as mark twain used to say it -- just give everything to mark twain -- if you tell the truth, you cannote to remember anything. it's simplifies life. tavis: i think that is a noble effort, but on the occasions when you find yourself line, what are you lying about? >> when i was younger, i'd like all the time. once you understand the power of lying, it is like magic. you transform reality. if he did something wrong and somebody says, did you do that, you say, nope, and she did not do it. the spend a lot of time and energy maintaining that universe and it is hard. i had recently -- at a friend recently said, it did i do something to offend you? i was tempted to lie and say, no, of course not. and then continue are false friendship. instead, said, yes, you alienate me every time i talk to you, you do not treat me like an equal, and i hate being around you. i just said it. he was stunned, but we worked it out and we are closer now. it i think in the end, the truth is always better. it is harder, but it is better. tavis: can we handle being told the truth more often? could we handle it? your

but i'll take -- i'll take -- like last year i went on a mark twain binge. i love mark twain.i read some of his short stories i've never seen before. i read a great biography of mark twain by ron powers. it was just really well done so i'll get off on something like that and go whole year. i started flying about seven or eight years ago. >> piloting. >> piloting. so i read all these books about aviation. chars lindbergh. so i'll chase stuff like that. a few years ago i went on a kick about world war ii and just read a bunch of books. so it's all over the place. it's not -- it's not always fiction. it's probably half fiction, half nonfiction. >> no william faulkner? >> well, i grew up in mississippi. and there's got to be a state law down there that requires all kids to read faulkner or requires all high school english teachers to teach faulkner. you know, some of it's -- it's not always accessible. aide great high school english teacher. she made us read faulkner but she also allowed us to read steinbeck. we had faulkner on one hd and steinbeck on the other. we all preferred s

in works on the statue of liberty, the civil war, baseball, jazz, thomas jefferson, mark twain, and thefirst african american heavyweight, jack johnson, among others. but we have also been drawn inexorably to a question of space -- the way in which the sheer physicality of this great continent has molded us as a people for better and for worst. for films and on the history of the american west, that strange and dangerous intersection of cultures, where some of our national character and mythology has emerged, to the lewis and clark expedition and its own decidedly bittersweet lessons. from a light-hearted look at the first cross-country automobile trip made a century after meriwether lewis and william clark made theirs, to the wonderful and unforgiving landscape that would inspire a young samuel clemens to take on the central themes of both race and space that is complicated young nation seemed unable to avoid. we too have been captivated and directed by a sense of possibility and promise in the magnificence our land. that interest has reached its apotheosis for us in the story of our n

but, like last year i went on a mark twain binge. i love mark twain. i read some of the short stories that i have never seen before. i read a great biography o mark twain by ron powers, just rely well done. so it often something like that and go for a full year. i started flying seven or eht years ago, pilot, learned how to fly so iead all of these books aboutviation. so i will chase stuff le that. a few years ago i went on a kick about world war ii and just read a bunch of books so it is all over the place. it is not always the auction. it is probably have fiction, half non-fiction. >> host: no william faulkner? >> guest: i grew up in mississippi, and there is that to be a state lot down there that requires all kids to read faulkner or requires all high-school english teachers to teach fauner, and you know some of that, it is not alway accessible. i ha a great high school english teaer. she made us read faulkner but she also allow this to re steinbeck so we had fought their on one hand and faulkner on the other and w all preferred steinbeck. shirk, i

charles bennett shs vice presint and weah manager at ensky and >> why safe n't always safe it was mark twain who said thate wamore concerned about the return of his money thanhe return ohis money. in this ti of uncertainty, it is this very reasowhy investors have so ch cash on the silines these days. and who can blame th after the year we all just lived throu in the investmenmarkets? we are in the midst of a glol slowdown the likes owhich we haven't se in decades and while ma see glimmers of light at the endf the tunnel, some e sustained darkness for som time. cash holdings while gerally safe from a principal prottion standpoint are far fm safe when it comes to mting future spending goa primarily due to time and inflation. ti because you are probably going to live longerhan you think, in fact there's one in ur chance that you or your spouse will li until age 95. inflation acts athe hidden tax always wking to erode ones buying power with vastating resultover long peods of time. the soluti? ing an owner of a diversifie basket of business, affords one the opportuny to share in thprofits of thos

for those who aren't in nevada, we all admire mark twain. the best thing he ever said about the nevada legislature is that it meets every two years for 60 days. nevadans he said back then would be better served if in fact they met every 60 years for two days. that was true 130 years ago and some would argue it might still be true today. i did get into the media for galactica intel i have a good face for the rio swhen i came back, rush limbaugh who i've known since he was a big fish in a small market in sacram and i talk about him going to reverend moon's conference when he was broke and reverend moon bay is way to washington but i got theeport on the fatand some of its quirky characters. one day i had the privilege of reporting on this one. one such story was on the day of may 14, 1992 when i reported on the fact that g almighty had filed for office in the silver state. the radio report when somethi like this, many americans are happy that h. ross perot has stepped down off the corporate ladder to run for president but one individual from re

if anyone has read that book tom sawyer by mark twain, there is a passage in their where he convinces -- tom sawyer convinces his friends to do his shores, he gets them to pay for the privilege. little did samuel clemens no when he wrote that passage that one day it would form the basis of the global economy. he conned them and what the chinese are going to decide, they have already decided, wait a minute, clinton's approach doesn't make sense. china has a better approach. why not leave the purchasing power with the chinese citizens? that way they have their jobs and their stuff. the only reason we work, politicians make believe we all want to work. i don't know about you, i prefer not to have to work. most people don't want to work. if given the choice of collecting the same paycheck and not showing up, most people wouldn't clock in. we work because we want things, we want the productivity associated with that labor. the chinese don't get that. they get to work and we get the productivity. we did that for a while in the united states, it was called slavery, and it wasn't a good deal

we knew something that we learn from mark twain of the 19th century american. and this new world and we trie to find out how it looks like. i found this book very interesting, but i'm just one of the detail of this book of the story. but from that aside, my first wish was why he wrote this? 50 years ago, visit from one little, one country to the united states. i think maybe thousands others at stake here. khrushchev was consenting, but others are eccentric also. president yeltsin was more eccentric. and when khrushchev came here gauges showed that i am like this conteorary politian, prefer to go to to the comedy news show and the cnn show because most of the young people terested in this, maybe it was part of this, my father's behavior. maybe it was because it was back through that not eliminated at that time. but in one visit. but it was changed. so why you wrote this book? >> well, i wrote the boo because i happened to smble upon the story of your father, nikita khrushchev's trip to the united states, which is now 50 years ago. but when i stumbled upon it, it

in huckleberry finn, mark twain's gives us a peculiarly american phenonon, uneducate boy who throws off the taboos of his upbringing and brings a new moral life on the basis of his own expense. but some of what we learn from the classics are lessons that no civilization can forget and survive. the universal truths about human nature that we find it so perfectly articulated in scheckter, the necessity that we have the courage to defend ourselves that we see in beowulf. we live in an age where our intellectual class is determinedetermined to unlearn not just the unique achievements of western civilization, but even the most basic insight into human nature. it's up to you to ensure that they are not forgotten. [applause] >> on the. >> so we are lining up there. fire away. samuel sowa, penn ste. given that you'll seem to agree that there are books that simply teach bad ideas, the communist manifesto here what role do you think censorship has or should have a role in the suppression of el and books that simply teach bad things? >> well, it was a collection of perfeccrystal essays in which he

each time they have to paraphrase mark twain proved greatly exaggerated.it's a bit like those silent movie classics, peril of pauline, are the heroin gets strapped to the tracks. at the last minute the protagonist shows up and saves her from the onrushing train. i'm not sure whether the public plan is really on the ropes this time around. every time we have a big debate about it, we keep coming back to the fact it's the only option that will provide a gafern tee of a back- up, a benchmark on private plans and a real cost control back stop. i worry if we don't embrace the public plan in some form we're just going to come back to the table a few years from now with skyrocketing costs making it impossible for us to fulfill the commitments that we've made in health reform. >> brown: let me try that one more time. are we at the point close... where we're close or even at the point where it's a make-or- or break for progressives who want toe see something done. >> progressives see this as a decisive issue. there are a number in congress who say they will not vot

that's mark twain. >> i thought it was mayor brown who said it. let me hear his line. congressman?swered and 24 hours becomes a truth. that's what i said. and that's the reality. >> let me tell what you richard nixon told me one time. that a congressman had really ripped him up. it was an awful thing he said. i was in new york. i said, i'm going to go after him. he said, pat, never shoot down. in other words, richard nixon was bigger than this congressman. he shot up. he took on lyndon johnson. when lyndon johnson attacked him, they were on a par the way cheney was on a par with the president. this is what the president should do. act adds president of the united states. where is briden, where are his people to take on the opposition? those people should do the hatchet work. nixon in 72, we didn't mention mcgovern's name. we didn't. everybody else goes after him. that's the way to do it. >> you are assuming that this is a hatchet job that is being done on the president. no, it isn't a hatchet job being done on the president. and so hatchet people shouldn't be the person that's answ

mark twain worked as a mutt -- as a minor and a reporter in nevada, and kind of a bomb. out and see our next leaders of the west -- i looked out and see our next leaders of the west. i thank you for all that you do for democrats, for the west, and for our nation. thank you for leading the age- old call that we know so well, go west, young man. yesterday, i was in albuquerque and i spent the most pleasurable 45 minutes that i have had in a long time -- it was really wonderful. i spent 45 minutes with the last surviving member of the kennedy cabinet. almost 90 years old, stewart udall he can hear very well but he talks great. [laughter] we had is that that was so much fun. better than any movie that i could go to. listen to this -- my only regret is that i did not have more than 45 minutes to spend with him. but i will, i will talk to him to finish some of the stories that he started. one of the rising western democrat is the junior senator from new mexico, tom udall. in a short time he has been in the senate, he has impressed everyone who has worked with him. 10 years as

mark twain worked as a minor and reporter in nevada, and kind of a bum.ifornia and nevada, he helped to tell the story of the west. as well, if not better, than any americans. i look at these two pictures every day and i think about them. but today i looked out and see the next leaders of the west. you are the new pioneers, the new frontiersman's of our new america. thank you for all the to do. thank you for leading the age- old call that we know so well, go west, young man, go west and grow with the country. yesterday, i was in albuquerque, new mexico. i spent the most pleasurable 45 minutes that i have had in a long time -- it was a really wonderful. i spent 45 minutes with the last surviving member of the kennedy cabinet. almost 90 years old, stewart udall cannot hear very well but he talks good. and we had as it. we had a visit that was so much fun. it was better than any movie that i could go to, to listen to this wonderful -- my only regret is that i did not have more than 45 minutes. but i'm going to talk to him on the telephone in the near future

mark twain was asked once if he would engage in a debate that was being sciewltd.he sd yes of course as long as i can take the nextgenive side. they said we've not even told you the subject. he said, doesn't matter. the nextgenive side is going to take no preparation. i understand that here in the congress. it is much, much, much easier to write a big ol' op-ed piece whacking away at something than it is to advance this country's interests. i believe this bill has merit. so does a brought bipartisan coalition of senators, 80 of them who voted yesterday. mrpresident, i yield the floor and i make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

does this feel a little like mark twain, right, with painting the fence?ou get one of these things and you work on there like that. okay. all right. this morning we begin our series as seen on tv where we choose some of our favorite infomercial products. i picked fix it pro which promises to fix scratches knicks dings on any car and we decided to put it to the test. >> the instant scratch remover that repairs dings, scratches and nicks on contact. >> you've seen it where you're supposed to rub if into scratches and they'll supposedly make them go away. >> it's so easy just pressure the easy on applicator apply and let dry. >> i thought bologna. so we got one and there are these little scratches on the roof of my car. >> if seeing is believing, watch this. >> so this is what you do. you scribble on here you scribble on here with this pen thing. this is pretty nutty. >> like magic the scratch disappears right before your ice. >> this is crazy. i'm more than a little amazed by this. it really works. >> and you're never amazed. >> and i'm completely skeptical.

i want to say it again, because we've had some opposition that i think mischaracterizes it, but mark twain when aed if he would engage in a debate that was being scheduled, oh, of course as long as i can take the negative side. but we haven't told at you the subject i oh, it doesn't matter. the nextgefe side will take no preparation at awvment so it is with legislation. it is so much easier with no preparation to come and say, i'm opposed it this. i don't support this. this won work. you know, but the fact is those who are creating, trying to find ways to solve problems and in this case finding a way to solve a problem that i think hurts this country, that is losing our share of international tourism at a time when more people are traveling around th wor, finding fewer people traveling to our country, that's a prolem. and we can fix that in a way that doesn't spend more, doesn't increase the federal budget deficit, but attracts more people to this country, creates more jobs. what a remarkable piece of legislation that i think is a good investment in the future of th country. we've a lot to

says weekend "wall street journal" today, i think it's interesting when you have, for example, mark twain'sxecutor had 700 manuscripts that hadn't been released. what do you do, release them posthumously? >> did they? a few of them. >> another author wrote something on his deathbed told him to destroy it. >> because he wasn't happy with it. >> then he said he came to him in a dream and said i want to release it. >> a whole list, an author with 14 previously written short stories, even if they are not up to standards how can you not want to read it. michael crichton had one that wasn't finished. they paid someone to finish it. i think whatever you have from these guys that's left around, you ought to be able to look at it. >> i agree with that. >> more on the top stories plus more from carl in pittsburgh. last night president obama hosting a dinner for g-20 leaders. today their work begins. we'll take you inside. welcome to progressive.com. you must be looking for motorcycle insurance. you're good. thanks. so is our bike insurance. all the coverage you need at a great price. hold on, cowboy.

i remember, i think it was mark twain who had to follow something -- somebody like i am following now. he came to the podium and said i had an announcement to make. the previous speaker and i before the program started exchange speeches. you just heard my speech. i forgot what he was going to say. there is not a word that bob dole has shared with all of you that i disagree with. i will start with that. over the course of the last 18 months, bipartisan policy, through the generosity of the robert johnson foundation, worked on an idea. the idea was simply can four former leaders come together and reach conclusions about this complicated health policy in a way that might offer some blueprints, some approach that might be helpful to congress as a deliberate. it took us 18 months, two democrats and two republicans. we departed a little early pitted the three of us finished the work. it was hard. i was working with to extraordinarily capable formidable leaders who know the heart of a good deal, who know the legislative process better than anybody in this town, and in spite of the fact that

worked for william randolph hearst, drank with john lended, friends with mark twain and bret harte. you don't get more san francisco and i guess than that and then in december of 1913 ambrose went to mexico for one last story. he was going to write as an observer with poncho villa's army and he never returned to the killer left behind many fine stories but his most popular work the one that everybody is familiar with is the brilliant double's dictionary and in "the wall street journal" there was a picture of that on one of the inside pages with a takeoff of some other definitions but original work had entries like diplomacy, the page roddick guard of fighting for one's country ended censure motto here is of the commonwealth club is not lying but finding the truth i did checking on some of those will offend definitions. wifi untruthfully hen illiterate. that is not quite right. let's check some of the antonyms. fip, a lie that is not cut its teeth. let's try commonwealth, an administrative incalculable multitude of political parasites. even worse. [laughter] irony and cynicism have t

host: mark twain, he is the subject of this roll-call cartoon. making sausage in health care reform. next is to and from south running, virginia. caller: i wanted to comment on a position that governor dupont seemed to have, which is responding to qualify saying, you do not want a government plan because everything is going to slow down. then there was a dumb and who said that his wife had to wait for a doctors appointment. his advice was, call your governor and get them involved. it was amusing to me that his advice to the gentleman was to get the government involved, they will speed things up. previously, he had been saying the opposite. host: are you listening on c- span radio? did you have another point? caller: yes, i wanted to talk about the public option as far as competition with private plans. the people involved in the public option are people who are uninsured now. so there is no competition. they are people who will be unemployed or complete by small business who do not offer a health plan. perhaps persons who simply choose not to pay

putting in the detail of the reason s regarded the word as racist because he was the n-word accept li mark twain or usehe real work, and what happened was somebody in the crowd i was speaking to what i thought was the federal reserve of dalla but it was also the federal reserve of san francisco and one of the people from san francco at the endf the speech stood up and told me he was deeply offended by what i had said and was really quite baffled and i remember thinking am i going t let myselfe bullied into silence by this guy or stand up and i said i understand this is probably shockintoou. you don hear conservatives very often but i suggest you investigate other points of view on all questions including the race question. you might read shelby steele, you might read ward connolly or any number of other people. and i felt i had answered adequately. the guy drove me to the airport after the speech in dallas. arrived home and one of the people from the organization that sponsored the speech called and said we are getting calls from reporters, calls from reporters at the fort worth star-telegram wh

in works on the statue of liberty, the civil war, baseball, jazz, thomas jefferson, mark twain, and the first african american heavyweight, jack johnson, among others. but we have also been drawn inexorably to a question of space -- the way in which the sheer physicality of this great continent has molded us as a people for better and for worst. for films and on the history of the american west, that strange and dangerous intersection of cultures, where some of our national character and mythology has emerged, to the lewis and clark expedition and its own decidedly bittersweet lessons. from a light-hearted look at the first cross-country automobile trip made a century after meriwether lewis and william clark made theirs, to the wonderful and unforgiving landscape that would inspire a young samuel clemens to take on the central themes of both race and space that is complicated young nation seemed unable to avoid. we too have been captivated and directed by a sense of possibility and promise in the magnificence our land. that interest has reached its apotheosis for us in the story of our

but i also agree with all of those assessments, i agree with mark twain, tha most important about it is travel is fatal. so we must considerravel be a key part in more ways than one. and now i'd like to recognize the contributions and to recognize the contributions i'd like to call up to the stage the president's of those historical blue -- black universities who are members of the academy excellence. i'd like to thank each of you for being our champions on campus. first with a grant of $380,000, north state in virginia. [applause] >> we have plastic on this thing. >> it's kind of difficult there. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> let's move over here where they can see us. great. thank you. >> are you ready? q. very, very quickly. first of all i want to thank any colleagues at northtate university who do so much for so little who were led by my friend and colleague. there she is. [applause] secondedly, i want to thank the white house for always being behind not only north state university, but all of us. i want to thank the presidents who are here from my big brother who was

worked for william randolph hearst, drink with jack london, friends with mark twain and bret hart.re san francisco and i guess then that. and then in the summer of 1913, he went to mexico for one last story. he was going to write as an observer with poncho beas army and he never returned. he left behind many fine stores but his most popular work, the one that everybody is somebody with it gets the brilliant devil's dictionary and on "the wall street journal" today there was a picture of it on one of the inside pages with a take off on some other definitions. his original work is typical entries like diplomacy, the patriotic art online for one's country. and sends your monitor at the commonwealth club is not lying but finding the truth, i did some checking on some of those relevant definitions. i find truthful, dumb and illiterate. >> that's not quite right. let's check some of it gets. a fit, and why that is not cut its teeth. not helping. let's try commonwealth. administratively operated by an incalculable multitude of political parasites. [laughter] >> even worse. >> ironies and