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I'd get my butt kicked. >> total mega panel honesty and integrity. this group is going to stay around. after this, photo graphs from a different time in american history. the controversial presidency of lbj and the lessons we can apply today. everyone in america depends on the postal service. i get my cancer medications through the mail. now washington, they're looking at shutting down post offices coast to coast. closing plants is not the answer. they want to cut 100,000 jobs. it's gonna cost us more, and the service is gonna be less. we could lose clientele because of increased mailing times...

>> all right. the book is "lbj and the presidency." hard to imagine a better title. thanks for taking the time to share that with us today. and thanks as always to our long-serving mega panel, karen, susan, and jimmy. thanks as always. straight ahead, the the madness begins. will you skip work to watch the games? we'll explain right after this. ♪ you are my sunshine, my only sunshine ♪

Several issues. i'm wondering, without those two traits, do you think an lbj who had all three would be able to breakthrough this gridlock today? >> i think you have to have that across the aisle too. i think obama has shown a willingness to compromise. i don't think that's been reciprocated by the opposition party. i was in a conference last weekend where barbara bush said that compromise in washington has become a dirty word. compromise is the only way to get things done in washington. it seems like there's an inability for some on both sides of the aisle to reach out. that's the way things ...

Would lbj be as effective today? >> that's difficult to say, but remember the media is extraordinary important. we have a 24/7 news cycle which we didn't have back then. he didn't present the best face on camera. but again, lbj understood how to get things done. people who mattered to say yes. that's still vitally important in american politics. it was then. it is now. >> well, it does -- just a couple seconds left. it does suggest there's a rage in politics for people to present themselves as the outsider, the most effective president was the deepest insider of insiders who was the master of ...

This. all the people who knew him as well as johnson himself to tell the story of lyndon johnson and his presidency. you get different perspectives everywhere. my goal was to have a balanced perspective of who this man was and what he means to this country today. >> jimmy has a question for you. >> so mark, i have read the master edit. i will read the book. but if you were in washington today and you were sitting in the senate as a top staffer or senator and you had the thought and knowledge of lbj and his presence, what would you do differently? how would you make washington better? >> what v...