maureen dowd does basically, the president's the leader.ee the president as a singular all-powerful figure. if congress isn't working it's automatically the president's fault. it did strike me in the immediate, yeah a lot of people wrote about what you exactly just said. i wonder if maybe we're seeing a bit of a reassessment of media and opinion-shapers in this country of what exactly the presidency is and maybe it isn't and maybe we're going to a place where there's a realistic understanding where we live in a system and congress is powerful. if it's controlled by the parties and the parties are so polarized, how much is possible? >> i think one of the problems the press faces is what is actually happening is hard to explain. the rules of congress are arcane and uninteresting. when you're talking about people on a news cycle every day where they have to have stories exciting and interesting to normal people, i think that's a real challenge. i think that's why you see them slipping into a horse race or leadership kind of story. >> it's easi

. >> just today, maureen dowd road this. "it is his job to get them to behave.he job of the former community organizer and self-styled uniter is to somehow get this dunderheaded congress to do the stuff that he wants them to do. joy, doesn't that really prove a point, if republicans are only interested in obstructing the president, how can he possibly get them to do what he wants? >> feed them more dinners. there's been this thing among the media, something about barack obama that's causing this obstruction. he's not feeding them enough, should get drinks with them, as if there's something about his personality that is stopping them from behaving. we saw kevin draper's paul ryan, kevin mccarthy and other members of the so called young guns needing to plot total obstruction. you heard mitch mcconnell. there's a reason why you're seeing pundits saying it's a post policy party. the only thing they disagree on is they want to despise and dislodge this president. you see it with everything, with immigration where he can't tough it otherwise it can't pass. this is not

now, folks, of course other people say it's obama's fault like "new york times" columnist maureen dowd who recently wrote the job of the former community organizer and self-styled uniter is to somehow get congress to do the stuff he wants them to do. it's called leadership. yes, the definition of leadership is getting people who despise you to work with you. it's also the definition of the eagles. so obviously there's plenty of blame to go around, folks, including blaming -- and i can't believe i'm saying this -- the voters. because there's a new study in the proceedings of the national academy of sciences or p-nas that says partisanship goes deeper than we thought. >> liberal and conservative study participants were given two bucks to spend on a light bulb and had to choose between a 50 cent incan cecent bulb or the $1.50 compact fluorescent bulk. both chose the efficient bulb but if it was labeled with a sticker that said protect the environment those who identified themselves as politically moderate or conservative were less likely to buy that light bulb. >> stephen: of course they

. >> maureen dowd said i could solve all my problems if i were just more like michael douglas >>> good evening. from new york i'm chris hayes. thank you for joining us. truly amazing stuff to cover tonight. how wild conspiracies are causing an absolute gun frenzy in this country and how washington politicians are legitimizing them. and a state so out of control, citizens are willing to go to jail to protest the laws. you might remember this bit of comedy from the white house correspondents dinner on saturday night when president obama joked about the criticism of not working with republicans more. >> maureen dowd said i could solve all my problems if i were just more like michael douglas in "the american president." i know michael's here tonight. michael, what's your secret, man? could it be that you were an actor in an aaron sorkin liberal fantasy? some folks still don't think i spend enough time with congress. why don't you get a drink with mitch mcconnell, they ask. really? why don't you get a drink with mitch mcconnell. >> today the president sent washington reporters scrambling wi

. >> maureen dowd said i could solve all my problems if i were just more like michael douglas >>> good evening. from new york i'm chris hayes. thank you for joining us. truly amazing stuff to cover tonight. how wild conspiracies are causing an absolute gun frenzy in this country and how washington politicians are legitimizing them. and a state so out of control, citizens are willing to go to jail to protest the laws. you might remember this bit of comedy from the white house correspondents dinner on saturday night when president obama joked about the criticism of not working with republicans more. >> maureen dowd said i could solve all my problems if i were just more like michael douglas

and i'm sorry, whatever maury maureen dowd wrote, and i love maureen dowd, but we don't live in an aaronral fantasy where sorkin gets to write everybody's lines, including the republicans. >> is there a point here, though? because i'm starting to wonder, look, you can blame him or not blame him, it kind of doesn't matter, but to dean's point, if he can't get anything done, what is the point of second term? >> well, first of all, there is a lot that he has gotten done. and i think will still get done. and -- but there's one thing he cannot fundamentally change, and that is that the very most important job for every member of congress, as they see it, is to get themselves re-elected. that's not going to change. and so when you have situations in the senate where you have moderate republicans and conservative democrats kind of being given a pass by their leadership or by their constituents or by their campaign managers, that -- like, that's not going to change. and president obama can't do that. the one thing that i think maureen makes a good point about, though, it's worth the white house

so once dana milbank and maureen dowd is saying it there is a tendency among all the other liberal journalists to say well, it must be true. >> jon: on the issue of obama care being as senator max baucus called it a potential train wreck the "the washington post" called the president out on that this week writing that there were a variety of stories and reports and so forth suggesting that 10 million people may be in line to lose the healthcare that they have currently as a result of obama care. did that get covered? >> actually, it has. i mean, it hasn't necessarily connected to the president. but the politico and the hill have been doing stories all week about how the democrats are running away from the affordable care act and are worried about the 14 midterm elections and so on. i think the white house successful, it will all be kathleen sebelius' fault and the president will be able to focus on, you know, other important issues. >> but, look, we have 44 months left, right? so we can't exactly call him as peggy noonan a kind of quacking lame duck but and charles krauthammer said along comes

. >> maureen dowd said i could solve all my problems if i were just more like michael douglas in "the american president." i know michael's here tonight. michael, what's your secret, man? could it be that you were an actor in an aaron sorkin liberal fantasy? some folks still don't think i spend enough time with congress. why don't you get a drink with mitch mcconnell, they ask. really? why don't you get a drink with mitch mcconnell. >> today the president sent washington reporters scrambling with the surprise announcement of a press conference, his first since march and took a more serious tone, though the theme was familiar, repeatedly asked about the first hundred days of his second term and his failure to avert the sequester or passing a gun bill, the president disabued reporters that he has some sort of magic power that he refuses to use that will alter public behavior. >> you seem to suggest somehow these folks over there have no responsibilities and that my job is to somehow get them to behave. that's their job. the point is that there are common sense solutions to our problems

maureen dowd still says that he still hasn't learned to govern. the headline from national journal obama's worst day in office raises doubts will relevancy. larry sabato tweets obama's second term seems dead in the water. >> bob: bob yes. >> dana: what's the scoop on the democrats' side about yesterday's press conference? >> bob: i spoke to a friend of mine, who is still in the political consulting business, and i said what are you going to do about obama in the 14 midterm elections? and he said i can tell you what my candidates aren't going to do which is invite him to go out and campaign for us. having said that yank of a single president in their second term though has not had a bad midterm election year where they didn't want people to show up. bush had a little bit of that. >> dana: not in the first term, the second term. >> bob: second term. clinton did in the second term because of his various problems in the oval office. the -- but i think that this is -- every time a president gets reelected there is this smattering of irrelevancy. let's

did you see maureen dowd, robert gibbs, yesterday?een. >> oh, yes you do. >> no. >> yes, you do. >> i do largely because it's sort of largely the same column for the last like eight years. >> really? >> wow. >> really? >> sorry. >> all right. i'm going to read it. >> what did she say? don't tell me. let me guess. >> read it. >> i'm trying to find the best part here. >> one time seems like a sad sack trying to bounce back from a blistering array of sins not even his fault. he went to baltimore on friday to talk about jobs but no one was listening. everybody in the country who hates the irs so then everybody was listening to the acting irs commissioner who had been ousted steven miller tell a house committee he didn't know who was to blame for the scheme to unfairly scrutinize conservative groups with words like tea party and patriot in their title. >> she talks about the clintons. and basically says, robert, you'd expect this from the clintons but you just wouldn't expect this from barack obama. she says -- >> even -- >> her money line

maureen dowd with mitch mcconnell who has been a leader in the offshore movement.u have any sense that consequence will be more willing to play ball given the developments under way? >> i don't think mitch mcconnell is going to be any more accommodating. just yesterday we asked him for a response and this is right after president obama said the reason this is so hard is because it's to easy to demagogue this issue. a spokesman immediately said president obama's goal is to tend terrorists to american towns and cities. it's a very easy issue to win political points on. there's multiple layers here. which is still another issue, sending them home to places like yemen. it's true, for all the ability of administration defenders to say it's congressional restrictions that's -- it was actually president obama who self-imposed a ban on all further repatriations there about a year before the most stringent congressional restrictions. it was right after the attempted underwear bombing of the detroit-bound plane on christmas in 2009. at the time many in congress bipartisanly

see, that's my point. >> stephanie: the subject was maureen dowd's column, bashing the president.hanie: even burnett joined in on the obama criticism you're the president of the united states. you have a lot of powers. you have executive powers. yes, i don't get it. >> they're dumb over there. >> stephanie: come on. look alive here! [ applause ] >> it is like in monty python, they ran out of weapons started catapulting sheeps and cows. they're out of anything good to hit with. this is the other crap. off the burning zeppelin. >> stephanie: when has fox news had a roundtable on criticizing republicans? never. glenn beck at the nra convention. glen too crazy for fox beck. >> guns save lives. guns protect our mothers our wives, our daughters our children. >> except that one time. >> stephanie: when you're 43 times more likely to kill one of them because you have a gun in the house than an intruder. >> kid did a good job of protecting his sister. >> anyone ever done a tally of lives saved? >> no. >> it is impossible to keep a statistic like that. >> i guess it is. >> every burglary fo

. >> but maureen dowd saying it is the president's job to get the congress to behave.o get the congress to do what he wants them to do it's called leadership. he thinks he can do his thing from the balcony and everyone else will follow along and now how it works and dana millbank and howard fineman wrote the same thing. did the president admit yesterday that he couldn't get his agenda through congress, he is a lame duck? >> the backdrop of this is the gun debate, the inability to get something through the senate and what happened is sequestration and the air traffic delays, the quick fix that he did not want but sign any way. he did knitted the 60-vote hurdle in the senate he has to overcome is a big hurdle and he doesn't have the pours to guarantee anything will get over the 60 vote threshold. it was a defeatest type press conference in that respect he was saying, listen parts of my agenda will pass and wait on immigration reform and a historical achievement, it will pass but on other items, i'm really -- i'm really -- my hands of kind of tied behind my back. i think

obama took note of a column by maureen dowd who criticized the white house for not deploying pitbullchael douglas did in the movie the american president. no one likes the world to be more like the american president than me. >> we don't know the difference. >> stephanie: exactly my point, jim. obama joked michael what's your secret? could it be you were an actor in an alan sorkin liberal fantasy? [ applause ] thank you. we talk to hot brie, melissa fitzgerald about this. some people go oh, why isn't it like the west wing? because it's not written by alan sorkin. republicans don't get their lines from alan sorkin. they're douche nozzles. 45 minutes after the hour. i'm in a state today. >> are you! you need some smelling salts and a fainting couch? >> stephanie: i haven't even gotten started on the plan b thing. 45 minutes after the hour. right back on "the stephanie miller show." >> this is the dirtiest show -- [ laughter ] >> i have ever been on in all of my life. >> announcer: it's "the stephanie miller show." his ability, is trying to look out for us. current tv is the place for t

maureen dowd made the point, if that helps the president of the united states, i may not have all ofhe facts right, but if making a peanut and butter jelly sandwich is part of a routine that puts the president in a good place, people complaining about this president golfing, i mean, i'm looking at an executive here. chief executive here, howard. if it puts you in a good place, golf, if like playing croquet helps you relax and clears your head, you know what i'm saying? i don't like them trapped in the white house. i don't like them trapped in the governor's mansion. let them get out there. >> you're talking to the wrong guy. i don't have any hobbies like that. >> i don't either. >> my hobby was watching my kids in soccer and doing their best to control my outbursts at the referees! i was a bad hockey father! >> you know what? i can find better referees in alabama and arkansas and arizona! it never goes away, does it? you can't relate and i can't either. i love work. i love my kids. i love my family. i love work. but they don't play hockey in alabama or arkansas. >> dude, do i live in

intense criticism from a lot of its supporters from the media, from chris matthews this morning, maureen dowd in a column in "the new york times." "politico" had a scathing piece this morning on the damage done to the white house by these scandals. jenna. jenna: we'll speak with senator hatch coming up in a little bit. we'll ask him about the comparison because he has been in office for so long. it will be interesting to hear what he thinks about this, doug. the president hasn't been linked directly to the irs scandal nor to the ap scandal and that is very much key in all of this, isn't it? >> reporter: yeah. in fact, he expressed outrage at the irs scandal but, jenna, he has been linked to the benghazi scandal. as they say, it is the cover-up which can be most damaging. certainly was in the nixon administration. even "the washington post" fact checker just yesterday gave the president four pin yoke knows for his claim that he called benghazi a terrorist attack in the rose garden ceremony september 12th. here is ron kessler on the president's defense of that remark. >> i saw the face of richa

maureen dowd said the president should have done more to get this passed. white house is partially responsible for the failure of this bill? >> i believe that their support specifically to me has been phenomen phenomenal. their guidance has been great. i do feel if we started earlier in trying to contact the senators we might have had a better chance with the vote a couple of weeks ago. >> maybe mishandling of the political process? >> yeah. my regret is that i didn't start earlier. >> how could you? it's been a whirlwind i'm sure. what do you hope your presence at the nra convention will do? >> i want to make my mom human, instead of another name on a list of people who were murdered. she was a great person. they need to know that. >> a lot of people at the nra convention don't agree with the position on this issue. are you nervous going in there? >> no. they are people too, and i am trusting that they are going to be respectful as i am. >> respectful maybe, but do you think you can change minds there? >> i hope some of. >> one of the things interesting ab

i always laugh when these people like maureen dowd and others say he needs to be more like lbj.ate voted for medicare and medicaid. slightly more than half in the house, and a little bit under half in the senate. voted for medicare and medicaid republicans. can you imagine that? >> stephanie: yeah it is funny to think of that. those of us who lived through the clinton years, we think, oh for the kinder gentler clinton times. well thank you, michael. >> well thanks. [ applause ] >> you want to marry him. >> stephanie: jeff on the irs thing. >> with karl rove applying for 501(c)(4) status doesn't that tell everybody that is it a joke. what are real and what are strictly fronts for money laundering and taking money from anonymous donors so they with pour money out. karl rove was up there saying my nonprofit status i haven't gotten it yet. and if that doesn't tell people that this is political what do they need to say. >> stephanie: yeah joan walsh wrote a piece what the irs did right, clearly their search of terms like tea party was wrong, so the president was probably right to dec

maureen dowd yesterday wrote the administration's behavior before and during the attack in benghazi in which four americans died was unworthy of the greatest power on earth. there were other people in the mainstream media going we kind of trusted these guys. maybe we shouldn't have. >>brian: pickering is pushing back hard. former secretary of defense gates yesterday came forward. he said if i was secretary of defense, i wouldn't have sent an f-16 over there because i was afraid shoulder fire missiles might take them out. that is why i would have held back. here's what they don't answer. how do they know it was a nine-hour attack. how many hours would it take to do something? let's say it was a 24-hour attack, two-day attack? secretary of state gates, why is it okay for those four guys that sit on the top of the roof of an annex building and fight for their lives but an f-16 pilot's life would be more valuable? >>gretchen: i think one of the major questions is why the top-level people all have the same story that appears to be crumbling now. >>brian: what the secretary of state said to

so, you're either similar to pete or you're similar to -- >> or maureen dowd, no, i'm sorry, gail collins don't know. she definitely rebelled. maysonet's gone? is there a great restaurant in cincinnati? >> yeah, there's a lot of great things happening in cincinnati. >> not just in northern kentucky, anymore. over the rhine's happening? >> over the rhine's unbelievable. there's a lot coming into central downtown into the financial district. >> awesome. >> it's a good place to be. and the start-up community's fabulous as well. >> is it really? >> there's a lot going on. >> it's so livable. like, traffic in cincinnati is like two cars at the light. really, honestly! it's so much easier. sporting events? i mean, it really is a great lifestyle. >> austin, final question. i may get in trouble for asking. do you ever think of moving your company? >> i don't. >> to california or to a place where people -- >> you haven't been to cincinnati. >> no, i know, but i'm just saying, there have been a lot of people who decided to uproot their company and either go these days to the valley or increasingly