POLITICS NATION
March 28, 2013
Guests: Cleo Cowley; Mark Glaze, Angela Rye, Ryan Grim, Joan Walsh, Toure
REVEREND AL SHARPTON, MSNBC ANCHOR: Thanks, Chris. And thanks to
you for tuning in.
Tonight`s lead, America hasn`t forgotten exactly 100 days after the
horrific shootings at Sandy Hook elementary, President Obama called out
lawmakers for their political cowardice on gun control.
At the White House today, the president stood with mothers who had
lost their children to gun violence. Children like Grace McDonnell from
Newtown and Hadiya Pendleton from Chicago. He made an emotional appeal
about the need for action now, now on guns insisting we won`t forget the
victims.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me tell you, the
people here, they don`t forget. Grace`s dad is not forgetting. Hadiya`s
mom hasn`t forgotten. The notion that two months or three months after
something as horrific as what happened in Newtown happens and we have moved
on to other things, that`s not who we are. That`s not who we are. The
entire country pledged we would do something about it and this time would
be different. Shame on us if we`ve forgotten. I haven`t for gotten those
kids. Shame on us if we`ve forgotten.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHARPTON: Shame on us if we`ve forgotten. After the speech, the
president embraced mothers on the stage, some of whom lost their children
to guns just a few weeks ago. Later, the mother of Hadiya Pendleton talked
about why she was pushing to join for gun safety.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLEOPATRA COWLEY, MOTHER OF HADIYA PENDLETON: We need to create laws
that just implement something that just makes commonsense so that we can
protect our children, our family members, our loved ones, and there can be
longevity because there`s an epidemic happening, you know, someone needs to
get to work on it. It`s time to get to work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHARPTON: She is right. It`s time to get to work. Today, we also
saw the first TV ad featuring Newtown families, making this powerful call
for action.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She just wanted to teach little kids and that was
her goal and she died doing it. Wonderful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was the last I ever saw Jesse alive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to prevent any other family from going what
we have gone through.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don`t let the family of Newtown fade without
doing something real.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHARPTON: If these mothers and fathers have the courage to overcome
their grief, then surely lawmakers can find the political courage to get
this done. Earlier this week "the Washington Post" plum line blog
identified five red state Democratic senators who had refused to say if
they supported background checks.
As of today, two of them have stepped forward to say yes. It`s a
start but America needs more. America deserves better. The children of
Newtown, of Chicago, of Aurora, they all deserve better and they definitely
deserve a vote.
Joining me now is Cleopatra Cowley, the mother of Hadiya Pendleton who
was with the president at the White House today and Mark Glaze, director of
mayors against illegal guns, the group behind the ad featuring Newtown
families.
First of all, thank you both for joining me tonight.
MARK GLAZE, DIRECTOR, MAYORS AGAINST ILLEGAL GUNS: Thanks.
COWLEY: Thank you for having me.
SHARPTON: Miss Cowley, I first spoke to you two days after your
daughter`s death. Let me ask you, how are you doing now and why were you
at the White House today?
COWLEY: Well, how am I doing? I mean, I keep waking up so I`m doing
as best as I can dealing with the reality that my daughter was in fact or
has in fact when murdered and I can never have her back again. I was at
the White House today to show my support for voting to help make this a
better place. You know, put some laws in place that make sense t innocent.
SHARPTON: Now, Mark, when the president says it will take grassroots
activism to get control pass, let me play what he said and get your
reaction as you start these ads and you have mayors on the ground involved.
Look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Right now members of Congress are back home in their districts
and many of them are holding events where they can hear from their
constituents. So, I want everybody who is listening to make yourself heard
right now. What we are proposing, is not radical. It`s not taking away
anybody`s gun rights. It`s something that if we are serious we will do now
is the time to turn that heartbreak into something real.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHARPTON: If we are serious this is something we would do. If we get
that message from the grassroots on collected officials, Mark, can we make
real change and is that the hope your ad campaign hopes to stimulate?
GLAZE: Absolutely. Look, there are not a lot of times that I can
think of. In fact, I`m not sure I can think of any time when 90 percent of
the public, after a mass tragedy, felt that they knew what the solution was
and we are telling members of Congress that they needed to pass it when it
didn`t happen.
So, if members of Congress think that they can reject something like
background checks, which most people already take when they buy a gun at a
license dealer but criminals are able to avoid and if you expanded that
system, you can save a lot of lives, I think they ignore that and they are
going to have a hard time explaining it when the next mass shooting happens
because we know it will and when they face the public in November of 14.
SHARPTON: Now, Miss Cowley, when you look at the fact that you and
other mothers and fathers, for that matter that deal with this pain every
day - I mean, it`s nice when we go to the White House but certainly you
would have not have wanted to go under these circumstances and when you and
others that suffer this every day, when you can see that there are --
there`s broad support for at least background checks, 87 percent
Republicans, 85 percent conservatives, 90 percent voters in the south, 91
percent voters in the west, 81 percent gun owners, 90 percent white
evangelicals, you really in the midst of this can at least have the comfort
of knowing that Hadiya and others have inspired a movement. We can never
give your daughter back to you but at least not let what happened to you
and what happened to her go in vain?
COWLEY: Correct. I mean, it`s a wonderful thing that, you know,
there is a movement of sorts, you know, that there are people that see that
there are simple things, simple changes that can be made to protect, you
know, the masses.
So, yes, definitely -- it`s definitely warming knowing that there are
people that have maybe even shifted their views to be in favor of something
that is just so small that can be put in place to help.
SHARPTON: Now, when we look, Mark, at the fact that Senator Marco
Rubio has now joined the list of GOP senators vowing to filibuster gun
bills, Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, Rubio, I mean, what is the - I mean,
what could be going through their minds when we`re just 100 days out of
Newtown, when we`re seeing people like Miss Cowley filibustering gun laws
when people are dealing with fresh pain from senseless acts of violence?
How do we get through the political figures like this?
COWLEY: Well, you know, I think they are living in bygone era when if
you want to be the Republican nominee for president and have a shot of
winning, you need to do a lot of things for the NRA no matter how
unreasonable they seems and hope that everybody would forget them by the
time you got around to running in a general election.
But, that was back in a day when the NRA had a lot of very intense,
very single issue voters that were much more intense than the average
family who was concerned about safety but didn`t deal with guns every day.
Those days are wiped away by Newtown, by Aurora, by the quickening face of
mass shooting as though we seen around this country, in addition to the 33
murders that we see every day in what is supposed to be the greatest
country on earth and is but we have to deal with this problem.
SHARPTON: I remember, Miss Cowley, when we first spoke and the pain
you showed, but you seem to have thrown yourself into this moment and you
seem to have really committed yourself to try and make some sense out of
what has to be an unbelievable experience. I know you come to New York
next week for our national convention. How much do you intend to be
involved in this gun safety movement that is sweeping the country and
trying to influence political figures?
COWLEY: You know, I`m in it. You know, so whatever and however I can
extend a hand, I plan to take it to help change the laws to make others
safe. You know, what I am experiencing is unreal but it is my life and if
I can save someone else`s child, I`d love to be involved in that movement.
SHARPTON: Mark, quickly, I know that the NRA has a robo call to
people of Connecticut, including Newtown. The robo call, let me play it to
you quickly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Despite an outcry of public opposition, antigun
legislators are aggressively pursuing numerous proposals that are designed
to disarm and punish law-eye biding gun owners and sports men.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHARPTON: How insensitive can you be to be giving robo calls in the
homes of people who have lost loved ones. I hope it`s a contrast to this
kind of insensitivity.
GLAZE: You know, I think so. But, if I could have one more message,
for the rest of this debate go to members of Congress, it would be what
Hadiya said when she came to Washington to be at some events with us and
also to sit with the first lady during the state of the union.
We were at a press conference and a member of the press asked her what
message she had for members of Congress and she looked out at the crowd and
said, you wanted the job. Do something.
SHARPTON: Wow. That is the words of Cleo Cowley and Mark Glaze.
Thank you. And thank you Cleo Cowley. Thank you for your time tonight.
Miss Cowley, thank you for your courage. We will be seeing you soon.
COWLEY: Thank you.
GLAZE: Thank you.
SHARPTON: Ahead, President Obama vowed to fix massive voting lines
and now he`s acting. Big news tonight in the fight for voter rights.
And the GOP`s worst Palin nightmare is coming true. Sarah Palin is
back and she`s attacking the establishment.
And from losing the culture wars to losing their minds, we are going
all in with Chris Hayes, next.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SHARPTON: Have you joined the "Politics Nation" conversation on
facebook yet? We hope you will.
Today, everyone was talking about the return of Sarah Palin and what
it could mean for the GOP in 2014.
Daniel says, if they want their party to grow, they better think
twice.
David says, Palin does only one thing well. She excels in raising
money.
Darryl says, Sarah Palin is the best thing that ever happened to
liberals.
Coming up, we got more on the GOP`s daily problem. But first, we want
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the show ends.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters
are treated like anyone else under the law. Our journey is not complete
until we welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who see America as a land
of opportunity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHARPTON: Since he started his second term, President Obama has been
fighting to move forward on his progressive agenda. But on the right,
their message is muddled and things just keep falling apart. The right
wingers are ripping FOX`s Bill O`Reilly for admitting that supporters of
gay marriage had a, quote, "compelling argument."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are you putting down your audience? I thought
you stood for the folks. You sound like Obama with the clinging to their
guns and religion lean. Those people in your audience who you put down as
bible thumpers. I bet a lot of them feel misled by you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHARPTON: Wow. You sound like Obama? That one must have hurt. Some
Republicans are even predicting these social issues will literally tear the
party apart.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATHLEEN WALTER, NEWSMAX TV: Do you see the party ever pivoting or
doing a 180 on gay marriage?
MIKE HUCKABEE, FORMER GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They might. And if
they do, they are going to lose a large part of their base because
evangelicals will take a walk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHARPTON: Some Republicans will take a walk on gay marriage? If they
do, they will be walking in reverse. The tides have turned. The country
is ready for progress. If this is a new round of culture wars, then
Republicans are fighting a losing battle.
Joining me now is Chris Hayes, host of the new primetime show "all in
with Chris Hayes" starting Monday at 8:00 p.m. here on MSNBC weekdays.
Chris, thanks for being here. Congratulations.
CHRIS HAYES, MSNBC HOST, ALL IN WITH CHRIS HAYES: Thank you very
much.
SHARPTON: So, do most Republicans realize they are on the losing side
of these issues?
HAYES: To most, I think most Republicans -- I think on gay marriage
and marriage equality, most Republicans now recognized the movement of the
polling and the movement of American society is going in a different
direction than a lot of them are. We haven`t achieved majority support
amongst Republicans in a whole for marriage equality, but for the youngest
cohort of Republicans, we do see majority support for marriage equality.
And so, I think there is daunting awareness. But, I think what Mike
Huckabee said, there is important. There are two different items in play.
You can recognize that you are increasingly a minority in American opinion
and still have the beliefs you have, right? One, does not necessarily
change the other. That`s going to be the really interesting thing to see
how it plays out. If you are firmly committed to the notion that any
relationship between a man and a man or a woman and woman is deeply sinful
and abhorrent. It doesn`t necessarily change your mind just because a lot
people seemed to be changing their minds on the issue.
SHARPTON: But, you can also be a true believer in that and say but, I
defend people`s rights to disagree with me and I defend to live other than
what I live and sincerely believe is the right way to live?
HAYES: I totally agree. But the interesting thing to me, as this I
plays out politically is, there is three parts of this. There is a
strategic class the Republican Party that they just are making a crass
pragmatic political calculation which is that the appearance of the party
being intolerant and loathsome is bad for the party`s policy, right? They
got to win majorities.
There`s an emerging generation of younger conservatives who genuinely
believe that it`s crazy for people to stop them from doing what they want
to do, right?
SHARPTON: Right.
HAYES: Then there`s the base that still the same base with the
Republican Party which are conservatives who don`t like this. The question
is, what do they do? In the face of the pressure from these two other
forces within their coalition.
SHARPTON: And that is going to be the problem. Then, you have like
people like Senator Murkowski who is from Alaska, Lisa Murkowski, she says,
her opinion on gay marriage is still evolving. I don`t know, you know, I
never get the evolving. I`m always the reinvention. I don`t know where
you cut the difference but that`s another segment.
Let me play senator Murkowski`s statement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA MURKOWSKI (R), ALASKA: I think you are seeing a change in
attitude, a change in tolerance, I guess, and an acceptance that what
marriage should truly be about is a lasting, loving, committed relationship
with respect to the individual.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHARPTON: Being very cautious, going there but not really getting
there. I mean, Senator Bob Portman is still the only Republican in the
Senate who is actually endorsed gay marriage.
HAYES: Yes.
SHARPTON: Compared to 46 Democrats, isn`t it clear who is on the
right side here?
HAYES: Oh, yes. The partisan lines here could not be clearer. We
know as of this moment there are two coalitions in American political life.
One is increasingly uniformly in favor of marriage equality and one is
mostly against marriage equality. So, this does breakdown among partisan
lines.
Again, it`s very interesting to me that she is being as careful as she
is but she`s still trying to step out of it. And I think what you`re
seeing is, there is the same thing is happening on immigration, which is
the elites of the Republican party recognize that there`s a political price
that they are paying for their views on this issue and they are trying to
bring along their base on this issue and it`s a real question, it`s an open
question I don`t know the answer to, of whether they can succeed in doing
that without provoking backlash or turning those people away from the
polls, essentially.
SHARPTON: Now, this morning on FOX and friends, conservative pundit
Michelle Malkin, weighed in on the immigration debate. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE MALKIN, CONSERVATIVE PUNDIT: If you really believe in border
security and are telling people that you don`t want to talk about amnesty
until the border is security, why don`t you shut up about illegal amnesty
and make sure that the border is secure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHARPTON: I mean, these are the kind of people still get the
microphone for the GOP. I mean, how can they be so removed from the
opinions of their own voters?
HAYES: Well, I think there`s a small contingent, a small but
ferocious contingents that are driven by politics that views illegals, as
they call them, as this huge threat to the American way of life. But, what
is really fascinating here is that the entire infrastructure has built up
on the right to mobilize on this issue has largely been dormant in the
fight so far. Again, we are seeing something similar to what happened on
marriage equality, which is that the institutions that are in placed to get
people all geared-up on this issue, so far have not started doing what they
did the last time around.
SHARPTON: Well, I mean, when you look at the facts that we`re arguing
immigration, we are arguing gay rights and same-sex marriage, we are
arguing voter rights, affirmative action, I mean, who would believe all of
these issues are still controversial with some Republicans?
HAYES: Well, and what is remarkable is if you go all the way back to
Nixon, the rights core political approach to American politics has been
essentially culture war resentment in its many iterations, right? And what
you are seeing and they recognize is that there is a diminishing return to
all of these battles that they had been on the winning side politically, if
not morally, for decades and decades and decades. It`s going to provoke
something close to an existential crisis in the Republican Party about how
they go about winning voters if they don`t have this tool kit that they`ve
been relying on for almost half a century.
SHARPTON: Well, you know, Chris, I have been running around on the
road. But, I took time out to buy you a gift to congratulate you and --
HAYES: Last time it was an alarm clock.
SHARPTON: To welcome you to primetime at night. I want you to know
that I took pains to personally buy you a gift. It is a blueberry pie
because you`re going to, as you take over at 8:00, going to have to deal
with a lot of Republicans and have a pie so that they will --
HAYES: I`ll keep it on the desk.
SHARPTON: Keep it on the desk and then have a napkin to wipe it off
your mouth when you get through with it.
HAYES: I`ll be very careful when I eat it.
SHARPTON: Catch Chris starting Monday on his new show "All in with
Chris Hayes." He has blueberry pie and we all in win. Weekdays 8:00.
Congratulations and good luck to you, Chris.
HAYES: Thank you, Rev.
SHARPTON: Ahead, the GOP has all kinds of problems these days but the
biggest one might be Sarah Palin.
And Congressman Louie Gohmert goes bananas, I mean bananas after
getting a parking ticket. You need to hear this one.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SHARPTON: That`s the sound nobody wants to hear when they are parking
their car. It means you`re in trouble. But, we have learned that one
congressman thinks that parking rules are for the little people.
Politico reports that Texas congressman, Louie Gohmert, refuse to pay
a ticket for parking his car reserved for the park service. Police say
Gohmert took the ticket off his windshield and placed it on a police car
along with his business card and told an officer, I`m going to a meeting on
the hill and I`m the one who oversees the national park service`s natural
resources.
Now, lawmakers can park in any open curb space when they are on
official business. But police told Politico that wouldn`t apply in this
case and what was Gohmert`s official business? He was having dinner with
his stepsister and her husband and decided to drive them to Lincoln
memorial sightseeing. How is that official business?
Police also said Gohmert was rude and irate. Another wrote he was
ranting. Louie Gohmert, rude and ranting? Now, that is tough to imagine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. LOUIE GOHMERT (R), TEXAS: That`s what repeal of Don`t Ask, Don`t
Tell does. It says, I have to be overt. I don`t care --
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Tell me one person, one terror baby that`s been
born. Can you tell me?
GOHMERT: Yes. The explosions will not happen for 10, 15, 20 years.
This is a massive beginning of a new ottoman empire that President
Obama can take great credit for.
You are attacking the messenger.
And we want to eliminate the word lunatic from the federal code?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHARPTON: Huh? I`m sure Gohmert is cool with the cops but what does
he think about lawmakers who try to bend the rules?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOHMERT: Certainly they are not above the law here in Congress.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHARPTON: That`s right. Nobody`s above the law. Did Congressman
Gohmert think we wouldn`t point out his hypocrisy? Nice try, but we`ve got
you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SHARPTON: Ever wake up from a nightmare that felt a little too real?
That`s how Republicans woke up this morning. No, it wasn`t about Hillary
Clinton victory in 2016. And, no, it wasn`t about Joe Biden either. It
was about her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN, FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: You bet you. Yes. Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHARPTON: And unfortunately, for Republicans, this nightmare is their
reality. Sarah Palin is back. She`s commanding the spotlight and she`s
hammering the GOP establishment in a new ad from her pack called loaded
forebear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: Don`t let -- and the big bad media scare you off.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: When somebody is going to hold Republicans and
Congress accountable, it`s going to be Sarah Palin.
PALIN: They talk about rebranding the GOP instead of restoring the
trust of the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHARPTON: They talk about rebranding, a direct shot at the
establishment trying to change the party and there was more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: Now is the time to furlough the consultants and tune out the
pollsters, send the focus groups home and toss the political scripts.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: She does things differently. She plays by her
own rules.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHARPTON: She sure does. And those Beltway boys got to watch out.
PALIN: The next election is 20 months away. The last thing we need
is Washington, D.C., vetting our candidates.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I would not be in the U.S. Senate today if it were
not for Governor Sarah Palin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHARPTON: Listen to that mama grizzly growl. She`s not going away,
she`s not backing down and she`s giving the party nightmares.
Let`s bring in Angela Rye and Ryan Grim. Thank you both for being
here tonight.
ANGELA RYE, FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS:
Thank you, Rev.
SHARPTON: Ryan, she`s back in a big way. How will the establishment
and the GOP handle this?
RYAN GRIM, THE HUFFINGTON POST: You know, it`s just a strange,
strange thing for her to be doing. As you`re watching that clip, you have
to remind yourself, this was paid for by Sarah Palin`s pack. You know,
she`s out there raising money to produce a campaign video like this but she
hasn`t held elected office for run for anything since she, you know, quit
as governor. So it`s just weird. It`s like, what is she doing?
Why is she producing this two-and-a-half minute campaign-style web
video? I mean, she points out that it`s 20 months before an election. But
what election? I mean, is she going to run for something? I think she
just has no idea, you know, what her place is in politics right now. She`s
just kind of out in the wind right now. You know, she hates Karl Rove and
she`s always been very good at defining herself by those that she`s opposed
to. You know, forever was Liberals, now she`s done a new object to be
oppose to and that`s Karl Rove and the establishment Republicans, so you
know, I guess good luck to them.
SHARPTON: Well, you know, Angela, some powerful conservatives,
though, do right her off. John McCain says there are many candidates who I
know requested the campaign for them. Kelly Ayotte says, she still has an
ability to ignite activists. I`m sure it`s not the last that we`ve heard
of her. Newt Gingrich even says, she still has a significant base. She
could sustain national impact. So if you`ve got these leading
conservatives still saying she`s got a little power to her porch, they
can`t ignore her.
RYE: No, they can`t ignore her. And some of them are talking because
they are fearful. They are not quite sure what to expect. It`s
interesting, because I know Ryan just mentioned, for example, her strongest
thing for Karl Rove. Well, her record looks very similar to his 2012
efforts. The return, the investment on her Super Pac. You know, Sarah
Palin has a failed record as a governor of Alaska. She has a failed
record, an epic fail, rather, for the 2008 campaign with Senator McCain and
then you also have her now with a failure at FOX News.
So, I`m not quite sure why people on the right continue to give
platforms to people that don`t succeed in their day jobs, their night jobs
or side jobs or anything in between, Rev. She did well with her big gulp.
But perhaps she should do that and if this is going to continue to
something for entertainment value, I guess the only folks that are
celebrating here really are Tina Fey and Tina Fey`s fans.
SHARPTON: And a lot of Liberal Democrats that like to see her out
there, you know, dividing and playing up the party. But Ryan, her ad that
she puts out says that she has power with picking candidates. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: She can be effective endorsing candidacy.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Sarah Palin jumped in early and supported Rand
Paul. She supported Marco Rubio, Tim Scott, Pat Toomey, Nikki Haley, Deb
Fischer, Jeff Flake and myself.
CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST, "HARDBALL": He`s probably going to win this
thing, thanks to Sarah Palin.
(INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: She dominated one more time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHARPTON: I mean, this Ryan is a problem for the GOP.
GRIM: Yes. That`s right. Because, you know, she also, for instance,
picked Christine O`Donnell in Delaware and you know, now there`s a
democratic senator out of Delaware. I think they`re probably democratic
senators in Indiana and possibly Colorado because of her involvement in
primaries there, too. So it`s a huge problem for, you know, she can still,
like they said, you know, rile up the conservative base and you know, maybe
if we say that a couple of times, you know, we`ll be able to get ourselves
into the next Sarah Palin campaign commercial.
But it`s very true. There is a segment of the Republican Party that
she can still fire up. But, you know, that`s exactly the problem for
Washington Republicans. They don`t want those particular folks fired up,
you know, the Pew had an interesting terminology for some of the problems
with that base and I think they refer to it as ethnocentric attitudes. You
know, the element of that base still have attitudes that just turn off a
lot of the rest of the country. So, you know, to the extent that they can
suppress that, they would do better. But Sarah Palin, you know, riles it
up.
SHARPTON: Now, Angela, the GOP is talking about rebranding and
reaching out to a wider audience but this week Sarah Palin showed up at a
basketball game wearing a Chick-fil-A shirt t-shirt, the same week now,
she`s wearing this t-shirt the same week the Supreme Court is hearing two
cases, about same-sex marriage. Now, Chick-fil-A came on the fire last
year after the boss came out for opposing same sex marriage. Was she
sending a message with this t-shirt? I mean, the party wants to move
forward but with stunts like this, it seems like she`s intentionally trying
to hold them back.
RYE: Well, not only is she holding them back whether it`s directly or
indirectly, but we saw some of this same type of Sarah Palin shenanigans at
CPAC. We saw her with her big gulp when we`re trying to fight off not only
childhood obesity but obesity period in America. We saw her referencing
her guns and almost poking fun at it when we`re still dealing with the
fallout from Newtown and the disastrous gun violence that has stricken the
communities all over this country.
So, on the serious side, you know, yes, you know, Sarah Palin is
creating herself or making herself as a queen maker, king maker for
political and politicians all over the land but we need to really look at
the serious impacts of what it means to have a Sarah Palin relevant in
today`s politics. We really can`t afford to have it.
SHARPTON: Well, they can`t afford to have it more than we can. But
we`ll be watching. Angela Rye, Ryan Grim, thanks for your time tonight.
RYE: Thank you, Rev.
GRIM: Thank you, Reverend.
SHARPTON: Ahead, the ugly and offensive trend of talking about the
first family. It needs to stop.
And big news tonight on voting rights. The president is taking
action. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SHARPTON: Today the law that silences voices of Detroit citizens went
into effect. It`s the emergency manager law signed by republicans Governor
Rick Snyder last December. Michigan voters rejected it last November but
Snyder didn`t care and state Republicans rushed a bill through anyway.
This is not how democracy works. We have a manager overpowering the city`s
elected officials and the threat is to everyone in this nation. I joined
the civil rights leaders in Detroit today protesting the law and added my
name to a federal lawsuit against Snyder and his law. Our message is
clear, this is about the will of the people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHARPTON: This is a local issue but a national struggle. What
Governor Snyder has done is nullify the voters of this city. And to oppose
his own will, something that Dr. Martin Luther King spoke against 50 years
ago this year. The governor is in effect saying that the people don`t have
enough intelligence to govern themselves, so I will decide for them, go act
like we had a little march -- it was a walk to file the lawsuit.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Amen.
SHARPTON: You haven`t seen a march yet. You will.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHARPTON: You will see us march and we won`t stop fighting for the
people.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SHARPTON: The right wing is stooping to a new low. Conservative
website Breitbart.com published an article giving the specific location
where President Obama`s daughters are vacationing for spring break. As you
can see, we blocked out that information on the screen. This is sleazy and
reckless and it ignores the decade`s old tradition what media outlets do
not report on a President`s minor children when they are not attending an
official or semi-official event.
It`s done for security reasons. It`s done to protect their privacy.
But that hasn`t stopped one Tea Party Congressman Steve King from jumping
on the story. He blasted the President for letting his kids go on Spring
break while the country is dealing with automatic budget cuts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. STEVE KING (R), IOWA: We`ve got the president doing these
things. He sent the daughters to spring break in Mexico a year ago. That
was at our expense, too. And now to, one of the most expensive places
there. That is the wrong image to be coming out of the White House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHARPTON: No, congressman, you`re wrong to be talking about this.
It`s offensive, it`s ugly, and it needs to stop.
Joining me now is Salon`s Joan Walsh and Toure, co-host of "THE
CYCLE." He`s also the author of a brand new book, "I Would Die 4 U: Why
Prince Became an Icon." Thank you both for coming on the show this
evening.
TOURE, CO-HOST OF "THE CYCLE": Thank you, Rev.
JOAN WALSH, SALON,COM: Thanks, Rev.
SHARPTON: Joan, let me start with you. What`s the motivation behind
the right bringing in the first daughters into this?
WALSH: Well, you know, they have a lot of motivations and it`s not
the first time that they`ve done it. I think you and I talked about it
before when the NRA ran a ridiculous scurrilous ad complaining that the
Obama girls got police protection, had armed guards.
SHARPTON: Right.
WALSH: And other American school children didn`t, ignoring the fact
that well, the children of the President always have armed guards. They
are in a certain amount of danger because of who they are. That was one
time. You know, now we have this situation where, as you said, for decades
it`s been a convention of journalism that you don`t write about the minor
children of a president unless they are involved in an official capacity.
You don`t locate them.
You don`t say the specific hotel where they are staying and the
Breitbart folks just flouted that convention because they say, well, you
know, they shouldn`t be on vacation while we`re going through the
sequester. But, you know, again, this just points out the way that there
seems to be a double standard, a very different standard for this
particular first family. When the customary things that other first
families do, they do take vacations during wars and recessions are suddenly
questioned.
SHARPTON: But Toure, this isn`t the first time that the Obama girls
have been in the right spotlight. The NRA used them in an ad.
TOURE: Yes.
SHARPTON: And Wayne Lapierre defended the move. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS WALLACE, HOST, FOX NEWS SUNDAY: Mr. Lapierre, do you regret
putting up that ad?
WAYNE LAPIERRE, CEO, NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION: The point of that ad
was this. It wasn`t picking on the president`s kids.
WALLACE: It keep mentions them.
LAPIERRE: The President`s kids are safe and we are all thankful for
it. The point of that ad --
WALLACE: They also face a threat that most children do not face.
LAPIERRE Tell that to the people in Newtown.
WALLACE: Do you think that the President`s children are the same
target as every school child in America? That`s ridiculous and you know
it, sir.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TOURE: Amen to Chris Wallace there. Keeping it real with Wayne
Lapierre. I appreciate that. Look, one of the things I`ve noticed with
the right is doing that sort of -- of the week with Hannity has been -- the
President is living like a sultan and Michele Bachmann is pushing that --
which she actually pushed on it. She literally runs away from a reporter
and starts shouting Benghazi, Benghazi. But it`s going back to this idea
of the uppity Negro, isn`t it? That they are trying to live beyond their
means even though this is the highest stage in all the latest --
SHARPTON: Or living off of the --
TOURE: Living off of public assistance.
SHARPTON: Right.
TOURE: Abusing public assistance, right? This is sort of a high-
level welfare queen sort of situation. Any time you give black people a
little bit, they are going to be lazy, which we`ve heard, they`re going to
be sort of not real Americans, hardworking, and he was going to be living
it up on our dime. Hannity keeps talking about how they keep going to
different places. Somebody pointed out, George Bush took a month off but
Hannity said, well, he went to his house and the Obama kept going different
places. Why are they keep going to different places?
SHARPTON: Well, I`ll tell you why, let me show you, there`s this
whole thing of where they always accuse the Obama family of being entitled.
Listen to this Toure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), MINNESOTA: And this is a lifestyle that is
one of excess. Now we find out that there are five chefs on Air Force One.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: There she is in her one shoulder haute couture
clumping around the beach side in her designer shoes.
GLENN BECK, TALK SHOW HOST: The most Marie Antoinette I have ever
seen of anything with Michelle Obama, did you see the dress she was wearing
while she went down and toured the oil spill?
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: We don`t like paying millions of
dollars from Mrs. Obama`s vacations. That`s a little bit of a waste, they
understand, it`s a little bit of uppity-ism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHARPTON: Uppity-ism. Uppity-ism, I mean, they are saying, all
right.
TOURE: Did I hear that?
SHARPTON: Yes.
TOURE: I mean, like uppity-ism, wow, like, how dare they try to be
classy and oh, forget all of the J. Crew that she`s worn, forget the
American designers who are not -- who she tried to push forward. Forget
all of that. But here, I don`t even know if they are correct. I`d have to
ask my wife who knows more about fashion -- if they actually is a Goethe
(ph) piece. But I think --
(TALKING OVER EACH OTHER)
But let me come back to you, Joan. You gotten slammed by the right
for taking issue with the Breitbart report.
TOURE: That`s a bad honor.
SHARPTON: That was 12 years ago, you wrote a story about George W.
Bush`s adult children under age drinking. But in a certain column you
wrote, quote, "Thumbing your nose at convention when it comes to revealing
the whereabouts of the 14 and 11-year-old daughters of the President."
That`s entirely different story and any Republicans wants to change
the party`s reputation with minority voters are to at least think about how
different it is. Then FOX News blasted your stance again yesterday.
Listen to this, Joan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Who is Joan Walsh to lecture anyone on respect
for the first family?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: For Joan Walsh to call it a racist, I think it`s
just bad taste and bad journalism, I would call it racist.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: She went to a dark place and she got caught. She
got caught being hypocritical.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHARPTON: You`re response, Joe.
WALSH: I went to a dark place, Rev.
(LAUGHTER)
Oh, better get out of that dark place, you know I haven`t there.
Look, I wrote about that. I read that piece that I wrote 12 years ago. I
don`t think I`d write that piece that way again. However, the actual legal
troubles of the Bush twins when they were adults, they were drinking under
age 21, Jenna Bush was actually violating a law that her dad signed as
governor. Those are legitimate news stories.
And other people, "The Washington Post" and "USA Today," other news
organizations, Texas papers were writing about it because they were
breaking the law. Now, my snarkiness was probably not required but to say
that that`s somehow the same as revealing where the Obama daughters are
vacationing and to ignore, you know --
SHARPTON: Who are minors, by the way?
WALSH: Who are minors --
SHARPTON: You are not writing about minors.
WALSH: I`m not writing about minors. And to just keep ignoring that
way that race seems to play into this in the different treatment the way
that what those girls get is somehow begrudged when other children weren`t
begrudged, their vacations or their secret service detail. There`s a
double standard and --
SHARPTON: I`m going to have to leave it there. Joan Walsh and Toure,
thanks for your time this evening. And catch Toure on "THE CYCLE" weekdays
3 p.m. right here on MSNBC. We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Whether you voted for the very first time or waited in line
for a very long time. By the way, we have to fix that.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHARPTON: President Obama on election night saying, we have to fix
that. And tonight he`s taking action. He signed an executive order
creating a special voting commission to find ways to make voting easier.
We already know the right-wing plan to suppress voters worked.
Look at the scene in Ohio and in Florida. Over 200,000 voters did not
cast ballots because of long lines. This is why elections matter. This is
why people sacrifice to get us the right to vote and many of us will
sacrifice to keep the right to vote.
Thanks for watching. I`m Al Sharpton. "HARDBALL" starts right now.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY
BE UPDATED.
END
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PoliticsNation, Thursday, March 28th, 2013
Read the transcript from the Thursday show