. >> joining us now, eugene robinson, msnbc political analyst and charlie pierce, writer at large for esquire. charlie is also the league political blogger for esquire.com. the president feared routine in this. he fears exactly what i fear when one of these things happen. how do we come on and treat this as something that is not routine even though it has tajicily become routine. and the president's comments are far from routine. >> you're right. it was a very powerful speech by the president. a lot of it seemed to be extemporaneous and from the heart. the way he worked through this issue and the way he sort of appealed in a very raw way, i think, for people just to listen and pay attention and not let it be routine i thought was extremely effective. the one step he didn't take was to lay out specifics about what we should do. he said we shouldn't take these things lying down, we shouldn't assume he can do nothing. okay, once we established that, one does have to lay out what are we going to do? what will we go through? backgrounds check, assault weapons ban. >> when americans are kil

. >> joining us now, eugene robinson, msnbc political analyst and charlie pierce, writer at large for also the league political blogger for esquire.com. the president feared routine in this. he fears exactly what i fear when one of these things happen. how do we come on and treat this as something that is not routine even though it has tajic ily become routine. and the president's comments are far from routine. >> you're right. it was a very powerful speech by the president. a lot of it seemed to be extemporaneous and from the heart. the way he worked through this issue and the way he sort of appealed in a very raw way, i think, for people just to listen and pay attention and not let it be routine i thought was extremely effective. the one step he didn't take was to lay out specifics about what we should do. he said we shouldn't take these things lying down, we shouldn't assume he can do nothing. okay, once we established that, one does have to lay out what are we going to do? what will we go through? backgrounds check, assault weapon weapo weapons ban. >> when americans are killed in

joining me, charlie pierce, from esquire, jess mcintosh, spokesperson for emily's list and emily warren, an msnbc contributor. this struck me, charlie, as a good characterization where we are as we enter the debate. this was a tweet from the jonathan martin in the "new york times." he says "most consciousal part of the primary hillary concluding there's no general election downside in in aligning with the left." that put it well. i can imagine the iteration of this same debate ten years ago or in different circumstances in which bernie sanders could walk on the stage and find he was getting pummeled by hillary clinton for his positions that they were too far left that, they were extreme, they would alienate independent voters. i don't think we're going to see that tonight. >> not from hillary clinton. you're probably going to see it from jim webb who is by far the most intriguing person opt stage tonight because it will be the first evidence in this campaign he's actually alive. he will be the voice of the legendary scoop jackson democrats. i guerin you at least four pundits will point

joining me now charlie pierce, writer for esquire. this is my understanding what we're seeing play out. it's like freud, the revenge of repression, the repressed thing which is the bush presidency will ultimately be your undoing if you do not talk it out, figure it out and confront it. we are now seeing that play out. >> yes, this just in from wall street. popcorn futures are exploding. all over the blue states. this is the bait we should have had in 2002. this is the argument we should have had in 2003 and 2004. and who is it but you know, the classic bull in the china shop who has shown up and scattered everything that the republican party has tried to forget for 15 years all over the map. >> i find something so remarkable, this one little linguistic tell. if i were the advisor to jeb bush, i would drill him in saying president bush. president bush. or president george w. bush. stop saying my brother. every time he refers to the guy, i understand he's his brother. he has deep personal emotional affection attachment and loyalty to hi

charlie pierce writes in "esquire" today ben carson confuses iraq, afghanistan, past, future, space, time, whatever. dr. ben carson. currently polling in second place. >>> now to this fox news alert, that he's got three solid sources who say that vice president biden is likely to run. >> sources close to the vice president say a decision could come any day now. >> a source tells cnn biden is meeting with his top political advisers this evening and that bide anne associates are beginning the staffing process for positions on a potential campaign. >> the latest reporting is that vice president joe biden is getting closer to making a decision on whether he will enter the presidential race, a decision that could come as early as wednesday. there's even a congressman who appears to have an inside track citing a person close to the vice president representative brendan boyle sent out this tweet earlier today. "i have a very good source close to joe that tells me vice president biden will run for president. watch out reporters." no sooner had this news started appearing than people close to

joining me now, charles pierce, writer at large and political columnist for "esquire." charliewhat do you think? >> the heck with it, let's all get a beer, huh? i mean, you know, we have a bill of rights. and every freedom we have in the bill of rights comes with a consequence. we have a first amendment, so we have porn. we have a fourth and fifth amendment, so occasionally the unpopular defendant gets off or is acquitted. and we have a second amendment, so we have the semi-monthly massacre. that's not what the framers had in mind, i don't think. >> i agree. i mean, what do you think, though, about this specificity argument that you see now? and i mean this is a familiar cadence. where the mass shooting happens and then it's well, how did he get the gun? he got it legally and he would have passed background checks. so see, your preferred solution wouldn't have stopped this particular tragedy. >> well, i mean, there were not -- i mean, there were enough red flags about adam lanza that he probably should have been kept away from firearms. there were enough red flags around the gu

charlie pierce writes in "esquire" today ben carson confuses iraq, afghanistan, past, future, space, whatever. dr. ben carson. currently polling in second place. you do all this research on the perfect car. gas mileage, horsepower torque ratios. three spreadsheets later you finally bring home the one. then smash it into a tree. your insurance company's all too happy to raise your rates. maybe you should've done a little more research on them. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. >>> now to this fox news alert, that he's got three solid sources who say that vice president biden is likely to run. >> sources kroes to the vice president say a decision could come any day now. >> a source tells cnn biden is meeting with his top political advisers this evening and that bide anne associates are beginning the staffing process for positions on a potential campaign. >> the latest reporting is that vice president joe biden is getting closer to making a decision on

charlie pierce writes in "esquire" today ben carson confuses iraq, afghanistan, past, future, space, time, whatever. dr. ben carson, currently polling in second place. s that. well, did you know that playing cards with kenny rogers gets old pretty fast? ♪ you got to know when to hold'em. ♪ ♪ know when to fold 'em. ♪ know when to walk away. ♪ know when to run. ♪ you never count your money, ♪ when you're sitting at the ta...♪ what? you get it? i get the gist, yeah. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. >>> ed henry just put it out in this fox news alert, that he's got three solid sources who say that vice president biden is likely to run. >> sources close to the vice president say a decision could come any day now. >> a source tells cnn biden is meeting with his top political advisers this evening and that biden associates are beginning the staffing process for positions on a potential campaign. >> the latest reporting is that vice president joe biden is getting closer to making a decision on whether he will enter the presidential race, a decis