awesome crowd. an awesome show. thank you for staying with us for the next hour as well. a lot going on tonight. this is california. california is the largest state in the country. not largest in terms of land area. that would be alaska and texas. in terms of the number of people in the state, california wins by nearly a zillion. california's population is kwif tloent the combined populations of wyoming, vermont, north dakota, alaska, south dakota, delaware, montana, rhode island, new hampshire, maine, hawaii, idaho, nebraska, west virginia, new mexico, nevada, kansas, arkansas, mississippi and iowa. all of those other states combined have roughly the same population as the ste of california. it is a big state. california also has a big and a very good university system. there are community colleges in california there are private colleges in california.

there's a state college system and then there's the crown jewel of higher education in california, the university of california system. there are ten university of california campuses all over the state. my dad went to one of them. my brother went to another of them. they are great schools. rick santorum thinks that these schools are actively trying to destroy america. this is rick santorum speaking today in wisconsin. listen to what he says here. this is one of the all-time classic rick santorum making it up moments. watch. >> just reading something last night from the state of california american history is not even available to be taught. >> there's no american history being taught at the university

of california campuses. really? why would they do this, rick santorum? >> it's not even available to be ought. just to tell you how bad it's gotten in the country where we are trying to disconnect the american people from the the roots of who we are. >> that is unbelievable. what did he say, he said seven or eight of the university of california campuses do not allow you to study american history. they do not teach it. you cannot take it even if you want to. wow! rick santorum that is unbelievable. by which i mean that literally cannot be believed. that's not a true thing that rick santorum is saying. not even close. let's pick one of these campuses at random. here's the university of california at davis. their course catalog. look at that history 17-a. history of the united states. taught by professor shalenkski.

and history of the united states history 102 m, united states since 1896. history 170 b. american revolution to 1790. this one starts in 1763 so maybe that doesn't count as america because we weren't officially america yet. 174a the gilded and progressive area. progressive! 174 d selected themes and ameran history. shall i go on? there's others. rick santorum while running for president today in wisconsin said you can not take american history courses at seven or eight university of california schools. he read that somewhere. it is true you can't take american history courses at one campus in the university of california system. at least i think you can't. as far as i can tell you can't take them at the university of california san francisco. that's because ucsf is a medical

school. but still i'm sure there's a reason to be outraged about that any way. after all, you know, san francisco. rick santorum is hard to report on in the presidential race. while numerically, in terms of the number of people left in the race mr. santorum by default has to be considered a top-tier presidential candidate but the way he campaigns frank repels top-tier style coverage. as in coverage that takes him seriously. because rick santorum campaigns like a michele bachmann or like a herman cain. he campaigns like herman cain did if herman cain had not had a sense of humor or a singing voice or that long, weird string of sexual harassment allegations or an economic plan that rhymed. we reached out to the santorum campaign today to find out where mr. santorum read laths night, as he sa, that you can't take american history classes at the university of california. we have yet to receive a clarification from the santorum campaign.

it does not appear he has issued a correction to this misstatement either. rick santorum does stuff like this all the time. you may remember him saying on the campaign trail, remember when he said the government in amsterdam nrk the netherlands likes to kill all the old people there essentially for sport. remember that? he has not corrected that either. >> in the netherlands, people wear a bracelet and the bracelet is do not euthanize people because they have voluntary euthanize ya in the netherlands but half of the people are euthanized every year and it is 10% of all deaths. half of those people are euthanized involuntarily at hospitals because they are older persons some elderly people in the netherlands don't go to the hospital. they go to another country because they are afraid, because of budget purposes they will not come out of the hospital the if they go in with sickness. >> none of those tngs are

true. none of that is true. it should be noted the netherlands is a country. there are hospitals in that country. there are old people in that country. so it's true that some of the nouns can be affixed to mr. santorum's thesis but everything else he said there not true and not that hard to fact check. not hard to figure out that it is not true. for example, you could find dutch person and ask them. that's what we did. he says is 0% of all deaths in the nether lands are the result of euthanasia. >> not true. >> he says half of all of those people are people euthanized involuntarily. >> totally not true. >> he says specifically elderly people in the net lands don't go to the hospital and leave the country because they are afraid of dutch hospitals. >> not true and insulting. >> elderly people wear specialty bracelets in the nether lands that say please do not euthanize

me. >> would be with cool but i have not seen one. >> i don't know if rick santorum will apologize for the 100% made up, totally untrue, hysterically wrong thing he said today about the university of california. but when he said that the dutch kill their old people, especially for fun, dutch people got mad. at dutch news anchor, who i just questioned there. who you saw me question on the show about what mr. santorum said about the netherlands that same anchor got the chance to ask the santorum campaign if they were going to correct the 100% made up, totally untrue, hysterically wrong thing that mr. santorum said about holland. watch the answer he got. this is an interview between the santorum spokesperson named alice stewart and the dutch news anchor. her answer to him is basically rick santorum is pro life. rick santorum is pro life. rick santorum is pro life. i can't hear you. watch. >> i have to ask you about something you said about holland

and euthanasia. i don't know if you read about that on the blogs. he said that people wear bracelets that say do not euthanize me and people are involuntarily euthanized. do you remember that. >> a lot of this is what he is saying that is in his heart. that is life until natural death. the issues that are important to the people of america and that come out to vote forim and that is strong pro life from conception to natural death. >> not asking what is in his heart or what he believes. your candidate said all of these things about a country country called the netherlands, which is a real place full of real people called dutch people. he said things that are not true. will he correct these things? he's pro life. the dutch reporter goes back and asks the spokesperson again and her answer is again rick santorum is pro life, did i mention he is pro life. watch. >> the government of holland

said the figures are not correct. he gave a wrong picture of the dutch abortion -- the dutch euthanasia rules. >> rick is strong pro life. as i said, he's pro-life from conception to natural death and that's what the voters of america have stood behind him for and that's why he is getting the support. >> people say he is not using the right figures and telling the truth about the dutch euthanasia law. >> rick is strong pro-life from conception to natural death. >> i'm not going to get a comment other than he is pro-life. >> i gave you answer. >> i am asking you about something that is factually incorrect. does that excuse you from having to work this the factual world? that institutes an answer from the rick santorum campaign when they get something dramatically us a sten ashsly wrong. the campaign is run basically out of the blog comment on a website. it is hard to treat him or his

campaign as a major political force. it is hard to treat him as a major political figure who has a shot at the presidency. but this is mitt romney's competition. and heading in to tomorrow's contest in the presidential primary, mr. romney is favored in the latest polling to win the state of maryland by 25 points. in washington, d.c. there's not really any polling but it may help in your predictions to know that santorum is such a serious candidate he didn't bother to get put on the ballot in washington. it is not like he tried and was rejected. he didn't ask. in wisconsin it is contested. mr. santorum told reporters he may sneak in and have an upset victory in wisconsin and sure that is possible. but even the pro mitt romney late developments in wisconsin ahead of the primary tomorrow reflect the main die nam nick the republican race this year is not about the strenth of mitt romney as the front runner but the weakness of his rivals the milwaukee sentinel did endorse

mr. romney today but this is not the endorsement that is easily quoted by the romney campaign. i'm sure they will find a way to creatively excerpt it to make it look awesome but it says, quote, he's the clear choice in an uninspired nine dwindling field. romney's finger to the wind tacking across the political sea leaves us to wonder if he is anchored anywhere. we do wonder which romney we will see in the fall. the list of mr. romney's rhetorical con torgs is long. and then after short short horrifying sounds descriptions of what the other candidates have to offer, the milwaukee journal sentinel concludes that mr. romney as a flawed front runner is the best choice for republicans, considering the other options. >> seven or eight of the california system of universities don't even teach an american history course.

it's not even available to be taught. >> what are you talking about? how can you be one of t last guys standing in this race it is a national race for an important job. you are the competition. yes, the flawed finger to the winds unanchored guy is better than rick santorum. but that says more about rick santorum than it says about mitt romney. it should be noted heading in to these contests tomorrow which may be, depending how they go, it maybe the last theoretically tested primaries of the republican contest and should be noted that anything is possible. nothing is a foregone conclusion in politics. wisconsin in particular is a place where it has been a hurley, burly unpredictable political landape for the past year as my colleague ed shultz eloquently demonstrated from his broadcast from wisconsin last hour. here's something i want you to put a pin in for tomorrow's coverage. one thing that could come in to

play tomorrow is the wisconsin accountability board told us there is a possibility, nobody expects it to happen b but this could come t pass that the wisconsin state supreme court at the last moment could decide to take action to block the existing court rulings that have stopped the state's new voter i.d. bill from going in to affect in wisconsin. the supreme court could at any moment require that as of tomorrow you have to show i.d. when you go to vote. and we wouldn't know that perhaps until the polls open or maybe they would decide in the middle of the day some half of the people had to show i.d. and other half didn't. the board is advising residents to watch the news in order to figure out what the rules are for tomorrow's voting. chaos is possible. anything could happen. but frankly, nobody is preparing for a rick santorum republican presidential nomination anymore. let alone a newt gingrich

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still ahead, why president obama's toughest political foe may be five men in lovely long, black robes. stick around. 3w4r5 a ea-ea-eam ♪ ♪ ...stream, stream, stream... ♪ whenever i want you, all i have to do is... ♪ [ female announcer ] introducing xfinity streampix. stream your favorite movies and full seasons of shows instantly on any screen. find out more online. in here, the landscaping business grows with snow. to keep big winter jobs on track, at&t provided a mobile solution that lets everyone from field workers to accounting, initiate, bill, and track work in real time. you can't live under a dome in minnesota, that's why there's guys like me. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities --

helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ this is representative ron stevens. he's a republican in the georgia stais state house of representatives. when representatives stevens' daughter was five months pregnant, doctors informed the family of horrible news. part of her baby's brain was developing outside of the skull. the baby's heart was also

inverted. the heart was upside down. if the pregnancy were carried to term, mr. stephens said his daughter was told the baby would take at most one or two breaths. he said, quote she would have watched it die. because the fatal defect was detected by the doctors she was given the option of having an abortion. a bill was introduced a bill that would have banned abortion at 20 weeks, ask just before stephens daughter was given her diagnosis. under the bill, the doctor performing an abortion after the 20 week cut off in georgia could face ten years in prison. it passed the house along party lines. representatives stephens did not shoet vote for the 20 week abortion ban because of his experience with this issue. he walked out during the role call rather than vote for this ban that would have taken away his own daughter's ability to have decided in her case and

would have had the state government to force his daughter to go through nine months of pregnancy and the birth of the child that they knew would die immediately upon birth. mr. stephens talked to the savannah morning news about his decision not to vote for the bill. he said quote, for something this cruel to happen to my daughter or anyone's daughter is inhuman. i consider myself pro- life but this provision was a distortion of pro life values. even though it did not have the support of that pro-life republican representative ron stephens the 20-week abortion ban did pass the georgia house and went to the senate in georgia where it got an amendment. it was amended to add an exemption and the exemption would allow abortions past the 20 week cutoff in the case of a medically futile pregnancy. like his daughter's case with a fatal defect was discovered. once that was added to the law in the senate, stephens decide

he could vote for it. he is a pro-life republican and he voted for the final bill once it got that exemption added it to. because of his initial reservations, based on what happened to his daughter, representative stephens is now denounced as a republican in name only as a rhino. he's been promised he's goi to get a republican primary challenger from a group calling itself peach tea party. mr. stephens is one of 17 lawmakers targeted by the tea party group. one member of the peach tea party commission said that their priority is banning or rolling back access to abortion even in cases of rape or incest. they say that is at the top of their agenda. any candidate that is not right on the social issues disqualifies himself for public office. so, in this election year with the republican party prioritizing abortion and contraception and social issues generally we have seen the

likely republican presidential nominee, mitt romney, go from having the support of 44% of women under the able of 50, nearly half of them to 30%. he's down to less than third of women under the age of 50 supporting imhim. mitt romney trailed by a handful of points and now mr. obama is doubling him in that group. this huge falloff in women voters has president obama polling ahead of romney for the first time in 12 swing states. that national dynamic. that national falling away from the republican party of women voters is a product not just of the presidential race but of what is happening in the states. in the states, here's how it is working out. the detail ends up being really important. democrats are really, really, really fighting in the states against this an tay abortion, anti-women's health, anti-women's health investigation. by demonstrating, fund-raising, running ads, proposing the same

kinds of restrictions and humiliations that republicans want to apply to women stiching abortion will apply to men seeking vie yag ra. they have walked out during legislative session sessions. again last week, when the georgia senate was passing the amended version of the 20-week abortion ban. this time democratic women senators did not just walk out of the session, they staged their own protest, complete with prop and slogans. they unfurled rolls of yellow caution tape. they walked out of the chamber. they chanted loudly enough to be heard inside of the chamber. >> we will remember in november! women will remember in november! >> women will remember in november! they are outside of the chamber at this point but inside the

chamber they could be heard loufd and clear. that's what one side of the battle looks like with democrats. on the republican side it is the republican party and the conservative movement locked in their passionate embrace. lawmakers on the republican side susceptible to the same high-bound, old school republican social conservative politics they have always been subjected to. after three years of being told the new face of republican activism, the tea party movement is all about small government, fiscal issue and putting the culture war behind us, the group calling itself the tea party movement in georgia is primary representative stephens for his -- for how --

>> this particular tea party group is aoalition of a bunch of conservative groups including georgia right to life. has the phrase tea party essentially become a name you can freely attach to any conservative organization these days? >> yes. i think that's exactly what happened in this case. georgia right to life basically created the peach tea party. and just took the sea party name and attached it to social causes. >> the tea party coalition is being really aggressive, specifically on the issue of abortion. i highlighted the case of the one republican representative because it seems to me the fact he voted ultimately yes on the bill the amendment he sought didn't gut the bill in any way and came from a personal, understandable place. to be against him and to be determined to primary him for that seems to be almt unusually doctrine air.

is this new for georgia or something i don't understand how georgia politics is played? >> this is relatively new. you may recall karen handle who is with coe man for the cure. she ran for governor in georgia as a republican two years ago. she got defeated this the republicanrimary because she was deemed to be insufficiently ardened about right to life issues she supported exceptions for rape and incest. she supported invitro fertilization. and those are -- you can't be for those things in georgia and get the endorsement of georgia right to life. she lost the primary because of that. >> does that kind of litmus test, that kind of -- i would say kind of purification politics, does it have an effect of making georgia republicans less competitive in general election contests? i'm thinking of suburban atlanta where that representative i was talking about is where. other areas of the state which

may not be pure red from which these republican representatives are coming from. is that litmus test hurting them or has it not yet done that? >> i don't believe it will hurt them. redistricting is making sure those districts are, the red districts are very red. so, i don't think it is going to hurt them. i also don't believe, however, that the peach tea party will be successful in its efforts to oust these people. i think there's enough of a recognition within the georgia republican party that this really is extremism and not where they want to go. you saw that in the georgia senate which stopped the bill in its initial form. the 13 republican senators stood up and voted against it despite being told they would be primaried. i think that took political courage for them. i also think they understood it's important for the party to make that kind of stance. >> the internal dynamics between

the conservative movement and the republican party are the greatest show on earth when it comes to american politics. jay bookman, columnist for the atlanta journal constitution the. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> 5-4 in hockey means both goalies are having a rough night. in the supreme court, 5-4 can mean we are all having a rough generation of politics. more on that ahead. they have names like idle time books and smash records and on small business saturday they remind a nation of the benefits of shopping small.

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did you see president obama speaking today with some harsh

words for the supreme court? have got that coming up. the tape is amazing. plus, presidential historian michael beschloss here for the interview. stay with us. ♪

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in 2005, albert and april bought a house. they were a married couple with a 4-year-old son and another child on the way. april was pregnant. after they bought their house they decided to celebrate by going to april's mother's house. driving in the family car, which was a bmw, they were driving through burlington county, new jersey and were pulled over by a new jersey state trooper. april was driving. albert was in the passenger's seat. their 4-year-old son in the backseat. several years earlie albert had been fined for a traffic violation. he had pain paid the fine but for some reason in new jersey state records the fine showed up as unpaid. because of that there was a warrant out for his arrest. based on the supposed unpaid fine, which he had actually paid. now there never should have been a warrant out for his arrest. but there was a glitch and wasn't dismissed. bert knew about the glitch and he kept a document with the new

jersey state seal in the car showing he had paid the fine in case this came up with the police officer. he was aware there was a problem but looked like there was a warrant for him even though they shouldn't have been. even when albert showed the document to him, the officer arrested him on the spot and hauled him off to jail. not paying a fine is not an offense for which you can go to prison in new jersey. when albert was arrested for having not paid this fine, even though again he had paid it, he was brought first to one county jail in new jersey and then to another. he was held in jail for six days for supposedly not paying a fine that he actually had paid. upon admission to those county jails in new jersey, albert was strip searched. >> once i was arrested, i was processed at the burlington county facility. i was asked to remove my

clothing, to bathe in the soap, and once that was done i was asked to stand in front of an officer and manipulate my genitals, with my arms apart, turn around, squat and cough. >> this is albert's wife april. >> in those six days, i had no contact with my husband, which is hard because we speak to each other every single day. i see him every day and to not hear from him. i couldn't call him. i tried to call up there and nobody would let him come to the phone and i'm home, going through my pregnancy and i'm having complications with that and to have to answer to my son and he's 4 and he's wondering where his father is, it was hard. it was very hard, very hard to go through that. >> about the strip search in particular, mr. florence later explained to the "new york times," quote, i consider myself a man's man, 6'3", big guy.

it was humiliating. it made me feel less than a man. it made me feel not better than an animal. albert florence sued saying he shouldn't be subjected to multiple strip srches because he was arrested for a minor' fence, wrongly arrested and not suspected of carrying any contraband. the supreme court today ruled in that case against albert florence. the supreme court establishing a new national precedent which cannot be afeeled which says no matter what you are arrested for, whether it is a traffic violation or unpaid fine or you have been caught walking your dog without a leash or you have been picked up for not paying child support. no matter what you have been picked up for, even a false belief that you haven't been paid even though you did pay it you can be strip searched multiple times. the justices on the supreme court and the swing vote anthony kennedy ruled against albert florence. the four more liberal justices were the minority.

this is not a case that's been on anybody's radar inerms of having a big expected political impact. this may be one of those cases. you may remember the eminent dmoe domain case a few years ago. another 5-4 decision. that may get a lot of people's attention. even if you don't care about the supreme court. a ruling like this has a double take factor, a say what factor. this is one of those things that goes against common sense and what is our common understanding of our relationship with the police. our right to bodily integrity, our right to privacy and not in a traditional partisan or conservative way. the ruling has the potential of being broadly upsetting and it hits in the context of a major intersection of the court and partisan politics. even before the obama's administration health reform law was taken but think supreme court this last week the court's majority had come under fire from the administration and from the president specifically for their last very controversial

ruling in the citizens united decision. >> with all due deference to separation of powers, last week the supreme court reversed a century of law that i believe will open the flood gates for special interests, including foreign corporations. to spend without limit in our elections. >> that was from samuel ilito mouthed the words not true back to the president. watch again. it goes by fast. watch. >> spr special interests including foreign corporations to spend without limit in our elections. >> supreme court justice yells you lie at the president at the state of the union. now with the oral arguments on the health care ruling 0 over and the country anticipating another 5-4 decision on this intensely partisan issue on the health reform law, the president again today engaged drktly on the question of the court and

specifically on the issue of conservatism on the court. >> ultimately i'm confident that the supreme court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong jaret of a democratically elected congress. i just remind conservative commentators that four years what we have heard is the biggest problem on the bench was judicial activism or a lack of judicial restraint that an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a dually constituted and passed law. >> that was the president today speaking in the rose garden. the supreme court has always had a role in presidential year politics. it's about who might retire and

what kind of judges a presidential candidate might be expected to pick and the per renn yell litmus test issue of abortion but how important would it be and how much historical precedent would it be if it weren't just who might i appoint to the court but if the specific actions and decisions by the supreme court itself essentially got put on trial in the presidential race? joining us tonight for some perspective is nbc news presidential hiss tore can michael beschloss. good to see you. thank you for being here. >> >> am i allowed to be promoted to michael? >> yes. >> thank you. >> are theres he tore call precedents of the president putting the supreme court squarely in the middle of their election or election campaign. >> sure are. the best or most prominent case would be richard nixon in 1968 who was saying elect me and you will get law and order, which is an amusing thing to have argued for in retrospect.

they said the court was responsible for the break down of america hen could choose constructionists andut them on what the supreme court it was an element of his appeal. probably not decisive. >> in terms of a president thinking about this as an option. is there anything from the nixon example or other candidate or presidents trying to use this that could work as a lesson as to what works whether it has potential to backfire? >> the president was shrewd today because he made the nixon appeal from the progressive side saying this court has been to activists citizens united and if it rules down the health care reform law, he is preemptively framing this in case there is bad news for him in june. usually it is not a big issue in presidential campaigns. as you mention, often times, aums almost always a presidential candidate from each side will say elect me because

if you don't you might get bad supreme court appointments that may change the balance of power on the court. >> that balance of power is the thing i'm starting to -- i'm trying to figure out how much judicial resonance versus politicals reinnocence it has. some of them make public comments are open about the fact they think 5-4 decisions, particularly inflecktive issues can affect the esteem of the court how much the court is respected. whether court watchers deem whether they can see bias in the court. do you think it makes a difference to have a 5-4 decision versus ones that are closer to unanimous? >> on bigger issues, it sure is better. for instance, when richard nixon versus the united states 1974, the issue of whether he could keep hi white house tapes that was 8-0. the court wanted to say even

though there was some waivering among certain members this issue is so important we want to do this in a big way so no one can say this was just sort of by luck that nixon or bad luck that he didn't escape. in fact, nixon's case, first thing he asked when he was told about the supreme court decision against him on the tapes, he said is there any error in the decision. was it perhaps 5-4, suggesting if that were the case he might have tried to campaign against it and stay in office. >> the idea is if there is air error in the decision there is room to repolitical kate it if it is more unanimous people will let it sgland remember bush v gore 2000. that was a close call and people were bitter for a long time. >> michael beschloss, greato have you here. >> thanks and congratulations on the great book. >> thank you. very nice of you to say. now i'm blushing.

great. thank you. right after the show on the last word, lawrence o'donnell has the latest news. this is interesting on the trayvon martin killing. lawrence's guest is the city manager of sanford, florida. the politics and the investigation on that story continue to move and evolve in quick terms. lawrence has the latest coming up. the state that took the most radical of all of the radical right tns after the 2010 midterms is michigan. michigan does not get much attention for that fact. i think it should. tonight, an unfolding political story in michigan that democrats are unexpectedly winning and i think will blow your mind is coming up on the show. stay with us. phillips' caplets use magnesium, an ingredient that works more naturally with your colon than stimulant laxatives, for effective relief of constipation without cramps. thanks. good morning, students. today we're gonna continue... what ? customers didn't like it.

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that story about michigan politics is ahead. i want you to know about another mass shooting that has happened today in the united states. another one. this time in oakland, california, at a private christian university called oikos. it is ancient greek for home or family. police say a former nursing student at the school opened fire in a classroom with a handgun. the gunman shot ten people, seven of them have died. it is not clear why he was at the school today or why he is no longer enrolled. he is reported to have fired off 30 rounds before fleeing the

camp campus. after friday's mass shooting in miami which killed two and wounded 12 people dead today's mass shooting in oakland, california was the second in less than a week and the second in california in the last six months. if we learn more about the shooting, particularly about a motive we will let you know. we will be right back. [ donovan ] i hit a wall. and i thought "i can't do this, it's just too hard." then there was a moment. when i decided to find a way to keep going. go for olympic gold and go to college too. [ male announcer ] every day we help students earn

their bachelor's or master's degree for tomorrow's careers. this is your moment. let nothing stand in your way. devry university, proud to support the education of our u.s. olympic team. devry university, proud to support the education i remember the day my doctor told me i have an irregular heartbeat, and that it put me at 5-times greater risk of a stroke. i was worried. i worried about my wife, and my family. bill has the most common type of atrial fibrillation, or afib. it's not caused by a heart valve problem. he was taking warfarin, but i've put him on pradaxa instead.

in a clinical trial, pradaxa 150 mgs reducestroke risk 35% more than warfarin without the need for regular blood tests. i sure was glad to hear that. pradaxa can cause serious, sometimes fatal, bleeding. don't take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding, and seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk if you're 75 or older, have a bleeding condition like stomach ulcers, or take aspirin, nsaids, or bloodthinners, or if you have kidney problems, especially if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all medicines you take, any planned medical or dental procedures, and don't stop taking pradaxa without your doctor's approval, as stopping may increase your stroke risk. other side effects include indigestion, stomach pain, upset, or burning. pradaxa is progress. if you have afib not caused by a heart valve problem, ask your doctor if you can reduce your risk of stroke with pradaxa.

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under rick schneider's souped up energy manager law your right to vote to who you want t bun e run the town can be overruled. the state said that benton harbor is too bren to be allowed a democratic form of government anymore. governor schneider turned the town over to a single unelected manager who has unilateral power to do whatever he wants, no matter what the voters say. the manager says the elected mayor and the elected commission are not in charge anymore. so they are not in charge anymore. in rick schneider's michigan, democracy is considered part of in places like benton harbor, at least, democracy must go before progress can begin. accordingly what counts as progress in benton harbor is up to the emergency manager guy now. under rick schneider's law, this unelected emergency official can fire the elected officials, can cancel contracts, can dissolve the whole town itself. can sell off the town's assets.

benton harbor did not have many public assets, but it did have this, a voice, a publicly owned radio station broadcasting out of benton harbor city hall. the signal from wbhc 96.5 fm only reaches three miles. it belongs to the town. they broadcast by the town, for the town and about the town. in february, exercising his unilateral power under michigan law, emergency manager put the whole thing up for sale on ebay for $5,000. you get the cords, microphes and everything included. come and get it. it turns out even if rick schneider's state law says they the emergency guy can auction off the city to the last office chair, under federal law you cannot do that. you can not sell a low-powered radio station that way. you can't sell it on ebay. a broadcast license like benton harbor has can only go to a local nonprofit or government body. not just to the highest bidder

you find on-line. the emergency manager had to take down the listing on ebay and find a qualified buyer. and now we know who is planning to buy the radio station. provided the fcc agrees to the transfer, the new owner will be the benton harbor area schools. the school district is on the verge of getting the town's radio station so the students can practice on it. benton harbor's emergency manager says the radio station will be better in the schools we . he says, quote we believe it will be so much more useful in their hands than in ours. more useful? more useful than what? what was it used for before? in addition to news and music, it was used for dissent, for expressing dissent about the town being stripped of its democratic rights for instance. when jesse jackson came to benton harbor to protest he sat down at the microphone at the town radio station and spoke his mind. right there on the publicly

owned benton harbor radio station. i guess if you happen to be the state appointed czar who's being protested on that radio station that may not seem like a useful use of that station. it may not seem pleasant. we have learned something about benton harbor, the emergency manager had been making noises about winding down his time there. the restoration of benton harbor's democracy turns out not to be imminent. the deputy state treasurer told state residents last week, quote, we don't believe we are there yet in benton harbor. later this year he said we are going to be working with folks in he community to talk about the picture you have and we have as to what benton harbor's future ought to look like. local residents have been stripped of their right to have a say so. they have not had a local democracy since last year, since rick schneider took it away. governor schneider and the republicans legislature has done is up end the idea that in

america we elect people to represent us. in america, we are governed by a democratic form of government. michigan republicans are ripping that idea out by the roots. if there are problems to be solved we do not do it by democratic means anymore in michigan. we suspend democracy to get things done, indefinitely. and it means you can be stripped of your right to vote for officials to govern your town on the state level, fur a representative of the wrong party you may not be allowed to vote, at the state level, in the state legislature. this picture shows michigan house democrats asking for a vote in the legislature and not being allowed one. republicans in the michigan house are being sued in court by their colleagues across the aisle. sued for stopping democrats from voting in the state legislature. the republicans are being sued for that. this is an amazing story. amazing that it has come to this, to one political party suing another for the right to vote.

amazing this afternoon the state democrats won an early round in court. a county judge issued a temporary injunction ordering michigan house republicans to let the minority party vote. and the court put on hold several laws the republicans passed improperly. this order that you can see with the scratch outs and the judges scrawling all over it, this is big news for whether in america we solve problems by voting by democracy or whether we solve problems by suspending democracy. michigan republicans say they will appeal the voting that they must follow the constitution and that democrats have to be allowed to vote. they are asking it be repealed immediately and michigan you are so epic this year. we are reporting the story fully and we will have the full story in coming days. now it is time for the last word with lawrence o'donnell. have a great night.