When we hear conservatives questioning the President's birthplace, or what he learned from his former pastor in Chicago, let's not make a mistake: it is all about blackness, and any pride he may take in such blackness. Case in point?
This week's principal example, a now-failed proposal from a conservative super-PAC called Character Matters to use Rev. Jeremiah Wright in a campaign against President Obama four years after anyone last cared about Rev. Wright. It only got explicitly racial when one phrase, "metrosexual, black Abe Lincoln," was spotted in its proposal. Yes, that's more hilarious than insulting, and it makes perfectly clear that they had little idea of what they were talking about. The same goes, frankly, for the black church that Rev. Wright led at one point, or the black liberation theology that he preaches. Today, Melissa will delve into that with Rev. Otis Moss III, the current senior pastor of Rev. Wright's former church, Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.
We'll also try to make sense of the Republican passage in the House of a watered-down Violence Against Women Act that only protects certain women, and bring you up to date on today's G8 summit at Camp David. We'll use that occasion to launch a conversation about the financial upheaval in Greece, Italy and Spain -- and how that might predict our economic future here in America. Melissa will also have something to say about this week's news in the Trayvon Martin case, and about one casualty of Hurricane Katrina that she feels doesn't deserve to survive. (That you won't want to miss.)
Aside from Rev. Moss, our guests will include:
- Ezra Klein, columnist and blogger for the Washington Post. Ezra, also an MSNBC policy analyst, chatted with Melissa last night when he guest-hosted "The Rachel Maddow Show." See the video below, after the jump.
- Rep. Gwen Moore, Democratic Congresswoman from Wisconsin, an outspoken critic of the GOP's VAWA bill.
- Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation. She is also the author of "The Change I Believe In: Fighting for Progress in the Age of Obama."
- Nick Gillespie, editor-in-chief of Reason.com and Reason.tv, as well as the co-author of "The Declaration of Independents."
- Dwight Hopkins, professor of theology and director of MA Studies at the University of Chicago Divinity School.
- Elon James White, founder of This Week in Blackness, and host of "Blacking it Up."
- Victoria DeFrancesco Soto, NBC Latino contributor and fellow at the LBJ School at the University of Texas.
As always, folks -- be sure to interact with us during the show here in the comments of this post, on Facebook, and on Twitter, using the hashtag #nerdland. We look forward to having you join us at 10am ET! See Melissa's TRMS segment below the jump.
Melissa Harris-Perry, host of "Melissa Harris-Perry" on MSNBC and political science professor at Tulane University, talks with Ezra Klein about the Mitt Romney supporters recycling tactics from the failed McCain campaign.
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they are trying to divide the DEMOCRATIC PARTY on issues of race, sex, class and status!!!
oh...i guess i forgot to mention they are also trying to divide us on the issues by age!!!
the problem with your analogy Nick Gillespie is that poor Women often can't afford to shelter the cost of an abortion alone...And, society understands that if she is Forced to carry the Child to term they have a responsibility to assist her in supporting her Child at that point!!!
however, even with the help of social programs the fact still stands that the Mother was unprepared to raise her Child...
Absolutely, Lakeisha!!
It seems the Right and the 'Libertarians' share a belief that a child is not the responsibility of the community.
If that is true, then why must the community share the burden if that child ends up criminal, and must be incarcerated??
It is either one ... or it is not. If we believe in family and children... then it is time to step up and admit that we all pay the PRICE of either investing in our children WHEN they are children... or we certainly pay it when we don't...
Gillspie was insistant about the UK not cutting spending..He is incorrect...
From your own reporting:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39754325/ns/world_news-europe/t/uk-faces-sharpest-spending-cuts-wwii/
Get on 'em Katrina...
Most People did not share in the prosperity,but those are the People who are already prepared to make further sacrifices to the Country:
1) they are more prepared to challenge current Banking structures over the status-quo
2) Revitalize our manufacturing base
3) Rebuilding our infrastructure
4) free ourselves from fossil fuel sources
5) Promote education
6) Support of Labor Unions and fair wages
7) etc.......
thanks goodness for Nick Gillespie. the biggest problem on the show is that the other panelist refuse to respond to his points; e.g. "what do you mean by austerity?"
one suggestion for most of your shows: reduce the number of panelist. today's show has 5 panelist. how about 3 or 4?
Dr. D-- you haven't been watching.
MHP alternately has as few as one at a time, or as many as is required to give all the voices with something to offer the discussion on the road to clarity. If all you want is your side, head back to Faux TV.
"the other panelist refuse to respond to his points"
Because he didn't say anything new that we haven't heard over and over and over from Glibertarians before. Nick was rude and never let anyone else talk without interrupting. I think MHP should have held a ruler and given him a hard smack on the back of his hand when he did that.
But Nick Gillespie committed the biggest crime of all... he was boring.
Love your show - and thank you, thank you for this am's discussion re: Jeremiah Wright! In 08, I was beyond frustrated by the ignorance of my favs on msnbc not understanding prophetic preaching. As a retired pastor with a bumper sticker that reads, "I am a voter on the religious left," I felt this was a "miss." Thank you!
As a Wiccan, but also as a 60s civil rights activist, I knew that all it took was to watch the whole youtube of Dr. Wright to see where he was going. No one has all the answers, but the USA's dealing with the civil rights of all of us needs some work. That's all that Dr. Wright was saying; it's just that he is a preacher - and sometimes that means preaching!
As Prophet, Theologian, Pastor, and Founder of Afrocentric Judaism delineated as, YAHWEH El Shadday (YES) International Ministries Inc., it was good to see Dwight Hopkins mention my God and Savior Yahweh El Shadday (God Almighty) without the English translation which distorts the truth of who our Savior is defined most expressly by the following text: “11 I, I [am] Jehovah; and besides me there is no Savior” (Isaiah 43:11Darby), “4 Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no Savior beside me” (Hosea 13:4 KJV with Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance correction). Since these two undeniable and unalterable biblical texts prove beyond any reasonable doubt that my God is Savior, why does Christianity act as though these facts don’t exist to call Jesus, Savior? Does Christianity support White Supremacist Theology through removal of God’s name from the bible, changing it to a title, The Lord, and ascribe that title to the false Christ, Jesus of Nazareth? The Old Testament is primarily a book about a Black family, Adam and Eve’s, and Black people, proven through Genesis 10, coupled with what we know of the science, biology. Since our postulations are provable of Blackness of Hebrew and Jewish people, along with Jesus being a false Christ, why does our Afrocentric Judaism religion get silenced through Black journalists like you?
why is Nick Gillespie on your show Melissa???
he needs his own show if he isn't concerned with fair speaking time!!!
if he continues to act this way i would disallow his voice from ever coming back on the show!
@Lakeisha
I am questioning this myself. Gillespie is purposely 'distorting' facts giving his 'opinion' which is nothing but teabagger talking points and monopolizing the conversation obstructing real conversation about the issues. In essence he is the reason the country is screwed up justifying what that idiot Bush did then blaming Obama...
We will never get out of this mess unless we get people like Gillespie to admit they are wrong finally.
It might work to have such an exchange of opposite views if you only had TWO people on the panel, but when you have a roundtable full of guests and limited time to discuss specific, current news topics, it's not conducive to macro topic point-counterpoint. You don't just veer off into a "Should Social Security exist?" discussion, for instance. That's a topic for a show or a show segment in and of itself. Gillespie needs to learn the concept of boundaries when you're a guest in someone else's space.
Gillespie is a big libertarian, so he doesn't believe anything government does is right. I think he's less a defender of Bush than he is an opponent of government, period. One thing nobody bothered to ask him in the whole austerity vs stimulus discussion was, if stimulus and risking greater inflation would cause such horrible potential economic damage, then let's look at the other side of the coin, what risk of economic damage is posed by sharply curtailing spending and focusing on deficits in the middle of a freakin' depression? And what's the evidence in history that this has EVER worked before?? There at least is historical backing for the usefulness of Keynesian economics, applied correctly (i.e., NOT deficit spending in general, whenever, even in good times, just for the heck of it, as Bush did, but in particular circumstances, such as economic crises in which the private sector is hamstrung and government is the only entity capable of response). There's zero evidence that the opposite has ever worked.
V-- you are correct in suggesting the panel COULD be limited when a guest like Gillespie is on. However, Gillespie was the problem. Not the number of guests. there have been larger and smaller panels on the show... Gillespie was simply a rude sot.
Cutting off other guests every time he had a point just means he thinks too much of himself to listen long enough to take notes... or not as sharp as Ezra Klein; who manages to keep it strait in his head without notes, that I could see...
What he may be in print, or one-on-one, Gillespie is not a reasonable guest. It turned the whole time he had a seat into an escalating conflict.
Oh, I agree he's an obnoxious snot. And mostly wrong about everything. Hard-core libertarians unfortunately often are. But someone like that is also easier to counter when there are fewer people trying to answer him. If, for instance, it was just him and Ezra, I think Ezra could have been quite effective in knocking down most of his points. But when you have four or five outraged people, all with different perspectives, vying for a chance to counter the skunk at the garden party, it becomes chaotic with everyone talking over everyone. It actually makes it easier for the one polarizing person to make points and derail the discussion.
I was asking the same thing in my brain, Lakeisha. He disguises himself as a Libertarian, but what he is is a paternalistic, misogynistic bully. I believe he thinks he has one I.Q. point more than Jamie Dimon when he should be riding the short bus.
I rarely get angry when watching MHP. It's like going to First AME in Los Angeles for me (and here I am outside of Atlanta in a sad red part of Georgia). I seriously miss being amongst liberal thinking people. Van den Heuvel and Klein really kept up with this guy, though.
But, check out what he said on his site reason.com, that Ezra has a punchable face? What a horrible person. No need to have that male POV on a place where we meet on the weekend in comfort.
On Katrina FEMA fraud by the state of Mississippi on Jefferson Davis libary. To the producers of the show the picture I only saw the picture featured for a 'millisecond' but I think that maybe it was a picture of Robert E. Lee and not Jefferson Davis who was smaller and more 'effeminate'. Also he was 'allegedly' caught behind enemy lines in 'female' clothing to hide from the Union Army.
Yeah, I saw that, too. I was looking around for a forum in which to point it out, and Melissa came right back in the next segment and corrected it. However, she lives too close by in New Orleans to be mispronouncing Biloxi. It's buh-LUX-ee, not buh-LOX-ee, Melissa. :)
Sarbanes Oxley was created after Enron failed. It was also to create 'confidence' in the market so that people ordinary consumers would invest money again.
Please let Mr. Gillespie know this because he has conveniently 'forgotten' that the regulations were in direct response to outright 'stealing'
Gillespie forgot how to have a conversation...
he also dismisses as non-relevant any fact that doesn't fit in his world view.
I found him a disappointment.
What Gillespie said about Sarbanes-Oxley was preposterous...he sat in America's face and claimed that it was Sarbanes-Oxley regulation that sent American Industries over-seas, but We all know that's a lie!!!
it was NAFTA and CAFTA that facilitated that and they had been threatening us with leaving Our shores for some few decades now...
Why this guy Nick on your show? I think it is very rude of him to shout to the host"Stop" He is a bully
Who IS that idiot you have on your show today? He wants to get rid of social security and "help" the poor? Doesn't that idiot understand that Social Security is why I WON'T be one of the poor?
I haven't worked high paying jobs all my life (public service doesn't pay that well, and if it does, the person is a crook!) and I don't have a lot in savings or in my pension. Social Security is what makes the difference so I won't be another old person on food stamps.
Or does that idiot think all old people should all be poor? Does he have a bad case of gerontophobia???
btw, next time you show a photo of Jefferson Davis, it would be helpful if it really was a photo of Jeferson Davis, not Robert E Lee.
Dr. Harris-Perry did note that on the return from commercial.
missed it....kids...thanks
LOL, being a great-grandma has it's good points!
While I disagree with most of what Gillespie says, he has some interesting points (I assume at least some of them are true?) But the problem is that he is obnoxious. He constantly cuts people often, at times putting his hand in front of them. He lacks basic human decency. He is also smug about his ideas. I thought I was listening to Larry Kudlow on CNBC.
@drblues01,
No...he is obnoxious, but he was also wrong about Everything!!!
For instance Katrina was advocating for SS and he interrupted her (of course) and revised her words to say: "so your against helping poor people"???What?
he made several other mistakes too equating England with the US is just wrong headed because We hold the World Currency...so it's hard to claim their policies would have the same Global effect as Ours!!!Also it is really difficult to go on and equate England to other European Countries either because England has it's own currency;whereas the others are a part of the EU!!!
there were other mistakes as well, but you all have covered most of them...What would we do without the Court of Public Correction!
much love guys...
I'm just glad I finally got onto this blog for MHP. I have watched since the beginning and I love her.
I turned the show off early because I found Nick Gillespie so objectionable. He didn't discuss he simplly aggressively talked over people. I couldn't tell if his opinions were valid, his presentation made it impossible to hear him. I will tune in tomorrow - I hope he will not be back.
I have no problem with having a libertarian on the panel - just have one who isn't a complete boor.
@ooshka44,
i certainly feel your sentiments, but i'd like to say that that is exactly what they(he) wanted us to do was tune-out and hear nothing...which not only hurts Melissa ratings, but it lessens Our opportunity to debate the issues (even if the issue is; Wow this guy is truly absurd...we need to know that, so we're not looking to him for sound answers)
Also, may i suggest watching the show with someone so you all can engage on these really kitchen table topics in real time...my aunt watches with me every Weekend and she helps me to get over such Boogie-men as this guy really was!!!
We have to face these personalities head-on to see them for what they are...Don't you dare run, We'll make them run!
Melissa, I love your show. And I enjoy being able to comment. But it took me awahile to find the blog because I keep my screen at 125%--getting older, you know. The blog is hidden at that resolution. Could someone in Nerdland bring the blog up a bit, please?
I can only echo comments above about Nick Gillespie, who is a pompous a$$, totally lacking any courtesy or the most basic of manners. I would like to hear what Ezra Klein had to offer, without all the interference from Gillespie.
I agree. Ezra Klein is one of the smartest guys around. He also is soft-spoken and very patiently explains monetary points of view. I really like him. And he does have a great sense of humor.
Ezra is very smart and has made many contributions surrounding this topic (Economics)...He's not easily deterred either!!!
i feel like We've watched this young man grow-up too...he was so baby-faced just 4yrs. ago, however, similar to President Obama We have seen the real toll that their chosen professions can have on Our leaders...and i consider Ezra as an authentic patriotic leader!!!
Isn't that the truth, but then 4 years ago, we were all a bit younger, save me. I'm a senior, you know, one of those 60 radicals!
I plan on coming back weekend after weekend. MHP has always caught me as a brilliant woman, long before she has MHP, although right now I can't remember the first hyphenated name.
I was amazed at Gillespie's demeanor today. He even interrupred MHP! And as classy as she is, the look on her face was priceless. I'll be surprised if we ever see him on her show again.
On one of the segments re financial re-regulation of the big banks, Ezra Klein said, "Glass-Steagall was fine in its day, but it doesn't fit modern conditions" (I'm paraphrasing) (or words to that effect.) Until I hear his arguments, it sounds like a cop-out to the casino speculative utterly unproductive (scam really) activity that has become finance since 2000. I think a reintroduction of Glass-Steagall, separating commercial and investment banks with a firewall is just what we need, and simple enough NOT to be laden with 500 pages of complex rules practically designed for the banksters to poke holes in. It created the great middle class and prosperity of the post-war years, and it would make a world of difference now.
If we could have heard Ezra's complete argument, I imagine he would have explained. I guess we can query him about it. It would seem that there needs to be a bit more than just Glass/Steagall, like separating out insurance companies and doing something about hedging and derivatives, which I think were not part of the original act.
PLEASE don't let Gillespie come back! He may think that he's so smart that no one else's opinion matters, but I don't. No one should interrupt people that often, especially on a Sunday morning. After a while I didn't bother listening to him. A little decorum would go a long way.
I think that Melissa Harris Perry should buy herself a big Cuban cigar, find an old army jacket at a supply shop and smoke that ceeee garrrr on the Teeee Veeee. And then Nick Gillespie can watch it all AT HOME.
And he could post his "poor me" drivel on his site. I swear, they are so officious and overbearing over there - gee, I wonder how they got to be that way?
I wonder what interesting comments we would have heard from the other guests - like Ezra Klein, Katrina vanden Heuvel and Elon James White - that we did not get to hear because of Nick Gillespie's rude, overbearing behavior. Dissenting views are good, but bullying is not. I watched a guest on Chris Hayes' show disagree with a point made by another guest. She did it calmly, politely and without taking over the whole show or challenging the other guests to justify their statements. That is how it should be done. Gillespie just made the whole show unpleasant.
Good points, Chloe. I noticed that more and more of the people from the right who are invited to share their views were very strident last week, whether it was on NHP or The WarRoom. Cenk on The Young Turks shuts them down pretty efficiently and Alex Wagner actually cut one's mike off last week. I think all of the hosts, as moderators, should have the ability to shut off the mike; but that wouldn't have helped in Gillespie's case.
Melissa, I don't know the man's name, but one of your guests on Sat., 5-19, a dark-haired white man, spewed some ridiculous talking points. I don't think you should ever have him on again. He said that Social Security shouldn't exist and that Medicare won't be there for today's young people. I love you and your show, but excuse me, why did you let him spew that nonsense? You didn't even correct him and neither did anyone else. You could at least have said that S.S. hasn't added one dollar to the deficit and that it will be there and so will Medicare if the righties don't destroy them. We must continually correct these crazy ideas because the more they're put out there, the more people will believe them. Thank you.
Nancy, good call! Take a look at thread No. 9 above. We were all wondering why he was there. Dr. Harris-Perry couldn't get a word in to refute anything he said! I think it would be a good idea to have a corrections spot like Chris Hayes does to go over all of his lies. Funny, unless I scroll up and take a look, I can't remember his name, either!