we remember strom thurmond as one know last of the jim crow demagogues. but what we forget about thurmond, he was also one of the first of the sun belt conservatives. what die mean by -- what do i mean? the sun belt -- it's one of the major stories in the history of 20 until century american politics, and that is the flow of jobs, of industries, of resources and populations, from the states of the northeast and the midwest to the south and southwest,, in the post world wr ii period. southern states were recruiting industries, passing right-to-work laws. they were receiving lots of funding from the federal government to build military installations at a time when the united states was involved in the cold war against the soviet union. so, states like mississippi, states like georgia and texas and florida and southern california and arizona, north carolina, are all being transformed in the post world war ii period by this historic shift in population and political influence. just think about it. this real -- this period from 1964 to 2008 could be thought of

he and strom thurmond. ronald reagan the kennedy center , the president's box, a member of congress invited me. he seemed like a very affable, personable guy the most amusing thing to me about ronald reagan is that he told the press when he fired me and the press asked him why. a reporter came back and told me. i fired her because she serves of my pleasure and she is not giving me any pleasure. of the laughter that one. >> the server and pleasure. that was almost as bad as the guy in the bush administration and the justice department. supposedly said he liked his coffee like mary frances berry, black and better. i guess reagan's was a little better. i served at his pleasure. but i'm not giving him very much pleasure. that was brought into evidence. massoud. reagan fired me. the courses, among other things, the president doesn't fire people who are in an independent agency or what starting him. they're not giving you pleasure. or not supposed to be giving him pleasure. we're supposed to be monitoring what he

. >> john: we read about strom thurmond standing on the senate floor for days reading phone books to civil rights being voted on. why don't they force these guys go on c-span and read the phone book. >> there is a fourth and a fifth. they let this game get out of hand in the first term. don't upset them because maybe we can deal with them. don't upset the right wing crazy--it hasn't worked. the press has dropped the ball. they will not explain what the entire filibuster culture is, and there is no price to pay for being radically obstructionist. >> john: that's why i read your column. thank you for being here this evening. >>> it's time to be here when were you players enter the baseball hall of fame which makes it a proud day for--nobody. that's it. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> john: for the first time since 1996, the baseball writers of america did not elect anyone to be inducted into the baseball hall of fame. this despite the fact that to of the best players of the last 30 years were on the ballot. roger clemens and barry bonds. a seven-time mvp, the only player in major league history

rethinking strom thunder minute minute -- strom thurmond. we only remember him as the cartoonist race figure from the deep south. ... >> well, thank you, 'em john, and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. >> there were two bills at national review. and in the conservative movement, two bills. bill buckley, a brilliant shooting star who lit up the sky, and bill rusher, a never-wavering north star by which conservatives learn today chart their -- learned to chart their political course. many have written about william f. buckley jr., that irresistible renaissance man, but no one until david frisk has given us an in-depth portrait of the other bill, william a. rusher, who among his other salutary contributions played a pivotal role in the life of the national draft goldwater committee. and that was critical. because if there had been no draft goldwater committee, there would have been no presidential candidate barry goldwater in 1964. and if there had been no candidate goldwater in 1964, there would have been no president-elect ronald reagan i

he had strom thurmond used to send them all the time. ronald reagan, the only interaction is at the kennedy center in the president's box and a member of congress invited me. he seemed like a very affable, personal god. the most amusing thing for me about ronald reagan as he told the press when he fired me in the press asking why, a reporter came back and told me as proprietor she stared and she's not given me any pleasure. the press got a big laugh on that one. that was almost as bad as the guy in the bush administration and the justice department supposedly granting voting rights to study the disc off the lake mary frances berry, black and bitter, but i guess bacon was a little better. i served in his pleasure, but i'm not giving them very much pleasure. the court responded to evidence when i sued reagan and the court says that among other things. the president doesn't hire people in an independent agency who are watchdogging him because they're not getting a pleasure. supposed to be monitoring what he does. but i found him to be an af

. >> bill: bring backstrom thurmon -- bring back strom thurmond. >> do you think from what you know thate will be changed and the negotiations will work out? >> i think senator reid and senator mcconnell have worked out -- i shouldn't say they have worked out. i think they're working on trying to get an agreement on modification, especially on -- you can actually filibuster a bill twice. you can filibuster a bill on the so-called motion to proceed. whether you should even take up the bill and then you can filibuster again -- actually three times. then you can filibuster once you're on the bill and you can filibuster an amendment to the bill. so what they're working on, as i understand it, i haven't talked to senator reid about this. as i understand it, they're taking away one of the motions on -- motion to proceed. you couldn't filibuster on that. that's a start. but as i say, i'm not sure rules changes are important as going back to the old practices we had when the system really worked. >> bill: it's that motion to proceed, i think which is the one that bugs people the most. because yo

folks like strom thurmond holding forth for 24 hours. we have, however, seen that a person can only delay the senate for 24 hours, then someone else can seek the floor and you can proceed. so that was a fairly modest strategy. now, in both the case of the denying quorum and in the case of speaking as long as you cou could, you had to spend time and energy, you had to organize and it was visible before this body. it was visible before the reporters gathered in the balcony. therefore, the american people, long before there was a television camera here, could see what you were doing and the public could provide feedback on that. but now we come to the modern era. from 1970 forward. in which it became popular to start using the objection as an instrument of party warfare, the objection to a final vote. you know, if we turn back before 1970, you had an overlap of the parties of perhaps 30 members. and so if one had used his objection, they'd have a good sense that you would be able to get cloture. furthermore, there was a social contract that

in 1993 i testified before strom thurmond's armed services committee pushing to lift the ban on gays serving in the military. and i ran into a world of misperceptions. i thought i was on a "saturday night live" skit. today, at last, that policy is gone forever and we are a country that honors the commitment of all willing to fight and die for our country. we've gone from a senate that passed doma over my objections to one that just welcomed its first openly gay senator. there are good changes that have taken place for our senate and for our country. but we have more work to do. this place needs more women, more people of color, more diversity of background and experience. but it's still a remarkable place. i am reminded of the letters of harry truman that he used to write home to his wife bess. he sat in the back row of the chamber. and late one night after the great debate of the new deal era, he wrote toes mother, "-- he wrote to his mother, "i hear my colleagues and i look out at them and i pinch myself and i ask 'how did i get here'" several months later he wrote bess once more,