good time with me, we're going to keep trying to get it right. and what i say to everyone who's kind enoughs to hello to me when you're in d.c. or new york or philly or somewhere else, it's this, thanks for being part of all of this. that's "hardball." for now, thanks for being with us. "politics nation with al sharpton" starts right now. >> thanks, chris, and thanks to you for tuning in. tonight's lead, the gop's cruel intentions. the republican party has a message for the uninsured. for those struggling to get guy, for those yearning to make a life here in america. it's called you're on your own. in town halls across the country, gop lawmakers are attacking the president's health care law that helps millions of americans. too bad for the gop, they're getting some unexpected response. >> i believe that obama care is bad for america. i do. and the reason is -- and so does

the president. >> what about the seniors in your district? >> what about us? >> what about us? >> excuse me real quick. the congressman was very respectful about -- >> tell him to stop lying. >> given that reaction, you'd think the party might want to rethink its plans to defund the health care law, right? wrong. today the right wing heritage group kicked off a defund obama care tour aimed at killing the law and, get this, some republicans even want to shut the government down to do it, even though they themselves admit it's a terrible idea. >> well, i don't think shutting down the government is a good idea, but i do think that we were elected, conservatives were elected to try to stop this overreach, this government takeover of health care. if we do nothing, we're just

saying to the president, hey, you get your way. >> i don't think it's a good idea, but let's do it anyway. how's that for cruel? it's that type of failed logic the president called out this weekend. >> your health insurance isn't something to play politics with. our economy isn't good to play politics with. this is not a game. >> the gop keeps playing games with the american people. the only problem, the country is losing because of it. today we learned that the republican obsession with budget cuts has kicked 57,000 children off of the headstart program. think of that. nearly 60,000 children, and the gop's relentless opposition to immigration is having real effects on their constituents. listen, this little girl's question as she questions a republican congressman. listen to this.

>> i have a dad and he's undocumented. and what can i do so he can stay with me? >> what can you do? >> thank you for being here and thank you for coming forward and speaking. this is a big, intimidating crowd and i appreciate you coming forward and asking your question, but the answer still kind of remains the same, that we have laws and we need to follow those laws and that's where we're at. >> that's today's republican party. cheering at the idea of a little girl losing her father. there's nothing grand about that ole party. just cruel. joining me now is congressman jim mcdermott, democrat from washington, and joan walsh, editor at large for salon.com. thank you both for coming on the show tonight.

>> thanks, reverend al. >> good to be here. >> congressman, how can the gop justify putting politics before people like this? >> well, it's because they don't know what people feel, i guess. that's the only way i can explain it. because they're all talking about money and deficits and this kind of stuff. they're not looking at the people, like that little girl. if you look at people who are in the waiting room or in the emergency room and realize that they waited too long because they didn't have health insurance, you wish that they could have a health insurance system, and that's really what the president is offering to the country. we're not taking over the health care system in the government, we're offering people an opportunity to buy in to private health care plans at a cost that they can afford, and that's really taking away that anxiety is really what this is all about. but the republicans have no concern about the anxiety of the people. they don't care. they just want to win the next election. >> now, joan, you know not only

are they concerned about the next election, congressman mcdermott says the people they feel don't know. and i'll give you an example of how they get confused. look at congressman -- gop congressman justin amash. he tried to pretend this weekend that people with pre-existing conditions were completely covered before the health care law. >> right. >> take a listen to this. >> what's the alternative to those who now find that their pre-existing conditions don't matter, they can still get insurance? what do you say to the 25-year-old that still needs to stay on his parents? what happens to them if obama care goes away? >> well, pre-existing conditions can be covered. in fact they are covered by some insurance policies. >> now, he says on national television that they are covered by -- the pre-existing conditions are covered. >> right.

>> what do you call that when somebody says something that blatant? >> i think it might be lying or else he's completely ignorant. >> so he's lying. >> or he's ignorant and we're giving him the benefit of the doubt. >> now, if he's given the benefit of the doubt for saying an affirmative statement whether he knows he's lying or not, what he's saying is a lie. >> it certainly is not true. i would believe that it is a lie, reverend al. but we've talked about this before. they are so afraid of this law taking effect and of this law making changes in people's lives, making people's lives better that they are lying about it. i'm so thrilled to see people actually standing up in town halls and confronting them on this. they think that we're stupid. they think that we don't know what's in the law. some of us don't, some of us do. the more it kicks in, the more people will have visible, tangible evidence of what's in the law and the more popular that it will become. so they're so desperate they need to take back what they can take and in the meantime lie

about what's actually in it. >> congressman, isn't this kind of misinformation what is leading to a lot of confusion with americans? and isn't the fact that they don't have their own plan leading them to distorting and misleading and lying about the president's plan? i mean even scott walker, the gop governor, scolded congressional republicans for not offering their own vision for the country. listen to this. >> as governors, as state leaders we're more optimistic than our friends in washington. we're not just against something, we're laying out a plan, we're playing out a vision. >> you've got to, right? you've got to. >> you don't just sit back and nick the other side, you've got to lay out a plan. >> that's how you lead, you have to lay out a plan. what is the republicans health care plan in congress, congressman? >> well, i told them in the ways and means committee, they said they had a plan. i said i've been sitting here for three and a half years waiting for you to bring your

plan out. there has never been a plan laid on the table for us to vote on or make amendments to or anything else. they talk but will not put their money where their mouth is. they simply try to confuse people. this is what happened when we started medicare. they tried to confuse people and people signed up anyway. and that's what's going to happen in 40 days from now. people in california and oregon and washington will be flocking to sign up. the rest of the country will be standing around in tennessee and arkansas and all of these places saying why can't we have that? what do they have that we don't have? they are going to look to their governors and say what are you doing to us? >> and when the rubber meets the road, joan, people that are in need forget about the partisan bickering. i'll give you an example, a headline that's getting a lot of attention today is a former republican campaign operative says his struggle with cancer has made him an obama care

supporter. he's quoted as saying when you say you're against it, you're saying that you don't want people like me to have health insurance. former republican operative. >> well there are going to be more and more people like him and that's what we're seeing in these town halls, reverend al. people are seeing this is a change they need in their lives and the republicans don't have an answer. you know, the congressman knows this better than i do. if you go way back, the individual mandate for health insurance was actually a win idea. the problem is they once did have ideas. democrats said why don't we meet you in the middle. we're going to accept some of your ideas. we'll say let's have the marketplace work and have government work with the marketplace. we'll do it your way and then they back away from it. this is what's so maddening about being a democrat. you're consistently trying to compromise with the other side and reach a happy medium and then they walk away from their positions. so right now you've got somebody like scott walker saying it's a

bad idea not to have something in its place but he doesn't have something to propose to go in its place either. >> let me tell you one plan they do have, congressman, the new house gop plan for food stamps would deny benefits to as many as six million low income people. this is part of a larger problem with the gop. i want to show you something. the editor of the "national review" talks about people on food stamps. listen to this. >> government has gone out and deliberately eroded the natural sense of stigma americans feel about being on the dole in any form and that's a disgrace. >> being on the dole, the stigma. so for people to be in need, they should be stigmatized we're talking about seniors and children, congressman. >> you know, if you have children, as i do, and you think about what it would be like if

you didn't have a job and you had tried for 18 months, as many people have tried, and you've run out of unemployment benefits and you're losing your house to foreclosure and your kids sit at the dining room table and there is no food in the cupboard, you will swallow your pride and go get some food stamps and get some food to put on the table. that's what's happening to the middle class all over this country. the crushing of the middle class by the right wing, by the tea party, has been extraordinary. >> yeah. >> they want to take away every, every security. >> no question about it, congressman jim mcdermott and joan walsh, thank you for your time this evening. >> thanks, reverend al. still ahead, the truth about all these ugly attacks from bill o'reilly and the gang. my response tonight. plus, is chris christie the answer to the gop's problems? big news tonight about his plans for 2016.

and look out, republicans, the birth er crazies are turnin on you too. ted cruz releasing its birth certificate and what it says about the far right. also what's on your mind. e-mail me, friend or foe, i want to know. reply al is ahead. [ shapiro ] at legalzoom, you can take care of virtually all your important legal matters in just minutes. protect your family... and launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side.

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has the republican party found its knight in shining armor? after getting totally crushed in two presidential elections, some think it's this guy, new jersey governor chris christie. he's heading for an easy re-election in his home state, but "the new york times" reports christie is already gearing up for a bigger race, 2016. his team is building a sprawling 50-state fund-raising network. christie is also making some curious policy moves, like vetoing a ban on 50-caliber military rifles, even though he proposed that ban just a few months ago. it's the kind of nimble two-step reverse that political consultants dream about. but is anybody else buying it?

joining me now is michelle coddle. thanks for coming on the show. >> thanks, rev. >> michelle, is it just a coincidence as christie gets up for 2016 he just happens to reverse himself and veto a gun ban that right-wingers are against? >> very little in politics at this level is a coincidence. talking to a veteran of presidential campaign today, he points out there are some issues that you cannot get on the wrong side of the base on and second amendment rights is one of those issues. chris christie knows this, so he has to be very careful as he's going forward here with his eye on the base in 2016. >> he's got to have the base to get through the nominating process. another example is last year he praised president obama's leadership on hurricane sandy. listen to this. >> i was on the phone at midnight last night again with the president personally. he has expedited the designation of new jersey as a major

disaster area. the president has been outstanding in this. >> i appreciate that call from the president. it was very proactive and i appreciate that type of leadership. >> but, this june, christie slammed president obama's leadership abilities. listen. >> we look at washington, d.c., right now and we shake our heads in wonder, at a president who can't figure out how to lead. >> i mean 180-degree turn is an understatement. >> well, look, one of christie's political benefits is people see him as a straight-shooting, straight-talking guy but he got a little bit far out there as far as the base is concerned. he was seen as the guy who was beating up his own party. and while that may be fine and running as the governor of a blue state, it is not fine if you want to win the primary for a presidential election. so he's got to kind of dial it back a bit. so he kind of loses that reputation as somebody who

embraced obama, which is, you know, verboten in the party, and somebody who was beating up his own team. >> well, he's also got to worry about getting hit from those heroes and sheros of the right. for example, sarah palin went after him last week and she attacked him like only sarah palin can. watch this. >> you know, some people look at him as, oh, man, he's a governor who goes rogue. you know, he's got a schtick where he's got a youtube videographer following him around so he can be seen as perhaps a little bit avant-garde and going rogue on things. but chris christie is for more government and his record proves that. >> those kind of statements from those kind of figures on the far right could be problematic in a republican primary season. >> absolutely. and you know he also got into a squabble with tea party favorite rand paul. >> right. >> and this is the enduring

challenge that he is going to have. he can't get to where he's in a general election and appealing to the broad kind of middle of america unless he can first get by a very hard-core in the base in the primary. >> that's the problem. for example this month we found a poll where among all voters, chris christie is considered the hottest politician in the country, meaning that he has the highest favorability rating. but among republicans he falls to number eight, so christie is the top republican in the country, but he probably could make it through a gop primary. how long will that last? >> well, he's going to have to figure out how to do the dance that everybody does, which is he's got to find a way to kind of, wink wink, nudge nudge, assure the base that he's going to stick by certain republican values. he is a conservative guy. we're not talking about a

rudolph giuliani here. chris christie is very conservative but he's got to kind of do the dance where he stiff-arms obama and doesn't talk so much about compromise and stuff in order to satisfy the base. and then if he makes it through, he'll do that pirouette like mitt romney tried to do again and go back toward the middle. >> michelle cottle, thank you for your time tonight. >> thanks, reverend. still ahead, the gop has a birther whiplash. one of the tea party's rising stars is forced to produce his own birth certificate. and new york mayor michael bloomberg makes some revealing comments about stop and frisk. you want to see this. stay with us. ♪

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today new york mayor michael bloomberg made a revealing comment about the city's stop and frisk program. take a look. >> i think if i had a son and that son was stopped, i would have some real questions about it. >> he'd have some real questions if he had a son. he'd have some real questions if he was personally affected by it. like the hundreds of thousands of blacks and latinos who have been stopped by this police force in new york city. a federal judge said stop and

frisk violates the constitutional rights of minorities, but new york officials claim it's needed in order to fight crime. >> there is just no question that stop, question and frisk has saved countless lives. >> if a program like stop and frisk is abandoned, will people die? >> well, i think no question about it, violent crime will go up. >> people across the country and around the world have come to learn about how the nypd has been so successful, and how we've driven crime down to record lows. we are the poster child that everybody wants to follow. >> really? without stop and frisk, the murder rate would be higher? the facts just don't back that up. new york's murder rate dropped 29% starting in 2002 when stop and frisk program ramped up. 29%. that's good news.

but over that same time period, murders in los angeles dropped 55%, and in washington, d.c., they plummeted 66%. those are two major cities that don't rely on stop and frisk tactics like new york. there's no proof that stop and frisk lowers the crime rate, period. did mayor bloomberg think we'd ignore all of his misleading statements? nice try, but we got you. no. honey, it's too perfect. over a quarter million properties... you'll never want to leave. booking.com booking.yeah congestion, for it's smog. but there are a lot of people that do ride the bus. and now that the busses are running on natural gas, they don't throw out as much pollution to the earth.

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peace of mind is important when so we provide it services you bucan rely on. with centurylink as your trusted it partner, you'll experience reliable uptime for the network and services you depend on. multi-layered security solutions keep your information safe, and secure. and responsive dedicated support meets your needs, and eases your mind. centurylink. your link to what's next. that's the beautiful national anthem of canada. i've been thinking a lot about our neighbor to the north lately, because texas tea party hero, ted cruz, was actually born there. and that made some people ask whether he's eligible to run for

president. senator cruz wants to put the whole thing to rest. so he's released his birth certificate. i wonder what people will look for. >> there's one line called place of birth. i'd like to see what he said. >> we can actually see that right here. the place of birth is calgary, in alberta, canada. but legal experts agree, senator cruz is eligible to run for president. since his mother was a u.s. citizen, her son was a citizen from birth. i'm sure that will satisfy everyone. >> you are not allowed to be a president if you're not born in this country. he may not have been born in this country. >> well, that's not what the experts say. but the donald seems pretty sure. what does the right think about this particular document? >> i cannot in good faith report

to you that these documents are authentic. >> really? it looks authentic to me. but was this all necessary? did we really need to see the senator's personal papers? >> why are all these people that just ask to see it, why are they -- why are they crucified and beaten up and smeared and besmirched the way they are? >> yeah, why are they smeared just for asking to see it? folks, let's get real. all those sound bites i just played are republicans talking about president obama. but now senator cruz is facing the same birther hysteria, except it's coming from his own party. joining me now, dana milbank. dana, do you think we can expect the donald to send some private investigators up to calgary? >> oh, i certainly hope so,

reverend. i think this is a juicy skangds. ted cruz lived there until he was 4 years old. we can only wonder what loyalties he picked up there. is he loyal to the queen? does he secretly go home to texas and drink molsons and say words like eh? >> ted cruz went out and gave this to a texas newspaper to try to put this brewing controversy behind him, but he actually created one that didn't exist before because now it turns out he's legally a dual citizen. he's also a citizen of canada. >> angela, donald trump was the king of birthers, but listen to what he said about senator cruz. >> ted cruz, born in canada. >> yeah. >> is he eligible to be president of the united states? >> well, if he was born in canada, perhaps not. i'm not sure where he was born. >> he was definitely born in canada. >> okay. then you'll have to ask him that question, so perhaps not. >> ted cruz's mother was an

american. >> that will be ironed out. i heard somebody tell me he was born in canada. that's really his thing. >> that's really his thing. i mean i'm sure it will be worked out. this is the guy that was passionate about president obama, but cruz, he'll work it out. i don't know if he's eligible or not, angela. >> well, rev, i think this should have been your nice try but we gotcha. i think you should have used this one. it's clearly a huge problem here. i think there's one factor that we know is kind of the elephant in the room here. president obama looks a whole lot different than senator cruz. and even with the republicans, you know, especially the tea party folks and the birthers going on and on about this, even though the president produced a birth certificate, we also saw this in 2008 with senator mccain. it wasn't new with barry goldwater. this is something that's come up over and over again and even the most recent presidential election. mitt romney's dad also faced these issues. the challenge that we have here is that there is the almost

identical fact pattern. the one distinction between president obama and ted cruz is that ted cruz really was not born here. >> well, you know, you look at the elephant in the room, i guess pun intended with the gop, but you know, dana, sarah palin endorsed trump's birtherism, but she just about the biggest supporter you could fine of ted cruz. listen to this. >> i appreciate that the donald wants to spend his resources in getting to the bottom of something that so interests him and many americans. you know, more power to him. >> you know what i wish congress would do? just for a week perhaps, just put themselves on cruise control, ted cruz control. >> it's almost like she's being hypocritical, dana. i mean -- >> no! >> do you think that palin will

weigh in on senator cruz's eligibility? >> well, governor palin can see canada from alaska, so she has some things she might be able to say about this. of course everybody is going to be hypocritical. in their defense, they can say, well, they weren't really -- what they were talking about with president obama is they were accusing him or basically his parents of a fraudulent birth certificate, whereas nobody actually disputed that ted cruz said all along that he was born in canada. and if he is in the extremely unlikely event he's to be elected president there will be a lawsuit and somebody can decide whether that meets the natural born citizen requirement of the constitution. but now it will just remain -- i don't think it's the elephant in the room, it's the moose in the room. >> you know, angela, cruz did certainly get his popularity from pandering to the right. listen to what he says about the president. >> i think president obama is the most radical president we've ever seen. but i think an awful lot of

republicans fail to stand for principle and contributed to getting us in this mess. >> but ironically it's these far right-wing bloggers and pundits that are now raising the questions on senator cruz. has he helped to create a monster? >> i think he absolutely helped to create a monster, and it's very strange that he's calling this president radical. this president has simply tried to create things like obama care to ensure that our nation's citizens would have access to health care. work towards creating jobs. something that ted cruz and the guys he aligns himself with the have blocked every step of the job. so yes, he has created a monster and perhaps it's a monster that will rear its ugly head right before his decision to run for president in 2016. >> here's what the president said, president obama, when he released his long form birth certificate. >> we're not going to be able to

solve our problems if he get distracted by sideshows and carnival barkers. we do not have time for this kind of silliness. we've got better stuff to do. i've got better stuff to do. >> is cruz going to say we don't have time for this foolishness to his colleagues on the far right? >> i don't think he's going to have to, reverend, because, look, on the left people aren't going to get involved in this kind of silliness. and on the right, yeah, there will be a few of them, a few cranks, but there will be enough willing to knuckle under and say, yes, he's one of ours, let's cut him some slack so i don't think he'll have to do it. >> well, angela, do you think as we look at the republican party trying to come back after having an autopsy and other things, you have cruz, you have rand paul, all of these on the far right, people are talking about the governor of new jersey, christie in the middle. does this hurt cruz in a far

right -- in the far right constituency that he would need to be formidable in early primaries if he chooses to run? >> it would hurt him if they were going to be consistent. the problem with that, rev, is very clear. they are far from consistent. when you talk about the autopsy, though, this is the same party that said they wanted to reintroduce themselves to people of color. so if they're not consistent with ted cruz here, they're going to have another, yet again, major problem with people of color here because they're not going to be consistent with the birther movement. >> and just to be clear, i'm not raising these issues to question his citizenship, i'm raising it to question some people's hypocrisy. dana milbank and angela rye, that you both for your time tonight. >> thanks, reverend. >> thank you, rev. still ahead, bill o'reilly and his far-right cronies are demonizing their political opponents. they're making some ugly personal attacks. my response coming up.

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tonight remembering a milestone for a pioneer of the civil rights movement. yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of james meredith's graduation from the university of mississippi. meredith integrated ole miss back in 1962, becoming the first black student to enroll at the all-white university in the

heart of the deep south. segregation is rioted on his first day in campus, forcing president kennedy to send in the national guard to restore order. but james meredith would go on to graduate and continue to advocate for civil rights. his courage is an example to all of us. we're celebrating that kind of courage this friday in a special edition of "politics nation" covering the march on washington 50 years later. joining me, martin luther king iii and congressman john lewis as we look back on dr. king's dream and look ahead to the work yet to be done. it's all on the night before the march on washington that i'll lead with martin luther king iii. we hope you'll tune into that show and join us for the march. yeah? then how'd i get this... [ voice of dennis ] ...safe driving bonus check? every six months without an accident, allstate sends a check.

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since the george zimmerman murder trial, right-wingers like

hannity, sean hannity and will o'reilly have been attacking some of us in the civil rights movement. for a ralo'reilly, it's a night event. >> that is the subject of this evening's talking points. what the grievance industry does want to divide the country. in general the race hustlers and their sympathizers have descended into the gutter. >> now, as i said on friday, this kind of attack actually shows his own hypocrisy, because bill o'reilly has donated money to my nonprofit. he's also spoken at one of our annual conventions of my civil rights group, the national action network. so why would he give us his time and money if we are so-called race hustlers in the grievance industry? maybe because that kind of smear

is needed to make it in the right wing today. these pundits have to launch personal attacks over matters of policy. they have to demonize and delegitimatize anyone and whoever disagrees with them. but it's wrong and it doesn't have to be this way. for example, i've worked with newt gingrich when we have found common ground on education, but that didn't stop me from criticizing him vehemently and his political views when he ran for president. new york mayor michael bloomberg and i have always tried to seek areas of agreement where we can, but i also helped lead thousands of people to march to his doorstep of his house, to protest stop and frisk policies. and a few months later, we put that aside as the mayor spoke at my group's headquarters this january for reverend martin luther king's birthday. i've even met with president bush, who i had profound

disagreements with most of his agenda. so these right-binwing pundits huff and puff all they want but it just shows that they care more about their own preening than they do about actually coming together to have a real conversation. joining me is eric bolart with media matters for america and joe madison, talk show host at sirius xm radio. let me ask you a very candid question. does the right-wing talkers make personal attacks for ratings or because they really can't argue the policy on the merits? >> i'd say it's about 50-50, 60-40. look, i think everyone agrees this business, cable news, talk radio, it's a tough business, it's a rough business. there are allegations that are thrown around. it makes it a little more interesting, let's admit it, than having this wonkish

discussion. but fox news, rush limbaugh, those people go so far over the line. it's sort of nonstop demonization if you're talking about obama. it's sort of a cultive personality. usually that's a person following a leader. they have formed one around hatred of democrats and obama and things like that. so at media matters we talk about this phony outrage machine that the right wing media is a part of. i think part of that is the phony outrage over demonization, hating people. not really just being upset about obama care or crime, but being sort of furious about the people who are behind it and it's the smearing that's nonstop. >> joe, this last battle between me, if you want to call it that, and bill o'reilly was last week he slammed food stamp recipients as pair sighrasiteparasites. let me show you what he said. >> the obama administration is encouraging parasites to come out and take as much as they can

with no remorse. this is how our country declines. this is how we become a weak nation. >> now, i disagreed with the allegation of parasites and disagreed with a lot of what was said on the food stamp stuff. his retort is that he once donated money to help us, and you know we feed the poor and children every christmas. i don't know what writing a check does to call people parasites but in his world that's logical. isn't this really the point, that rather than answer the questions, why you call people parasites, where is all of this, you go off and attack someone that would dare raise a question as to why you're calling people in need these names? >> it is. this vitriolic rhetoric has a purpose, and it is to impact public policy. and the reason they want to impact public policy is

because -- and your show has done this for mostly all this evening. no plan, no purpose and no vision. >> right. >> the only plan they had was to defeat president obama twice, and they failed. the only vision they had was to defeat him and they have failed. and so now what they have done is that they are attempting to try to win public opinion by saying any money you spend on education, any money you spend on the needy is wasted money. so, therefore, that's how they impact public policy and that's really what's going on. >> and even saying that the president encourages this. why not debate how do you justify saying he encourages this? but again, my real point, eric, is why can't we have adult

dialogue like we've had with other right-wingers. let me show you something here. this is bill o'reilly making a speech at national action network's convention, my organization. the grievance industry. >> it's a much more interesting country, america, if we stop with the race business, i think. i mean i'm not black so i don't know your struggle. and you don't know my struggle, all right, because you're not white. but after 9/11, we pretty much dropped that race stuff, did we not? we pretty much were all americans there, right? all right? i hear yes, i hear no, but to me from my perch, there were blacks killed in that tower. >> now, i show that to say we're not adverse to letting people that we disagree with come. this is at full body of the convention. but yet we've got to be everything but a child of god if we dare say why do you call people in need parasites? why do you say the president is encouraging this? >> yeah, and the pair sighrasit

the rhetoric about the poor the last couple of years from o'reilly and fox news has been amazingly degrading. we've gone beyond the stereotypes of lazy. it's now become sort of this need industry and obama is going to keep these people as voters for life by giving them free stuff and things like that. so it's not even a public policy about welfare or poverty or anything like that. it's just sort of this relentless demonization of poor people that doesn't serve any purpose other than to rile up the audience. they have got to get those people tuning in every half hour, every hour, and it's easier to do that if you just paint these people as amoral and get really excited about it. >> you know, the personal attacks not just me, it's anybody, and it's people in very serious and prominent positions. but if you're on the other side, they call you all kinds of names. look at this, joe. >> this president, i think, has exposed himself as a guy over and over and over again who has

a deep-seated hatred for white people. >> what does it say about the college co-ed susan fluke who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex? what does that make her? it makes her a slut, right? it makes her a prostitute. >> four more years of obama will end america, the country we love as we know it. >> we have a name for michelle, mucho. mooch, mooch, moochelle obama. >> when i was younger, i would call people names but when i would grow and really want to get something done, you do a little more than just name call, particularly ugly names. >> well, when you don't have a plan, you don't have a vision, you don't have a purpose, you don't have a legislative agenda, you revert to name-calling. it's school yard mentality. you're absolutely right.

that's what kids do on the school yard when they begin to lose an argument. you know, in our day, rev, we called it playing the dozens. that's all this is. but i'm here to also say to you that somebody ought to -- we should stop referring to them as conservatives. folks at media matters and i don't mean to tell you how to run your business, but these are regressives. these folks are trying to turn back the clock, just like we are progressives. they are just the opposite and we've got to call them what they are. they want to go back to a time when they were in charge, and that genie is out of the bottle. it's not going to happen no matter how much name calling goes on. >> gotta go. eric and joe, thanks for coming on the show tonight. >> thank you. >> thanks. friend or foe? i want to know. "replay al" is next. asional constipation,

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it's time for "reply al." remember, friend or foe, i want to know. al t. writes what's the true reason gop leadership refuses to confront extremism within their own party? i think that they're intimidated by the extremists. they feel that they must say certain things and bow to certain wishes. otherwise they will be primary and could lose because they don't have the courage to stand up to what they know in many cases they know is wrong and misguided. vivian wants to know what would you say to people who support voter i.d. laws and believe voter suppression is a liberal lie? two things. there's nothing wrong with voter i.d., but let's use the i.d. we always use. why do we need new i.d.? let's use the same i.d. we used when nixon ran and reagan ran

and jimmy carter, all the way through. why did we get to president obama and all of a sudden the i.d. we had was no good, when there was no fraud? 0.003% fraud found. so it was a solution looking for a problem, not a solution looking for problem. do you see trayvon martin becoming the rosa parks of the 21st century? i think the reaction and the movement that has developed after trayvon is more like what happened to emmitt till, a young man killed in the '50s. different circumstance, different case, but yet it was a blatant unjust result that ignited people. rosa parks took a firm act, led to a boycott but she lived, thank god, and helped to become a physical symbol of that movement. trayvon and emmitt till,