respecting the danger of good police work and our desire especially those of us who live in tough neighborhoods to have police doing their job. which includes respecting the people they take the responsibility to protect. we do it a little different here on "hardball." that's why i want you out there watching when we go exclusively next week to 7:00 eastern. this is important stuff. it's not easy. i need you with me. that's "hardball" for now, thanks for being with us. "politicsnation" with al sharpton starts right now. thanks, chris. and thanks to you for tuning in. tonight's lead, 50 years after dr. martin luther king's i have a dream speech, republicans have their own dream. to impeach president obama. it's the latest sign of just how desperate the gop has become. they lost the election, they don't have an agenda, they they

can't stop the president's health care law. that's why you're hearing ridiculous talk about impeachment at town halls with republican lawmakers. >> he needs to be stopped. we need to get that -- it should have been started a long, long time ago. is somebody going to finally draw up something that's going to stop this runaway train we have in the white house? >> you know, if i could write that bill and submit it -- >> do it. >> yeah. >> excuse me. it would be a dream come true. i feel your pain. i know. i stood 12 feet away from the guy and listened to him, and i couldn't stand being there. but because he is president i have to respect the office. >> it would be a dream come true? to impeach president obama? really? now, in fairness, i'd expect this type of talk coming from

the republican from michigan. he's a professional santa claus impersonator and he's posed shirtless with a reindeer. i'm not sure the reindeer's enjoying that. but look. it's not just half naked santas threatening into impeach the president. senator ted cruz was asked about it this week too. >> it's a good question. i'll tell you the simplest answer. to successfully impeach a president, you need to votes in the senate and harry reid and the democrats controlling the senate. it can't succeed. >> that's right. but that doesn't stop the cronies from entertaining the same garbage. >> we want all tools available to use including the impeachment. >> he continues, could that build up to make a case for a possible impeachment? >> all options should be on the

table. >> if we were to impeach the president tomorrow, you could probably get the votes in the house of representatives to do it. but it would go to the senate and it wouldn't be held up. >> people may starting to use the i-word before too long. >> the i-word meaning impeachment? >> yeah. >> i've had lawyers come in and these are lawyers, tell me how i can impeach the president of the united states. >> the constitution says presidents can only be impeached for quote, high crimes and misdemeanors. is it a crime to provide health care to millions of americans? is it a crime to help seniors with their drug costs or to protect people with pre-existing conditions? no, it's not. the real crime is the fraud that republicans are trying to pull on the american people. joining me now are ed rendell and abby huntsman. thank you both for coming on the

show. >> my pleasure. >> thanks. >> governor rendell, i mean some republicans are actually talking about impeachment over health care. have you ever seen a political party so pathetic? the supreme court upheld as legal and constitutional. what are they talking about? >> you hit the nail on the head. you can only be impeached not for policy that someone dislikes or disagrees with, but for high crimes and misdemeanors. look, as a loyal democrat, i love hearing that talk. and let me tell you why. it adds to what i call the wacko factor. i think there were a lot of people in 2012 who might not have been sold on re-electing president obama, who might have thought that mitt romney was a pretty reasonable guy who thought i can't vote for romney, though, because the gop is controlled by a bunch of crazies. whacks. and the average citizen who

listens to impeach the president, they think they're nuts. and that helps us dramatically and hurts the republican cause. somebody in that party ought to be saying come on, we're not going to impeach the president. he hasn't committed crimes. until they do, they're going to be a minority party for a long period of time. >> well, how about it, abby? you are a republican. i have some republican friends, maybe 20 and you're two of them. would some responsible republicans stand up to this? >> the person who should have stood up was senator ted cruz. what he should have said is that's a crazy stupid question. you have to do something to get impeached which president obama has not done. what you're seeing here is still a strong market place for angry voters against president obama. i mean, it's interesting. you look back at the 2012

primary and over half of republican voters thought that president obama was not born in the united states. and those numbers remain very high. which is a sad state of affairs. but you have to give it to someone like ted cruz. i mean, he knows how to throw out fire debate. it's what he's known for. the base loves it. they love he plays back to that. i think this is frustrating. you mentioned young people, reverend. it's frustrating for young republicans that want the party to move in a different direction that actually gets to winning elections again. and seeing someone like a senator ted cruz who has the microphone yet is only using it to throw out these bombs. and to say things that frankly my mind are disingenuous. you have a guy that is ivy league educated. he went to harvard and princeton. he knows very well what he's saying is not rational. i think frankly it's disingenuous to voters. >> well, governor, ted cruz was

heckled over and over again just yesterday at an anti-obama town hall. listen to this. >> gentlemen, thank you for sharing your views. you know, part of the first amendment is about respecting others. sir -- >> usa! usa! usa! usa! usa! >> now, this governor's not exactly the reaction the republicans were looking for going out on these town halls. people chanting you have health care, so should we. but then cruz at this town hall said we shouldn't blink. we can't blink in the fight over health care. listen to this. >> can we mobilize grassroots

america? >> yes, we can! >> and can we defund obama care? >> yes, we can! >> we've got to do something conservatives haven't done in a long time. we've got to stand up and win the argument. if you have an impasse, you want to know one side or the other has to blink. how do we win this fight? don't blink. >> don't blink. i mean, since when have the republicans not stood up to president obama? am i missing something here, governor? >> no, you're not missing anything. but ted cruz is dead wrong. he's making a political mistake. he's again catering to the wacko function of his party. today pat toomey a solid conservative, he said you're not going to shut down the government trying to repeal

health care. it's a bad idea. same voices in the republican party have said that. yet ted cruz keeps preaching a voice of action which 52% of republican voters -- you saw that poll we discussed it last week -- 52% of republican voters don't want obama care repealed at this point. they want it changed. they want it modified. they want it to go forward. they don't want to go back and fight those fights. the supreme court said it's legal. it's passed into law. so many good things about it. people got checks back from their health care providers because they weren't using the money for health care. they got rebates. there are so many good things about the law. the reason they're afraid is more and more people find out about obama care, the affordable health care act, more they're going to like it. >> now, abby, the politico came out today saying governor rick perry who's been a huge critic

of health care law, he has accepted an estimated $100 million from the health care law to care for the elderly and disabled. is this going to be just like the stimulus. criticize the law but use it when it looks good in front of your constituents? >> that's what he should be doing. it's to their benefit to take in the money. i think you'll see more and more governors do exactly what governor rick perry did. and i think governor rendell makes a great point about someone like senator ted cruz making a political mistake. you have to wonder what his long-term game is here. i mean, he fires up the base. this will play really well in the primaries, but doesn't do well in the general. so i don't even know that he cares about, you know, the direction of the card to actually win a general election. because the tone he's taking right now, that is not a winning tone.

that's not going to get him anywhere past the primary stage. so it's frankly pretty frustrating to watch. to your point about rick perry, i think you're going to see more and more governors taking obama care because that simply is the law. i think republicans are recognizing this is a law. this is a losing battle for us. do what's best for our state. >> all right. ed rendell and abby huntsman, i'm going to have to leave it there. thank you very much for your time this evening. and don't forget to catch abby on "the cycle" week days at 3:00 p.m. right here on msnbc. ahead, the victims of the gop's anti-government hysteria. tens of thousands of little kids, preschoolers, who may be denied a head start in life. >> we need this program because it gives them the support they need. it gives them the boost. there were kids that needed a lot of help and they got it from this program. and the gop's anti-obama

scandal machine has just blown a fuse. turns out the facts got in the way. plus the march on washington 50 years later. we'll take you behind the scenes before the march when the skeptics and the cynics were telling dr. king to slow down. >> instead of slowing up, we must push at this point and we must continue to move on. and i'm convinced that our moving on will not only help the negro cause so to speak, but the whole of america. also what's on your mind? e-mail me. friend or foe i want to know. reply al is ahead. i'm live from california tonight. stay with us. [ man ] this isn't my first career.

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have you joined the "politicsnation" conversation on facebook yet? we hope you will. many of our facebook fans are already excited about this weekend's commemoration and continuation of the march on washington. elizabeth says we need to refocus on dr. king's dream. gordon says without equality and an end to institutional racism, this country will never reach its full potential. i agree. gregg writes that he's using the badge from the 1963 march as his profile picture. nice touch. want to learn more about the march? we've got all the information on our page. go over to facebook and search "politicsnation." like us to join the conversation that keeps going long after the show ends. hard to breathe... but with advair, i'm breathing better.

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we're back with the gop's war on the poor and their cruelty knows no bounds. this time they're going after children. the gop backed automatic budget cuts have slashed $400 million from the early education program headstart. that helps low income families. that will kick over 57,000 preschoolers off the program that serves as a lifeline for many families who have nowhere else to turn. >> head start is going to enroll

fewer children because of sequester budget cuts. >> these are the most devastating cuts that we've ever seen. the sequestration. >> i have my four children with me when i was homeless at the time. >> they make you feel bad about being poor. even though you're doing everything right like i'm going back to school, i'm doing everything i'm supposed to do. but you can't get a break. >> i need this program because they gave them the support they need. they give them that boost. there are kids that needed a lot of help and they got it from this program. >> but republicans see it that way. when the sequester cuts were passed, they were falling over each other to congratulate themselves. speaker boehner called it a positive step forward. eric cantor said it was quote, the first big change we have accomplished. and congressman paul ryan flatout called it a victory. a victory for whom congressman?

certainly not the 57,000 children you just denied a chance for a better education. joining me now is kathy caster, democrat from florida. thank you for being here tonight. >> thank you. just over 1200 kids have been kicked off head start in florida. how do your colleagues defend this? >> this is very serious. the republicans insistence upon the sequester cuts, their refusal to negotiate the budget is having a real world impact on families all across the country. we know economists tell us that it's going to put us behind by over a million and a half jobs, but the real world impact in neighborhoods across america, all you have to do is look into the head start classrooms.

to think over 1200 young children here in the state of florida will be impacted will not have the same opportunity they have before republicans insistence on the cuts. head start works. the consensus, that out there says if you concentrate on children at the early ages in preschool and give them the tools they need, the nutrition, the health. require parents to be involved. then they have a greater chance to succeed in life. so the republicans putting up these road blocks, they're in essence saying to children across america we don't believe in you. we don't believe you should have that opportunity. >> and i wanted to push you a little on the point you say about head start works. because people around the country need to understand 57,000 children will no longer reap the vital benefits from head start. which is better literacy skills, increased earnings and employment when they graduate, even better health.

i mean, how can people on the other side of the aisle from you, congresswoman, justify cutting this program for tens of thousands of children? this is beyond partisan politics here. >> it really is. it's hard to understand their rationale. they're putting their heads in the sand and ignoring the data that demonstrates that students that have early head start in life if they get the health services and nutrition and that intensive education, that requires the parents to be involved. requires the parents to be sure that they are looking at self-sufficiency for themselves. like right here in tampa. i've met a number of parents who said thanks to head start. they were able to go back to school, get their degree, and they're working. and maybe their next -- their other children don't qualify because now they're working. so it's not just an initiative

focused on the kids. it's also the entire family. >> that's what i was going to ask. now that parents are getting ready to go back to schools, schools are reopening and different jobs around that. will they start feeling the heat now as situations of the summer starts to draw to an end? in fact, i see groups will be holding events in congressional districts around the country to raise awareness to the harmful budget cuts. supporters will line up, empty child sized seats in front of head start buildings to show how many children will be losing out. will republicans listen to things like this? are they going to start feeling the heat, congress woman? >> they better feel the heat because head start has been a successful initiative for almost 50 years. and now the republicans in the united states congress right now are responsible for the worst cuts in the history of head start. but in addition to that, they're

hearing across my community from the young talented researchers at our cancer center that are not going to have jobs or research projects, they're hearing from mental health counselors at our local air force base where they are being furloughed. they're hearing from food banks, hungry people that are going to go without. and all they have to do is come to the table and negotiate. but i serve on the budget committee with paul ryan. and i have seen no inclination to turning the cuts around. i'm afraid it's going to get a lot worse. >> i got to hold it there. thank you, congresswoman kathy castor. thank you for your time this evening. >> thank you. ahead, the nixon/reagan history that republicans try to forget. they like to talk scandal, but there's big news about a real scandal tonight. but first, the nra's dirty little secret. they've been caught red handed exposed for their own hypocrisy.

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when republicans were desperately trying to stop gun control a few months ago, they all settled on one bogus talking point. that it would create some kind

of national database of gun owners. >> i have a lot of concerns about that leading to a registry. >> to a national registry system for guns. >> people are worried about the government knowing where all the guns are and who has a gun and who doesn't. >> a registry. that's how they tried to scare gun owners. of course the federal government had no interest in creating this kind of database. but the nra did. today buzzfeed reported that the gun lobby giant has built a quote, massive secret database of gun owners. the nra has been collecting this information for years. they get the info from gun permit lists, gun safety classes, attendees to gun shows, and subscribers to rifle magazines. all without people's knowledge or consent. what do you say about that, mr. nra? >> that's what they're after. the names of good, decent people

all over this great country who happen to own a firearm. to go into a federal database for universal registration of every gun owner in america. the worst thing, you're creating a registry of all the law-abiding people in the country that own firearms. >> as president clinton once said, it takes some brass to attack a guy for doing something you did. did the nra think we wouldn't notice their massive hypocrisy on this? nice try, but we got you. that's real love. and so is giving him real tasty food. now there's new so good! dog food from iams. some leading brands contain sugar, or dyes, or artificial preservatives. ♪ [ dog whimpers ] but so good! from iams has 100% wholesome ingredients and none of those other things. now that's real love. and so is that. od! from iams. learn more at iams.com.

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♪behold! ♪the power of a well booked vacation!♪ ♪booking.com ♪booking dot yeaaaahhhh! 40 years ago, we watched the worst political scandal in u.s. history unfold. watergate. just today the nixon library released its final batch of secret white house tapes from the watergate era. in this tape future president

ronald reagan called president nixon after nixon's first public speech on the watergate scandal in april of 1973. >> you thought it was the right speech, did you? >> i did. very much so, yes. >> had to say it. had to say it. well, it's nice of you to call. okay. >> this too shall pass. >> this too shall pass. wishful thinking. nixon resigned in disgrace the following year. but these days, the right wing can't get enough of watergate and ginning up phony scandals to pin on president obama. >> this makes watergate look like child's play. >> if you add watergate and iran-contra together and multiply it by maybe ten or so, you may get in the realm of benghazi. >> the guy has failed to be honest and credible on things like benghazi and the irs. he's got to credibility. >> is the irs scandal like

watergate? that is the topic of the talking points memo. the sad truth is support es don't want to know the truth. >> the right loves to blame president obama over allegations the irs unfairly targeted conservative groups. the only problem? it's not true. new documents show the irs also gave extra scrutiny to some democratic groups. check this out. it's an actual document -- irs document telling screeners to watch out for discussers to the group acorn. that's right. the right's favorite boogeyman. look. the irs even used a cute little acorn as a reminder. screeners were looking for groups doing political work on both sides of the aisle. yes, they were screening tea party groups. but they were also looking for progressive groups.

it wasn't a left wing conspiracy after all. the real scandal is the right wing's phony persecution of this president. joining me now karen finney and joy reid. thank you both for being here. >> thank you. >> joy, the whole irs scandal is totally made up. i mean, should i hold my breath from apology by the gop? >> the acorn was so cute. i don't know how anybody could think that was threatening. i'm glad you started back with watergate, rev. the sort of politics of grievance as animated the republican party far long time. ever since nixon had to resign, they went after clinton to say now you have an impeached president just like the republicans. then george w. bush. they say people weren't nice to george bush so we're going to be extra mean to barack obama. and they're constantly framing their policies. now, in the irs case, there has

been a really pernicious use of the irs. would be to go after political enemies. but the only person who's done that, you've seen democratic leaning groups or liberal leaning groups complaining they were audited during the bush administration including the naacp. that is closer to the nixonian model than the irs. >> we saw congressional hearings, now we find out the irs was also looking for successors to acorn. even using those cute little acorns there looking for progressive groups. anyone that looks political. what happened to all of this noise we were hearing on the hill? >> remember it was elijah cummings that pointed out some time ago if it's being nixonian it's issa.

issa was limiting the amount of information coming out to paint a specific picture that he wanted painted. remember there was that back and forth between cummings and issa where cummings says you have to give everybody all the information. because once we saw all the information, we found out things like essentially it was a reagan appointee who thought he was doing this kind of targeting with the right thing to do. why? because of citizens united. and that a lot of the groups they looked at were in violation of the law. joy's right. they've been trying to accuse this president of overreach and abuse of power. when you've got dick cheney questioning your integrity, you know you're doing something right. >> and when you have the comparisons to watergate, i mean, when you are just overreaching in your criticism, fine. we all have our political views. but comparing to watergate, something that was outright

proven and criminal, to something that you are speculating that maybe some -- >> to doing overly open work. you have groups accepted bing out mitt romney literature and wanting tax exemptions. the irs was just doing their job. i always thought this was a phony scandal in i do want the irs to double check with a group doing politics. the barack obama in conservatives' minds is the ogre who every time the real barack obama comes out and is on television is so completely different that that's why their narrative is so absurd. it's absurd when you just listen to obama. >> rev, we shouldn't -- >> go ahead, karen.

>> we shouldn't forget that part of the goal here has been part of their goal to use the scandal to gin up more fear about obama care. the irs will have a limited role in getting people to access obama care. and remember earlier this year the republicans admitted part of the goal with this scandal was to use it as a way to deny the irs the funds they need to carry out that portion of obama care. >> now, joy, will the fact that these scandals keep imploding or at least blowing up in their face, will this impact them going into midterm elections. couldn't there be some political damage to them? i mean, they're already as low as you can go in the polls.

but could it be more damaging? >> the irony is that for most republicans especially in the house of representatives, their districts are so gerrymandering keeps them in their job because they feel they have to continue to feed this closed loop of right wing anger to not be primaried. so it probably doesn't hurt most of the house members in the districts. where it hurts is in swing states. any reasonables who are remaining, that's how this hurts them. >> karen, that helps maybe what those gerrymandered districts that are local. but in terms of statewide races, even large cities, and certainly national races, they cannot continue to survive as a legitimate party if they don't start winning. and how do you win when you keep throwing up trial bloalloons th

burst in mid-air. >> they're a continuing to do things to alienate moderates. we've seen stories about republicans in different parts of the country saying they're going too far to the right. but if these guys want to pull out that newt gingrich playbook and shut the government down and try to impeach the president, i say go for it. because it worked out quite well for us last time. >> karen finney and joy reid, thank you for your time. >> thanks, rev. >> and watch "disrupt" with karen finney weekends at 4:00 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc. ahead, 50 years ago this week critics and cynics were telling dr. martin luther king to slow down, fall back. instead he marched on. we'll go behind the scene in the march on washington. next. my mantra?

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what i have called for and others have agreed with this, a march on washington, a march on congress to present our very

bodies as witnesses to the need for strong civil rights legislation. >> dr. martin luther king jr. previewing the march on washington for jobs and freedom. today we know it as one of the great triumphs of the civil rights movement. one of the great days in american history. but 50 years ago this week, just days before the march, all that was up in the air. in private president kennedy had been strongly opposed to the event believing it would undermine pending legislation. in a news conference eight days before the march, he could barely hide his skepticism. >> i think the purpose, of course, is to attempt to bring to the attention of the congress and the country the strong feeling of a good many thousands of citizens. i don't know, of course -- i don't know how many are going to come. i think it's appropriate that these people and anyone else who

feels themselves are concerned should come to washington. >> meantime, critics on the right said march organizers were moving too fast. asking for too much. it was a charge that dr. king himself answered on nbc's "meet the press" just three days before the march. >> i'm sure that many whites both north and south have the feeling that we are pushing things too fast and we should cool off awhile, slow up for a period. i cannot agree with this at all for i think there can be no gain seeing how the negro has been extremely patient. we have waited for 345 years for our basic and constitutional right. >> southern politicians predicted violence and riots in the street. nobody knew how many people

would show up. questions that hung in the balance with history in the air. joining me now is professors douglas brinkley and james peterson. thank you both for joining me. >> thank you. >> thanks, rev. >> doug, what kind of criticism was dr. king facing in these days before the march? >> well, a lot of it, there was a great fear that there was going to be violence in washington, d.c. after all, when kennedy gave his famous civil rights speech a few months earlier, edgar was murdered in his driveway. then there were groups, the naacp, could bring them together and have any kind of the medg--

people were calling this a communist rally in the back yard of the president. >> you know, james, it seems so inevitable now, but a lot of people don't understand there was a lot of tensions even among the civil rights z groups at the time. and people have no idea of how controversial he was at the time. he was not this big historic hero in american history at that time. >> that's exactly right, rev. not amongst white folk and also not amongst black folk either. on today august 21st, i'm reminded of nat turner. this is the 182nd anniversary. and the fears about how black folk respond was in that. and i think it's introductive for us to understand how he sishted with it in history where white fear about black r

resistance is. a palpable. in particular in those cases, some of that is much more subtle these days. but even as we're commemorating this march, we have to be cognizant in all the way the histories are intertwined. >> now, you know douglas, eight days before the march, the president at that time played down the importance of the event. listen to this. >> this issue does not stand or fall on august 28. august 28 is a good chance for people to express their feelings. it's hard for people to travel. it costs them money. many of them have jobs. so i think what we're talking about is an issue that concerns all of our people and the final analysis must be settled by the congress. >> you know, in private,

president kennedy was extremely skeptical about the march, wasn't he? >> very much so. part was he couldn't have been president without the african-american vote in 1960. so he owed them a lot. on the other hand, the south was very democratic and very segregationist. he was walking the line of wanting to help the movement but also not lose his white constituents in the south. kennedy came around after the speech once king delivered it and everybody was talking about "i have a dream." incidentally the point is that cbs news and nbc started covering king. they started moving in 1963 right around this time to half an hour news broadcasts. just weeks after the "i have a dream" speech, he started getting coverage on television. it wasn't quite that intense in august of '63. after that speech, the media made a big difference on behalf of the movement. >> and it took time.

because i understand the next day it wasn't even -- the speech wasn't even quoted "i have a dream" speech, but it grew. and networks started making more and more notice of dr. king. dr. peterson, three days before the march, martin luther king appeared on "meet the press" with fellow organizer roy wilkins who headed the naacp at the time. and the moderator asked wilkins about the possibility of riots at the march. listen to this. >> mr. wilkins, there are a great many people as i'm sure you know that believe it would be impossible to bring more than a hundred thousand militant negroeinto washington without rioting. >> i don't think there will be rioting. i don't think people just assembling is cause for apprehension about a riot. city of washington has accommodated much larger crowds

and nobody has talked up in advance the possibility of violence. >> i mean, this was the real talking point on the right back then. doesn't it expose why the march was needed in the first place, james? >> it does. and again, it speaks to the history i was talking about in my earlier comment. i'm reminded as we approach the march and all the work he did in making the phone calls and going door to do for, setting up the stage and lineup. what's interesting here, people maybe don't understand this as much is that a lot of these organizations trained their constituents. they trained folk to be able to conduct non-direct -- a non-violent direct action without being distracted or deterred by people yelling at you, throwing things at you. so there was preparation organization that didn't show up on "meet the press" and not always the forefront of the minds historically. but it was there.

>> and i think also, douglas, that the exposure that these amount of people could peacefully assemble was something that congress could not ignore and it ended up being a tactic that's effective in exposing and putting front and center the grievance of people. >> well, no question about it. it was a big success. and "i had a dream" soon became a big catch phrase around the country. remember he brought that message and got some of the unions, people like walter reuther who joined forces with him. it became mainstream after the "i have a dream" speech. >> all right. douglas brinkley and james peterson, thank you for your time and your insight this evening. >> thank you. we want to know how you're

advancing the dream. and we don't just want you to tell us. we want you to show us too. head to advancingthedream.msnbc.com to show what you're doing to further dr. king's dream. use the #advancingthedream and tweet a picture that explains how you're helping to move us forward. we want to know. because it takes all of us marching together to advance the dream. i hav

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it's time for reply al. remember friend or foe, i want to know. pat rights so the suppression efforts will skew the jury pools. is this being discussed in the fight for voters rights? it's a very interesting point. because jury pools in many cases

selected by the rolls of registered voters. if you, in fact, for some reason find your voter registration or your being able to vote and remain on the books to be eliminated, it does begin to skew the jury pools toward a certain class and in some cases a certain race. i think it should be something that we discuss. and as we head into continuing to fight voter i.d. and voter suppression, i will certainly be raising this. richard wants to know why don't you try to get mayor bloomberg to use stop and frisk for wall street where most of the white collar crime in this country takes place? well, that is an excellent point. can you imagine if they were just stopping people down on wall street and throwing them over hoods, patting them down, seeing what's in their