THE ED SHOW with ED SCHULTZ
November 9, 2012
Guests: John Larson, John Garamendi, Joe Sestak, Larry Cohen, Michael Eric Dyson, Darrell Hammond
ED SCHULTZ, HOST: Good evening, Americans. Welcome to THE ED SHOW,
live from Minneapolis.
Breaking news tonight: CIA Director David Petraeus is out. And rich
people in this country better get their wallets out.
This is THE ED SHOW -- let`s get to work.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The American people
voted for action. Not politics as usual.
SCHULTZ (voice-over): The president drops the hammer. No deal unless
the rich start paying their fair share.
We`ll bring you the latest on today`s major power play by President
Obama.
OBAMA: It`s time to get back to work.
SCHULTZ: Hatred and racism explode following the president`s re-
election.
Professor Michael Eric Dyson puts it all into perspective.
And Bill Clinton may have saved Barack Obama`s second term. Tonight,
comedian Darrel Hammond tells us how Bubba did it.
DARRELL HAMMOND, ACTOR: Barack Obama is the only Democratic nominee
for president.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHULTZ: Good to have you with us tonight, folks. Thanks for
watching.
President Obama stepped out to talk about the economy today. He
reminded America that there was an election on Tuesday. And the people
have spoken.
The president spoke from the East Room of the White House surrounded
by middle class Americans. He`s ready to lead on fiscal challenges facing
this country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: The American people voted for action. Not politics as usual.
You elected us to focus on your jobs. Not ours. And in that spirit, I`ve
invited leaders of both parties to the White House next week so we can
start to build consensus around the challenges that we can only solve
together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: No heavy hand, no arrogance whatsoever. If there`s one word
to sum up the president`s presentation today, it`s this -- consistent. The
guy who gave the speech is the same guy who we watched on the campaign
trail for the past seven months. Americans want cooperation when it comes
to a deal on the United States economy. And the president is delivering
his side of the bargain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: We can`t just cut our way to prosperity. If we`re serious
about reducing the deficit, we have to combine spending cuts with revenue.
And that means asking the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more in
taxes. That`s how we did it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: The facts just aren`t with the Republicans on this issue of
tax cuts. The Republican, or should I say the Congressional Budget Office
just published a report saying that there`s no danger to the economy if the
tax cuts for wealthy Americans are allowed to expire.
Even with a political mandate, the president insisted that he will
listen to all options. He`s ready to deliver the balanced approach to debt
reduction that he campaigned on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I want to be clear: I`m not wedded to every detail of my plan.
I`m open to compromise. I`m open to new ideas. I`m committed to solving
our fiscal challenges.
But I refuse to accept any approach that isn`t balanced. I`m not
going to ask students and seniors and middle class families to pay down the
entire deficit while people like me making over $250,000 aren`t asked to
pay a dime more in taxes. I`m not going to do that.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: The president is even willing to talk about reforms to
Medicare and Medicaid. He left Social Security out of his speech today.
Senator Chuck Schumer appeared on this network this morning and said
Social Security will most likely not be a part of any deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: I think on Social Security you`ll
find more resistance for one reason. It`s not part of the deficit. It`s
not part of the -- if you were to increase revenues in Social Security, or
decrease costs, that would not go into deficit reduction. It would go
somewhere else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: The Democrats are in the driver`s seat on this issue.
There`s one Republican who has the power to make sure a deal is cooperative
and satisfying to the American people. It`s House Speaker John Boehner.
He needs to decide if he takes this country over the fiscal cliff by
refusing to bend on tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. As of now, he
still says tax cuts are off the table.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Raising taxes on
small businesspeople is the wrong prescription given where our economy is.
DIANE SAWYER, ABC NEWS: Is it on the table to talk about it?
BOENHER: I`ve made clear --
SAWYER: The wealthier Americans pitch in here.
BOEHNER: -- yesterday that raising tax rates is unacceptable. And,
frankly, it couldn`t even pass the House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Boehner is boxing himself in by taking all tax increases off
the table. Today, the president repeated his intention to pass a bill
keeping the tax cuts on anyone with income under $250,000.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: The Senate has already passed a bill doing exactly this. So,
all we need is action from the House. I`ve got the pen ready to seen sign
the bill right away. I`m ready to do it.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: House Republicans are going to have a lot of explaining to
do if they don`t cut tax -- if they don`t pass tax cut extensions on the
American people who need it the most.
American`s labor coalition made it clear it will support the president
in an effort to strike this deal. "The Washington Post`s" Greg Sargent
wrote, "I`m told that the Employees International Union, AFSCME, and the
National Education Association are putting together a major push, including
television ads to pressure Congress to adopt a fiscal cliff approach that
doesn`t do any harm to Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security and
includes higher taxes from the wealthy."
White House officials told ABC`s Jake Tapper they`re confident a deal
will be struck. Tapper wrote, "One scenario included the president
barnstorming the country, telling the public the Democrats will put forward
a bill to restore middle class tax cuts." This is same scenario Senator
Bernie Sanders laid out on this program here on THE ED SHOW last night.
Tuesday`s election made it clear what direction this country wants to
take when it comes to deficit reduction. Republicans need to decide
whether they are with the American people on this big deal.
Get your cell phones out. I want to know what you think.
Tonight`s question, should the president give in to Republican
demands? Text "A" for yes, text "B" for no to 622639. You can always go
to our blog at Ed.MSNBC.com and leave some comments.
And, of course, we`ll bring you the results later on in the show.
I`m joined tonight by Congressman John Larson of Connecticut. Also
with us this evening, Congressman John Garamendi of California.
Gentlemen, great to have you with us tonight. There`s a lot of news
out there. We got a lot to cover.
First, Congressman Larson, I want to ask you, about this barnstorming
tour that is being suggested that the president might do -- will this put
pressure on lawmakers, would public pressure make a difference at this
point?
REP. JOHN LARSON (D), CONNECTICUT: Well, I think it`s important that
the president be out there and I think it would only enhance the
opportunity for us coming to solutions. It`s clear that what the American
public wants to see is a Congress working toward solutions that will put
them back to work.
And, Ed, you`ve emphasized this over and over again on your show --
look it, a job creation equals deficit reduction. And so putting -- and
this is something that everyone can agree on in the Congress. They
wouldn`t even take up the president`s bill.
Let`s take up that job creation bill. Let`s signal to the American
public and to the entire world that this nation is going back to work. And
we know that lowering that unemployment rate will drop the deficit and
produce a better society.
And also with regard to taxes, that we have a clear path forward here.
Everybody, again, agrees that the middle class deserves this tax cut
especially in these very difficult times. And as the president says, he
has the pen, let`s be ready to act. I think he can make that case. He`s
got the bully pulpit and I hope he does.
SCHULTZ: No doubt about it.
Congressman Garamendi, what is John Boehner`s next move? What do you
think is going to happen?
REP. JOHN GARAMENDI (D), CALIFORNIA: Well, he`s going to meet with
the president. They`re going to meet next week.
And I think he`s going to have to face the reality that either now,
that is in the lame duck session or shortly thereafter, there are 200-plus
Democratic votes ready to go on the president`s plan. That`s about 18
Republicans that we would need. And Boehner has to understand that we
actually must work across the aisle to solve this problem. Otherwise we`re
not going to get it done.
The American public demands that we work together. Just imagine what
we could do if we actually worked together. We can solve some real serious
problems. We could do the American Jobs Act and we could do the
infrastructure, we could rebuild New York and New Jersey, desperately
needed there. Serious investment needs to be made on our infrastructure.
We`ve got a lot of work to do. We can only do that if we work across the
aisle and get on.
And the president has laid out a very good starting point to get the
negotiations under way.
SCHULTZ: Yes, no doubt.
Congressman Larson, do you think that there are any Republicans in
their caucus that will come over and work with the president and do the
right thing to address this? Or is this going to be another all-Republican
fraternal order to be followed by John Boehner?
LARSON: No, I do believe that there are many decent, caring
Republicans, and I think we have two shining examples to point to. Most
recently, Chris Christie in a crisis came together with the president and
demonstrated that when we work together, much can be accomplished.
And certainly you would have to focus on Mitt Romney`s concession
speech, and his call to the spirit of the American people.
Look, roads, bridges, as John Garamendi knows and the things that need
to be done with our infrastructure aren`t Democrat or Republican. They`re
American at their heart.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
LARSON: And we know that we have a -- we have a window of opportunity
here. It`s not the time to kick the can down the road. It`s the time to
come together and act as Americans.
And we`ve seen stellar examples of what can be. And I`m heartened, I
think we will have Republicans that join us.
SCHULTZ: I hope so.
We`ve got some other breaking news tonight out of Washington. The
director of the CIA, General David Petraeus, announced his resignation.
In a statement he wrote, "After being married for over 37 years I
showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair. Such
behavior is unacceptable both as a husband and as a leader of an
organization such as ours. This afternoon, the president graciously
accepted my resignation."
President Obama received the resignation yesterday but took 24 hours
before accepting it. "Going forward, my thoughts and prayers are with Dave
and Holly Petraeus, who has done so much to help military families through
her own work. I wish them the very best."
NBC News reported the FBI is investigating the author of Petraeus`
biography, Paula Broadwell, for improper access to the general`s e-mail.
Let`s go back to our two guests tonight, John Garamendi and also John
Larson.
Congressman Garamendi, what is your reaction to this news?
GARAMENDI: Well, first, very, very sad. This is an extraordinary
individual who has served this country in an extremely difficult
circumstances as a general and leading the war in Afghanistan and also in
Iraq. We`ll just have -- we`ll just have to think really good thoughts for
him and his family going forward.
Obviously, he has resigned and this is a difficult situation. And
proving once again I think none of us are above making a mistake along the
way. It`s really a sad situation.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
Congressman Larson, does this complicate the president`s upcoming
cabinet shakeup?
LARSON: Well, certainly, I agree with John and certainly I think the
tone that the president set in his remarks are keeping with the spirit of a
great American and someone who served the country extraordinarily well.
You can only ache for the situation that`s taken place.
And clearly let us hope also that this, with respect to the president
getting through all of his nominations at the Senate, with the pick-up of
seats there that there`s a better temperament in the Senate to dealing with
what the public has rightfully seen as a second term for the president.
SCHULTZ: Petraeus is being replaced by interim deputy director
Michael Morell.
Congressman Garamendi, will this affect CIA operations? I mean, we`ve
got some pretty heavy stuff going on in the world. And it seems to me this
is not too seamless. Your thoughts on it.
GARAMENDI: Well, I think it will not be -- no, I think it`s going to
go on well. The CIA is an organization that is well-structured and will
carry on its work. Obviously the direction that it will take and the
leadership that it has had with general Petraeus will be lost.
But the deputy is a very strong individual, very capable, and will be
able to carry on. And as you just said in the previous discussion with Mr.
Larson, there will be in the next two months, three months, the opportunity
for the president to appoint a new director. That confirmation should come
quickly from the Senate. Hopefully, they won`t hold it up there.
There is the problem of the Benghazi situation that could make this
more complex. Hopefully it won`t. That should be quickly put behind us.
And we need to move on. The CIA is extremely important.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
GARAMENDI: And we need to move on. And get on with protecting this
nation and finding out the things we need to know.
SCHULTZ: Well, Congressman Larson, General Petraeus was expected to
testify next week in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee behind
closed doors. What does this mean? Now, he`s not going to testify unless
he`s subpoenaed.
What do you -- do you think he needs to step forward or is he just now
a citizen and going on about his way?
LARSON: Well, I think he`s a citizen going on his way. I think the
point that John Garamendi makes that certainly the CIA is very capable and
very competent and I think will provide the hearing and the information
that is needed. I think in part people probably would like to see General
Petraeus come forward and testify behind closed doors because of what he
knows.
But I`m sure his staff is equipped and prepared with regard to that.
With regard to these very sensitive situations as they unfold.
SCHULTZ: OK. Congressman John Larson and John Garamendi, great to
have you with us tonight here on THE ED SHOW. I appreciate your time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks, Ed.
SCHULTZ: Remember to answer tonight`s question at the bottom of the
screen. Share your thoughts on Twitter with us @EdShow and on Facebook.
We always want to know what you think.
And coming up, former U.S. Navy vice admiral, Joe Sestak, joins me to
weigh in on the resignation of the CIA Director David Petraeus.
Stay tuned. You`re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC. We`re right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Coming up, more on the resignation of CIA Director David
Petraeus with former Navy Vice Admiral Joe Sestak who worked on
intelligence.
Then, the CEO who forced his workers to stand behind Mitt Romney at a
speech is now laying off his workers and blaming it on President Obama.
You won`t believe the details on this one.
Share your thoughts with us on Facebook and on Twitter using #EdShow.
We`re coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And welcome back to THE ED SHOW.
Details keep unfolding on the resignation of CIA Director David
Petraeus who cited an extramarital affair as the reason for his decision.
Here`s NBC`s chief foreign affairs correspondent Richard Engel today
talking about an FBI investigation of Petraeus` biographer Paula Broadwell.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD ENGEL, NBC NEWS CHIEF FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Also
we`ve learned from law enforcement sources and law enforcement officials
that the FBI is now investigating and this is an ongoing investigation,
into Paula Broadwell. She is someone who has had close access to General
Petraeus. She was his biographer and wrote a book on general Petraeus
called "All In." She`s spent extensive time with him in Afghanistan, has
made numerous television appearances talking about General Petraeus. She`s
gone running with him.
The FBI investigation is seeing whether she had improper access to the
general -- to General Petraeus` e-mails and may have had access to his --
may have accidentally or deliberately had access to classified information.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Here`s biographer Paula Broadwell talking about General
Petraeus in January of this year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAULA BROADWELL, PETRAEUS BIOGRAPHER: When I was in Kabul, we would
do a lot of interviews on runs. For him it was a good distraction from the
war. You know, of course, he`s a bit concerned as someone in his position
would be about legacy and he also, you know, came at it from a mentoring
point of view and wanted to help me with this project.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: According to "Slate", President Obama agonized for 24 hours
before accepting General Petraeus` resignation.
Let`s bring in former Congressman Joe Sestak, also a former U.S. Navy
vice admiral who worked in Navy intelligence.
Joe, good to have you with us tonight.
This is pretty gut wrenching for the CIA community. But what does
this do, if anything serious, to the intelligence community?
FMR. REP. JOE SESTAK, FORMER VICE ADMIRAL, U.S. NAVY: There`s not a
question that the intelligence community is going to move on. We learned
in the military and General Petraeus was one of the finest generals of this
generation. Nobody is irreplaceable.
He did the absolute right thing to hand in his resignation. While it
is understandable for the president not to want to accept it, he was
correct to accept it. This is what we learn in the military,
accountability.
SCHULTZ: Here`s his statement. "After being married for over 37
years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital
affair. Such behavior is unacceptable both as a husband and as a leader of
an organization such as ours. This afternoon, the president graciously
accepted my resignation."
Through that statement, Joe, it sounds like he did some real soul
searching there. Do you think that`s what happened?
SESTAK: Without a question. Look, we learn in the military that you
don`t separate your personal standards from your professional ones. If
someone who works for you finds out that you`re lying in your personal
life, how can they trust you in your professional life?
We learn as great leaders, and he was a very good leader, that with
responsibility goes authority, and with them both goes accountability. And
why some people may think that this kind of accountability is cruel,
actually if the men and women who follow you actually think that you are
above accountability, then they lose trust in you and if you lose their
confidence, order dissolves into chaos.
No, I think this is something, while it may seem cruel to some, that
the general did the absolute right thing as the president did. And I think
that as people who are in political life, in our civil society, not just
politicians, might take aboard this sense of accountability because I would
argue that`s what`s most missing in America today and what they want in
their leaders.
SCHULTZ: Yes. General Petraeus was supposed to testify next week on
Benghazi. And you can imagine the speculation that will swirl around this
that he stepped out of this position before he had to go in front of the
Senate Intelligence Committee behind closed doors. Do you have any comment
on that?
SESTAK: Sure. There`s absolutely nothing that General Petraeus would
have done wrong professionally that would have even had the hint of
politics -- as some were saying about that whole Benghazi issue. General
Petraeus always strove, always strived to be the best that he could both in
his professional responsibilities and in this case when he didn`t match it,
in his personal side, he handed in his resignation.
Look, that`s the mark of this man, and I think that anybody who thinks
that he`s doing this to avoid any type of accountability with Benghazi just
doesn`t understand what he trained and what he strived to be like as a
wonderful general.
SCHULTZ: Joe, what about the fact that Petraeus is not under FBI
investigation but someone else is? How normal is it for the FBI to
investigate the CIA?
SESTAK: Well, I -- if they think there is some sort of crime that has
occurred, and in my limited understanding of what`s happened, this began
because someone had a belief that General Petraeus` computer had somehow
been compromised which then led to this next step, that the FBI does
crimes, not the CIA. And so, this is the proper course to take.
And, look, again, transparency and accountability is what we most want
in our leadership. Look, this is tough, Ed -- you and I both know it -- to
a general who`s done so much for this nation. But I`ll tell you, Ed, I
think this shows what kind of a man he was that, yes, he did his soul
searching but handed in his resignation because that`s what we`re trained
to do as good leaders. People should take a lesson from that.
SCHULTZ: Joe Sestak, good to have you with us tonight on THE ED SHOW.
Appreciate it so much.
SESTAK: Absolutely.
SCHULTZ: Coming up, a coal boss announces a series of layoffs. He`s
blaming President Obama`s re-election. Find out how workers are paying the
price for a CEO`s personal politics.
And it got pretty ugly out there following the re-election of our
first African-American president. MSNBC political analyst Michael Eric
Dyson will weigh in on the racist reactions around the country.
You`re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Thanks for staying with us tonight.
The leader of a company is making good on a pre-election threat. He`s
taking his Republican frustrations out on his workers.
Remember this guy? Robert Murray? He is the CEO of one of the
country`s largest privately held coal companies. Well, he`s laying off 163
workers in the state of Ohio, Utah, and Illinois.
You see, Murray blames President Obama`s re-election. He says the
president is waging a war on coal.
One worker posted this message on Reddit: "I was laid off because
President Obama was re-elected."
Murray is the CEO who reportedly forced miners to attend this Romney
rally in August. The miners claim they were not paid for showing up.
About 100 of the laid off employees work for the division which ran
the Crandall Canyon Mine. The mine collapsed in 2007. Nine people died.
Murray`s company agreed to pay $1 million in civil penalties.
But Bob Murray insists he cares about people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT MURRAY, CEO, MURRAY ENERGY CORP.: It`s a human issue, ma`am,
because he`s destroying the lives and the livelihoods of many people that I
know by name.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Murray is not the only business owner trying to turn the
president into a scapegoat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yesterday I called all my part-time employees in
and said because Obama won, I was cutting their hours from 30 to 25 a week,
so I would not fall under the Obamacare mandate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: One website tried to drum up fear with this misleading
headline, "Obama Reelection Triggers Massive Layoffs," totally untrue. Not
a single business on this list blamed layoffs on the election.
Unfortunately this is a tough year for American workers. The Bureau
of labor -- tough time of year for American workers. The Bureau of Labor
Statistics says most layoffs happen during the fourth quarter, this time of
year. It`s been true since 1996, no matter who gets elected.
If a boss like Bob Murray is disappointed in the election, he
shouldn`t take it out on his employees. This is about as mean spirited as
you can get.
Now think about it. What in the world do you think happened between
Tuesday and Friday in the coal industry that would force this mean-spirited
owner to get rid of 163 workers? Just because the black guy won?
Joining me tonight is Larry Cohen, president of the Communications
Workers of America. Larry, good to have you with us tonight. What is your
reaction to Bob Murray blaming the layoffs on the president? What`s
happening here?
LARRY COHEN, COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA PRESIDENT: I think
it`s a question of what kind of democracy are we going to have. And most
importantly, what are our rights at work? And over the last several
decades, you see no lines at all in terms of what is proper in the
workplace and abuse of authority by employers, the kind of intimidation in
the election that you talked about, the Citizens United case from the
Supreme Court, decades of decisions in our courts saying that when it comes
to workers organizing, anything employers do is free speech, that in
Citizens United money is free speech.
And many of us believe corporations are not people. Money is not
speech. And we`re going to build a movement to take back our democracy and
fight these kinds of outrageous behaviors.
SCHULTZ: What kind of movement are you talking about? What can
happen?
COHEN: I`m talking about a broad-based movement that says what we
said earlier, that we need to reform, if necessary, the Constitution
itself, that the founders did not mean that money was speech. They meant
that all of us should have an equal right to participate in our society,
not that there were super rights for the super rich.
We see that in the president`s announcement today that, for example,
he`s not going to standby and see tax giveaways to the two percent, that he
is going to defend Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. That`s all
about what kind of democracy are we going to have. Are we going to have
universal voter registration or are we going to make it impossible for
people to vote? Why do we have 600,000 ballots in Arizona that weren`t
counted yet?
So these are all key questions for us. And I think that many us of,
whether labor or civil rights or environmentalists or youth, LGBT, we need
to get together, build a democracy movement, say to workers at Murray
Energy or anywhere else, you`re not alone. You`re not alone when you speak
up. You have those rights. We`ll be there. We`ll be there as consumers.
And we`ll be there to build a movement for the democracy we all want.
SCHULTZ: Do you expect more CEOs to take their frustrations out on
employees because President Obama won the election? What does it say about
these people, about how ruthless they can be?
COHEN: Not only are they ruthless, but they are not paying attention
to the demand side of the economy. I mean, President Obama is committed,
as are most of those on the winning side of this election, to a growth
economy, not an austerity economy. If you had an austerity economy, based
on cuts, cuts, cuts, whether jobs or pay, that`s when business should be
worried, because the demand side will continue to collapse.
When you have an election won predominantly by those who favor growth,
you should be ready to invest. We were cheered in our union by AT&T`s
announcement on Wednesday. They`re going to invest five billion dollars
extra each of the next three years to build out broadband in rural America.
We need employers to show that kind of leadership in all sectors, that
we`re ready to bring back the American dream. We`re ready to create jobs.
We`re ready to stand by America`s workers.
SCHULTZ: All right. Communication Workers of America President Larry
Cohen with us tonight here on THE ED SHOW. Appreciate your time so much.
Thank you.
There`s a lot more coming up in the next half hour of THE ED SHOW.
Stay right with us.
Coming up, Professor Michael Eric Dyson on the racial outbursts
following the president`s reelection.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you a racist?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I`m not.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It sounds like you`re a racist.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It does.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Righties blame Tuesday`s thumping on an uninformed
electorate. We`ll show you why the exact opposite is true.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Good to have you back with us. And thanks for watching
tonight. History was made Tuesday night with the reelection of the first
African-American president. And with it came a surge of racist language on
social media. Sites like Buzzfeed and Jezabel have been collecting racist
Tweets to show the ugliness that is out there around America.
The blog "Floating Sheep" went even further and came up with this map
pinpointing where these racist Tweets are coming from, primarily red states
in the southeast eastern portion of the United States. As "Time Magazine"
put it, Alabama, Mississippi scored worst, with eight times more racist
Tweets than the national average. According to the study, Georgia, North
Dakota, Louisiana, Tennessee, Missouri, West Virginia and Minnesota all
rated -- ranked three to four times above the national average in terms of
prevalence of racist Tweets.
Among those 10 states, only Minnesota voted for President Obama. One
California woman`s racist Facebook post got her fired from her job and
prompted outrage from her community.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fired over this twitter post, a screen shot of
Helm`s Facebook page, a page Helms says she had set to private.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The "N" word. Are you a racist?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I`m not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sounds like you`re a racist.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It does.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: But not only did Denis Helms use the "N" word. She wrote
about assassination. Threatening the president, of course, is a felony.
Helms tried to explain her motives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The assassination part is kind of harsh. And I
don`t -- like I`m not saying I would go do that or anything like that by
any means. But if it was to happen, I don`t think I would care one bit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: She later dialed back her language, but the damage had been
done. According to the "Los Angeles Times," the Secret Service is
investigating the matter. Racial hatred also made its way to the campus of
Ole Miss. Tuesday night, University of Mississippi students came out and
protested President Obama`s reelection. Some were shouting racial slurs
and lit Obama campaign signs on fire.
One student offered details to WLBT.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cowen says the group shot fire crackers, walked to
the grove and back, and shouted racial remarks.
Two were arrested when police were called to disperse a crowd of about
400 people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: These protests follow the 50th anniversary of violent
rioting at Ole Miss over the enrollment of the university`s first black
student, James Meredith.
Let`s turn to Michael Eric Dyson, MSNBC political analyst and
professor of sociology at Georgetown University. Professor, good to have
you with us.
With so much hatred still out there, this is a depressing story. You
would think that people would be celebrating this and moving the country
forward. Is there -- which brings me to the question, is there any chance
of acceptance or is this just the way it`s always going to be?
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Well, among a certain
minority of people, I think, Ed, this will persist. But the reality is
that a great swath, if you will, of American whites did cast a vote for
Barack Obama. Not the majority to be sure, but enough to make a
difference.
Because if you look at what got Obama into office, if it was a
sandwich, we`d call it ham on white. H, Hispanics and Latinos. A,
African-Americans. M, the millennials, the young people, and white women.
So there`s a coalition that`s taking place in America that may be
threatening to the old school, old style tradition of white men being
central and dominant.
Whiteness is being dissipated. And what`s coming together is a
collection of progressive whites along with Latinos and African-Americans
and young people, who are foraging a connection to a broader future and a
bridge to a brighter horizon of possibility for us politically.
But at the same time, it`s discouraging when we see young people, like
Ms. Helms and other people at the University of Mississippi, really serve
up anew this old-style racism that is really a nasty assault not only on
the president, but upon African-American identity and upon minority
identity in general.
SCHULTZ: You know, I think there were some questionable things during
the campaign as well. For instance, the Republican presidential nominee
was sending John Sununu out to stir up the racial fears. How tough will it
be to move forward without leadership from the conservatives?
DYSON: Well, the conservatives will either lead or be left behind.
The reality is, look at the ungracious character of Mitt Romney`s
concession speech. He didn`t embrace President Obama as the person to lead
us forward. He didn`t throw` his full weight behind him. He didn`t talk
about this new vision for the country that we could forge together in the
crucible of our actions politically and in terms of our democracy.
He was really, again, a selfish narcissistic kind of person. The
extraordinary narcissism, collectively speaking, of white men in control is
really facing the erosion of a broader movement that says, we`re not going
to stand for that anymore.
So the Republican party will either lead or they will be left behind.
They with become ethnosaurs. They are outdated dinosaurs who are dealing
with the relics of the past and who can`t deal with what`s going on in the
future. They will be left behind. But they will be kicking and screaming,
as we see now, with bitter, vituperative language that denounces our
president and collectively the aspirations of African-Americans and others.
SCHULTZ: But if the Republican party doesn`t change and if their
leadership doesn`t change and if they don`t think differently on this issue
of diversity and race and acceptance, and they standby idle, doesn`t that
fuel extremist groups to feel emboldened to do more things than what we
have seen?
DYSON: Absolutely. Dr. King said it`s the silence of good people
that`s even more destructive than the vicious behavior of those who are
bigots. A bigot, Howard Thurmon said, is a person who makes an idol of his
commitments. And these people are worshipping at the altar of their ideas.
But you are absolutely right. Their refusal to say this is wrong, like
John McCain did -- no, ma`am, he`s not somebody who is an Arab. He`s not
un-American. He`s an extraordinary person.
That`s what we have to have from the Republican party. Otherwise,
they are fueling and fostering and facilitating a vicious, bigoted reality.
It`s a bigot-ocracy. It`s not a democracy.
SCHULTZ: Professor Michael Eric Dyson, great to have you with us
tonight. Thanks so much.
Coming up, conservatives are desperate to explain how Mitt Romney
could have lost this election. And you won`t believe the third string
excuses they`re handing out. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW. After months of convincing
themselves that Mitt Romney would take the White House, conservatives are
desperate to explain how in the heck did this happen. The blame game
started before the election was even called and only got worse as the
reality of the Obama second term sunk in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL O`REILLY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: The demographics are changing. It`s
not a traditional America anymore. The white establishment is now the
minority.
GOV. HALEY BARBOUR (R), MISSISSIPPI: Hurricane Sandy saved Barack
Obama`s presidency.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that bipartisan photo op with Republican
Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, also kind of damaged Mitt`s
narrative.
KARL ROVE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: He succeeded by suppressing the
vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: That`s just a sampling, my trends. The conspiracy theories
are predictable, are they not? It was the mainstream media, the partisan
fact checking. Biased debate moderators, it was their fault.
But one of my favorite excuses came from Senator Ron Johnson. I found
this interesting. In an interview with the Associate Press, he blamed an
uninformed electorate. He said, quote, "if you aren`t properly informed,
if you don`t understand the problems facing the nation, you are that much
more prone to falling prey to demagoguing solutions. And the problem with
demagoguing solutions is they don`t work. I am concerned about people who
don`t fully understand the very ugly math we are facing in this country."
So because the electorate is uninformed, they went out and voted for
President Obama. Take a look at this chart. The top 10 best educated
states, meaning they had the highest percentage of residents 25 or older
with a college degree or more, they all voted for President Obama, with the
exception of Nevada.
The 10 worst educated states, they voted for Governor Romney. So
Senator Johnson, I don`t know how anybody can buy this. Governor Romney
lost because 55 percent of women voted for President Obama; 73 percent of
Asian Americans voted for the president; 93 percent of African-Americans
voted for President Obama; And 71 percent of Latinos voted for Obama.
The truth is just that simple. But of course, facts certainly aren`t
something the Republican party ever pays attention to.
Tonight in our survey, I asked should the president give in to
Republican demands? Three percent of you say yes; 97 percent of you say
no.
Coming up, he was the longest-running cast member in the history of
"Saturday Night Live." The great Darrell Hammond, he has written a book.
Stay here. He`s coming with us, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON STEWART, "THE DAILY SHOW": Governor Mitt Romney broke the bad
news to his supporters before reluctantly being asked to pose for his
family`s yearly Christmas card.
(LAUGHTER)
STEWART: That is a good-looking bunch.
STEPHEN COLBERT, "THE COLBERT REPORT": This was no landslide, folks.
It was like a 51-49er. OK? Just because Obama won these blue states up
here, he`s the president of all of them now? Look, Romney won all that red
stuff. Why don`t we elect our president on square footage?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: And in the Big Finish tonight, the outcome of this election
was great for the country and the American middle class, but it probably
wasn`t too good for comedy, was it? Bill Maher put it this way right
before the election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL MAHER, COMEDIAN: That`s it. That`s the election. It`s your
choice America. Because for me it`s a win-win. If it`s Obama, America
wins. If it`s Romney, comedy wins.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Some comedians say it`s hard to make fun of President Obama,
but it`s always easy to take cracks at his critics. Luckily for comics,
Republicans like Donald Trump, members of Congress and most of Fox News
channel are still easy targets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have it on good authority from an African
national that I met at a Rainforest Cafe that President Obama has been
texting with some of the world`s top terrorists, including Abu Nazir, Jafar
and the Riddler.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on, Donald. Aren`t those fictional
characters?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, if they are, then release the records, Mr.
President.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: The election is over? But the comedy sure isn`t.
Joining me now is comedian and "Saturday Night Live" alum Darrell
Hammond. He was the longest-running cast member on "Saturday Night Live."
He is also the author of the highly acclaimed book "God, If You`re Not Up
There," which is now out in paperback.
Darrell, actually, this is Dick Cheney. I`d like to ask you what your
book is all about. Is there a particular reason why you wrote this?
DARRELL HAMMOND, AUTHOR, "GOD, IF YOU`RE NOT UP THERE": I thought I
was talking to Dick Cheney for a second. It`s been awhile. How are you,
Mr. Vice President?
SCHULTZ: Well, I got a new heart. I`m actually doing pretty good.
I`m thinking about buying your book. Is there any chance that it`s any
good?
HAMMOND: No, really not much of a chance. It was a "New York Times"
best seller, but what do you they know.
SCHULTZ: Darrell, good to have you with us.
HAMMOND: My pleasure.
SCHULTZ: We really don`t have a treasure-trove of people that can do
good stuff like you used to do Bill Clinton. Or am I wrong on that?
HAMMOND: What does that mean we don`t have a treasure-trove?
SCHULTZ: I was trying, but I haven`t gotten along very well.
HAMMOND: I`m waiting for the Reagan, friend. I am waiting on the
Reagan.
SCHULTZ: Well -- nobody did Clinton better than you. And I can`t
think of anybody who does anybody else that good in this political arena
right now. Why not?
HAMMOND: I don`t know. I haven`t been in the game for awhile. I
thought it was really hard when I did it. And I imagine it`s probably
still a pretty hard thing to do.
SCHULTZ: Is there anybody out there you`d like to start working on?
Or who was good material right now?
HAMMOND: No. I wrote a book. And I`m writing another one. And I
don`t know. I`m sorry. I don`t know who is out there.
SCHULTZ: What -- you wrote a very funny book and had some serious
issues as well. What made you write the book?
HAMMOND: I think -- I think the book is about contracts between
perpetrators and victims, actually. I wanted to write the book my whole
life. I waited until some of the principles involved died. And then I
wrote it. Hello?
SCHULTZ: Based on your own struggles with substance abuse and mental
health, are we handling treatment of these issues in a decent way in this
country?
HAMMOND: Well, I think substance abuse, as far as I understand it, is
a symptom of some undiagnosed illness of some kind. But yes, there`s some
good doctors out there. And I was fortunate that I had enough money, you
know, to hire one of those for a couple months. And it worked out well for
me.
SCHULTZ: What`s your future hold other than another book? What do
you want to do?
HAMMOND: I give speeches about the book. And I go to meetings about
this book. And at these meetings, people talk about things they want to do
with this book. And I`m going to do more with that. I don`t have anything
more to report for you right now. But that`s what I`ve been doing.
SCHULTZ: All right. Darrell, good to have you on THE ED SHOW.
Thanks so much. We`ll look forward to your next publication. That`s THE
ED SHOW. I`m Ed Schultz. "THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW" starts right now. good
evening, Rachel.
RACHEL MADDOW, MSNBC ANCHOR: Good evening, Ed. Happy Friday, man.
Have a great weekend.
SCHULTZ: Thank you. I will.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY
BE UPDATED.
END
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The Ed Show for Friday, November 9th, 2012
Read the transcript to the Friday show