please welcome andrew sullivan. [cheers and applause] hay, andrew, good to see you again. thank you so much for coming back. >> you're so welcome. >> stephen: though you are a longtime friend of the show. seven times back. you get a foot long sub now. i have to take to you task. you wrote the cover article in the january 23 newsweek. it says why are obama's critics so dumb? are you always that good at is a deucing -- seducing the opposition of agreeing with you? why not just call them ugly, too. i'm in opposition. reasonable rae republicans are in opposition to barack obama. why are we dumb, smarty. >> i didn't say you were dumb. >> stephen: andrew sullivan don't blame anybody else. >> i take full responsibility. listening to the republican debates all the reasonable republicans arguing and did he baiting rationally with one other and with substance, i didn't recognize the picture they were painting of this president either domestically or in foreign policy. >> stephen: he is a complete nail your. he has fish -- failure. he has accomplished nothing. they have a vegetable g

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kathleen parker and from "the daily beast" andrew sullivan. romney's problem is that just when the problem started paying attention, he's looking too rich for the times. he's made slip-ups like the $10,000 bet. and his tax return showed just how rich he is. newt is not much closer to every man than romney is. he'll be dragging along his deals at k street and charge accounts at tiffanys. a poll asked about whether gingrich cares about average people? 22% says gingrich cares about the average guy. 24% says romney does. when the president framed the 2012 election this way. >> can neither settle where a shrinking number do barely well, where a growing number do well. everyone does their fair share and everyone plays by the same set of rules. >> well the white house, the president included oftenly believes that's going to be how the pie is sliced in america. is that's how it's going to be how it makes it in america? >> i don't think that a candidate has begun his presidential campaign and put class at the center the way president obama did this wee

the article was written by columnist andrew sullivan. i'll be talking with him in just a moment. in the article, he argues that the attacks on the president from everything from job creation to health care policy are, using sullivan's words now, empirically wrong. he says the president has already been very effective and that he's playing a long game. joining me now is "newsweek" columnist, andrew sullivan. his website is andrewsullivan.com, and also joining us, bay buchanan, republican strategist and senior adviser to mitt romney. wow, this has gotten a lot of attention, andrew. there you are, writing your blog, and then this happens. >> kaboom. >> first of all, the headline on the cover of "newsweek," did you write that? >> no. i found out monday morning. >> so you in your article are not saying that all of obama's critics, left and right, are dumb? >> not at all. i just say i think they're wrong, in my view, they're wrong, and here's why. and i make a pretty reasonable, i hope, fact-based argument for that. i love to have a disagreement about it, and i'm beginning to have that

the writer andrew sullivan makes a great case for the president's record so far. so how come the president and his people never do the same. and think this is over the top? let's watch. >> if mitt romney really believes -- >> corporations are people, my friend. >> -- then mitt romney is a serial killer. he's mitt the ripper. >> wow. that is from steven colbert's new superpac, which in theory, has nothing to do with him. and in practice has everything to do with steve colbert. ted koppel joins us tonight. and if the jon huntsman campaign tells us anything, it's that the republican party has not much use for a thoughtful campaign of ideas that tries to positively build bridges and not burn them down. huntsman, who once praised president obama, did the opposite today. let me finish with words from the man we honor today, martin luther king. we begin with the evangelicals helping rick santorum trying to get, well, stop mitt romney. jim garlo is the pastor of a church down in san diego. he supports newt gingrich for president. tony old pal, thanks for joining us. you c

you have andrew sullivan out there, you saw the big cover piece in "newsweek." and successes of this president. is your party doing as good a job selling his record as this independent voice did? >> you know, there's always room for improvement. i think we need to continue to make sure that people understand that there is a dramatic contrast between the two directions we could go. after november 6th. the direction that president obama is taking us including the affordable care act, which made sure millions of americans will remain on their parent's insurance. 2.5 million young people are insured who weren't before. thanks to the affordable care act. seniors in my state and across the country have the prescription wage gap closed and beginning to close so they don't have to choose between medicine and meals. there are countless examples we'll be talking about as opposed to the direction the republicans would take us, which is to keep the wind at the backs of the people who are doing quite well. >> thank you so much. as always, u.s. congresswoman debbie wasserman

. >> here is what andrew sullivan says -- "we have a singular example of someone who made a quarter of a billion dollars by firing the white, middle class and working class in ways that do not seem designed to promote growth and efficiency but merely to enrich bain." >> i think that romney's business career is analogous to john kerry's military career. he has made it maybe not fair game, but game. the kind of thing that bain capital did, as colby said, had winners and losers -- >> but that is what it is. >> eat is what it is, but many people don't realize that he did not build the company, etc. he is part of a company that comes in and sometimes dismembers these places, moves them even of coast. he will probably be faced with that. and as they pay an entirely different tax rate on profits. nobody focuses on that, because it is not sexy enough, but he pays less money in his tax rate than his secretary -- >> does this argument -- by the time barack obama comes along, has the argument lost some of its sting because it is going on right now? >> that is the case that sunny republicans are m

. >> here is what andrew sullivan says -- "teammate millions of dollars by the firing the working class merely to enrich bain." >> i think his business career is analogous to john kerry's military career. he has made it -- may not be fair game, but game. the kind of thing that bain capital bid, as colby said, has winners and losers -- >> but that's what is. >> it is what it is, but many people don't realize that he did not build a company, etc., etc. this is a person who comes in and sometimes dismembers these places, moves them even off coast, and he will be faced with that, and they pay an entirely different tax rate on the profits. no one will focus on that because that is not sexy enough. dbut he pays less of a tax rate than is the secretary. >> does this argument, by the time barack obama comes along -- has lost some of its sting because it is going on right now? >> that is the case that the sunny republicans are making now, like reverend wright was resolved by the primary of 2008 and john mccain did not revisit it in defauthe fall of 2008 against barack obama. this opens up a larg

how many people didn't know andrew sullivan's name that didn't know it yesterday?on't like the use of words, but even i have been called worse. it seems to me he's not just angry with the critics of the right, he's definitely angry with the critics on his left, and it's his right to call them dumb, and it's the critics' right not to be happy with the president. megyn: it is his right, but is it smart? is that the way you get through to people, by calling them stupid? >> i'm a magazine editor, so i know how this works. tina brown put the word dumb on the cover for explicitly this reason -- megyn: and maybe more than four people would be reading "newsweek." that would be exciting. >> it's what you hear from the white house briefing room, basically, every day. and, look, andrew sullivan is not the best arbiter of who's being reasonable or not -- megyn: he's not? >> obsessed for years that there's some conspiracy and trig palin is not sarah palin's child. megyn: does "newsweek" have some obligation to put an actual journalist on its lead reporter as opposed to someone

the article that you wrote is an antidote to andrew sullivan's article wrote in news week who basically obama has done a bunch of good things. bailouts worked, obama care is moderate, congress is polarized, basically the president just kept his promises. what didn't you like about that article? >> as you say, andrew sullivan wrote that last week and this week i'm a "newsweek" contributor and they gave me space to write the rebuttal to andrew. and i think what andrew was doing there was shooting fish in a barrel, he was taking the most extreme and most criticisms of the president and they're having lots of those. and replied to those. meanwhile, serious case about that is the issue in this about the direction the country is goi going. the key act about this president is that he is taking on a country toward a path on a much bigger government on a permanent, not emergency busy. i give lots of facts and figures in my article on those trends. >> let me interrupt you for a second to read you a little bit from your own kcolumn. hiring is up across the federal government 15% since 2007. why di

responsibility on the left eye but let me disagree with you here for a moment because and you know andrew sullivan has to do piece in newsweek this week saying that obama's critics are dumb and he has some good points when it comes to some of the stuff that we hear from the right calling him a socialist saying that he's you know kenyan anti-colonial s. and whatnot but i feel like his critiques of those on the left and you know certain things like you say say that you're a realist to me these are some of the greatest offensives that have happened in terms of civil liberties and those are actual presidential actions in terms of violating our civil liberties like letting anwar oh i don't like using the state secrets privilege like continuing on programs of surveillance of american citizens and going after whistleblowers that is the obama. ministrations i think and i've been there and out of usually we get obviously we could slice up chunks of each one of those and actually have you know legitimate discourses on all of them because i think there are there are grounds and reasonableness on on both side

also later, andrew sullivan, release your income tax so the people can see how you made your money. >> we know why releasing is so hard for mitt. rom nay pays a tax rate closer to 15%, and part of the reason why it's a loophole. not only legal, but pretty standard, but it doesn't feel fair and square. here's the bottom line. he was the founder and partner in bain capital. when you're a partner in a private equity firm, you get a cut of the profits you make. usually, 20%. now, stay with me because what happens here adds up to tens of billions of dollars in lost tax revenue for america. say my buddy, will, you've probably heard me talk about him. works at cnn. say he invests $5 million in bain capital. and mitt romney, as he has done, does a really good job. he invests will's money well. so a year later, will's investment doubles in value to $10 million. ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. mitt's cut, $1 million. and that money is taxed at 15%. now, the reason this is unfair is that it wasn't mitt romney's money he put at risk, which is the justification for a lower tax rate on things like di

how many times has news week being mentioned today, how many people didn't know who andrew sullivan isand do now and how many people are going to read it and how many conservative writers and bloggers basically are writing about it? so who is dumb. >> but it's emblematic of a larger problem, the press subbing up to barack obama. the economy isn't so bad. i don't know what they are fining so i resistible. they have subverted the basic mission of journalism in my view, which is to tell the truth. this piece defendants obama without mentioning the debt. the debt is as big as the economy. it's out of control. you wouldn't know it readying the piece. >> he said about george bush back in july of 2008 it's irresponsible and unpit to be that bush in 4 years accumulated all the debt. well, obama has $5 trillion in three years. what have we gotten? would we be better to divvy up that money and give it the poorest percentage of americans, wouldn't that be better some. >> well, if john mccain were president do you think wield be looking at a 5% unemployment rate we would have no deficit? no. some

as we talk more on specifics about this, andrew sullivan writes this this piece describing attacks on don't tell as two of the biggest successes in the president's first term. the president has a reputation for being quiet. he's a calm guy. not into tooting his own horn, but in a situation like this where he's facing this tough re-election battle, is that going to work against him? >> well, andrew who writes "the dish" and writes for "newsweek," makes the case that obama is in this for the long run. the long-term. that he's really thinking an eight-year term in the way he's handled many of the problems facings the country and given the stylistic issues you just talked about that could imperial his ability to have eight years in it, but what he's doing in his piece is really articulating why both the left and the right are wrong about obama and his record. >> you talk about the long game. so, the article discussing the president's bid saying that the practices of show don't tell long game form of domestic politics, what hmatter to him i what he can get done. the president ran on change

the author of the article, andrew sullivan, join mess tonight along with republican strategist and mittr, bay buchanan. >>> and an unbelievable story. 12 teenage girls in upstate new york are suddenly all suffering from a mysterious condition that looks and sounds a lot like tourette's syndrome. what's causing it? all of a sudden this occurred. we're going to speak to some of the girls and our own sanjay gupta. that story and tonight's ridiculist are at the top of the hour. >> i can't wait to see that. seeing those girls speak, it's disturbing and bizarre. really looking forward to seeing what really happened there. thanks, anderson. see anderson in a couple of minutes. >>> up next, it's the camel report, and we're doing one tonight, because we thought we knew absolutely everything there was to know about camel, but that arrogance was totally misplaced. we'll be back. >> announcer: with nothing but his computer, an identity thief is able to use your information to open a bank account... in order to make your money his money. [whoosh, clang] you need lifelock-- the only identity protecti

we will ask him why andrew sullivan is wrong. >>> then the story of one texas school district.iling school is to ban sports. we'll take a look at whether or not that's a good idea. that's all straight ahead this morning as "starting point" gets under way in ten minutes. [ female announcer ] neutrogena® makeup remover erases 99% of your most stubborn makeup with one towelette. can your makeup remover do that? [ female announcer ] neutrogena® makeup remover. life with crohn's disease is a daily game of "what ifs." what if my stomach pain and cramps end our night before it even starts? what if i eat the wrong thing? what if... what if i can't make it through dinner and a movie? what if i suddenly have to go? what if... but what if the most important question is the one you're not asking? what if the underlying cause of your crohn's symptoms is damaging inflammation? for help getting the answers you need visit knowcrohns.com/tv and use the interactive discussion guide to speak with your gastroenterologist. the benefits of calcium in a sweet, delicious treat. enjoy vitafusion calciu

somebody asked me for my favorite liberals, and i named you, mickey couse, and at the time andrew sullivanand he said, ann, are you aware you just cited all liberals that liberals consider conservatives? [laughter] so a lot of them seem to have begun to make the transition. okay, lawrence o'donnell. juan williams. smart liberals. bill maher. he's funny. he'd be smarter if he read, bill. >> host: what's your professional relationship with bill maher? >> guest: well, he introduces me as his first wife and, apparently, a lot of people believe that. [laughter] i think he's verified i was his most frequent guest when i was on politically incorrect, and i do think he's very quick and funny, but he brags about how he doesn't read books. and if you're going to get all your politics from rolling stone magazine, i'm sorry, you'd be so much funnier if you read more. >> host: you mentioned that you enjoy the research and writing part of a book. 594 footnotes or end notes are at the end of "demonic." >> guest: we call them footnotes cloak callly. >> host: how do you do your research, where do you write