romney, you not only get him, you get the march of the clowns that didn't end with santorum and gingrich. it marches on, only taking short breaksarve downrating the bond rating, to the next snappy march to armageddon. and that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "the ed show" with ed schultz starts right now. good evening, americans. welcome to "the ed show" live from minneapolis. 78 dis until the 2012 election. a new front on the republican war on women has exposed the conservative right wing. todd akin's remarks about legitimate rape have republicans in the crisis mode tonight. this is a big deal and it could affect a lot of races. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> i had heard one time a medical report, that said it's hard to get, um, it's harder for somebody to get pregnant under

those conditions. >> a missouri lawmaker's radical r rhetoric has reignited the war on women. the president is standing up for women. republicans are denouncing their own candidate. super pacs are pulling money, and the candidate refuses to quit. >> i'm not a quitter. >> tonight, terry o'neill on todd akin's ridiculous beliefs. joan walsh and sam stein on the political impact on missouri and beyond. >> the romney camp refuses to stop lying. and today, the president called them out for it. >> you can't just make stuff up. >> richard wolffe on the president's blistering press conference. in ohio, a republican says we should not contort the voting process to accommodate african-american voters. state senator nina turner and ari berman have the latest on voter suppression in ohio. good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. a senate candidate from missouri

forced republicans into major damage control tonight. congressman todd akin, missouri is trying to defeat claire mccaskill in a heated battle in the november election. he started a firestorm when he answered this question about abortion. >> what about in the case of rape? should it be legal or not? >> well, you know, people always want to try and make that as one of the things, how do you slice this particularly tough sort of ethical question. it seems to me, first of all, from what i understand from doctors, that's really rare. if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. let's assume maybe that didn't work or something. i think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the ild. >> legitimate rape. the republican party now has introduced a discussion in this country that is absolutely unbelievable. most people never heard of this guy, todd akin, before today. but his comments changed

everything politically for the republicans. here's some of the background on this guy from missouri. a member of the house science and technology committee. he believes climate change science is highly suspect. he wants to ged rit of the environmental protection agency and the department of inagy. he's also dead wrong about the rarity of pregnancy resulting from rape in the country. according to the journal of american obstetrics and gynecology, 32,1 01 preginaciesa year are the result of rape. akin's comments were outrageous, enough for the president of the united states to comment on them during a news conference today. >> let me first of all say the views expressed were offensive. rape is rape. and the idea that we should be parsing and qualifying and slicing what types of rape we're talking about doesn't make sense to the american people.

and certainly doesn't make sense to me. >> president obama also pointed out how akin's remarks highlight the continuing war on women's health being waged by republicans. >> what i think these comments do underscore is why we shouldn't have a bunch of politicians, a majority of whom are men, making health care decisions on behalf of women. >> later this afternoon, the congressman from missouri, todd akin, wrote this on his twitter account. i'm in the race to win. we need a conservative senate. akin linked his campaign website asking for donations to defeat senator mccaskill. akin is trying to raise money off the incident, but he insists he's really sorry. here is akin on mike huckabee's raid wroe show today. >> let me be clear, rape is never legitimate, it's an evil act and it's committed by violent predators. i used the wrong words in the wrong way. >> what did you mean by legitimate rape?

were you attempting to say forcible rape or was that just -- where did that come from? >> well, yeah, i was talking about forcible rape. >> now, wait a minute here. this is mike huckabee giving this congressman an alibi. mike huckabee was holding todd akin by the hand right there in that interview. huckabee introduced the words forceable rape and ackin went right along with him. that the language republicans put in a house bill trying to define the term rape to end health care funding for any abortions. the member of the united states conference of catholic bishops told congress that the term forcible rape was an effort on the part of the sponsors to prevent the opening of a very broad loophole for federally funded abortions. two of the sponsors of the bill were todd akin and vice presidential candidate paul ryan. nbc news confirmed paul ryan, the candidate called todd akin

today. but he wasn't calling him to agree with him despite their agreements in the past. in a campaign statement, the romney camp wrote, governor romney and congressman ryan disagree with mr. akin's statement and a romney/ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape. mitt romney delivered his own harsh criticism of todd akin later today. >> his comments about rape were deeply offensive. and i can't defend what he said. i can't defend him. >> mitt romney did not defend todd akin. but he will defend paul ryan, who sponsored the same forceable rape legislation as the congressman from missouri. furthermore, will romney defend himself? because back in 2007, romney called a bill to ban all abortions terrific, and said he would be delighted to sign it. the same year, romney told abc

news he supports human life amendment to the constitution. this amendment would outlaw abortions even in the case of rape or incest. if romney can't defend todd akin, he can't defend his own record. it's no surprise todd akin doesn't even want to defend the far right wing platform of anti-choice anymore. here's acon on hard right wing radio today? >> i heard one time a medical report that said it's hard to get, um, um, harder to get pregnant under those conditions. i don't believe that's true now. i in fact have checked the facts and that wrong. >> he's checked the faths. this guy isn't about facts at all. the junk science that todd akin is talking ability has been pushed by republican congressional members for decades. it goes back to 1988 when a republican congressman from delaware told a local paper, during the trauma of rape, a woman susecretes a certain

secretion which has the tendency to kill sperm. then in 1999, republicans circulated an essay by dr. john wilk, the former head of the national right to life committee, it said, to get and stay pregnant, a woman's body must produce a very sophisticated mix of hormones. there's no greater emotional trauma that can be experienced by a woman than an assault rape. now, we should point out that dr. john wilk is an endorser of mitt romney. todd akin is not an exception to the rule in the republican party. he is the rule. the only way mitt romney and paul ryan can distance themselves from akin is to lie about their own records, which is exactly what they're doing. they can't tell the truth about how they would govern when it comes to women's health. and this is the big problem for the republican party tonight. legitimate rape, the president was spot on today to hit this right on. to defend women in conversation in this country, but i think that this is a cultural issue

for the republican party as well. this war on women, if you didn't believe it was real before, you must believe it now. this is huh they think. the republicans. they are archaic in their view when it comes to women in our society. tonight's question, who is a better leader on women's issues. text a for president obama, tt b for mitt romney. we'll bring you the results later on in the hoe. >> i'm joined tonight by terry o'neill, president of the national organization for women. great to have you with us. wem, the republicans, they have done it again. but i want to go to the apology, if i may, first. this congressman says that he misspoke. yet in the sound bite, he talked about doctors he has had conversations with. does this speak to the heart and soul of the fundamental problems that the republican party has with women or did he misspeak?

>> i don't actually think he was misspeaking at time. i would love to know who those doctors are. i would like to have their names. i would like to have permission to have a conversation with those doctors and find out what kind of science background they have to make this outrageous claim. i think what you were saying earlier, ed, is exactly right. you have to separate out the justification from the policy. so what todd akin was peddling was a justification for not allowing any rape exception to abortion bans or abortion restrictions. and the justification goes something like this. if she got pregnant, air go, she was not rapeled because a woman who is legitmyly or forcibly or really raped can't get pregnant. this is the justification for the policy. the policy itself is outrageous and damaging. the justification actually retraumatized victims of sexual

assault who are now being told that their own bodies have betrayed them, that their bodies are telling the world they were not assaulted when in fact they were. simply because they were unfortunate enough to get pregnant as a result of the rape. so what we've got is not only a war on women by refusing to allow rape exceptions to restrictions on abortion, we also have a really demeaning and damaging war on women by offering up this junk science justification for harming women's health care. it's just absolutely outrageous. >> does it show that the republican party will go as far as they have to go with junk science to make their point and to drive their ideology on to the american society and women in this case? >> it sort of goes along with governor etch-a-sketch. mitt romney has a reputation for simply saying anything depending on the audience he's talking to in order to justify getting himself elected.

and you know what, it actually looks like paul ryan is now becoming representative etch-a-sketch as well. they put out a statement that suddenly they don't oppose a rape exception for restrictions on abortion. but in fact, both men have vocally supported a personhood amendment, a law that would decree that life begins at conception which clearly criminalized all abortion, not only in the case of rape but in the case of incest or to preserve a woman's health or even her life. >> but thi is, in a very strong manner, exposed the vice presidential candidate for the republicans because of course it's documented he was an original cosponsor when it came to redefining rape in this country. how scary is that? >> well, it's very scary. a man who would be vice president of the united states of america believes that women are liars and cheats when they claim to have been sexually assaulted. that was the whole purpose of having an exception only for forceable rape, not for any

other kind of rape. so this is a man who distrusts women, who as i said before, is fiercely and harshly antiwoman in his policy and i don't think he has said or done anything that dissuedes me from that. >> yeah, terry o'neill, national organization for women, great to have you with us. thanks so much for joining us. remember to answer tonight's question. share your thoughts on twitter at ed show and on facebook. we want to know what you think bloorb. coming up, the akin mess, this isn't going away. this is who the republicans are. how it will affect republicans in other competitive races. why they're trying to throw him under the bus so fast, because they have to. joan walsh and sam stein weigh in. my commentary coming up. stay with us. cluding prilosec o. you know one pill each morning treats your frequent heartburn so you can enjoy all this great land of ours has to offer like demolition derbies. and drive thru weddings. so if you're one of those people who gets heartburn

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it's like a sauna in here. helping you save, even if it's not with us -- now, that's progressive! call or click today. no mas pantalones! karl rove, sean hannity, and senate republicans are ganging up to get todd akin out of the race in missouri. sam stein and joan walsh have all of the political impact from todd akin's legitimate rape

remarks. president obama sets the record straight on romney's lies in a blistering press conference today. richard wolffe will help us break it all down. >> and hank williams jr. has become a national hero for obama haters. we'll bring you his latest hateful remarks and comment terry with michael eric dyson. share your thoughts with us on twitter and facebook. we're coming right back. d more t of this caliber... would define you as a true leader. to hold over 80,000... well, that would make you... the creators of the 2012 mercedes-benz e-class... quite possibly the most advanced luxury sedan ever. ♪ join mercedes-benz usa on facebook for the best summer sweepstakes.

why not take a day toenz usa explore your own backyard? with two times the points on travel, you may find yourself asking why not, a lot. chase sapphire preferred. there's more to enjoy. welcome back to "the ed show." i think it needs to be pointed out in this todd akin story that this has been kind of a slow turn and a slow burn all day long for the republicans. they didn't roll out of bed this morning and say, you know what,

we got to get rid of this todd akin in missouri. they had to see which way the wind was going to blow. they had to see what kind of velocity was going to be in the storm. we're seeing a full-throated republican effort to deep-six one of their own. it's kind of politically amazing. congressman todd akin has created the biggest nightmare this party has had for a long time. most of all, the illustrates their archaic view towards women and women's issues and women's health care. reince priebus had this to say earlier. >> victory centers and volunteers that do work and phone scripts in and around missouri and i told them to take congressman akin off the script today. i think he's got to think long and hard about this. i can tell you that if it was me, i wouldn't have said anything that dumb to begin with, but if it was me, i would definitely end my run for senate, and i would allow someone else to run that had a

better chance of winning. >> karl rove would not publicly criticize akin's comments on fox. >> well, let's see how it plays out here. he's got some real explaining to do. >> yeah, let's just see how it plays out here. he's got some real explaining to do. you think so, karl? and of course, hours later, karl rove's super back, crossroads gps pulled its resources out of missouri. the snalsh republican senatorial campaign said they're withdrawing funding, and they're condemning akin's comments. mitch mcconnell said akin needs to weigh his options. george allen who referred to his opponent campaign effort as macaca, declared this rhetoric. sean hannity tried to coach akin out of the race, but akin, he wasn't having it.

>> to me, i'm very concerned and i know many other conservatives are as well, because they have all written me today, that if you stay in this race and this becomes the defining issue of the race, and there is a timeline now in play here, that this could then put the entire state of missouri, this senate seat, and even the top of the ticket in jeopardy in missouri. have you thought this could be the defining issue in the campaign which would serve as, you know, a potential loss for a senate seat? >> my sense is people will understand when you tell them, look, i'm not perfect. >> we'll see if that's strong enough. let's bring in sam stein, political reporter for the huffington post and joan walsh with us, editor at large for salon.com and author of the book "what's the matter with white people?" great to have both of you with us. joan, you first. hanied is trying to get akin to drop out of the race.

i have never seen this kind of push by republicans to get rid of a candidate ever, seriously. how big a problem is this for the republicans, you think in. >> it's huge. i mean, i don't think i have ever said these four words, but sean hannity is right. the way he described the stakes here, ed, it really is dire for the republicans. but you've done a great job already of showing there's not a whole lot of daylight between todd akin and the rest of his party. the notion that he just misspoke, he gave us a window onto the way they think and talk about women and particularly the horrible issue of rape. i mean, listening to the way he described it, who goes around thinking about things like that? it sounds kind of perverted. >> idealogs? >> idealogs and wierdos. >> what gets me about the conversation by republicans is they're so concerned about the political fallout, they're nat so concerned about women's health and where the party

really stands on women's health on this. >> no, they're not. there's no sense of this is just a despicable thing to say about a woman in this crisis. there was no talk about it, the way the president talked about it. it's all political calculus. and you know, the war on women rhetoric was starting to quiet down a little bit. we weren't talking about transvaginal ultrasounds as much anymore. i don't remember the last time i said the word vagina. it's been a while. and he came along and opened up this whole sick debate again. and i think they're going to be very sorry. >> nbc news reports that paul ryan, vice presidential candidate for the republicans, has called the congressman and urged him to rethink the race. sam, what do we know about this? this is about as serious as it gets because of course ryan co sponsored legislation with him that would redefine rape. where are the republicans on this? >> it seems clear that the

elected republican, the republican establishment is all for todd akin leaving the race. there has been some pushback among conservative republicans to watch the rhetoric. i think they're very upset with how the party has reacted to that. >> that was tony perkins from the family research counsel who tweeted that out today. he suggested scott brown should be careful in what he is saying. i read that, i said, holy smokes. these folks, they don't get it at all. they're all about ideology and making sure they get the conservatives in office. sam, do you think this will affect the race to the point where claire mccaskill would retain her seat? >> sure. already, he was the least formidable of the three missouri candidates in the primary. she won out by him losing. and she wants him to stay in the race. there's no other way around it. we did an interview with the senator this morning. she talked about how it wood be terrible if the national republican party would meddle in the senate race and pick a candidate. she wants todd akin in there.

to the larger point, you know, this is opening up a real divide within the republican ranks, and i think you and joan hit the point really on the head, which is that people look at this debate from a distance and say, well, they're not really condemning necessarily the policy that he's espousing. they're condemning the dumbness of the language. that more than anything else has a chance to turn off voters or drive them towards mccaskill in the fall. >> sam, you were in that room today. did you think that the president was going to address this issue? >> well, i wasn't in the room, sadly, but i did watch it online. you made me -- you have exposed me as a poor white house correspondent. thank you, ed. did i think he was going to address the issue? of course, it was the big issue of the day, but it's notgist this was a day-long topic. this has been sort of the underriding theme of this election in some respects. this whole notion that female voters don't have a home in the republican party is exhibited in a lot of these opinion polls. this just exacerbates the issue. listen, todd akin just send out

a fund-raising e-mail about 15 minutes ago saying he's in this until the end. he's going to call karl rove's bluff. he's saying i'm going to stick in this. if i'm three points down, you're going to support me because the senate means more to you than the issue of forceable or legitmal rape. >> legitimate rape. the president was right when he used the word offensive today, joan. i want to bring up that obvio obviousobviou obviously the president is leading in double digits when it comes to polling in women who are going to support him. do you think the gap is going to widen because of the whole thing? >> i think so. it's clear the republican party can't keep their laws out of our lady parts, and women are getting the picture so clearly, more clearly than we wanted to see it, ed. it's terrible. >> great to have you with us. thank you. today, president obama said mitt romney is making a falsehood. the centerpiece of his campaign. richard wolffe will join me. >> then new efforts in the

republican effort to block the vote. an ohio official makes a shocking admission. find out who is getting targeted in america's heartland. stay tuned, we're right back. are you okay, babe? i'm fine. ♪ ♪ ♪

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welcome back to "the ed show." today, president obama laid out some facts. something the romney camp has a hard time with. when he was asked about his campaign tactics, number one on romney's tax returns, the president said his campaign was simply and has been asking for

basic transparency from governor romney. >> i'm not asking to disclose every detail of, you know, his medical records. although, we normally do that as well. but, you know? i mean, this isn't sort of overly personal here, guys. this is pretty standard stuff. i don't think we're being mean by asking you to do what every other presidential candidate has done. >> when the president was asked about a priorities usa ad, he was perfectly clear about which campaign was putting out the lies. >> i don't think the governor romney is somehow responsible for the death of the woman that was portrayed in the ad. but keep in mind, this is an ad that i didn't approve. i did not produce, and as far as i can tell, has barely run.

i think it ran once. now, in contrast, you've got governor romney creating as a centerpiece of his campaign this notion that we're taking the work requirement out of welfare, which every single person here who has looked at it says is patently false. >> in fact today, mitt romney released his third lying ad about president obama's welfare policy. the ad cites an editorial from the richmond times dismatch even though they now admits the claims have been debunked. i thought it would be good to once again, time to bring out the big eddie board of truth. just focusing on romney's welfare claims and lies. what are they? adding up. the work requirement, romney is still lying about that, saying president obama gutted it. here's another one. that romney cites a newspaper

that has since admitted it was wrong. the newspaper admitted they were wrong. romney still on the wrong side of that. and keep in mind, this is romney's third untruthful ad about president obama's welfare policy. on friday, what we did was added up the lies for the week. it was 11. well, we're off to a pretty good start this week. three more, that's 14 lies documented and even the president of the united states is at the podium today saying, you know what, they are lying over there. let's bring in msnbc political analyst richard wolffe. great to have you with us tonight. this is like fishing in a barrel. kind of fishing in a barrel, you can limit out pretty fast. it's kind of easy to define your opponent when all they do is lie. i want to play more of the press conference. here is more from president obama today on romney's welfare claims. i want you to respond to it. >> everybody who has looked at this says what governor romney is saying is absluptsly wrong. not only are his super pacs running millions of dollars worth of ads making this claim.

governor romney himself is approving this and saying it on the stump. they can run the campaign they want. but the truth of the matter is, you can't just make stuff up. >> richard, sort it out for us. >> you know, i want to flip this on its head for a second. the romney campaign keeps saying all this discussion of tax returns are just a diversion. the obama campaign doesn't want to talk about jobs and the economy so they're creating these other things to talk about. what is the romney campaign doing, talking about welfare to work? not only is it patently false, not only does everyone think it's wrong, but they're spending their money and their time talking about stuff that really isn't to do with jobs and the economy. yes, i guess it's to do with work and welfare and i guess there's some tan gentle relationship, but we're not talking about the underlying premise that any opponent, any sane opponent to this president would try to dig up, which is a alternative economic policy, so why are they doing the? they're doing it because this is the me too campaign.

every time they get some kind of attack from the other side that works, they've got to come up with one of their own. and this stuff, you know, this stuff is just doesn't stand up to scrutiny. i don't think it stands up to political rationale as well. it doesn't work. it's off topic like pretty much everything else the romney campaign is doing right now. >> this weekend, paul ryan appeared with his mother at a campaign stop in florida. this is one of the lies, that they're going to protect medicare. heersz what high said. >> and medicare is there for my mom while she needs it now and we have to keep that guarantee. she planned her retirement around this promise that the government made her because she paid her pay roll taxes into this program which she had this promise with. that's a promise we have to keep. >> this promise is not in their budget in the future. so how are they going to navigate around this? >> it's endearing.

i'm glad he feels so passionately about what his mother and her generation will get. if it's right for her, of course, it's also right for the next generation of seniors. there's a debate that both parties need to have about what is affordable, how do you extend the lifetime of medicare. if you think the guarantee is right, not because it was a promise made but because it's the right policy, then you need to discuss how to control costs. and you know, this is where republicans, people like karl rove say this is a great opportunity for us to go out and talk about medicare. it's also a great opportunity as we saw today for the president to say what he is doing about medicare and what was in the affordable care act because that way you end up talking about what is the fair way to deal with medicare and costs. is it about fraud and waste and abuse or to turn it into a voucher? that's where the two parties are so radically different. >> richard wolffe, gat to have you with us tonight. a lot more coming up in the next half hour of "the ed show." stay with us. >> jim crow has been resurrected, making repeat performances in the south and

has packed his bags and moved north in ohio. >> the voter suppression in ohio is officially out of control. democrat election officials are suspended for defying republican restrictions. and a republican official says the state should not accommodate african-american voters. state senator nina turner and ari berman have the latest. and hank williams jr. is at it again. telling a crowd at the iowa state fair he hates our muslim president. >> oh, yeah. >> tonight, michael eric dyson on the never ending republican hate machine. >> who is the enemy? >> obama and biden. are you kidding? the three stooges. ♪ hello...rings ♪ what the... what the... what the... ♪ are you seein' this? ♪ ♪ uh-huh... uh-huh... uh-huh... ♪ ♪ it kinda makes me miss the days when we ♪ ♪ used to rock the microphone ♪ back when our credit score couldn't get us a micro-loan ♪ ♪ so light it up! ♪ even better than we did before ♪ ♪ yeah prep yourself america we're back for more ♪ ♪ our look is slacker chic and our sound is hardcore ♪

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welcome back to "the ed show." there are new developments tonight in the republicans' effort to stop americans from voting in the next election in november. now, this weekend, ohio secretary of state decided to

shorten, shorten voting hours in all 88 counties in the state of ohio. now, one of his fellow republicans is coming clean about the real reason they're suppressing the vote. it's in franklin county. franklin county's republican election commissioner doug price wrote this in an e-mail to the newspaper, the columbus dispatch. he wrote, we shouldn't contort the voting process to accommodate the urban -- read african-american -- voter turnout machine. those are his words, according to the columbus dispatch. when a reporter asked the commissioner price if that's unfair, he used a word we can't say on the air or broadcast, price told the paper, quote me, you can quote me on that. cursing doesn't change the fact that cutting poll hours is unfair to working families and working americans. here's why. there's new research out this weekend that shows just how many people depend on expanded voting

hours. for instance, in the last election, 47% of ohioans cast ballots during nonbusiness hours. voters cast almost 200,000 ballots in the exact days and hours the republicans are eliminating this year. that's more than 3% in a state where elections get decided by 2% margin of victory. well, two democrats who voted for early hours, they have been suspended from the election board, supporters held a rally today for tom richie and senior dennis lieberman. well, secretary of state john husted ordered them to rescind their support for early voting. they refused. nay have an attorney and they'll find out later this week if they're going to be able to keep their jobs. meanwhile, african-americans in ohio, i guess you could say, have been put on notice. the republican machine in your state, they just don't want you to vote. and they're going to make it really hard for you to do it. i'm joined tonight by ohio state

senator nina turner. and also ari berman, contributor writer for the nation magazine and author of the book "herding donkeys." great to have both of you with us. i want to start with nina. nina, is there a racial component here? i have to ask that question. they did cut the hours in all 88 counties, but when you look at the hours that they are shortening, it goes right to working families and right to people who are of low income, maybe working two jobs. your thoughts on this. >> that's right, ed. this is as much about race as it is about class. the malmstrom of bigotry and foolishness in the state of ohio, it has become the new south and not a good way. the post reconstruction type of antics that republicans are using is absolutely wrong. and just because some of my republican colleagues have chosen to wear a blue suit over a white sheet in the 21st century does not change the fact

that these rulings, this directive that has come down from the secretary of state, has a disproportionate impact on african-americans. we have the data. he knows what the facts are. but it doesn't matter. and mr. price, who is an adviser of our governor, had the pure unadu unadulterated gall to say they're not going to contort. i guess me believed the voting rights act was an act of contortion, and that the civil rights act was an act of contortion and the amendments to the constitution was a contortion, everybody should be up in arms. >> well, he says we shouldn't contort the voting process to accommodate the urban -- read african-american -- turnout machine. isn't he saying we don't want to do this because we don't want blacks to vote? >> it's blatantly racist. i guess the good thing about

this sad chapter is he's laid it out on the line. he's proven the fears we had in the state of ohio all along, that there are republicans in the state, if their candidate can't win because he may have better ideas or a better way, they're going to make if fix, the fix is in in the state of ohio, and the way they're doing it is suppressing the vote of african-americans. other people of color, and poor folks in the state of ohio. it's undemocratic, un-american, and it is wrong. >> ari, how accurate are the republicans in these election commissioners in knowing just how many people they're going to affect at the polls? it's almost as if social engineering, they have it down to a science. >> we have seen the data from 2008. we know that 197,000 voters, as you mentioned earlier, voted during hours that have now been cut by ohio republicans. we know that african-americans outnumbered whites in terms of early voting by nearly 2 to 1 in the most populous counties in ohio.

and it's no coincidence republicans are cutting early voting now. they were for early voting in 2004 and 2008. they're only against it now because it's something that democrats used so successfully. obama used early voting to help mobilize his base and maximize turnout in the 2008 election, and that's why early voting has been cut, not just in ohio, but in battleground states like florida in the 2012 election. >> well, we know what they're doing in pennsylvania. and we're going to continue to cover that, but nina, in your state, what do you do to mobilize at this point? the hours are shorter, the days are shorter. >> continue to make sure that the voters in the state understand the rules of engagement. we're not going to let the intimidation and fear tactics and commitment to all things wrong stop us from getting folks to vote. we're engaging ministers, other policymakers, activist groups to make sure that voters get to the polls despite this mockery of democracy that the republicans are making. and you know, ed, this will be the 49th anniversary of

dr. king's speech that he gave in front of the lincoln memorial, i have a dream. fighting for jobs and freedoms, and here we are in the state of ohio in the 21st century fighting for voters rights. it's wrong. >> let me ask you quickly, where is governor casic on this? does he -- does he support this trimming of the days and the hours? >> yeah, i mean, this is something that the entire republican party in ohio supported. it first came from the legislature. it was so unpopular that the legislature had to repeal their own bill. then it went to the secretary of state. he started doing it. the chair of the republican party in franklin county who made the outrageous comments about trying to suppress the black vote, he's a top adviser to governor cashch. this goes all the way to the top. this is not one fringe republican speaking out. this is the policy of the republican party in ohio to make it harder for people to vote in the next election. >> so he's trying to deliver ohio for romney.

and he'll do anything to do it. great to have both of you with us tonight. ohio state senator nina turner and ari berman of the nation. thank you so much bloorb. coming up, augusta national makes history by admitting two female members. they have come a long way, but i think they could do a little better. in fact, they should probably round out the foursome, don't you think? right back. stay with us. [ male announcer ] more power. more style. more technology. less doors. the 2012 c-coupe. join mercedes-benz usa on facebook for the best summer sweepstakes. join mercedes-benz usa on facebook one is for a clean, wedomestic energy future that puts us in control. our abundant natural gas is already saving us money, producing cleaner electricity, putting us to work here in america

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welcome back to "the ed show." is this really change they can believe in? for the first time in its 80-year history, the augusta

national golf club has female members. the private club that hosts one of the majors, the masters golf tournament has come under heavy pressure to allow women members. they made a reversal and announced condoleezza rice and darla moore are going to be receiving green jackets this fall. augusta national chairman billy payne called the move a significant and positive time in our club's history. mitt romney is also applauding the decision. earlier today, he tweeted, congrats to my friend condoleezza rice for joining augusta national and congrats to augusta national for admitting its first female members. mitt romney has finally found a women's right issue he can stand up for and support. augusta national letting two rich women in to play, i think. the boys down at augusta could really break the ceiling, glass ceiling a little better if they were to say, bring in michelle

obama. hillary clinton. we know that bill plays golf. i'm sure that hillary if she had the green jacket, would get bill on the golf course no problem at all. there's no doubt that augusta national did the right thing by admitting women members, but we all know that the clu has a long way to go. is it change they can believe in? i hope so. tonight, in our survey, i asked you, who is better leader on women's issues. 95% of you say president obama. 5% of you say mitt romney. coming up, hank williams jr. is attacking the president again. michael eric dyson will weigh in. stay tuned, you're watching "the ed show" on msnb krrb. the haters are out and about. [ female announcer ] the power of green coffee extract

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really? [ male announcer ] the united mileageplus explorer card. the mileage card with special perks on united. get it and you're in. welcome back to "the ed show." the big finish tonight, i would like you to read this comment with me. as we close our show tonight. with this segment. we've got a muslim president who hates farming, hates the military, hates the u.s., and we hate him. those are the words of hank williams jr., the country entertainer. he said this on stage friday night at the iowa state fair. let's keep in mind that the president went to the iowa state fair last week and he was really well received. they were yelling four more beers, the crowd loved the president. but there's another element out there. and the crowd, of course, reportedly went wild when hank williams jr. said this. first of all, as we have been

reported the lies that these people say, there's a culture of hate out there with the republicans and with the hate merchants and the peddlers out there. first, the president is not muslim. he does not hate farming. he does not hate the military, and he does not hate the united states of america. but this part is true. hank williams jr., he says we hate him. they do. let's bring in msnbc political analyst and georgetown university professor michael eric dyson. there just is a culture that permeates through the countryside by these hate merchants who peddle it onstage, hank williams jr., and i don't think it's effver going to quit professor. i don't think it's ever going to quit. what's the best way to comment -- what's the best way to combat this head-shaking crowd out there? >> i think the president has brilliantly ignored the most egriejs examples of this hatred, not because he's namby-pamby but

because he's a true christian. all of these people in the name of christ who are assaulting the president of the united states of america are being met with a man who says treat them with love. i say look, we can't be stupid about this. we have to be strusteategic abo it. we have to say to people like people like mr. williams which is tragic because he comes from such a vaunted, valued ped gree of music, to descend to the pit and pathology of hatred, we have to pray for him and say your way will not win. ultimately, the good americans out here, many more believe in the president, believe in his humanity, believe in the fact we should not hate people even if we oppose them. i don't agree with paul ryan, i don't agree with mitt romney. i don't hate them. i love them as fellow human beings. we have to emphasis and focus on

those who uplift the values and virtues of this democracy and not those who put it into the pit as it seems hank williams wants to do. >> what motivates people to p peddle hate like that? does it make them feel better? what he said is absolutely false. you know, and of course, in that part of the country, farming is kind of important. but yet, he says that the president hates farming. >> i mean, that's ridiculous. >> it is ridiculous, but aren't we teached younger people that it's okay to hate in some sort? >> yeah, well, you know we are, but we have to resist that. you bring up a very important point. i don't want to overlook that, i don't want to be valiant here and to be valiant is to say we have to stand up to this tooth and nail. the president under his administration gave billions of dollars to those farmers who had been treated unfairly, especially african-american ones unless mr. williams doesn't think black farmers