and vision of our country. to see that people of faith have no role in the public square? you bet that makes you throw up. >> wow. in september of 1960, many of us remember john kennedy travelled to houston to speak to the greater houston association. he argued that the catholic church would not dictate his presidency. let's watch a bit of that historic speech. >> it is apparently necessary for me to state once again. not what kind of church i believe in, for that should be important only to me, but what kind of america i believe in. i believe in an america where the separation of church and state is absolute. where no catholic could tell the president to be catholic and how to act and no protestant minister would tell his people who to vote. >> wow.

john, that was pretty unexceptional. he made the statement that the bishops of the day, there was a lot of fear in those days, would not be his bosses. did he say something wrong? is santorum right here? should the bishops give the order? >> the first amendment protects religion. i don't know how many ways we have to say this. mitt romney gave a speech more like jack kennedy's speech he would be better in the polls. i think rick santorum is wrong on this. the reason religion flourishes in america is because it is protected from the government. >> how many states would jack kennedy have gotten if he gave a rick santorum speech? >> i think massachusetts. >> we laugh because it would have been ab absurd statement to say. >> it would be absurd. and what santorum is doing -- >> is he a thee democrat? >> you can nail this.

does he believe churches should run states? >> i think he is. i think that's what he believes deep down. i think that's obviously dangerous for this country. >> here's what's strange about it. let's talk to politics. let's go to our strength. here's the story. for him to beat the elite guy, who is well bred, we know the whole story. the only way to beat him is to submarine him. they are the very people, the reagan democrats, who voted for jack kennedy. why is he trashing kennedy? >> when rick santorum was talking about manufacturing jobs, when he had his plan to help blue-collar people, the other thing talking about education, this idea that people in the blue-collar don't have aspirations to go to college is

insane. >> there's a great role out there for people of high skills. we need to fix cars, build cars, we need engineers. here it is on saturday. rick santorum ridiculed president obama's education policy by calling the president a snob. let's watch. >> president obama want once said he wants everybody in america to go to college. what a snob. there are good, decent men and women who go out and work hard every day and put their skills to test that aren't taught by some liberal college professor that tried to indock ra nat them. i understand why he wants you to go to college. he wants to remake you in his image. >> there's a conspiracy theory. >> that's a conspiracy theory. who is the snob? he's sending his kids to college. it's good enough for him. >> but he kept them from public

school. >> do you know what the unemployment rate is for college graduates? 4.4%. for those who have high school but no college, it's 9.5%. do the math. >> it's better to go to college. >> go to college. doesn't it enrich your life? he has an undergraduate degree. he has a law degree. he has an mba. >> you know what i'd like to do? i love nothing better than to go to college graduations and speak and see the parents whose kids are the first in the family to go to college. a lot of them african-americans. and it is the most exciting day in the family's history to have those first kids go to college. and here he is saying, okay, you parents that want your first in the family to go to college, you're snobs. what is he talking about? >> i guess i'm with the snob.

i think it's ans a operation operational -- aspirational thing. >> if i were attacking president obama on college education, i would say he's done nothing to deal with the cost of that college education. the costs are out of control and people can't afford it. that's where i would attack him. i wouldn't attack the idea to go to college. it's insane. >> translate. he has to beat one guy. the elitist. the guy that owns two cadillacs for his wife. he's rich. how do you beat the guy who is rich? >> this is not how you do it. you talk about manufacturing jobs and you talk about why the cost of college and education is too high and how you help the middle class. >> if you say something like that, you can only be trying to talk to people who themselves did not go to college.

you're going to tell them they shouldn't wish that for their children? >> remember george wallace who talked about the bureaucrats with their peanut butter sandwiches? remember that antielitism? we got the point. you're from washington. you're no good. but this idea is so antiintellectual. w. used to do this. >> he was pro-college. he was also pro-improving schools. >> then he hung out with the wrong kind. >> there's always been a huge strain in politics. >> okay. explain this. explain the antiintellectualism. >> attack the universities. attack the point he has. there's a lot of washington wall street and people who thought they knew what they were doing and the country has gone off the wrong track because the smart people screwed things up. >> did your dad say where did

you learn that? i used to get this all the time. >> i didn't. >> i think a lot of people are suspicious. >> my dad would lecture me on things. >> thank you. this was a great discussion. this guy may be blowing it. i think he might pull it out tomorrow. coming up in 20 minutes, bill maher is going to be here. get a large coke. popcorn. get to the snack bar. missteps by mitt romney rick santorum, bill is going to be here to enjoy them. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. people with a machine. what ? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7,

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santorum e leading among likely republican voters 36 to 29. he had a bigger lead. in tennessee santorum leads romney 33 to 17. in a new poll in georgia, newt gingrich has a 13-point lead in the channel 2 poll. newt is at 38. romney is further back at 19. we'll be right back. i knew it'd be tough on our retirement savings, especially in this economy. but with three kids, being home more really helped. man: so we went to fidelity. we talked about where we were and what we could do. we changed our plan and did something about our economy. now we know where to go for help if things change again. call or come in today to take control of your personal economy. get free one-on-one help from america's retirement leader. and it's surprising what it goes through in the course of a day. but what's even more surprising is that brushing alone isn't enough to keep it clean.

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welcome back to "hardball." the republican nomination fight appears to be having an unintended consequence. it makes obama look better every day. that's what we can take away from new poll numbers. the approval rating is at 53%. up nine points since november. and above the important 50% threshold in a head to head matchup with the republican ls. he beats romney by ten points.

53 to 43. he beats santorum by the same amount. so these are real developments. it's good news for the white house. bad news for the republican party per se. mark halperin is a senior political advisor. and david corn is an msnbc political analyst. thank you for joining us. i love you only look at the big picture. we have obama getting more popular. we're getting into the personal popularity in a moment. he's edging significantly above the 50% mark. and also shifting to what may be moving into a double-digit lead over the candidate. what's going on? >> well, the republican nomination fight is hurting the republican brand. the president's handled his own role in most things pretty well. there's a snapshot, chris. if the republican nominee is determined for the convention. if the nominee handles things

well, we're back to 200 electoral votes on each side. so good news for the president today. >> what do you base that? you're better at explaining that. why is it basically if they get their act together still a 50/50 country? >> because there's still a lot about the president's record that if they execute can go after. as well as the president is doing, go to the electoral college, which is how this is decided. there's few states that senator mccain won that the president has a good chance to win. arizona is one. after that, bst a big dropoff. if the republican nominee emerges from the contest, handling him or herself well, then they get back to the electoral votes and can build off of that. i think you'd hear the same description of what's likely to happen in chicago. if the republican nominee handles it poorly, i think the president's numbers will really help him to get a bigger win than four years ago.

>> the fundamentals are even steven. they have to get competent by november. you buy that? >> i do. gas can still sdlr 6 a gallon. unemployment is still high. i mean romney should be up by 20 points given those circumstances on those fundamentals. but yet the campaign has been awful for him and the whole republican brand. he's falling behind. the risk here for the republicans is that there's no opportunity to bounce back later. the impressions being formed are -- if you look at the independent numbers in this poll, 49% to 27% in favor of of barack obama over mitt romney. it's getting larger. the deeper it gets, the harder it will be for romney. >> real quickly, is that true for women voters who have been on the defensive with this republican policy rate on them.

they were ochded in how they are talking about issues. >> i think women voters, hispanic voters, younger voters. the republican party is in the process of trying to pick a nominee. they are doing irreparable harm to the party this year and longer term. but a strong nominee who skillfully deals with these issues pretty soon and emerges strong has a chance to come back. but the trajectory they are on with independents and his panics, it's going to make it mathematically impossible. >> let me show you some things. this weekend mitt romney tried to burnish his credentials by talking about the daytona 500. but when asked if he followed nascar, let's listen to his own words. >> not as closely as sosm of the most ardent fans, but i have some great friends who that are

nascar team owners. >> he keeps talking like he's in a board room. >> he talks like he's a 1%. the ifs are becoming bigger and bigger. if mitt romney gets his act together. every chance hooesd had in the last few months to get something right, he keeps blowing it. so even if he gets clear of the santorum tar pit, he's still going to be burdened by his own baggage. >> he keeps doing this over and over again. this whole question, does he have the chops? romney who keeps talking about 1%. he talks like he's the rich guy. talks about the cars. talks about rich people talk among themselves. he's talking to a country that is 99%. >> it's a total cheap shot to go after romney on that nascar

thing. i love nfl football because i used to go out on the players yachts. great times. it is a mind set that we now can't say is accidental. nor can we say he's going to stop it. there's too many of them. but through the media filter at least, it's lethal. it takes up so much space in the narrative. he's doing nothing to replace it. he's not going on the tonight show. he's not doing anything -- >> he refuses to go on "meet the press." >> that wouldn't replace the narrative. he needs to erase the narrative with something else. if he's going to reflect the mind set if he's the nominee, it's going to make it harder for him to be elected. there's no question. >> imagine the ads when the obama super pacs going into november over and over again pointing out his mentality of

only the elite. in michigan, mitt romney and rick santorum are pretty much tied. what do you make of this tomorrow? we just did a poll among our producers. just because i always root for the underdog. almost always. even tomorrow. i wanted the underdog to win for many reasons. i want this to be a race. is there a good chance that the voters who show up will be the christian conservative people who like everything about rick santorum that we sort of don't? >> you mean the outcome in michigan? >> yeah. is there a decent chance? >> i'm going with my head says romney should win this but santorum will win e this. i still think the size of crowds and the message he's driving that appeals to that base, if he made me bet, i would get bet on

santorum. >> you do enthuse me because mark you're more analytical. i love a good show. the country benefits from the deba debate. the more this goes on, the better it is for our country. we're getting a good look at mitt romney. mitt romney that it can't hide. and santorum is exposing the cultural belly of this party. >> this has been a much more revealing race than anybody anticipate anticipated in the beginning. it's certainly clear that his voters are more motivated. he's been to northern michigan finding these pockets of conservative voters who feel resentment towards elites. and buy everything he's selling. the people who come up for romney -- >> what scares you more. the belly republican party, santorum, or the superiority, mentality of mitt romney? what scares you? what would be more scary to you?

>> this is the heart or stomach. >> what scares you more? >> i think if the social conservatives are the type that rick santorum is speaking to gain power, they will probably do more damage than the pollute democrats that mitt romney represents. but it's a tossup. >> i think the mentality is more frightening than the gut. thank you, mark halperin for your great analysis. thank you, david corn. up next, just like "the artist," mitt romney might be better off seen but not heard. we have a great satire. this is worthy of the old days. this guy is "the artist." he can't talk, but he looks good. then we'll have bill maher. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc.

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back to "hardball." now for a big sideshow tonight. first up, the sound of silence. this just premiered on this weekend's the chris matthews show. here's the trailer. ♪ ♪ >> i love this state. it seems right here.

the trees are the right height. [ laughter ] >> mitt better off mute. that's a tough one. he was talking about having the right friends. people who own nascar teams. don't ride in those cars. next up, a friend in the cabinet. secretary of state hillary clinton is getting some flak for telling a group of students in tu nearby ya that president obama will be reelected and not to pay attention to someone on the campaign trail. largely above the fray of election politics. but apparently, there are times. here's clinton explaining it all on cnn.

>> probably my enthusiasm for the president got a little out of hand. >> no political juices flowing? >> i tried to dampen them down and tried to have them taken out. blood transfusion, but occasionally they rear their heads. >> that's what hilary is like when you meet her. she's very likable. does that mean she's considering a full reentry? that's still a no she says. up next, the one and only bill maher joins us from los angeles. he has plenty of material from rick santorum's latest ad. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. look at all this stuff for coffee. oh there's tons. french presses, espresso tampers, filters. it can get really complicated. not nearly as complicated as shipping it though. i mean shipping is a hassle. not with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits it ships, anywhere in the country for a low flat rate.

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sooim sue herrera with your cnbc market wrap. encouraging news about the health of the housing market. an index of pending home sales rose 2% last motto a nearly two-year high. meanwhile profits at lowe's rose 14% easily beating all expectations. and a breather for oil. crude prices finished lower for the first time since valentine's day. that's it from cnbc. now back to chris and "hardball." >> i would like to tonight announce a donation to the obama super pac, which has the unfortunate tongue twister named "priority usa action." i know. it was named by borat.

but tonight i would like to give that pac $1 million. this is the wisest investment i think i could make on a selfish level. because i'll tell you something, folks, who i know look at these republican clowns and think it's in the bag. no, it's not. obama could lose. >> well, well said by a smart man as well as a funny man. that's bill maher announcing he's donated $1 million to president obama's super pac, which has no relation to the president. it's no joke. bill maher joins us from l.a. are you going to be watching how much they collect from that pac to know what percentage you owe of that thing? >> you talking to me? >> yeah, i'm talking to you. >> i think at the moment, it's probably too big a percentage.

i was trying to throw a snowball to create an avalanche and let the liberals who think this is already in the bag, probably because like me they watch "hardball" and see what idiots these republicans are, but that's not how the whole country sees it. i promise you when it comes to election night, it's going to be neck and neck. it's going to be a tight race. >> tell me why you think that. that's what we just heard mark halperin say. despite the president being up and moving above 50%, up to 53% now, why do you think it will be different in november? >> well, one reason is because of this issue of money. because obama had a giant money advantage last time because the most anybody could give was $2,3 $2,300. now adelson talks about giving $100 million. the game has changed from small contributions to large

contributions in the millions. the many millions. he's going to have, i think, a tremendous financial disadvantage. the other reason is because this kwo country is divided. i talk about the republican bubble, but there's a liberal bubble too. they hear rick santorum talking about the father of lies and how college is bad and they think these people are nuts. but half the country doesn't think it's nuts. on election night, i bet you it will be a tight race. >> you do have a bigger world view than a lot of people on left, right, or center. is it going on the road, do you feel it? you're pretty liberal. i have been on your show. how do you find that other audience and connect with them? >> well, i don't really want to connect with them. >> i mean find out they are there. count them. let's put it that way. >> yeah, i mean, you're right. i'm on the road quite a bit. i do a lot of standup dates

around the country. i'm going to huntsville, alabama, on march 3rd. then i'm going to san antonio. these are not liberal places. even though they come out to my show, when you're in airports and in bars and wherever you are, you talk and see people. yeah. there's a whole different -- i mean i talked to tim tebow last night. it was thrilling. at the vanity fair party after the oscars. you can't talk to tebow and come away with a different point of view, you're not listening. >> what is -- for our progressives and liberals watching the show, what is the legitimate against obama? what is it they have deepest besides ethnic thing? is there something about obama that you think is going to drive them into the voting booth no matter what happens between now and november? >> he's a muslim socialist out to destroy america. haven't you heard that?

>> but they are the crazies. >> this is the bubble they live in. it's hard to get actual facts into this impermeable membrane. they are running against a fictional president. a president who has slashed defense, who has raised taxes, who goes around the world apologizing to different countries, who coddles terrorists, all of which never happened. but that's who they think the president is. and it's very, very hard. that's why we have this bubble we built on this show to physically illustrate this. >> let's talk about possible cracks in that bubble. this guy caught bin laden in one of the most interesting way. he did it brilliantly. he got bin laden. they got him kill ed in the action, which is the neatest way to do it. his family is picture perfect. they don't do anything wrong. they turned themselves out perfectly. they act like a royal family in a good democratic way.

everything his wife does seems perfect. it's about obesity, which is a problem in this country. what more do they want from this guy? we have a number that's out where something like 75% of the country say they like the guy personally. >> well, chris, first of all, you're using reason, which as we know is a faulty way to derive at any sort of truth. rick santorum will tell you it's probably because you went to college. and people who go to college, they are the types who are suspect to this virus of reason. and that's probably why you're thinking the way you are logically. no. what rick santorum would tell you is home school your kids, stay away from college, because people who go to college want to be like obama. you know, successful. we don't want that here in america. >> what did you think about going to war with jack kennedy? here's a guy who is trying to get the reagan democrats,

eventually santorum, because they are the ones that decide. people that generally are more conservative. but they are still democrats, but you try to grab them because that's how you win. trashing kennedy, i don't get it. they do most of the time. he trashes the conservative catholics, who still treasure kennedy. african-americans still treasure kennedy. who is he looking for not in those groups of college or ethnically conservative democrats? >>. i don't know. you're asking the wrong guy, because i can't see into his mind. i never thought anyone would come out against college. i can't write this stuff. in fact, with all the material that rick santorum is giving me, i should write him a check for a million dollars. but what's interesting about the kennedy thing is kennedy in 1960 had to make a speech that said i'm not going to be taking my

marching orders from the pope. here we are in 2012, and it's almost the opposite. rick santorum is throwing up because the president is not saying the reverse. i will take my marching orders from the pope. >> exactly. that's what he's saying. >> it's so through the looking glass. i loved that thing you did last week about the statement that the pope make and rick santorum doesn't even follow his own pop pope. >> let me ask you about romney. i have this a theory that backs up your case. i believe that nobody believes romney and that's going to help him in the general l election. nobody believes that he's a right winger and believes in the tea party crap. not everybody believes he's pragmatic about abortion rights. they think he's a pragmatist. nobody is afraid of the guy. i think that may be a great help to him if he goes up against obama. >> that's right. and i do agree with that. i think this idea that they go

after him as a flip-flopper, that could backfire because being a flip-flopper proversely in this weird world could be an asset to him. people who don't like what he is saying will just say, when he gets into office, they are going to switch right back. they are going to have to flip-flop on flip-flopping. it's a very funny election. >> i hear when he switched parties for the second time, anybody can rat. it takes somebody special to rerat. maybe he's going to rerat and go back to being the governor of massachusetts. >> it will be a little hard. >> you're the best. you're the fun nest smartest guy around. bill maher, thank you for coming on. "realtime" returns this friday on hbo. for some reason, all these people that say they have a social life are always home

friday night watching this guy. you explain. any way, he will be at the tennessee performing arts center in nashville on march 18th. up next, scary stuff with the koran getting burned in afghanistan. these guys are spaing for a fight against us. should we still be there? this is "hardball," only on msnbc. with the capital one cash rewards card you get a 50% annual bonus. and everyone likes 50% more cash -- well, except her. no! but, i'm about to change that. ♪ every little baby wants 50% more cash... ♪ phhht! fine, you try. [ strings breaking, wood splintering ] ha ha. [ male announcer ] the capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash.

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remains one of his strongest poll numbers in the new poll. when asked their impression of barack obama as a person, and the way they approved of him, three quarters said they approved. 74%. 59% they approved of him strongly as a person. this is serious business. a big plus for the president. we'll be right back. if you are one of the millions of men who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel.

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for androgel 1.62%. what are you waiting for? this is big news. what are you waiting for? in the works package, we change the oil we change the filter... tire rotation, suspension, we make suspension checks... what we have here is the multi-point inspection. every time a vehicle comes into a ford dealership you'll be presented with one of these. we check the belts, hoses... brakes. tires and the pressures... battery, all your fluids... exhaust system, transmission... we inspect your air filter... it gets done,it gets done quickly and it gets done correctly. the works. oil change, tire rotation and more: $29.95 or less after rebate - at your ford dealer. you're a doctor... you're a car doctor. maybe a car doctor... we're back public. there was more violence in afghanistan today which is being called revenge for the burning of the korans by nato troops last week. nine afghans were killed today. u.s. officials called the

burning of the korans a mistake and president obama apologized. but at least 40 people are now dead because of the burnings including four american gis. they were pulling advisors from government ministries after a number of attacks targeting american troops. what does this latest episode say about the mission in afghanistan? is it time to get out? shelley pin gree serves on the house committee. and wes moore is a veteran of the war in afghanistan. thank you for joining us. i have to start with the congresswoman who has been elected. i give preference to elected officials in our democracy. you know, biden, vice president biden said a better plan over there, when this was being reviewed, is counterterrorism. don't go in there with counterinsurgency. keep aware they could come back.

focus on terrorists and get out of the country. doesn't he now look smarter than the policy we have now of this surge of almost 100,000 troops? >> keep in mind that biden has made many trips over to the country. i think he's right. i think incidents like this only e saser bait it. there will be continued turmoil. this is another signal we spent too much money and lost too many troops. >> why do they hate us so much that all it takes is something that's clearly, or no worse than done -- imagine a couple officers. worst case scenario, it's probably something like they say it is where they were passing messages with these books, but why has the country turned against us? it looked like they were spoiling for an issue. >> there's a lot of turmoil over there. many people in the country appreciate what we have done. but this is a hard place to

"win." it's just one more example of why we don't belong there. >> wes moore, thank you for joining us. and thanks for your service. is this an example of just people rubbed raw with nationalism. they don't like people in their country and they just don't like them so they do something wrong, there's their issue? >> i think it's a bigger issue than that quite honestly. i don't think this has to do with the fact they hate us, per se. i feel like the fact they saw this holy book and saw the koran as their holy book and saw this desecration of the koran. this is an inadvertent mistake. it's a mistake that's turned daily. with president obama coming in and making an apology, this is not about immasculating america. this is about force protection. president obama is trying to look out for the best interest of the soldiers who have to be on the ground fighting this every day. so i think this is about something that's much bigger than simply about why do they hate us. but then that's why i think president obama was so forceful in the way he tried to address this.

>> why are they running around the streets like this going nuts? don't they have places they have to be? don't they have something they have to do in they've quodevote their entire beings now because of what some guys did. by the way in the western religions when you have a religious article, the proper way to dispose of it is burning it. so that is not a desecration. so it's their interpretation of what they see as a desecration. we don't look at it that way. an american would never burn something to desecrate it. that would be a way of treating a holy object. that is the appropriate way to do it. so i don't -- this whole thing looks like they just don't like us. they don't like the west. they think we're still the soviets. and we're never going to be their friends. >> here's the thing, chris. i think this is a very important distinction about afghanistan. the fact that over in afghanistan, and i know we saw this when we were fighting over there. there is a very slim distinction between the actions of individuals and government intent. and the reason that president bush was so -- you know, used

this argument of force protection in 2008. the reason secretary gates spoke out about the burning of korans by terry jones. the reason that obama has spoken out about the burning of the korans is we can see the individuals of individuals and know that's not the intent of the government. that is not the case in afghanistan. they are looking at this and wondering, is this not the way the entire government feels about us, the way the -- all the coalition forces feel about us and feel about our holy book. so that's why i think it's an important distinction to draw about afghanistan and the way we feel over here as well. >> you know -- go ahead, congresswoman. >> i have to agree. i think wes has laid it out very well. this is the holy book of the majority of people in that country. they don't know if an individual did this or this is the policy of the united states. i think it's not surprising that there's a tremendous amount of uprising. i think the president handled it in the right way. and it's one more challenge that we have to face. i don't think this is surprising and says that everyone hates us. >> what's all that crowd about

we're watching here? thousands and thousands of people not working, spending all their time screaming and yelling. is this just for the cameras? this looks like real passion here. look at this multitude of people raising their arms, yelling and screaming like nothing else matters to them on this planet except that we burnt their holy book. nothing is as important to these people as this fact. not that al qaeda is waiting to come back in. not that they are facing shareea l law. do you think this is the most important thing they're doing? >> i think it's an angry country that's tired of being at war, many people are out of work and they're frustrated and tired about the situation they're in. they still have the right to be angry about what's going on with their holy books. >> and in addition to the fact that we have to understand it's the taliban who also has been behind a lot of the riling up. they have been ysome of theed welling cheerleaders. >> i don't like the looks of this. thank you again for your

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let me finish tonight with this. rick santorum has a strange way of winning over the blue collar catholics he needs to beat the elite mitt romney. he attacked john f. kennedy. because of his record, shows jfk was far from perfect in his personal morality, i question

deeply and personally santorum's attack on his public role. kennedy was an out and out war hero who risked his life in the south pacific. no president in history, no politician i can think of showed such selfless courage in the way kennedy did in saving his crew in the south pacific. santorum ought to do a study on the matter before making charges about who makes him throw up. second, he ought to take a good look at john f. kennedy's record of public service and elective office. he was the first president to stand up for civil rights declaring it a moral issue as old as the scriptures, as clear as the american constitution. he sent federal troops in the mississippi to integrate old miss. he forced the door open at the university of alabama past the resistance of governor george wallace. today the sister of that woman he got into alabama that day is married to the attorney general of the united states. why do you think kennedy was down there in texas, by the way in november of '63? trying to hold on to texas and maybe georgia because he knew his historic stand was going to cost him the rest of the south.

kennedy created the peace corps to send young people around the world to teach and in other ways help the poor. he created the alliance for progress to create a partnership with latin america. he saved the world from nuclear war in the cuban missile crisis when american generals wanted to attack cuba and khrushchev was ready to fire those missiles at new york the second we did. santorum said he wanted to throw up when he read kennedy's speech about his commitment to keep church and state separate. no protestant minister should tell people how to vote? perhaps before wretching, rick santorum ought to consider that there are ways in which doing good might be possible without being sectarian, without dividing the country along lines of religious difference. perhaps before wretching he might have considered what kennedy said in his inaugural address that here on earth, god's work must truly be our own. and that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. tomorrow i'll be new york f