Transcripts For CURRENT Viewpoint 20130227 : vimarsana.com

Thanks so much for watching the young turks. I will be back on the war Room Development cenk hopefully will be back here here on the young turks. Please watch John Fuglesang and viewpoint right now. John despite conservative republicans best efforts a conservative republican has been confirmed as secretary of defense. Also, over 80 prominent republicans have now come out in favor of Marriage Equality and i gotta tell you victoria jacksons career is turning over in its grave. The middle east has ruptured into an explosion of conflict and violence. Or, as they call it, tuesday. Today is the birthday of erykah badu, johnny cash would have been 81 today. Today is also the 211th birthday of victor hugo. Author of les miz and never could he image than one day his noel would be an oscar winning film featuring our finest american and australian actors playing french people with british accents. This is viewpoint. John im John Fuglesang. Thank you for joining us tonight. It can mean to isolate or hideaway, to seize, withdraw or to hold but if you can believe president obama it might just be the worst word in our political lexicon today. Obama thats a pretty bad name sequester. But the effects are even worse than the name. John according to the white house the effects of the 85 billion in budget cuts that kick in friday, the sequester could cost 3 4 of a million jobs over the next year alone you why for starters. Design a series of acrosstheboard cuts, it will hack 43 billion from military spending 26 billion from programs like Health Education and Hurricane Sandy relief, another 11 billion from mandatory spending including 2 cuts on medicare providers and plans. These cuts were talking about wont be devastating for some programs and our bloated military with more than the 13 nations combined maybe could be able to handle a trim. But many people who are already struggling will have to struggle more if this sequester takes place. Two quick examples. Checks for some two million longterm unemployed americans will drop by 11 . Food aid for some 600,000 lowincome women and children will be cut. Thankfully no loopholes for millionaires on taxes will be eliminated. Now, republicans Like Senate Minority Leader Mitch Mcconnell who have poohpoohed the sequesters impact say they want the white house to have flexibility in designing the cuts. The president is the master of creating the impression of chaos as an excuse for government action. Do nothing. Fan the flames of catastrophe then claim the only way out is more government in the form of higher taxes. Theres no reason in the world the cuts need to fall on essential services. John but president obama insists theres not enough time to make that work. Obama theres no smart way to do that. You dont want to have to choose between lets say do i close funding for the disabled kid or the poor kid . John meanwhile House Speaker john boehner really, really, really wants some action. We have moved the bill in the house twice. We should not have to move a third bill before the senate gets off their ass and begins to do something. John just so you know, most recently, the republican got off its own posterior renamed a nasa building for Neil Armstrong after 30 some repeals of obamacare votes. Theyre doing a lot for you too. A group of christians want to shield the poor americans from the threatened cuts. This group calls itself a circle of protection. It counsels the president and congressional leaders on how to manage budget talks while protecting the most vulnerable. To reduce the deficit, we need revenue and savings that dont increase poverty. Congress can and must develop a thoughtful and balanced path forward that protects the most vulnerable and preserves economic opportunity. For more, im delighted to welcome to the show, reverend david beckmann. Hes president of bread for the world and the alliance to end hunger the World Food Prize laureate and one of the primary signatories to the letter. Welcome to the show. Thanks for having me. John thanks for being had. What do you and the other signatories hope to accomplish with your very eloquent letter . Well, weve actually had this group came together two years ago at the start of the budget controversy. It includes Salvation Army the catholic bishops, the National Council of churches, the National Association of evangelicals. It is a very wide array of church leaders. And i think it is important to recognize that president and congress have cut Something Like 2. 5 trillion from the deficit already. And theyve done that partly because we requested it. Theyve managed to do it really without making substantial cuts in federal programs that are focused on poor people. So we start out by saying thank you and saying well pray for them. And then we what our main point is that they should maintain this circle of protection around programs that are focused on poor and hungry people in our country around the world. They can solve the nations fiscal problems without taking food away from hungry kids. John it almost sounds like youre talking about a budget based on christian values. How dare you be so socialistic. Let me ask, are you and these other signatories trying to reach out to congress or even the president personally . We had a meeting with the president himself and we met with the top leadership on both sides of the aisle in both houses of congress. Then most importantly a lot of people of faith all across the country, this is people in the pews have contacted their own members of congress over the last couple of years. To urge the circle of protection around programs for poor people. The sequester breaks that circle. As you said, you know, it cuts 600,000 women and children off nutrition assistance in this country. The estimate is that it may throw 700,000 people out of work. You know, thats the worst thing for poor people. And then globally, it will it will cut back on medications for a. I. D. S. And tuberculosis and malaria. Those cuts kill. So the sequester is not the way to do this. John now youre a group of people of faith appealing to politicians who tend to use their faith to get elected. Ive read the 25th chapter of matthew. What soft impacts do you fear on the poor and hungry from the budget cuts in the sequester sir . Well, theres no question that it will cut headstart it will cut wic Housing Assistance to poor people in this country it will cut be we dont do much for poor people around the world but with a small amount of money by u. S. Standards, do you think a lot of good in africa. All of those programs will be cut. So you know, what matthew 25 says is that when the man comes in judgment at the end of time and nations are judged, the question that well be asked as a nation is what did you do for hungry people . What did you do for people who didnt have enough to eat or didnt have something to wear . So i do think that the decision about the national budget. This is a tough decision. It is not a trivial decision. But figuring out how to cut back, how to reduce our deficit without hurting people who are having a hard time feeding their kids is important to our national character. On the positive side, i guess rather than sort of judgmental thing, i just think that you know, most people have had some sort of experience where they feel like theyve been blessed by god. And if you had that experience, you want to help people who are struggling. There are a lot of people struggling in this economy. We ought to be able to solve the fiscal problem without going after them. John im ready to vote for you, reverend, if you run. Your letter also talks a lot about bipartisanship and specifically calls for further cost savings and additional revenue to restore our fiscal health. There are those who would consider that a partisan Statement Given that house and Republican Leaders say they wont approve taxes on people who can afford to pay a lot more taxes. How do you respond to that . Well, you know, theres nothing in the bible about taxes and spending. But you know, we just call it like we see it. It looks to us, just from the math that if you there are lots of provisions in the tax code that benefit special interests. So you can you can make you can make Real Progress against the deficit by some adjustments in the tax code that would mean higher taxes for some people. If you dont do that, youre going to end up hurting a lot of poor people. Theres no question about it. Theres no choice. So we think part of the package needs to be tax reform that will mean some higher taxes for some people who are pretty well off. John or just closing some loopholes. Bread for the word, reverend david beckmann, many thanks for of some your time tonight. Thank you john. I appreciate it. John now for more on the sequester, who may get hurt and why it could do some good, im joined by dan gross Global Business editor with newsweek, author of better stronger faster, the myth of american decline and the rise of a new economy. Dan, what a pleasure to have you on the show. Good to be here. John if you are column today, you called the sequester dumb, dangerous and bad policy but you also said you welcomed its arrival. Can you explain that . Well, for the last several years, weve had people, most of them republicans but some of them in the center who have been saying Government Spending is bad. It is harmful to the recovery. And were about to get a lesson, once and for all that Government Spending not only supports employment but it supports consumption and that the infrastructure that the government runs, the road, the airports our ports are vital for commerce and the economy in this country. Now, thats been true. It has generally been uncontroversial but in the last few years with the debates weve been having, a lot of people have been standing up and saying, you know, Government Spending is harmful. Theres no problem if we cut Government Employment. Weve cut Government Employment by about a million positions in the last couple of years. And so you have the phenomenon now of republican governors saying wait, youre going to put these people out of work in my state. We cant have that. You cant cut spending on ships on the i. R. S. , all of these people. That will mean less, fewer jobs. So you know, these people may finally have to reckon with the fact and recognize the reality and you start to hear them say that. John i also seem to recall president reagan in the 80s, deficit spending and growing the economy while never balancing a budget which seems timely since pro growth has become a mantra among our republican friends. Look, the deficits weve run in the last few years which enabled us to keep the bush tax cuts, to cut payroll taxes to do other things, thats what kept this economy going and helped create the conditions for growth and helped things moving along. Youre already hearing a lot of retailers and the walmarts of the world saying we raise the payroll taxes so our sales arent as good. They seem to make this connection that you put money in peoples pockets, they spend it. You take it out of their pockets, they dont spend it but it doesnt really connect to the overarching policy goals. John you also suggested liberals should not dploat if conservative states suffer more than the blue states do. In the red states, wont they try to blame it on the president anyway . One of the things i was in utah last week, mostly on vacation but also looking around. I started reading the local press. Theythey are very freaked out. Utah went for romney who wanted to balance the budget only by cutting spending. Went for romney by 50 points. One of the states most hostile to obama. The biggest employer in the state is the federal government. John shocking. 26,000 people at an air force base. A giant i. R. S. Center, about 5,000 people, the bureau of Land Management employees people. In connecticut where im speaking from which is a very liberal state, a Big Government state, about 14 of the employees are Government Employees and in utah, it is about 18 . It is a similar story many of the plains state the and Southern States which are poor. Where private enterprise is not as developed as they would like to think it is. Theyre disproposately dependent on Government Spending. Whether it is medicaid or medicare and defense installations. All of the businesses in those states, to a large degree, rely on federal spending to keep their business going. So theyre going to get hit disproportionately. The sequester isnt going to hurt people in businesses in greenwich, connecticut. There are people who it will hurt people in ogden utah. John it seems like the classic blue state argument that hurt the most but now it is being applied to blue states. Less than a minute. House g. O. P. Seems addicted to brinksmanship. Weve had the debt ceiling showdown, sequester and then the next debt ceiling coming in the spring. Really quick dan what kind of impact with the artificial crises having on the real economy . The crises seem to have less impact as time goes on. You remember august 2011, the first debt limit debt default. That was a big deal. People freaked out. People thought the economy was going back to recession. It didnt. What weve seen the last year is how of housing is coming back. Employment is coming back. Car sales and manufacturing virtually every indicator we have is going in the right direction and we seem to be able to sort of shrug off this craziness that we had around the debt ceiling and the fiscal cliff. But the sequester where we really had the prospect of laying lots of people off and removing a lot of money precipitously from the economy that has the potential, it is not going to put the economy back into recession but it will put a dent in growth. John dan gross is Global Business editor for daily beast. Thank you so much for joining us. Any time. John israel flares up on the eve of president obamas visit. Whats happening there this time . What youre saying. You would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. Absolutely. And so would mitt romney. vo shes joy behar. And the best part is that current will let me say anything. What the hell were they thinking . John welcome back to viewpoint. Its time for our thing of the day. Tonights big thing is the big fat, flaming lie of the day from House Speaker john boehner. Heres the good speaker today still trying to blame the president for something he passed through congress, the sequester. Wheres the president s plan to avoid the sequester . Have you seen one . I havent seen one. All ive heard is he wants to raise taxes again. Wheres the president s plan . John raise taxes again . Thats what closing loopholes is called. Wheres the president s plan . Right here john. See, i printed this out from white house. Gov. There is a link right on the front page and it includes the president s last offer to you in writing so sir either youre lying or you just dont look at your email. Now, early this morning a rocket was launched from ga zoo into israel destroying a road but causing no casualties. This latest escalation broke the threemonth ceasefire agreement following the violent clashes last november. The strike came in retaliation for the death of arafat jaradat, a palestinian prisoner who died of suspicious causes while in custody in an israeli jail. Palestinian authorities claim he was tortured while israel claims more tests need to be conducted to determine the actual cause of death. Jair jaradats death has become a tension between the two parties and could set up a tense backdrop for the president s First Official visit during his presidency scheduled for the end of march. Joining us to discuss the situation in israel is former state Department Officer and current director of policy and Government Affairs for ploughshares fund, joel reuben. Welcome back to the show. Great to be here. John what does the latest flareup mean for israel and in the longer term future for any kind of meaningful peace ever in this region. This flareup goes straight to the point of what the president is trying to achieve on middle east peace and he is sending john kerry out to the region to begin consultations with the arab states nearby to israel and then hell go in a few weeks to israel himself. We need to see a resolution of this conflict and these flareups go back and forth all the time. Now, certainly theres been a period for the last few months. Thats been good but this is not a sustainable situation. So well see in the coming weeks, more active american din lomacy is diplomacy in making sure it doesnt flare up. Really to try to figure out how to get the parties back to the table to have a peaceful resolution of their conflict. John Robert Surrey told them today that the twostate solution is on life support. Is this an assessment you agree with . It really is an assessment that many is israelis are talking about in public. It was part of the recent campaign which saw many centrist Political Parties in israel garner seats. And in fact, more than they had in the previous government. Israelis are concerned. There is a lot of discussion and debate in washington as well amongst middle east about the dem graphic issues, the question of what to do to ensure israel maintains its jewish character and the palestinians have a viable state. That wont be resolved through military back and forth. The stalemate so to speak of the situation is one where it requires negotiation. The israelis have said they want a diplomatic solution. The palestinians have, as well. The key now is to figure out how to get the two intense together enough so they can parse through the hard details of such a discussion. John twostate solution has been the policy of the last three president s of our country. But is it fair to say that there are leaders on both the israeli and palestinian sides who dont want that to happen because this rancor and this strife and hatred keeps getting some people to stay in power . It really is disappointing to see how the majorities of both populations are stuck watching as their leaders are not able to finalize this. I have a lot of family in israel. Ive been there, lived there. Ive traveled throughout the arab world. The people in this region dont want to see a situation where one state solution could come out which would maintain conflict. There needs to be two states for this. John let me switch gears. Today marked the second day of talks between iran and six world powers including the u. S. Over their nuclear programs. Should we be excited . Do you expect any meaningful results . I guess i should ask what would qualify as meaningful at this point . Right now theyre having technical discussions in kazakhstan the world powers in iran are initiating over what to do about irans enriched uranium. Thats the touchstone of the controversy in the near term. Thats what israel and Benjamin Netanyahu at the u. N. Last year spoke about. The level of enriched uranium to help iran toward the potential bond even though iran has not decided to make a nuclear weapon. It does appear there has been progress at the talks on that technical question and there needs to be more technical discussion. We have three decades of mutual mistrust and were not going to resolve all of the issues in one day so focusing on this technical issue which does have security impact is a very good start. John moving over quickly to syria only a minute left. John kerry said yesterday were determined the Syrian Opposition is not going to be dangling in the wind and pledge what he called new ideas for the region. Now we hear reports the u. S. Will offer direct aid to the rebels instead i presume the indirect aid weve been giving them all along. Are we seeing a shift in u. S. Strategy in regard to syria and is it wise . We are seeing a shift. The shift is in assessing what the potential is for military solution from the side of the rebels. And there looks to be a stalemate and while there is a stalemate, many civilians are dying. So clearly, the United States is engaging with the europeans with the Syrian Opposition, talking to the russians who have been very negative about american policy options toward syria. And theyre trying to see if there are additional ways to change the dynamic because the current dynamic is not working for the Syrian People and assad seems to be holding firm just long enough where more violence will continue. So, the new thinking is underway. John obviously mr. Putin is the big wild card here. I wish we could talk about it more. Director of policy for ploughshares fund, mr. Rubin. Please come and see us in new york. Thank you so much. John republicans come out for samesex marriage. Am i hopeful or cynical . Honest. They can question whether im right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. Cheap is good. And sushi, good. But cheap sushi, not so good. Its like that superlow rate on not enough car insurance. Pretty sketchy. And then there are the good decisions. Like esurance. Their coverage counselor tool helps you choose the right coverage for you at a great price. [ stomach growls ] without feeling queasy. Thats insurance for the modern world. Esurance. Now backed by allstate. Click or call. Surprise your house was built on an ancient burial ground. [ ghosts moaning ] surprise your car needs a new transmission. [ coyote howls ] how about no more surprises . Now you can get all the online Trading Tools you need without any surprise fees. Its not rocket science. Its just common sense. From td ameritrade. John its wtf new york week on our continuing wtf america hardhitting journalistic series. Yesterday, we told you all about state assemblyman doug hikens. Some folks found it tasteless that he wore an afro wig to a party. I mean anyone complaining you cant find amos and andy on netflix. He learned his lesson and says next year he will go to the Costume Party dressed as an indian or perhaps in his words a gay person. Wtf, doug hikens. Maybe you should go to your next Costume Party dressed like someone with a grasp of basic decorum and decency. Maybe the right therapist could help. Which brings to mind what Oscar Hammerstein once wrote. You have to be taught to hate. But the new York City School system might have a hard time teaching kids anything at all because governor Andrew Cuomos Administration Just blocked 250 million from the schools after they missed a deadline for adopting a teachers evaluation plan. Wtf, new york. Youre letting political squabbles over an evaluation deprive students of an education because their education hasnt properly been evaluated . Thats not a policy. Thats an ncf picture. If a student turns in an aslight late to school, they get punished but if a schools assignment is late, it is still the kids getting punished . You should be teaching george orwell. I like governor cuomo. He is, after all the leading contender to lose the 2016 nomination to hillary clinton. Seriously, wtf new york. Thinking. Ok, so theres wiggle room in the ten commandments, thats what youre saying. vo shes joy behar. Current will let me say anything. John welcome back to viewpoint. Im John Fuglesang. Now, more and more republicans are coming out in support of Marriage Equality and viewer derek worms tweeted to us theyre changing their tone now because they have to, not because they want to. This is a matter of evolving to survive. Evolving. Whoa, derek, are you saying they also believe in evolution now . This is not your grandfather or o your nonexistent eighth an ancestor from a world thats only 6,000 years old Republican Party. If you have a comment please tweet us at viewpoint or John Fuglesang or use the hashtag viewpoint or post it on our facebook page. In an ideal world i guess every american would support Marriage Equality because doing otherwise would mean discriminating against a group of american citizens based solely on who they love. Unfortunately, we do not live in an ideal world so we gotta take what we can get. This week, a legal brief signed by over 80 top ren republicans will urge them to rule in favor. While some of the signers of the brief are doing so for noble reasons, others cluing hewlettpackard ceo and former gubernatorial candidate meg whitman may have less altruistic motives. Why am i so cynical about it . Meg whitman from her 2010 run of governor to answer that. Im not in favor of samesex marriage. I am in favor of civil unions. So you voted for prop 8. Yes. Yes. I voted against samesex marriage. John i like ms. Whitman. Thats whats known in the industry as flipflopping. And it is what politicians tend to do when the position they previously held is no longer popular. With a growing majority of the country in support of Marriage Equality, it is becoming glaringly clear many of our conservative rent friends are on the wrong side of history and choosing idealology below votes to. Discuss this, im joined by former Senior Adviser to president Clinton Richard socarides. Host of huff post live, Michael Sacks and Jeff Kreisler. Richard, you wrote about this today for the new yorker. Am i being cynical about the signer a intentions . I think you are being cynical. There is a lot of movement on this. The case is going to get argued before the Supreme Court at the end of march. This brief, i think is important. I mean everybody i think is entitled to their journey on samesex marriage. And meg whitman who flipped today, officially, i think it is a good thing. I think we ought to let people change their mind. John we dont need to hear anyone say im wrong to support a law banning taxpaying americans to marry who they want . By signing this brief shes saying she was wrong impliedly. Excuse me. First time. It wasnt too long ago president obama had to say he was evolving toward samesex marriage. When he did finally evolved toward samesex marriage which he probably held for the first place, that he ended up saying okay hes against doma. But he thinks states should go state by state. This brief is the takedown californians to erect a barrier against samesex marriage. The republicans say that should go down. You know. If the republicans are going to get out ahead of me on this one it should be a step by step, a joint move. He leads a little, they lead a little. One step forward keep going. Im actually impressed even though i question the motives think it is selfish and political. The rate of change compared to almost every other civil rights issue is incredible. Ten years ago, it was like 20 30 at best pro Marriage Equality. And now it is john political expediency is the mother of decency sometimes. I do agree any progress is positive. It is true. When i first moved to Greenwich Village at the height of the a. I. D. S. Crisis, i never would think that a community would show the world a fastest gain in civil rights. I dont see how it cant an positive. Last week, jon huntsman came out in support of american equality. Huntsman said the American People will not hear us out if we stand against their Friends Family and individual liberty. So it doesnt really matter if it is being done for political reasons or just a good sign that they feel they have to do it. I think that you could really make the call that this is the conservative point of view. And ron paul has done this, allowing americans to marry who they want is the essence of conservatism. Ken mellman the former head of bush 04 Reelection Campaign was the person who organized this brief. This brief that is getting farther in the Supreme Court. And he is the one who has long said that Marriage Equality is a conservative principle. But i think youre right also. The conservatives the socalled conservatives who, for a long time have been on the other side of this are now on this issue, Public Opinion is changing so fast, are in a tough spot. If the Republican Party wants to go into the future, people like Chris Christie who vetoed samesex marriage bill in new jersey are going to be in a tough spot. John indeed. Im sorry to disagree, ken mellman owes a lot of people apology. He used fear of a gay married planet to club him in 2004. Sorry to do the tea Party Analogy but we see maybe their conservative principles for gay marriage. Especially with obama the principles dont matter if it is political expediency. Obamacare is a republican idea but they hate it. John because it has his name on it. If it becomes popular john in 20 years, mitt romney will be bragging hes been fighting for this. The National Organization for marriage is saying they will defeat any republican candidates who support Marriage Equality in america. Is it still too risky to support Marriage Equality in this country if youre a republican . Short term, yes. Those playing the long game, no. Its like saying remember that guy, he was against child labor. Eventually, the tide is going to turn. The tide is turning now. John along with immigration, the Obama Administration found the great wedge issue. What was really a turning point was the last election cycle where four states, maine minnesota, Washington State and maryland all voted for Marriage Equality. The first time Marriage Equality was on the ballot. Openly gay senator. John it is going to pass in california, too. Shifting gears to another area of republicans fighting with one another, chuck hagel was confirmed as secretary of defense in a narrow 5841 vote. Did the delay serve any purpose other than helping Lindsey Graham maybe not get primaried . It served no purpose whatsoever. People will forget about all of this hubbub that went around it. Go about his daily business and no one will be thinking about his views on iran or israel. Im not completely sure it made no difference. I think it will, longterm he will serve and hopefully he serves well and i think the president , you know, optimistic about it. But i think that, you know, this will be remembered as the first in a long time, certainly if not the first ever, defense nominee who ran into these kinds of problems. I think the republicans really let it be known this guy is not going to get an easy time of it. It was the closest vote. My theory is that they delayed it so he could be blamed for the sequester cuts. John but beyond john mccain unfriending him on facebook, is there going to be any Lasting Impact from this rancor or bitterness . Perhaps further filibusters of more important secretary of defense maybe another Supreme Court justice. I can see a filibuster of the Supreme Court justice. But didnt they damage their ability to do that because at a certain point, is the fatigue setting in. Even the rabid supporters of the tea parties and the Lindsey Graham you keep filibustering everything and everybody theyll crack. John not to mention all of the time they spent screaming benghazi at a man who had nothing to do with benghazi. He didnt do himself any favors with the testimony. It was really john i havent seen a performance like that since obamas first debate. Well take a break and my panel and i will see about glenn beck. With Award Winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines. Real, gripping, current. Documentaries. On current tv. John i hate to bring bad news but glenn beck is still having a hard time getting along with people outside his bubble. Now hes even picking a real fight with people who fake fight for a living. Glens complaint is that World Wrestling entertainment has a couple of antiimmigration tea Party Characters as villain. Theyre pitted against the popular mexican champion alberto del rio. So back refer to the wwe as stupid wrestling people. Can i tell you something friends . Wrestlers dont generally like being called stupid and neither does their audience, especially when it overlaps with the blaze. He calls him stupid back and made this offer. Mr. Beck, we cordially invite you to monday night at the American Airlines center. This monday, where you can deliver a fiveminute unedited rebuttal to our global tv audience and a soldout crowd of 12,000 stupid wrestling fans. John this may shock you but beck quietly declined the invitation as he declines all invitations to step outside his comfort zone. Richard socarides Jeff Kreisler and mike sacks. I do think glenn beck who is a powerful media figure and has continued to thrive since leaving fox news, him insulting Pro Wrestling fans is a bit like the ceo of whole foods attacking liberals. Is isnt he alienating his own customers . I have to rebut the idea that wrestling fans are stupid. Im wearing my wwe cufflinks of the tag team Group Demolition from the 1980s. I was the cofounder and president of my High School Wrestling appreciation society. John i wont upset you. I wouldnt want to get fake beaten up. The wrestlers can outtalk you and out demagogue you and out arena you. They can outrage you. You said to yourself, an andy kaufman. Maybe hes trying to become the supervillain. He is attack the big figure that all of his fans are trying to poke it. I wouldnt be surprised if he does show up. It looks a little like a publicity stunt. It looks like some of this is slightly contrived. John it is good for wwe but not for glenn beck. I cant understand how this does not hurt him. This is a guy on the cover of Time Magazine picking a fight with Pro Wrestling fans. There is a bit of overlap. A lot of that is his potential audience. I like to think his best days are over. I think hes on the way down. John what do you think about the fact that the World Wrestling entertainment made the tea party guys into villains for popular entertainment into america . Better businesswoman than a politician. Thats for sure. She sees, again the tea leaves. The writing is on the wall and the tide is turning against them. I was also a fan in the 80s. I learned about Race Relations. They have never shied away from exploiting a stereotype because like any tv and entertainment it makes good drama to take a stereotype and exploit it. Theyre playing against the party because there is an audience of latinos hispanics and abroad who are starting to follow wwe. John they pointed that out. That they have a large latino fan base. Pro wrestling may lead us in the fight for diversity. Who can forget the inspiring 80s u. N. Senate with cocoa beware. Chris christie who has a 55 Approval Rating nationwide has not yet been invited to speak at this years cpac for the crime of being electable. Does this show more division to the g. O. P. And a sign of whats to come in the 2016 primary . I think Chris Christie is probably liking the fact he was not invited because i think republicans generally are trying to seem a little bit more moderate and you know, it is hard for them to do. Chris christie is not really a moderate politician but he governs in a moderate state. In a blueleaning state. So anybody any conservatives who say they dont want anything to do with him i think hes probably loving it. It seems like theyre almost paving the road for him to repeat a clintonesque way to shun the extremism in his party. I dont know if he can do it. But hes still got to get through the primary but it seems like theyre opening that door for him if he wants to plow through it. John i think well see Chris Christie and jeb bush competing to be the electable moderate. The real question, of course, is you can do that in a party that isnt in the first place really made up of extremists. They may be trying to do this but they may end up without an audience for it. I think what will be key for him and jeb bush will be 2016 is if the extreme right completely collapses after 2016 im sorry, after 2014, the congressional, if they get wiped out again, theyll have no choice but to go moderate. John i dont see that happening. Theyre more organized than anyone and they turn out for midterm elections. Will. I. Am does write catchy jingles about that. The Republican Party nominated Barry Goldwater for president. It wasnt like people thought goldwater was going to win. They did it because they thought it was the right thing to do. John nowadays, he would be called a lefty. Dennis rodman is on a Peace Mission to north korea. The former nba star who promoted his dress is going to the uber repressive country to play basketball. One north korean resident saw a picture of rodman and says he looks like a monster. This from people who wept when kim jong il died. What do you think theyll make of Dennis Rodman as u. S. Ambassador . I think kim jong was known to be a big Michael Jordan fan. Maybe thats trying to pick up what remains of the 1990s bulls. This is what happens after a nuclear test. The godzilla monster. [ laughter ] how do you expect anybody to compete with that . Thats an insult to godzilla. It is feeding what the North Koreans are trying to do because the whole idea of the empire. They cant give their people bread so lets promote sports and circuses. I commend him. Hes the original Metta World Peace. But i dont know that it actually doesnt play into the hands of kim jongun and his evil ways. What color will his hair be . John i cant wait. Hes like Metta World Peace without the elbows and the neck. Willy joel going to play in russia did more for relations between the two countries than any politician or media journalist did. If it was Michael Jordan, it might have had a better impact than a clown prince of basketball. Hes not really an ambassador of our culture as well. North korea is not russia. Russia made a lot of progress by the time that happened. John i have to be an optimist. It is a start. I understand the Washington Generals are going on their show first. My panel stays with me after the break. When we look at the one case in history when the nra wasnt calling for more guns. vo she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. Ok, so theres wiggle room in the ten commandments, thats what youre saying. vo shes joy behar. Current will let me say anything. John welcome back. I have a very quick question for my panel. Today is the oneyear anniversary of the Trayvon Martin shooting. What has america learned and has america grown or accomplished anything in the wake of this . And i would like to start with richard socarides. I dont think weve learned much. Weve not learned much about the problems of guns. We keep having these lessons taught to us as a nation about how dangerous it is not to have effective gun control measures. We keep learning that lesson but we dont learn it. John i agree with you. We dont. It depends on the america youre looking at because certain communities can learn the lesson over and over and over again and still see history repeat itself. And other communities will never learn the lesson and again will see history repeat itself. Speaking in vague terms but this is the story of Race Relations especially charged Race Relationses in the United States. John i would have liked to have seen this as a Tipping Point but i think it is too early to tell. In both Race Relations and guns, it personalized the issues in a way that hadnt happened in awhile. It horrifies me. The stand your ground law everybody knew about that. Very visceral way for people to understand the issues. Im hopeful something will happen longterm but at least it brought issues. John it is great to have a panel of four white guys talking about this. I appreciate your responses. It brings me to tonights f bomb. Remember when all of our friends in the nra talked about how Trayvon Martin would still be alive if only he had been carrying a 9 millimeter . I dont either. Hard to believe George Zimmerman shot and killed him in florida one year ago. Since then, mr. Zimmerman started a web site to raise money for Living Expenses because defending a big guy with a gun who shot an unarmed black teenager is a Kick Starter Campaign we can get behind. He got a lot of support from fox news and its fans. Even appeared on hannity where seine gave him an affectionate, how you holding up, interview. It looked like standing your ground with George Zimmerman. It was the Hannity Interview that mr. Zimmerman said he was sorry, he still wouldnt have done anything different because in his words the killing of Trayvon Martin was gods plan. Yes, apparently god wanted mr. Zimmerman ignoring dispatch operators telling him to stay in his car and gave him a waiver from the whole thou shalt not kill. It wasnt gods plan. If god wanted Trayvon Martin dead, he would have smited him himself. He didnt. You do. It only got classier from there. Mr. Zimmerman lied to the judge and had his bail revoked. His wife was charged with perjury, too. He assures me it really was him screaming help on the