just in terms of a third narrative, if you will, about a tragic narrative or accidental narrative, captain ron snyder is pictured here with the arrow here and the body of jeff miller and, again, carol mirman is in this photo, as well. snyder has said, and we don't have time to play his clip, my personal feeling is that it was a terrible accident. that's number one. second thing would be it was a terrible accident that received national attention to the national conscience. okay? another guardsman who remained a anonymous said "there's no one to blame, no incident to blame. in my mind i think was the dynamics of a lot of things happening at that one time. i truly feel sorry for a lot of people and i want to say that i feel equally sorry for the families of those students that were shot and equally sorry for the guardsmen that shot them." so trying to wrap up, in how we can sort of think about these narratives and the events at kent in the larger understanding of the '60s, historian david steigerwald has said that for those on the left, the '60s "was a moment of great change abruptly ended b

historians, narrative is our tool. in helping people to make sense of the bewildering events that are happening all-around it. helping people to in that way try to rest some control, whether they can or not. they are destructing their lives possibly, but also bringing some understanding to how narratives are used for political purposes. the economic crises matter and what they are and how they relate to each other, but why is it that the narrative matters and some of the things that jessica was just saying i resonate with and are part of the rationale for this panel partly because it's our way, i think, of acknowledging that the panel has something unique to bring and not only that they can step back and give a contextual sense of the moments of panic and crisis but narrative is our tool for making sense of the past. so we have a particular understanding of why it is that narratives will matter. in helping people to make sense of and all sorts of different ways the very bewildering events that are happeninging all arou

narrative is our tool of making sense of the past, so we have a particular understanding of why it ising people to make sense of in all sorts of different ways the very bewildering events that are happening all around them, in helping people to in that way try to wrest some control, whether they really can or not, over, again, these bewildering events that are disrupting their lives possibly but also in bringing some understanding to how narratives are used for political purposes. not just narrow electoral purposes, although they absolutely are used for electoral purposes, the politics of blame is something that's a big theme in jessica's paper, and you can't avoid it in thinking about the upcoming election. who is to blame? whose crisis is this? suddenly the crisis has become barack obama's crisis. suddenly it became martin van buren's crisis. that's a political process. >> one of the common themes in that narrative is the banks. >> absolutely. >> this time around and in 1837 and, of course, in 1933 under fdr, right? >> yes, absolutely. >> i mean, banks are -- and not only, you know,

rutgers used the protest within a carefully crafted narrative of progress. the university emerged as a hero in the memory of the protest because according to the narrative created by rutgers it was challenged by students and in response became an open and multiracial environment. the collective memory produced through the commemorative process fails to attribute the role of post 1965 immigration patterns in the current diversity of the student body demographics. it also celebrates the education opportunity fund as an outcome of the protests even though the program was a state initiative that precedes the sit-in and today provides support to many students less than 30% of whom are black. the relationship between history and memory as two different forms of narration essential to the struggle of individuals and communities because historical narrations often shape and transform our understandings of place. the meanings attributed to place in turn can dictate which events are remembered or forgotten. commemoration and sights of memory are plagued by competing c

historians, narrative is our tool. in helping people to make sense of the bewildering events that are happening all-around it. helping people to in that way try to rest some control, whether they can or not. they are destructing their lives possibly, but also bringing some understanding to how narratives are used for political purposes. not just those purposes, but they are used to electoral purposes and the politics of blame that is a big theme. you can avoid it in thinking about the upcoming election. who is to blame and whose crisis is this? the crisis is suddenly barack obama's crisis and martin van buren's crisis. that's a political process. >> of course in 1933 under fdr, right some. >> absolutely. many moments of crisis and panic in particular. economic crisis that begins with moments of financial panic or financialized panic. they have banks at the core. they have different aspects of the whole banking system and the system of global finance at the core. one of the themes that draws all that and the origins of

but also for bringing understanding to how narratives are being used for political purposes. not just electoral purposes, although they are absolutely used in electoral purposes. who's crisis is this? suddenly the crisis has become obama obama's crisis. sudden liz it became martin van buren's crisis. >> it seems to be t s -- ban b not only have the banks been at the core of these crises, but at many moments of crisis and panic in particular. economic crises that begin with moments of financial panic or financialized panic, have banks at their core and have different aspects of the whole banging system and the whole system of global finance at their core. in fact one of the tihemes that kind of draws all this together is the global origins of these crises. it came from evening land, it came from banks like the roth childs and the barrons, these big bans of england and the bank of england kind of controlled the credit markets. but banks are the interesting part of the 1837 crisis, because for a long time historians have focused on the end of the -- that was the end of when peop

the story of the takeover's aftermath is a tension of conflicting narratives. the progressive narrative in which the university's response to the protest is characterized in terms of social justice and racial cooperation, the redemptive narrative to evoke a sense of progress in which they allows all participants to find themselves on the right side of history, and a toxic narrative about the ongoing racial inequality within rutgers faculty and underrepresentation of newark high school graduates within the student body. the liberation of conklin hall south to make rutgers recognize its responsibility to the black community by forcing the university to reconcile its identity crisis as a white school in a black city. the city of newark became a contested space in the 1960s, one that had been a vehicle of upward mobility for whites, but offered bleak prospects for its increasing black population. the demand for equality and access to higher education became vital in a city whose job opportunities continued to decline for working class residents while racial tension

to back up the narrative this was a white-hispanic a new term coined by the new york times for george zimmerman, and fits a racial narrative they've been trying to ram down everybody's those. >> and a senior fellow at the institute wrote this week that the media tend to ignore stories of black on white crime and as an example, wrote about two reporters, two white reporters at virginia pilot attacked by a mob of young blacks, and their own paper didn't report the story. >> that's true, but, jon, what is really ignored day after day is not white on block black on white, black on black crime and murder, goes totally unreported in the media. >> hats off to richard cowan, talking about mayor bloomberg, stopping the press policy in new york city and talking 90% of the murders in new york city occur to people of color, the victims of it and they're i according to cowan, 5600 people alive in new york today because they have this tough policies that cut the murder rate in the town by 80%. >> ahem. >> sally wants something in here, but we've got to take a break. if you see something that you sa

narrative within days and what became the prevailing narrative was instead cut. democrats were very dissatisfied, democrats and the house. the head president obama so quickly lost his edge and basically was trampled narrative lee speaking by the push by republicans to roll out the government. >> host: robert draper is our guest do not ask what could we do inside the house of representatives is the book. previously, mr. draper has written another best seller, did certain, the presidency of george will you bush, longtime correspondent for gq contributing writer to "the new york times" magazine and to national geographic now. first call for him, jacksonville florida on the democrats' line. good morning. >> good morning, gentlemen we have the republican congress, the worst congress in american history. okay, proceeded by the worst presidents in american history, there would be george bush. let's look at the track record for the republicans. they come in with their little places, grover norquist we aren't going to raise taxes on anybody first thing they did, george bu

and tell the narrative. when is he going to do it? this game only goes unfortunately for some of us 167 more days. >> that's absolutely right. this is why he is going after bain, because if mitt romney cannot defend his record on bain, the totality of it being having saved more than lost, then president obama is going to win this argument can mitt romney actually defend his record and say because of what i have done as a governor and successful businessman, i am better on this economy. we're going to find out. this bain bain bain argument will be the entire campaign fight. >> i agree. all right. penny is bain a decoy? at some point the president has got to do something positive. he has been in charge. i have heard enough about bain. >> one thing you are seeing in that poll is you are seeing people are more hopeful than anxious. they are saying the economy he inherited was horrible but that they are moving forward and seeing positive growth and that is the first time we have seen it. and that place to the pre

al qaeda's narrative on three articles of faith. the first one is that our rulers are corrupt, they would say, and oppressive and they don't govern according to islam preaches. the western world is very interested in supporting these dictators in power. third, the only solution is jihad. so these three articles of faith, and this is my terminology, have been undermined by the arab spring. firstly the rulers are falling. the western countries seem to be supporting the people, siding with the people, not with the dictators, and they are falling not because of violence but falling because of nonviolence. these are really important in terms of how the narrative was faced when the arab spring started. now, there have been discourses on jihadi websites. initially they were taken by surprise. especially that what does it really mean, can we be non-jihadi jihadis. what does it mean to have this jihadi identity in this age. you had those who kind of came out and said, well, these were the exceptions, not the norms. libya was not a nonviolent

the challenge is you've got to fill out that narrative for people.nough to just say he's got no core. it's not enough to just say he's so far to the right. you've got to have your own narrative that explains the behavior people are seeing, why he did what he did at bain and governor. >> so the fact that you're going to say on the one hand he's coreless on the economy but his core is filled with all these other things that no one's talking about, kind of gives you a muted message in my point of view. the reality is, fine. campaign all day long on abortion and contraception. have at it. let the obama campaign do the dance with the bishops and the card pals of the catholic church and rank and file ministers in the black church on those issues. meanwhile, the romney campaign will talk to middle america, hard-working, you know, blue hats out there who got -- >> the michael issue for women this is an economic issue. every woman on birth control knows exactly how much she pays for it and she knows that money is money that's not going to her family, that's m

that was a beginning moment for me. >> one of the narratives that runs through this book, particularly as he becomes more sick in the last part of it, you are the relentless, you are going to be okay, there is going to be hope, if i make enough contacts, i'll fix this. he is the almost unfailing despite his occasional request to you to help voice of it is not going to get better, deal with it, what did you learn over the course of that thing about the terrible tension between hope and reality acceptance when you are close to someone who has a terminal illness? >> that is such a hard question because the fact is they are so you. you are looking at yourself. it is impossible when your brother, sister, and 2 and a half years apart. i couldn't give what he was going through a reality. i couldn't see it for what with it was. it was catastrophic. now that i had my brother, i was desperate not to lose him. >> you hadn't had him until this. >> we had that cotten batting between us. we had a fierce attachment, when you are that locked together in this kind of angry, very strong bond, underneath

them and they are specialists in this and experts in that and don't have the capacity to share the narrative of their programming work and that's part of what i'm here for. and in addition to working with trying to prevent child marriage and changing those norms, they work with girls who are already married and highly underserved population. for example, in ethiopia, it's illegal to be married under the age of 18. a lot of girls are married so they are not counted in any kind of census or captured in social services except for what they are doing for them in the context of often violent marriages and teaching them communication skills and negotiating skills within the household as well as introducing financial literacy and things should should get when they go to school. >> secretary clinton has been involved in this, former president clinton focusing not just on protection of women and women's rights in africa, but also microfinancing projects and women empowerment around business. all seems to be going in the direction of how do we free up the human capital of women in africa. >> absolutel

but i feel like this is sort of the narrative.has no legitimate basis point. it's an astroturf movement. but walker clearly has a real social base. and he's tapping with real resentments against unions. so when people nonunionize workers and middle class people see union privilege, see things like health care, pensions, things that people deserve. instead of saying, well, why not me, they say why them. and this is sort of what the left needs to do. they need to sort of win the battle of ideas and change the narrative. >> from that question. i think that's a very good point. and one of the things that you see is a vicious cycle. as you then see the private work force decline, this down around 7%, people have less firsthand appreciation of what can be done. they see these benefits as privileges. that i have seem to be much more standard parts of a middle class life. >> and there is a difference in a different attitude to public sector and private sector unions. i think people get the idea that that's my money. i am paying that out o

if you are interested i was in nato, colombia, ed jordon , that narrative was reinforced and i will be happy to talk. me and 27 closest partners sat around the room for briefings but somebody said a wooded you describe the position as chief some of defense? >> my wife wrote me a letter win we still wrote letters. now you tax search of new children last time they answer their phone this

got around to health care, already a lot of political capital had been expended and already this narrative was developing. and in swing states, people were asking, why with unemployment are we talking about greenhouse gases? so the republicans began to use this to their advantage. and of course, then their plan, ed, was to win back the house and to use the house then as a point of the spirit against the obama administration, which, of course, is what we've seen over the last year and a half and what the subject of my book really is. >> and you document the record number of filibusters, all of that was all part of the plan, so the democrats actually had it right. it was just the party of no.

it is very hard to write a narrative around that without disturbing that assumption. once you disturb it, it is hard even to teach that period for that reason. >> do you think that's generational at all? just think back to the david donald generation, great civil war historian started writing in the '40s and was part of that generation that was wishing there had been more after a compromised culture. >> if only the politicians hadn't been so bumbling. >> david was trained by james randall. >> blundering generation. >> as our -- our generation -- that's always a troubling phrase to use around anyone, isn't it in but let's just say people of our ilk. that we've been -- have we grown up appreciating conflict? that is, understanding historical change as conflict, not -- >> i certainly do. that's a yes on my part. >> okay. okay. andy? >> you know -- one can't disagree. this is -- i find myself in a difficult paradox when we get into this topic. but i guess it's a place that i choose to be. we make promses all the time. right? we're compromising with all kinds of unconscion

i mean, certainly with narrative closure... it's also inherently paternal.t basically says, we know best. we know how to make people look beautiful. we know how to tell a story. we're going to give it to you and you are going to watch it. we're in control. which is what you say to a six-year-old before he goes to sleep. a lot of movies put us on the knee of the filmmakers and say, "once upon a time..." and if you're good and if you listen carefully to the story not only will everything turn out well but you will be able to take the story with you to sleep. there is part of that. but haven't we gotten a little more sophisticated? i know you have made films where you've taken the traditional storytelling modes and yet, you've stretched and tweaked and sort of shaped it to a personal as opposed to merely a hollywood style. i think i want to get a sense of is this not going to be more open to some of the other filmmakers that are following us? schrader: it's going to be open in the same way pandora's box is open. ( chuckling ) i mean, i think it's scary. i mean,

and that's the narrative. and it's a very -- my first question is sort of like how does one, you know -- >> so your first problem that you've observed is just the sheer sufshlt. >> the sheer superficiality just completely turns them off. how does one try to invest? what are some of the experiences you guys have had when you've had to invest someone sort of caring about the event itself? and the second thing is, you know, the lost cause narratives are very interesting to me because i think of the faulkner quote. and it's interesting because -- >> which is? >> you're looking at pickett's charge -- i always mess it up. a boy -- a southern boy. it's rather pervasive because i've always said, you know, i was a 13-year-old, you know, hispanic male who very strongly identified with the lost cause. >> you did. >> in south texas of all places, which is bizarre. and sort of pointing out to the pervasiveness of this whole thing. >> why is that bizarre? that's where you grew up and that's what you were taught. >> right. i

and something i think about a lot, it's also i think a very coastal even sort of a corridor narrative. i grew up in a small town in northern alberta. what we could read when i was a kid was "peace river record gazette," our local paper once a week. listen to cbc. and "edmonton journal," delivered at 6:00 at night by greyhound from edmonton. that was it. today, my dad, who's a farmer and very interested in the global story because farmers are all insane futures traders. insane. and they can now actually trade futures from their tractors because they are gps and wi-fi-enabled. so they care a lot about china. he now every morning reads reuters because i run the website. bloomberg. "new york times." ft. "wall street journal." and he can do that from his tractor and his field where he is this afternoon. to sort of feel like information has been cut off to people, it sort of depends on where you were in the information space. and i also very strongly agree with rebecca's point about the internet being tremendously empowering in terms of access to stuff around the world. i was a foreign corr

it doesn't play well into the romney narrative that he is out of touch. he doesn't believe in poor people and at the same time, in high school he is beating up on the weak lynx. but that is -- i think that's basically the narrative. >> it looks like it's a desperate teammate reach back in his childhood to find anything. that's how it is being viewed and looking at the opinion pieces -- . [ multiple speakers ] >> i think we are saying this is just a bridge too far. people aren't buying it. it looks like a desperate attempt to find something. >> and i think if romney came off as more personallable and warmer, people would say boys will be boys. but the fact he seems not accessible to every day people, he fits that narrative that he likes to beat up on the weakling. >> he is beating obama by 7 points. >> this story is not going to go away. it will be looked into more and it will be interesting to see and hear from the man who was held down bite others, including mitt romney and what he has to say about it. >> all right. let us what you know think about it. p

. >> one from member pilpel had -- was more like a narrative. >> may i speak to that? >> yes, please. >> so i wasn't clear after our last meeting what format to use so i wrote it in more of a narrative format and assumed it would get conformed to whatever we were doing. so sorry about the confusion there, member pilpel. so i did not attempt that, so we can do that. maybe we need to do that in realtime and i have that -- i think i can find that document you sent. >> if i may interject just briefly, so the agreed pong format was the member schreiber, actually had that conversation with regard because there were multiple options all viable and we just termed for consistency sake we used one and it was member schreiber, which was d-2. so that was the agreed upon format for that section. mr. leigh? >> ok. so the next section was section five, section five deviations in excess of 1%. this is where i think i need a little bit of clarification. so i was not quite sure whether this format that appears in this main draft in that document is what we intended to include in our dra

which my character stepped into, and a narrative question ofhat do you build of the show around? we tried a few different things this season and had a lot of fun. tavis: you came on to the show in the second season? >> season 3. i joined as a guest star, and eight-episode arc, and then the story line that i was brought in to be a part of was with jim halpert going to connecticut for a stretch. became a little more involved, and in conversations started, maybe i can be a series regular, that is what happened. that is the coolest. [laughter] i was on the daily show for almost five years and when i left to do this on the office, it was only two months of work. and the daily show was like, i don't know if we can wait for you, we will have to fill your spot. it was very much a leap of faith and i just have to get out there and change the way that i am perceived. right now i am just a news guy. i want to show people i can act and be ridiculous. the office gave me that opportunity and they gave me a bigger opportunity to join. tavis: i want to have a conversation about satire in just a

you want your narrative tightly controlled. want to be able to introduce the public or reintroduce you in this case if you are president obama, to the public on your own terms. the book actually re-examines president obama's youth and his formative years in new york city and comes up with a few details that he didn't quite spell out so clearly until "dreams for my father." that's number 1. no. 2, you have a white house that images everything messages everything so they don't like something that's out of their control, something that they have no ability to manage. so that's a second possibility that they are really worried about. the third is the fact that these details, while they are not necessarily anything game-changing, it goes against the narrative of him as a very selfless person. it speaks to the fact that even at a young age, he was quite distant, obama was quite distancep distant, was self-contained and was ambitious to the point of knowing exactly where he wanted to go but i submit that it's probably less worrisome f

all of these narratives have been loaded on me. i understand why.e want to talk about. but i don't agree with that portion. >> eliot: that's a fair point. i have read excerpts. that is the narrative that has been pushed into the media. >> right. >> eliot: tell us how you feel about ben bradlee. do you still view him as someone one would want to emulate in terms of the journalistic world? >> ben bradlee without any question. i love that man. i'm unequivocal about it. if you read the book anyone who reads the book will see what a loving portrait it is of him. i was an inspirational figure to me. working on this book was one of the true highlights of my life. he's a remarkable man. that comes through in the book very clearly but you haven't heard that in the coverage of him or me in the last couple of weeks, and i'm hoping to change that. >> eliot: is there an irony here that the individuals ben bradlee and woodward and bernstein who were so instrumental in showing the flaws of someone else when the magnifying glass is turned against them, even these t

i think that's the larger narrative that's being built here and you can argue, of course, that is, tolitical needs as well. so while it may sort of enter into the political campaign to a degree, i think there's a longer narrative at work here as well. >> bill, i want to get your response to this, because i talked to nic earlier about the information found in these documents. were you surprised by anything, and if you can just quickly tell me, were you surprised by anything that you saw that has been revealed from these documents? >> actually, one thing did surprise me. the document that -- the letter that bin laden wrote to the head of shabab, al qaeda's affiliate in somalia, that confirmed a bit of reporting i did in august of 2010, i reported there were secret communication where al qaeda leadership had suggested to keep those links on the down low, and that's exactly what this document showed. so that was sort of satisfying personally. i think what surprised me was given that the narrative is that al qaeda's defeated and that's what everyone's analysis -- you know, other than mine,