you a story, why strom thurmond story. when you go and do research in south carolina and given to the archives and people ask when you're interested in writing about and to tell them strom thurmond and they say let me tell you my story you can't throw a stone in south carolina without hitting somebody that has a great story about strom thurmond. my story about strom thurmond begins in late july, 1992 and i am on a flight from washington, d.c. to charlotte north carolina and i've been and in turn that summer up on capitol hill, and one of my regrets of the summer was that i had never seen strom thurmond because all of my fellow interns said you have to see strom thurmond. it's such an unusual appearance about him and i didn't know what they meant. so i am on the flight and a look ahead of me at a man that space of these kind of orange colored hair practically so brightly colored and he's a first generation kind of hair club and it shows you how slow i am that must be what his head looks like and i knew that when people were

said you've got to see strom thurmond.he is such an unusual appearance about him. i didn't know what they meant, but i have my suspicions. so i'm on the flight and i look in front of me and cnn who has got these kind of orange colored hair comes so brightly covered and first-generation kind of hair plugs. it shows you how slow i am. i think to myself, and that must be what strom thurmond's head looks like. and of course it wasn't strom thurmond. i realize that when people were reaching over and tried to shake his hand. i wanted to shake his hand because i've been in d.c. that summer for the first time and i've met all these politicians had seen on tv. it had a great thrill. i got to go home and speech made as rotary club and i wanted to tell them about all the famous people at hennepin washington d.c. i was going to shake his hand when i got off the plane, but as i got off the plane, there were people lined up to shake his hand. i didn't get in line. i'm thinking, i wasn't a constituent. i'm a south carolinians. i don't ha

of course, it wasn't strom thurmond. i knew that with people reaching over and trying to shake my hand and that kind of thing. i wanted to shake his hand, too, because i had been in washington dc for the first time and met all of these politicians that i saw on tv and there had been a great thrill. i got to go home and speak to my dads rotary club and i wanted to tell them about all of the famous people that i met in washington dc. so when i got off the plane, there were people already lined up. already lined up to shake his hand. i didn't get in line. and you know, i don't have anything to really say to him and it was a busy airport, there were a lot of different kinds of people in there, and i am self-conscious about standing in line a man that is best known for his segregation of touring. i thought it was good enough to say that i have seen him and keep on walking. but i am conflicted. and i walked down to the concourse about 100 yards and i look back. and here, everyone is shaking his hand come in here is this 89-yea

, they say oh, let me tell you my story about strom thurmond. somebody always has a great story. the time that they saw him do something crazy, that kind of thing, my story begins in late july of 1992. and i am on a flight from washington dc to charlotte, north carolina. and i had been an intern at summer up on capitol hill. one of my regrets of the summer was that i had never seen strom thurmond. all of my fellow interns said you have to see him. he has such an unusual appearance about him. i had no idea what they meant by that. but i had my suspicions. i'm on the flight and i look ahead of me and i see a man who has orange colored hair, so brightly colored, and this first-generation kind of hair plugs. and i think to myself, that must be what his head looks like. of course, i knew that when people were reaching over. i wanted to shake his hand as well. i had been in washington dc that summer for the first time and met all of these politicians that i saw on tv. and i got to go home and speak to my dad's rotary club, and i wanted to tell them ab

we have dinner every other month in the strom thurmond room, which is somewhat ironic. >> no, he liked women. i understand he liked women. >> let's not go there, chris. but in any case, i think what we know is that the american public wanted to see more problem solvers after this incredibly polarized election season. women tend to be problem solvers, and i think that helped us as well as some of the messages that we were seeing from the other side. >> well, on that point -- >> this is a great opportunity for us to work together and put more women there. >> my wife is a professional woman, a corporate executive, and i do notice that the way men do things, a little more rivalry, a little sharp elbows, too much testosterone. as a group women are good at getting together and finding common ground and moving ahead, whether it's a club or whatever. it seems decisions come with much more fluidity. what is that? when you say you have meetings across the aisle with the republican women -- i'm serious about this. go ahead. >> well, no, i'm not a psychologist. i know we just tend to want to get t

rethinking strom thurmond helps us rethink the history of modern conservatism. too often strom thurmond is left out because we only remember him as a cartoonish racist figure from the deep south. >> you can watch this on line at booktv.org. not all of their neil gaiman delivers the mason award lecture and dancers -- the mason awards presented honors authors make extraordinary contributions to bring in literature to wide reading public. this event was held at george mason university in virginia where the events are held. is an hour and 15 minutes. [applause] >> better than the guy who brought the correct sign out. >> thank you very much. what a lively audience. wish i could stay longer. my name is phil miller and i direct the books program festival and graduate writing program at george mason. [applause] >> i was going to say you arrived with the intended to or not. if your arrival is accidental because you are more interested in neil gaiman than the book. we started the festival wednesday, i am following myself. the we are having a great time. we don't end until

i think that doing so gives us a history of what strom thurmond's america looks like. it helps us to see what was going on in the south and what was going on in the national, conservative political realm as well. he helped us rethink the history of modern conservative. a history, a history that thurmond is often left out. >> you can watch this and other programs online by booktv.org. >> david cherry has resigned on friday after an fbi investigation into e-mail security that has uncovered evidence of an extramarital affair between here and his biographer, paula broadwell. next, we air a book edited by paula broadwell. it reflects his military career and the wars in iraq and afghanistan. for about an hour at politics & prose in washington dc. >> evening, i am bradley graham, co-owner of politics & prose with my wife melissa. on behalf of the entire staff, i would like to welcome me you here. before turning to our guest author, i would just like to say a word about an important event coming up this april. it is being called world book night and it is an ambitious attempt

south but what was going on and the national conservative political realm as well rethinking strom thurmond helps us to rethink the modern conservatism. a history that i think too often thurmond is left out of because we remember him as a kind of cartoonish racist figure from the deep south. recounts a decision by five men in putting her on goal rob cox to join the british army in the spring of 1941. six months prior to perlo harbor in america's involvement in world war ii. this is about an hour. [applause] >> thank you. thank you for that kind introduction and for introducing me to bill lewis whose name as far as i can tell the epicenter of support in the entire united states. [applause] thank you tuzee stan booktv for making me feel like oprah winfrey if only for an hour. it's wonderful to be here. is this everything a bookstore should be. i am happy to be in vermont because i have longstanding family ties with the state. can you hear? talk louder? okay. i have longstanding ties with the state and my book got started here in vermont. when i was a little girl used to spend my vacations wit

the fact that you had strom thurmond and that truman was willing to take the position to say, "goodbye" it really helped with the black vote. the fact you had henry wallace walking out of the democratic party inoculated truman and the democrats against the charges that they were too far to the left themselves and could not be trusted. this is one of their rare examples where subtraction work to to both of their favors. host: our guest is richard norton smith. salvadore, burbank, calif. caller: hello? good morning. host: caller, your honor. -- you are on. go ahead. caller: i have a question for mr. norton. host: you are on. go ahead. caller: i'm wondering what happened with the votes in 2000 and they disappeared overseas and they said they did not know anything about it. hear, the high court said they knew nothing about it. they never answered the real question but perhaps because you, as a historian, have some information about these votes. 7,000 votes disappeared in an accident from the soldiers over there. host: let me stop you there to see what our guests response. guest: this is th

. >> strom thurmond, how long did he go? >> way past 79. senator feinstein never had serious opposition in the race. and california was never a mystery in terms of the way it would go on most of the election issues. the propositions were the bigger mystery in this race but dianne feinstein's election was a re-election assured from the first day. >> a big move for the ladies because what, 19 female senators now. elizabeth warren knocking off scott brown in massachusetts. >> yeah. >> of course we have two here in the state. >> big day for democrats in massachusetts. we have two in our state, as well. so more representation for women and by the way, women played a role in different ways last night because there were two senators who didn't make it obviously or two candidates who didn't make it to the united states senate who said rather inappropriate things during the election about rape and abortion in ways that i think transcend the civil kind of discourse we have about principled disagreement about when life begins or something like that. t

. >> holman: or former south carolina senator strom thurmond, who spoke for over 24 hours in an attempt to defeat the civil rights act of 1957. but in today's senate, where 60 votes are needed to pass almost any piece of legislation, it means even the threat of a filibuster can gum up the process. democratic leader harry reid says enough is enough. >> we have this crazy idea, mr. president, that if we're going to have a filibuster, you have to stand and say something, not hide in your office someplace or go to a wedding that you're having in your state. >> holman: one of reid's key allies in the fight is democrat tom harkin of iowa, who has been pushing for filibuster reform for almost two decades. >> when i first broached the subject of changing the filibuster rule back in 1995, i warned at that time of an escalating arms race. i said that, if you look in the past, i said if we don't stop this, it's going to get to the point where the senate won't be able to function. i said that in 1995 when i first tried to get this change done. sadly enough, my predictions have come true. it's got t

the fact that you had strom thurmond and that truman was willing to take the position to say, "goodbye, strom," it really helped with the black vote. the fact you had henry wallace walking out of the democratic party inoculated truman and the democrats against the charges that they were too far to the left themselves and could not be trusted. this is one of their rare examples where subtraction work to to both of their favors. host: our guest is richard norton smith. salvadore, burbank, calif. caller: hello? good morning. host: caller, your honor. go ahead. caller: i have a question for mr. norton. host: you are on. go ahead. caller: i'm wondering what happened with the boat in 2000 -- the vote in 2000 and they disappeared overseas and they said they did not know anything about it. hear, the high court said they knew nothing about it. they never answered the real question but perhaps because you, as a historian anna, have some information about these boats -- as a historian, have some information. 7,000 votes disappeared in an accident from the soldiers over there. host: let me stop yo

and the way-- >> the old strom thurmond kind of filibuster. >> to my way of thinking, it's not as fara step in the right direction. one or two people with object, and then they don't stay there and talk. >> it's like a virtual filibusterer. >> they just go home. under these new proposed rules that senators udall and murphy have been working on, and i've been somewhat a part of that which says if you're going filibuster you have to talk. as on a as you quick talking the chair says the filibuster is over with. >> just so our listeners understand, this can be done at the beginning of next session of congress under the rules with just 51 votes this is the moment. >> this is the moment to do it when we convene in january. >> and with leader reid wanting to do that, it looks like something might happen, and with 51 votes. >> yes, we need 51, and i can tell you that president obama has changed his mind on this, too. when he was a senator there is a quote that he made about the filibuster, and supportive of it. i can tell you that i have spoken with him on the campaign trail, and he is now se

my own little theory is that it became until recently, people like strom thurmond, the fact that so many white men, historically in this country pulled themselves that they were not the product of race and so this invisibility of the product of race is not the product of the women who must've really wanted them. otherwise it is -- it is very clear that some parts operate at a distance. >> i would also, speaking to your question about whether this is about action or reaction, and of course, i think it is all part of this so that everything is constant in action and reaction -- one thing i want to point to, i think when we talk about these kind of race comments on the contraceptive comments are so outrageous over the past year, we think of it as a republican blood of stupidity. in fact, one of the interesting things is that it was prompted by unusual behavior on the part of the democrats. the democrats, while being the party of women, and about the time -- as soon as they started counting the gender gap, which really wasn't until 1980, they got labeled the mommy party. so for all of there

remember senator strom thurmond who commuted from walter reed to the capital in a wheelchair at the ageides had to vote for him. of course, this argument isn't limited to the world of politics. ageism or some say common sense rages in the real world, too. how often have you heard those under 30 grumbling about the old guys sucking up all the jobs? talkback question today. should politicians have a mandatory retirement age? facebook.com/carol cnn. your comments later this hour. >>> a walmart walkout with black friday just around the corner, workers at one of the nation's biggest stores are going on strike. we'll talk to one of the striking workers next. [ male announcer ] this is sheldon, whose long dy setting up the news starts with arthritis pain and a choice. take tylenol or take aleve, the #1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors. just two aleve can keep pain away all day. back to the news. [ male announcer ] a european-inspired suspension, but not from germany. ♪ a powerful, fuel-efficient engine, but it's not from japan. ♪ it's a car like no other... inspired by a place l

my own little theory is that it became until recently, people like strom thurmond, the fact that so manyn, historically in this country pulled themselves that they were not the product of race and so this invisibility of the product of race is not the product of the women who must've really wanted them. otherwise it is -- it is very clear that some parts operate at a distance. >> i would also, speaking to your question about whether this is about action or reaction, and of course, i think it is all part of this so that everything is constant in action and reaction -- one thing i want to point to, i think when we talk about these kind of race comments on the contraceptive comments are so outrageous over the past year, we think of it as a republican blood of stupidity. in fact, one of the interesting things is that it was prompted by unusual behavior on the part of the democrats. the democrats, while being the party of women, and about the time -- as soon as they started counting the gender gap, which really wasn't until 1980, they got labeled the mommy party. so for all of there being a p

in fact, the record, peter the record filibuster was strom strom thurmond in 1957, the civil rights actow. he was totally opposed to it. was afraid it might happen. he went up to the well in the senate and he spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes at which point he had to pea so bad he had to stop. and run for the nearest restroom. that was the endurance test, right? that's what a filibuster really was. it has come from that to today the republicans -- and democrats use the filibuster but rarely, still, when they were in power there. now republicans under mitch mcconnell have used it and do use it for every single vote. not only to block the votes but to block a measure from being taken up for a vote. even on procedural matters. and the numbers are staggering. as dick durbin pointed out recently when lyndon johnson was majority leader of the senate democratic majority leader of the senate. for six years, there was one filibuster. one filibuster. the last six years under republican leadership, there have been 380 filibusters in the senate. they filibuster everything including -- one of the mo

. >> with the statue of strom thurmond. [laughter] whenever it did said in a room stays in the room. we never talk about the male senators. [laughter] but the group has worked well together sometimes on legislation or women's health, of burbank, but mostly before to the relationships. my first bill was with olympia snowe. a number of women are problem solvers that you have seen this in the election. but they saw her someone to compromise and there we're elected officials who had the quote that was accurate that said riven politicians speak softly and carry a big statistic. maybe not anymore but there is a model with men coming elected officials who had the quote that was accurate that said riven politicians speak softly and carry a big statistic. maybe not anymore but there is a model with men coming against all odds hoping for about -- more accountability. level look at the records of janet napolitano from their stated shows their goals and what they got done. even some of the male senators as well. the balance of power st

that was kind of dong in a bigone era when strom thurmond was here and some others.but it hasn't been done. a budget -- we haven't done a budget here if try years. that's been a sore point among a lot of people. you can't filibuster the budget. so is the reason why we haven't done a bucket because there's been a filibuster? absolutely not, bass th becausee rules don't permit a filibuster of the budget. so there are a lot of misconceptions here. i would just hope that my colleagues would take it deep breath, step back. those who came from the house of representatives, as i did, remember what it was like when you were in the minority in the house and slings you had no rights. is that the way you want it to be here, because some day you're going to be a minority in the senate -- this body will change majorities -- but in any event, whether we're talking political majorities or not, as i commented to the presiding officer of the same state as robert byrd, this state didn't always have the power to be heard because it was a small state. so it doesn't matter whether you ar

with dinner every other month in the strom thurmond room, which is somewhat funny for anyone who remembersries, with the statute of the strom looking down on a. [laughter] and whatever is said in that room stays in the room. we never talk about the male senators. just kidding. but it's been, engines of all seriousness, the group has worked well together, sometimes all of us on legislation, especially with respect to women's health and burma and other things. but mostly we forge these relations -- relationships. kay bailey and i get a bunch of things on the commerce committee. and there are a number of women that are problem solvers, and i think you saw that coming through in this election with the election of people like heidi heitkamp in a race she thought no one could win but they saw someone who would compromise and get things done. there was someone who studied women elected officials allow back in boston who had this quote, not exactly accurate but she said that women politicians speak softly and carry a big statistic. i don't really think they speak softly anymore, but there is a mod

my own little theory is that it became until recently, people like strom thurmond, the fact that so many white men, historically in this country pulled themselves that they were not the product of race and so this invisibility of the product of race is not the product of the women who must've really wanted them. otherwise it is -- it is very clear that some parts operate at a distance. >> i would also, speaking to your question about whether this is about action or reaction, and of course, i think it is all part of this so that everything is constant in action and reaction -- one thing i want to point to, i think when we talk about these kind of race comments on the contraceptive comments are so outrageous over the past year, we think of it as a republican blood of stupidity. in fact, one of the interesting things is that it was prompted by unusual behavior on the part of the democrats. the democrats, while being the party of women, and about the time -- as soon as they started counting the gender gap, which really wasn't until 1980, they got labeled the mommy party. so for all of there