." ♪ lunatic. ♪ "you're sick." ♪ sick. ♪ "you're a lunatic." ♪ lunatic. ♪ all i want to do is play mycrazy. ♪ crazy. ♪ crazy. ♪ crazy. ♪ bo diddley is crazy. ♪ naaa-na na-na-na. ♪ naa-na-na. ♪ naaa-na-na-na-na na. ♪ na na na na. ♪ crazy. ♪ crazy. ♪ he's singing crazy. ♪ bo diddley is a lunatic. ♪ crazy. ♪ crazy. ♪ crazy. ♪ he's sick. ♪ uh-huh, crazy. ♪ crazy. ♪ bo diddley is a lunatic. ♪ ♪ i want everybody in here to know ♪ ♪ well, we better not go to the top floor. ♪ ♪ you can look in my face, ♪ ♪ telling i'll do it right through the twin gates ♪ ♪ i'm crazy. ♪ crazy ♪ crazy. ♪ crazy. ♪ crazy. ♪ i'm crazy. ♪ na-na-na na-na. ♪ na na na na. ♪ na-na-na na-na. ♪ na na na-na na-na. ♪ crazy. ♪ crazy. ♪ bo diddley israzy. ♪ bo diddley is crazy. ♪ bo diddley is sick. ♪ bo diddley is crazy. ♪ crazy. ♪ he's crazy. ♪ he's sick. ♪ he's sick. he's sick. ♪ ♪ he is a lunatic. ♪ na-na-na na-na. ♪ na na na na. ♪ na-na-na na-na. ♪ na na na na. ♪ do-do do-do do do-do do. ♪ ♪ do-do-do do-do-do. ♪ do-do do-do do do-do do. ♪ ♪ do-do-do do-do-do. ♪ i got great books in my pocket ♪ ♪ that sound legally craz

you know but you know twenty twenty years ago did you know they were lunatics in their garage ok now they go yeah they go cyber and you know is there a corrective in this you know after we've seen with the leaks go it and now in this new year is there are people on the internet and in the cybersphere thinking about these things and as a corrective because i think some of the issues that we brought up on this program clearly the majority of us think are wrong. yeah well obviously you'd be careful not to if you like blame them for the media or blame the message lots of unspeakable horrible things happened with old media hitler for example was particularly brilliant using cinema and newspapers in the most despicable of courses so there's nothing about the internet itself that necessarily means you're going to get more extremist politics what i think it does do it reveals the depths of ignorance the depths of frustration of anger and as you say bitterness and hatred out there amongst people especially because i think people are particularly fearful of a world that's changing so fast and

this guy was a deranged lunatic that completely rejkted any kind of constitutional foundation of this nation. when you consider some of his readings in the manifesto, more than anything else, it was bizarre, not politically -- >> congresswoman? >> based on what trent just said and everyone else has said, i agree, it's our responsibility to make sure we set the right example and set the tone of civility. but the shock drop and political movement leaders on both sides need to have some pause as well. the phrase that you just used, we use ballots not bullets, the reverse of that phrase was used in my district by someone who was almost the chief of staff to an incoming member of congress that she said at a tea party rally, we will use bullets if ballots don't work. the rhetoric outside needs to be toned down as well. but we have to set the first example. >> we're going to take a quick break. we'll come back and continue this discussion with our special roundtable, special edition of "meet the press." ♪ ♪ i was young and i was stupid ♪ i had just turned 17 ♪ a harmonica and a box guitar ♪

shooting victim, eric fuller who after calling the accused gunman, jared loughner a, quote, unhinged lunatic, showed up to his parents' house to apologize for those harsh words. >> i said some bad things about their son so i thought i would come over here and forgive them. >> reporter: there is hope coming from university medical center as well. >> gabby opened her eyes for the first time. >> reporter: florida congresswoman and gabrielle giffords good friend was in her hospital room when it happened. >> he said, touch my ring, gabby, if you can hear me and she touched his ring, his arm, his neck. it was unbelievable! >> reporter: some would even say, a miracle. >> yes, miracles happen every day. >> reporter: doctors confirmed she's opened her eyes and has moved both arms and legs now. >> this is a major leap forward. a major milestone for her and we're hoping she crosses through many more. >> reporter: hope that is helping the victims and this community survive. jay gray, nbc news, tucson. >>> also today, police say a neighbor may have found the black bag jared loughner was spotted with on t

buy out and by carrying on this lunatic policy of buying their own debt and then after last week's auctions in portugal patting themselves on the back i was in that wonderful is gone well but in fact by their own debt they will go on doing this they will do everything they can to keep this together but in the end the fundamentals will prevail and it's not going to work and if they hold the eurozone together then the conditions in those countries are frankly going to get worse yet the decision is quite extraordinary i mean it's rather like holding the titanic after it hit the iceberg it is the most credible does it look what you've got here behind this whole european project when we talk about the unit itself or when we talk about the current say we have a political class who want this you know even countries like switzerland and norway who are very sensibly have stayed outside the union who have. free trade agreements with it even in those countries a majority of politicians would sign them up for all of this stuff so that's the great battle that is going on in europe it's the battle betwee

reporter: reaction to this daughter of chinese immigrants has lit up the blogosphere, calling her a lunaticd heartless. death threats? >> i've had a few. >> reporter: she concedes she called her daughters names. is it okay to call your kids garbage? >> i think that's harsh. >> some people would say that's abusive. >> nothing abusive. but they may judge me harshly. >> reporter: mother of four islet waldman reflects a deep maternal fear. >> we have this deep wellspring of anxiety that we're doing it wrong. that we're screwing up, that we're somehow preventing our children from succeeding. >> reporter: when we see china succeeding economically, when we see asian-american kids getting ahead in school, we worry. >> because we're so afraid all the time, we are looking for ways to make ourselves feel better and the best way, the easiest way to feel better, is to find the mother that you can identify as the bad mother. >> how mad can anybody be about somebody's memoir? it's just my life. >> reporter: the answer is plenty mad. but consider her kids' take on their mother's book. daughter sophia: "i'm

whatever they can to translate that what they're doing by increasing the bailout and by carrying on this lunatic policy of buying their own debt and then after last week's options in portugal patting themselves on the back i was not wonderful having the auctions gone well but in fact all they've done is buy their own debt so you know they will go on doing this they will do everything they can to keep this together but in the end the fundamentals will prevail and it's not going to work and if they hold the eurozone together then the conditions in those countries are frankly going to get worse yeah the estonia decision is quite extraordinary i mean it's rather like boarding the titanic after it hit the iceberg it is the most incredible. look what you've got here behind this whole european project when we talk about the union itself although we talk about the current say we have a political class who want this you know even countries like switzerland and norway who very sensibly have stayed outside the union who have. it's journey with sensible free trade agreements with it even in those countries

what they're doing what they're doing by increasing the bailout and by carrying on this lunatic policy of buying their own debt and then after last week's options in portugal patting themselves on the back i was not wonderful having the options going well but in fact all they've done is by their own debt so you know they will go on doing this they will do everything they can to keep this monetary. but in the end the fundamentals will prevail and it's not going to work and you know i look at countries like greece portugal and then i look at a country like iceland iceland outside of the they took their. big hit they had a massive devaluation of their currency fell by about eighty percent in value in a few weeks but now. two years down the track see the iceland is headed back to. the currency is now saying there has to be a bust here. is. that it's about time we woke up to it well while clearly there seems to be a division on how to handle this crisis in the u. we've got china's the pledge to buy spanish government bonds and japan have vowed to help or to go so the asian countries seem to

you're full of tricks, making everybody turn to a lunatic. p >> next speaker. >> i saw the process as being a possible creative one where you could maybe possible creative one where you could maybe have something like -- i'm sorry, i can't think at all today. the repercussions of my speech last week meant i slept in the cold and was injured. so i'm not well. i'm not thinking very clearly. but i saw that we could have, you know, like the trump meeting of, you know, like seeing who's qualified, i can't even remember what his program is called, "apprentice" or where people want to invest, say, in inventions where they say oh, we'll all come in on this. where you people who have experience p could lend your expertise or could be open, and what i'm seeing is there's some significance in the fact that nobody will say anything. this is a dangerous city. maybe y'all know it. maybe you know -- you don't know the maulings i experienced, the judge, jury and execution that goes unended and the percent execution of the -- p purse execution of the -- perse

. >> what we are not going to say is because this lunatic fringe is out there that we are going to restrict freedom of everybody else. >> reporter: the sheriff in pema said that americans need to do some soul searching when it comes to political rhetoric. >> when you look at un balanced people, how they are -- how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government, the anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous. >> reporter: tragedy in tucson may just have launched a new debate about the anger and violence swirling around american politics. mike mibach, ktvu, channel 2 news. >>> well, the tea party expressed today issued a statement. the party's chairman amy cramer condemned the attack calling it apalling and unthinkable. cramer wrote. >> some bizarre videos on youtube appear to be connected to the suspect. in one video posted by a jared laughner, a figure wearing what appears to be plastic garbage bags around his legs and a hooded sweatshirt approaches an american flag planted in the desert. when the p

populism that was decimated, and it's not going to be easy, a specially as we see the rise of the lunatic fringe of the republican party come to power. they will try to use fear to make us conform to supply the this point not to be used again by these institutions and by the democrats. there has to be a breaking point if you make a moral stance. that's the rubble, that's the whole point. there has to be a line that can't be crossed. and fear for the country, the fear for where we are going. i covered the breakdown of yugoslavia, and i see all of the same flashing red lights, the economic crisis, the bankrupt liberalism, the way the air waves are taken over bye idiots who have won talent, and that is to mobilize hatred with the undercurrent of racism towards muslims, towards undocumented workers, towards barack obama himself, and it's in our hands. it's in our hands. defenseless under the night, our world and superliners that dotted everywhere, ironic points of light flashed out wherever the just exchange their messages may i compose like them of a rose in the dust, beleaguered by the same

. >> she's a lunatic. so she's not senator. this is all good. >> what i believe is irrelevant. >> best pounding of the pundits. sarah palin. >> love her or hate her, she's definitely entertaining. >> the hockey mom gone rogue proved all her predictions of her political demise dead wrong, serving in prominence in republican and tea party circles, giving us a new book, a new word of the year, refute ate, and even a few reality show. >> i think sarah palin would say she's not doing a reality show. she's showing you the peaks and valleys and the indigenous life of alaska. by that i mean her husband i think. >> i think she is a brilliant politician. i think she has an insight for the zeitgeist and for what people want to hear. i don't see her as a political figure. >> worst substitute for a teleprompter. palin scribbled crib notes on her hand. palin laughed off the critics as she often does. >> it infuriates those who don't like sarah palin. but those who really, really like her, they find it charming and great. >> we real lit can't

like crazy, like, these girls are just screaming and lunatics -- do you have his records and you listennd stuff? >> of course. >> jimmy: you really need to start communicating with justin on twitter. you have to be careful because when the world feels like, like justin maybe be, like, attracted to a girl, she becomes, like, osama bin laden, i mean, it becomes the bieber fever suddenly becomes a horrendous case of malaria and can swallow you up so if anything does go on, keep it quiet, is what i'm saying. >> got it. >> jimmy: don't tweet it, just queen it quiet. tweeting is where you really run into trouble. i tell you, you know, it's especially amazing for me because knowing that just, like, what, four months ago you were working as my assistant and to see you doing so well now really is incredible, and i'm so happy that it turned out this way for you. >> thank you. >> jimmy: because, it wasn't, it didn't go, you know, the assistant thing didn't go as well as we -- >> planned. >> jimmy: actually, i have -- i tape everything, you know, my security cameras in the office, as you know, and

>> i think it was a lunatic who got hold of a weapon who created a terrible act and caused a lot of suffering. my view is we ought to focus on the victims and pay attention to their recovery. >> what do you think about the attitude over the country? >> it is the 24-7 news cycle created a lot of noise and gave people the opportunity to scream. i did not know what you do about it except that sober people need to tune out and focus on reality. >> i am going to turn it over for a question for the rest of the hour. the other thing i want to talk about is your constant reference to prayer and religious and god. was that a conscious decision on your part? >> that reflected reality. i was sustained by my face, and i did play a lot. -- sustain diamine -- sustained by my faith, and i did pray a lot. i talked about a rainbow. before i got on the stage of the canoe was lit, amidst this rainstorm, and a rainbow appears by the balkan nation, and people can ascribe anything they want to itch. i described it as a message that freedom is beautiful and universal and everybody deserves to live a free life. >> y

>> i think it was a lunatic that got a hold of a weapon and committed a terrible act in caused a lot of suffering. we should focus on the victims and pray for their recovery. >> what do you say about the country in the attitude around it? >> the 24/7 news cycle has created a lot of noise and given people the opportunity to scream. sober people need to tune it out and focus on reality. >> i want to talk about your constants -- constant reference to prayer and religion to god. >> that reflected a reality. i was sustained by my faith during my presidency. i did pray a lot. i saw god wonders on many occasions as president. i talked about a rainbow. i gave a speech. right before i got on the stage, the someone pointed out this balcony that was lit. it was amidst a rain storm, and a rainbow appeared. i ascribe it as a message that freedom is beautiful. and everybody deserves to live a free life. >> you did say that you do not like it when people use religion to pander in politics. >> i did not say that i am a better person than you because of my religion. the reason why i ascribe to my rel

>> on the lunatic fringe, they're always high and obviously were high in this case. >> decision by the house republican leadership the put off the repeal vote on wednesday, as a result of this tragedy? i asked the congresswoman about that, you know, shifting the schedule. >> well, they're putting off all the votes and the business of the house for a week. i suppose it's reasonable thing -- it's probably a reasonable thing to do in light of the shock of this and a congresswoman being critically wounded and her staff member being killed. i wouldn't second guess it. they'll have to get back to work. obviously, people will have to vote the way they think is right for the country. i don't think this will end up having honestly much political effect. it assumes that the voters are really, the voters have their view about what the healthcare system should be, whether we should fight the war in afghanistan or not. i don't think they will change their mind because of one terrible attack by a deranged young man on a congresswoman won't affect things one way or the other. >> i do think it will ma

the progressive left are going to use this event from this deranged lunatic, and politics did not plays, but they are going to use this for their agenda. we have to look at president obama's action when he first came into the white house. brinkley?est douglas guest: his description of the president is part of the problem. his actions, endorsements would put him it very much in the mainstream of american politics. there is this belief that there is a radical in the white house who does not deserve to be there. that kind of demonization fuels' an anger and rhetoric that is really quite destructive of our politics. i would say to the caller, cool it, tone it down, talk to someone who sees things differently than you and see if we cannot get back to some point of reasonable deliberation and compromise. host: did you see a similar pattern when george bush was in office and rhetoric coming from the left? guest: yes, there was. people on the left would say that george bush was like hitler, our new stolid. -- stallin. it went overboard and over the line. it seems to have grown. i did not know

>> my take is there was an absolute lunatic who got a hold of a weapon and created a terrible act and caused a lot of suffering. and my view is that we ought to be focused on the victims and pray for their recovery. >> so what do you say about the country now and the attitude that you see all over the country? >> i think this is just a, you know, it's -- the 24/7 news cycle has created a lot of noise and gives people an opportunity to blather, bloviate and scream. and i don't know what you can do about it except -- sober people need to tune it out and focus on reality. >> in a few minutes we're going to ask the students here in the auditorium from smu to ask you some questions for the rest of the hour. the other thing that i noticed in your book that i wanted to ask you about was your constant reference to prayer >> yes. >> to religion, to god, was that a conscious decision on your part? >> it reflected reality. i was sustained by my faith during my presidency. and i did pray a lot and i saw god's wonders in many occasions when i was president. i tell the story about the rainbow in bu

this guy was a lunatic. and so that was that. but it was really vietnam that taught me a whole new way of looking at the world. >> host: why? >> guest: partly, i think, i was learning because i had the extraordinary good fortune of being an age where i was with at university in the big years of anti-war organizing. i started at university at 17 in this 968. i was there from '68-'72. mobilization was the top of our agenda. i sometimes say i majored in protest at university because i certainly spent much more time doing that than i did actually studying. and i have no regrets for that, but i think that it taught me, it taught me things like how to look at the world from the perspective of somebody else. so i started thinking about what it would be like to be in vietnam, to be a vietnamese facing these bombings and this occupation that was going on. and then trying to think what it would be like for u.s. soldiers. i never got that far with trying to put myself into that position, but i tried. but it was that sense of trying to look

like, when you look at the kind of lunatic right or the far extreme, you know, the right that have gained such a foothold now, we've seen not just the tea party but, you know, the kind of birthers and glenn beck people and so on, and it kind of echoes in some ways, you know, the john birch society from the '60s, father cog lin of the 1930s who was the chief antagonist of franklin roosevelt trying to tell everyone that roosevelt was a communist and also a certain strand of goldwater republicanism that was really dying within the republican party until, until relatively recently. i think all of those things are combined, and then the active ingredient being this idea that there's this person who is not really american because of his background, his racial background and his, his upbringing. i think all those things are kind of combined in together. >> i want to say one more thing about white voters. white voters, especially blue collar white voters, they're probably the biggest swing voters we have in the country, especially in the midwest. i mean, in the midwest we have economic problems t

she says, 'half the people above the lunatic asylum can read and write. can you write a letter.' 'of course i can write a letter.' and she hired me to write threatening letters to dilatory customers. i was to threaten them that if they didn't pay up they'd go to jail. i thre--oh, and i threatened with all kinds of things. i let my imagination run wild. and i was very successful. she'd pay me threepence for each letter and sixpence if it was successful. c-span: how much money is that in today's terms? guest: i suppose the irish money was much more powerful than it is now. it would be about maybe 30 cents for each letter and then 90 cents if it was successful. and... c-span: and you tell the story about how your mother would hear from her friends that gotten these threatening letters. guest: yeah. and that they all said it was a horrible thing. who would write a letter like that to their own class of people? a person like that should have their fingernails pulled out and be boiled in oil. there were all kinds of--and i'm one--and i was listening to all of this and i just--i felt aw

and it looks to me like the left, the progressives are going to use this incident by this deranged lunaticoever in what he did, but they're going to use this incident to further their agenda, and we have to look at president obama's actions when he first came into the white house and what his background really is. >> host: all right. thomas? >> guest: the caller's comments are emblematic of the problems we have in the country. i think any objective, fair minded view of president obama, his background, his policies endorsed, and actions in office put him very much in the mainstream of american politics. much of what he's done embraces republican policies of a decade or two ago, and yet there is a belief built up that there is a radical in the white house who doesn't deserve to be there. that kind of demonization sort of fuels an anger and a rhetoric that this is really quite destructive of our politics. i could say the caller should cool it, calm down. talk to someone who sees things differently than you and see if we can't get back to a position of reasonable deliberation and compromise. >

those injured or killed and for their families, confusion by this inexplicable violence, anger at the lunaticadequacy to combrehend the mind that conceives such an act, respect for those expert hands and minds working to heal the casualties, honor for those who sacrificed and helped in a moment of real crisis, hope for a full recovery for congresswoman gabrielle giffords and all battling their injuries, recognition that life and liberty are precious and fleeting, love of our country and the blessing of liberty that we all enjoy, steadfast in our commitment to preserving our great nation, humbled by our mutual responsibility as citizens charged with that preservation, reverence for our lord, the only one who knows the answer to the why, and strength from his grace and his love and his mercy. and so we resolve to use this unspeakable and senseless tragedy as an opportunity to better ourselves as a people, to recommit ourselves to the tireless preservation of our republic, and to reaffirm those fundamental principles of liberty and american representative government. may god place his healing ha

the progressive left are going to use this event from this deranged lunatic, and politics did not play any role in this, but they are going to use this for their agenda. we have to look at president obama's action when he first came into the white house. brinkley?est douglas guest: his description of the president is part of the problem. his actions, endorsements would put him it very much in the mainstream of american politics. there is this belief that there is a radical in the white house who does not deserve to be there. that kind of demonization fuels' an anger and rhetoric that is really quite destructive of our politics. i would say to the caller, cool it, tone it down, talk to someone who sees things differently than you and see if we cannot get back to some point of reasonable deliberation and compromise. host: did you see a similar pattern when george bush was in office and rhetoric coming from the left? guest: yes, there was. people on the left would say that george bush was like hitler, our new stolid. -- stallin. it went overboard and over the line. it seems to have grown.

those injured or killed and for their families, confusion by this inexplicable violence, anger at the lunatic responsible for this , inadequacy to combrehend the mind that conceives such an act, respect for those expert hands and minds working to heal the casualties, honor for those who sacrificed and helped in a moment of real crisis, hope for a full recovery for congresswoman gabrielle giffords and all battling their injuries, recognition that life and liberty are precious and fleeting, love of our country and the blessing of liberty that we all enjoy, steadfast in our commitment to preserving our great nation, humbled by our mutual responsibility as citizens charged with that preservation, reverence for our lord, the only one who knows the answer to the why, and strength from his grace and his love and his mercy. and so we resolve to use this unspeakable and senseless tragedy as an opportunity to better ourselves as a people, to recommit ourselves to the tireless preservation of our republic, and to reaffirm those fundamental principles of liberty and american representative government. ma

had anything to do with this attack, some are asking if today's political rhetoric is inspiring the lunatic fringe. we'll have a discussion of that as well. >> but let us begin with the latest on the shooting. nbc's lester holt is in tucson. lest lester, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. jared loughner, the suspected shooter, goes before a federal magistrate in phoenix today to be arraigned on federal charges. those relate to the u.s. government employees who were either killed or wounded in the attack. and of course, one of the main charges, the attempted assassination on congresswoman giffords. >> 911, there was a shooting. >> reporter: it was a saturday meet and greet with the local congresswoman at a supermarket parking lot that became a kill zone. >> okay, what do you mean? >> where gabrielle giffords was. and i do believe gabrielle giffords was hit. >> i looked up as it began and see her being shot in the head, and the gunman didn't even pause. he continued to just spray bullets at close range to the people that were there. >> reporter: with congressman gabrielle giffords badly

she said -- he said there are as many lunatics in my party as there are in yours. i hope we get more money so we can get some of these people out of these parties. there are extremes in each party. maybe we need to get that out of it. host: thank you for the call. we heard from fbi director robert muller. rep giffords was the target of the shooting. for ast one staff er congresswoman giffords was killed. john boehner spoke outside his district in cincinnati. >> good morning. the thoughts and prayers of the house and the nation are with congresswoman giffords and her family. we are also pressing for the families of judge roll and all of those who were taken from us so senselessly. among them was gabe simmerman. zimmerman. i have ordered that the flags be flown at half staff. an attack on one who serves is an attack on all who serve. i want to commend the federal, state, and local officials, as well as the capitol police, for all of their efforts. i told the fbi that the house stands ready to assist in anyway possible. last night, the majority leader announced that t

those injured or killed and for their families, confusion by this inexplicable violence, anger at the lunatic responsible for this , inadequacy to combhend the mind that conceives su an act, respect for those expert hands and minds working to heal the casualties, honor for those who sacrificed and helped in a moment of real crisis, hope for a full recovery for congresswoman gabrielle giffords and all battling their injuries, recognition that life and liberty are precious and fleeting, love of our country and the blessing of liberty that we all enjoy, steadfast in our commitment to preserving our great nation, humbled by our mutual responsibility as citizens charged with that preservation, reverence for our lord, the only one who knows the answer to the why, and strength from his grace and his love and his mercy. and so we resolve to use this unspeakable and senless tragedy as an opportunity to better ourselves as a people, to recommit ourselves to the tireless preservation of our republic, and to reaffirm those fundamental principles of liberty and american representative government. may god