Transcripts For CSPAN Passenger Rail Industry 20140120 : com

of the south,rest my townas segregated -- was segregated. i member whites only. colored sections. white sections. as a little boy i always went to the cupboard junking fountain because i thought i was going to get collate out of that fountain. i was looking for the treat. it was american apartheid. that is what it was. in north carolina, one of the largest labor battles that we saw in the history of this country, when it finally went into bankruptcy they had a right to organize the union. there, i saw how the forces of greed in enemies of practice divide in conquer. of keeping sake wages low, unions out and profits high. injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. tied in a single garment of destiny. truer and more inspirational words have never been written. this is the norstar but i am off to follow all of my adult life. injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. we are all parts of the civil rights and labor movements. you might have known i said in a singular. the labor and civil rights movement. we have been. we have been. we are. we will continue to be one and the same. our dedication to social and economic justice is one and the same. joining together in one movement into how we will defeat the forces of greed and empower workers to improve their lives and fulfill this potential. how we will make this nation for so it's promise. and sisters, by following the goals of martin martha -- dr. martin luther king jr., we can all reach the promised land. my land league made up of people of all races, creeds, colors, national origins, sexual orientation, whomever and whatever. we are all children. thank you so much. >> give it up for dr. cox. >> your mama would be proud. when i was 13 i became the youth director of operation breadbasket which is the economic arm of dr. kings organization. he was killed a year that i became youth director in new york. goals was laid out by dr. king, t make sure that major corporations had a policy of inclusion in the corporate ranks in terms of not only employment for practice, procurement, contracts and how they dealt with the consumers. to many corporations make money in our community. they do not deal fairly and equitably without it. one man who has stood tall and making sure not only people of color have the positions inside of one of the largest corporations in the world or that they do business with us outside and that they treat fairly the communities that they sell their products. he is making sure that there is democratizing of those the corporate world. efforts that we feel and not just becoming basis for consumer goods. when i called him and say we want to honor him for what he has done he said are you sure you want to honor me. i am a republican. no.id dr. king believed in bipartisanship. i do not always but dr. king did. [laughter] this man gives the party a good name. in my personal and public dealings with them, he has exemplified all the things we believe. he has said that those across nationrd that it is a that we must have built under principles but dr. king believed in. we lay itrtant that today. is not about the policy. -- by the party. it is about the policy. it is not the person. it is the person stands for. is my honor to give the award to a man who has stood here that has no idea that he would ever be honored by a group like ours. we would not be in existence if it was not for a man like him. aboveld put principles whatever political differences we might have. it was the art their flashers itt wrote affirmative action through those who were republicans and democrats voted for the civil rights acts. not about a party. we are about where we are going as a nation. in that spirit it is our honor to honor the general council executive vice president and general counsel of pepsico, the one and only larry thompson. [applause] >> thank you for those mostly kind words. i want to congratulate all of the nominees here this morning. david cox, maria. terry o'neill. all of whom are so accomplished. want to thank the network for all it does to remind is that dr. king's work is not yet done them for standing up for the least among us, whether it is protecting young people are fighting for justice. i also must think reverend sharpton for all he has done and continues to do to advocate for charges that impact our society and for making our country a better place. despite the fact that i am a republican. it reminds me of the old adage that in order to achieve progress we really need not be the woman mind as long as we are always of one purpose. there is no voice in america more compelling than reverend sharpton we talk about fairness, equality and justice for all. unpopularmes abdicate causes. that is in the tradition of dr. king who urged us to be courageous and admonish those more than tohing take a position which stands out sharply and clearly from the prevailing opinion." moment ofake a personal privilege on behalf of my employer pepsico. reverend sharpton has worked side-by-side with several ceos in numerous executives over the years through good times and sometimes through challenging times. only neededounsel it. he has given us his perspective when he thought we could have and should have done things differently. thank you. ofccept this honor on behalf my colleagues at pepsico. i also accept this honor not in honor of past work but why the honor of the national network in the tradition of dr. king must continue. thank you. [applause] >> we are happy to honor at this beloved who has worked in coalition with us on issues of civil rights, immigration rights, and women rights. gender equality. is important that we understand that civil rights in the 21st century is not just a black issue. it is an issue of blacks, browns, women, gays, lesbians. i remember several years ago, about 13 years ago, we were engaged in a struggle in new york around police brutality. we went to 13 consecutive days of civil disobedience in front of the main police area. many of the leaders joined is going to jail during that effort. several months later there was protests of bombings. because they had gone to jail with us, i said i wanted to stand with them. we were all arrested. gave mygot there, they latino colleagues 40 days and gave me 90 days. i said something about this coalition is not working out too well. we kind of stayed together. we have marched together and stood together. there is no issue that is more important in the civil rights agenda today than the rights of vote,ants, the right to the right to protect the right to vote, and protect the civil rights of immigrants. none has been more strong or vocal or has personified this more than the founding president .nd ceo i am happy to give her the award today. maria teresa kumar. >> it is a pleasure to be here to fight for justice and eliminate inequities. i am honored to accept the support. thank you. this represents a work of so many like reverend sharpton and my fellow honorees have fought to break barriers of those who embody the spirit of martin luther king who we honor today. we can no longer work singularly in factions. we must work across communities to fulfill social justice. a threat anywhere is to justice everywhere. homicides we heard that today? cannot walk alone. when we come together, to fight civil rights battles, our strength and purpose becomes unbreakable. for 50 years you have been working on the war on poverty, trying to break it. americans are still there. to me children like access to quality education. we have 11 million inspiring americans who live their lives waitingd-class citizens for the day to be equal, waiting to contribute as americans with rights. ot not given to us n by the immigrants from: delphi -- from philadelphia, but given by our creator. through our many struggles we learned we are much stronger in unison. i was honored his beak alongside many of you today on the march on washington. there was a commemoration of a great man. the march true, because of reverend sharpton, who decided it was important not only to honor the commitment, but cement the importance of the 50 years of the civil right movement, i was inspired by dr. keene and -- ing to secure rights that we were tonight. i'm here as a testament to my grandmother, who by 26 was a single mother and taught me the that no was for everybody else if you wanted to make change, if you wanted to change commitment, and you wanted to make friends, you have to make sure that no was for everybody us. kingg his 39 years, dr. changed the course of history, and the battles today are different, but the struggle for equality remains the same. let us remember dr. king's example to make justice a reality for all of god's children. as we leave today, let's not forget that what is happening today when we are talking about the war on poverty, the war on our voter rights, is they are trying to hold back the future. anyone in this room knows the future is here. i will see you in the trenches as we continue to enjoy your wonderful breakfast, but there's a lot more to do, and thank you again, reverend sharpton. [applause] mrs. caretta scott king -- coretta scott king would talk is with thisgender bias country was something we had to deal with, as well as the gender bias in the civil rights movement itself. one of the things that we discussed last year very openly, those that put together the 50th was that inmarch 1963 there was only one woman on the program, and she was singing. that was mahalia jackson. wall0 years later, shoulder -- walked shoulder to shoulder with the issues of gender inequality and women that lead inadequately -- that lead in our community. there will not be a 21st-century withoutghts movement someone like barbara who is here this morning. stand up, barbarossa. -- stand up, barbara. and every fight around voter rights, around voter i.d., around the issues we rally, we rally knowing that we must also deal with some of the exclusion in ourme of us have had own ways and in our own dealings. no one has exemplified the reaching across the lines of movement's unite the human rights, and to unite the movement for civil right, then our honoree that we close with today. she has been there every time we crossed, and sometimes we did callave to call, she would us. her organization has mobilized and galvanized and registered, and she has stood with some of those in the gender movement to say we cannot just show up with women's issues, we have to show up with african-americans, we must show up with attorneys. she is a hero and a parent for our times, and we give for this not just because she is the president of the national organization of women, because of her personal commitment as well as the commitment of now. will you join me in honoring on this day, the president of now, the feminist, protector, and sister beloved, terry o'neill. [applause] >> good morning. humbled toored and receive this award. fornt to thank reverend al your leadership, for your inspiration, and i know we need to be fast. i am no half just preacher, so i promised to be very fast. i want to thank especially my sisters in the national organization for women who are here today, bonnie, the acting vice president. she has been tireless in organizing and activating our chapters all around the country. i want to of knowledge our membership vice president who is not here today, but she has dedicated herself to expanding his organization to be a truly diverse and inclusive national organization for women than a diverse and inclusive women's movement. .e must all link arms together these are dangerous times. and we need to stand together. and i have said this before, but it is extremely important, and i say it over and over again. we will not be divided against our brothers in this fight. we are all together in the fight for equality. [applause] want to steal a phrase from our sister from another, barbara, who says in 2014 we everyone in this room. i want to tell you that my organization is dedicated to educating voters and registering voters and getting people out to vote in elections in 2014. there is no more important year i think than this one. this is a crucial year. we showed in 2012 that our coalition is a coalition that the voters of the united states believe in. we are going to prove in 2014 that our coalition is growing and that we are demanding troop quality. and, you know, dr. martin luther king was really responsible for in many ways for the passage of the 1964 civil rights act, which forbid intentional discrimination on the basis of ethnicityender and and religion. but in the 21st century, it is no longer enough to sit back and say i did not intend this rumination. outcomes, weg at are going to vote for outcomes, and after we vote in good in 2014,sives we are going to hold everybody accountable. thank you. [applause] >> i would like to bring to our ofge now the administrator the environmental protection agency, who has served in that capacity. i talked to her the other day. she said she had big shoes to to fill, but i said she is certainly capable, and we are with her. she will give some brief remarks before i present our keynote speaker. mccarthy, i'm sorry. [applause] >> thank you, everybody. does anybody have a box i can stand on? [laughter] i know i have some big shoes to fill. thank you so much, reverend sharpton, and to the distinguished guests here today, and to my colleagues here today, it is great to be here. two months ago i visited a town in the low west side of chicago. that is where an old lead smelter used to sit in the middle of that time. the plant is long gone, but guess what -- all the toxic pollution was left behind. shareo has seen its fair of environmental hazards, but it has also been home to some of the most heroic environmental justice champions of our time, including the mother of environmental justice, hazel johnson. mrs. johnson's tireless work for social justice was dedicated to addressing be unfair environmental impact in her community. her work touched many people back then, including one young community activist in the name of barack obama. who worked on the project to clean up neighborhoods in that community. today, too many low income neighborhoods, tribal populations, and communities of color continue to be overburdened by pollution. that pollution becomes an economic area or to economic opportunity and middle-class security. thatof opportunity president obama called the defining issue of our time. that is why epa matters. at the core of epa's mission is the unwavering pursuit of an far and mental justice, which means striving for clean air, water, and held the land for every american. it is ensuring access to the decision-making process, providing new opportunities, and revitalizing some of the abandoned and forgotten places that had been left behind when industry and jobs have gone. this february marks the 20th anniversary of president clinton's executive order that embraced environmental justice as a key to ensuring america's promise of equal opportunity. under president obama's leadership, epa has expanded the public outreach with enforced laws to protect and defend public health, and we have held polluters accountable. we have invested in our cities, in our schools, and we have invested in making homes safe, and bringing cleaner, greener spaces to where our families live, to where they learn, and to where they were. but will too many americans cope quality, unsafe water, and other health risks that are obstacles to upward mobility. and all of us, all of us face the constant and growing threat of climate change. fires, floods, droughts and storms devastate our communities. especially those that are already vulnerable to environmental hazards. fuels time aion change along with pollutants that cause disease and chased away local jobs, like it did in pilsen. power plants, our biggest sources of pollution, are located right in the midst of vulnerable communities. that is why the climate action plan is so important. ,t recognizes an economic environmental, public health, and moral obligation to address the impacts of climate change. under the plan, we are taking commonsense steps to cut carbon pollution from power plants, we are investing in clean energy technologies that will create new jobs him and we are building climate resilience to protect our families from the destruction that is imposed when our climate is changing, as it is already. we are supporting governors, mayors, and business community leaders who are already taking action. and throughout it all, we are making sure we hear from those are most affordable the climate change. they have to be part of a protective step to solutions. but we need a broad, diverse diverse to champion -- coalition to champion this work in our places of work and worship. i'm here to announce epa's partnership with the hip-hop caucus. how was that, the hip-hop caucus? i hope they do not ask me to contribute in a particular way, that we are in a partnership with the hip-hop caucus. they will host events at historic like coaches and universities and minority- service institutions nationwide to bring up the voices of action from our young people's, because we need their voices, we need -- we cannot ensure environmental justice and we cannot close that gap of any quality -- of inequality without providing clean air, safe drinking water, a sustainable environment, healthy homes, and healthy schools for every family in this country. last week president obama convened the first cabinet meeting of the new year, and i will tell you, i think secretary -- i assure you at the cabinet meeting the president was more positive than i have ever seen before. he actually whistled at that cabinet meeting. because he made it clear to all of us that this year is a year of action. it is a year of action on the economy, on jobs, on health care, and on the environment. on all the issues that give every american a fair chance to get ahead. and when we take that action, we will never forget that we carry forward a fierce spirit of service that has always defined this country. the spirit that led a young vivian malone jones to the gates of the university of alabama 50 years and into the halls of epa as a champion of environmental justice. it is a spirit that hazel jones abided him a spirit example five a man whose memory and life we honor today. it is that same spirit of service that compels us to leave our children a healthier, safer world. thank you, all, and happy king day. [applause] [applause] [cheers] [applause] 2008, when the president and vice president was elected, in april of 2009, vice president biden came to the convention in new york of the national action network. i said then and i say today that there is no one i know on the national stage that has had a more consistent, courageous record in civil rights than joe biden. friendsple have become of civil rights when it was fashionable. joe biden has always been that friend, spanning generations. every generation of civil rights three orn the last four decades have the same story, and that is because -- and i am not aging you -- i'm just going across -- he started young -- >> thank you. >> but i want you to know how much he leads, when you have those from john lewis to us today to those younger guys that are in delaware, a very good friend of mine just elected their, say the same thing when we sit down, that joe biden is the real deal. talk,not just talking the but he is walking the walk on some things that matter to us most. martin luther king says you measure your man not by how and where he stands in the hour of convenience among but where he stands in the hours of controversy. d.,it has been voter i. joe biden has been there. if it was florida health care, he has been there. affordable housing, he has been there. he has been there when he knew that it might be controversial, but he knew that it was right. and it is no greater person to have in washington this morning to speak to us on king day at this breakfast than the sitting vice president of the united states, our friend and brother, the honorable joe biden. [applause] >> thank you all very much. thank you very much. folks, thank you. thank you very much. you all can put the teleprompter down now. i do not use the teleprompter. well, if it might make you feel better, leave it up. remember what the president said a couple of years ago at the gridiron great he said joe biden has learned to speak with a teleprompter. i am learning to speak without one. reverentd,you what, thank you for having me here and for these gracias marks. everybody get started for a reason. everybody get started for a reason. and i was a young kid come from scranton, pennsylvania, where there were very few african- americans down to delaware. i do not forget the first conversation my mom how much rent to explain to me why all the kids that i knew who were black out on one bus and passed by the high school. it really was for me -- the kid did not understand it. why are they going somewhere else? awakeningas my first to sort of what was going on, at least in my state, and an awful lot of southern states at the time. but let me begin by congratulating all the honorees. all of you are well deserving of the recognition. i will take a point of personal -- i do not want to date you, a 35 years -- but 35 years, when we have been in a lot of fights together. he fought side-by-side. i remember the first reauthorization when i got to the senate of the voting rights marie therese cumar, you have been a leading voice, leading us toward a new day on immigration policy. i am telling you, we will not rest until we get it done. we will not rest until we get it on. [applause] -- get it done. and my friend terry o'neill. what a champion for winning in -- for women. what a champion flat out. i am indebted to her for many things. tom particularly indebted her for helping -- i would not have thought that we would be reauthorizing or having a fight over the reauthorizing of the violence against women act, but not for terri and a lot of you in this room, we would be in a different place today. and also for all your work on pay equity and reproductive rights, terry. thank you very much. [applause] larry thompson am i do not like very much. [laughter] larry stole candy from a big kenny fromrry stole me. tell me that. being at pepsi, making all that money. what does that matter? you know what i mean? all kidding aside, larry, thank you. you have been an incredible legal career, and you have never forgotten the old expression where you came from, and you continue to fight for economic justice. i appreciateox, everything you are doing. as you know, people have walked up to me,, and rev, i am a labor guide. -- guy. lot tos done an awful continue to fight for dr. king's legacy of workers rights. your honorees of is living proof of what president mandela said. he said, a good head and a good heart are a formidable combination. it does not take a lot more than that. each of these people have more than that, but it does not take a lot more than that. i remember as a kid in wilmington, i was saying, but i do not know much. i remember senator herman halloween, the first african- american senator in our state," bumper sticker ever was when he said " proudlyt for holloway." you just have to care a lot. you just have to care a lot. i recently had the honor of speaking to a memorial service of president mandela at the national cathedral, and it was pointed out to me and at first i did not realize it, in preparation for the speed, it was pointed out to me that i would be speaking from the same pulpit that was used by dr. king in his final sermon on march 31, 1968. that was a profound sermon. said, somewhere we must come to see that human progress never rolls on the wheels of inevitability. we emphasize that. never rolls on the wheels of inevitability. he went on to say, it comes through tireless efforts and persistent work of dedicated individuals who are willing to be coworkers with god. as my mom would say, doing god's work. that is what all of you are all about as you fight for economic justice, racial and gender equality, and trying to stem the tide of new attempts, new attempts to restrict the right of our people to vote. that the everyday actions you inspire that will keep human progress rolling forward and keep it from sliding back, but we have to admit him a we have i admit, i have to admit never thought we would be fighting the fight again on voting rights. i really didved -- not. i really did not. the issue that really got me involved in the first place. i was the only white kid working on the east side, and we now call it the bucket, reverent. i was a lifeguard in a swimming the, and the athletes got jobs, and i was one of 17 employees, but the only white guy. it was a bit of an epiphany for me. i thought i knew what was going on. but i really mean this. all of a sudden, i was in the midst of the everyday culture of people who lived in the midst of white folks who did not know any white folks. dayy day passing him every went to school with them. it was the single most significant thing that happened prepare me for my job. i became friends with an awful lot of these guys. spencer henry, a guy named lafayette jackson, a public housing got out in st. louis, good, good guys. but it was an up have any for me. and so i got involved in -- i i was justshakes -- a kid. i got involved in the segregated regating movie theaters. i remember voting drives, honey out of lack churches, wondering how we are going to move. if know what -- dr. king, you're a member, and y'all do, in 1965 rep from a jail -- in 1965 wrote from a jail, voting is this ending point for action. ever since then, the voting rights act has been the more for protecting and fortifying that foundation stone. as you know, the voting rights act was one of the most difficult civil rights bills ever be won. the right of african-americans to vote, all americans to vote, is guaranteed by the 15th amendment since 1870, but it was consistently fortified cities taxes like the poll tax, the grandfather clause that enforced literacy tests, and so much more. these practices persisted and persisted. for thee protected better part of a century at the practicesvel, these to keep us from voting. nowhere more effectively was that protection guaranteed than in the united states senate. even in 1957, when lyndon the civilneuvered rights bill to the center for the first time, voting rights was the price to get it through. it was not the benefit. it was not part of. it was the price to get it through. bill ofl rights act 1964 introduced by president kennedy and past soon after contained some voting rights provisions, but they were limited in scope and effectiveness. the ultimate fight, because our opponents know, they know the single most interesting to give us is the right to vote. they know what that is. [applause] it was not until 1965 after the , the bridge in selma, were broadcast in every living room in america, and dr. eloquence and of persistence finally gained a foothold in america. and white americans all across the nation, not in states where they were restricted, but in all states, said, whoa, wait a minute, this is really happening. johnson, president johnson, twisted the arm of the very man who put him in power. read your biography about johnson and what he did with senator russell of georgia, the most persistent and i am told trillions upon it -- brilliant opponent. i have a desk, i have a table, that i inherited from john stennis. 1972, when i was a kid, 29 years old, showed up in the was it what i used to do was the proper form, you paid respects to the old bulls in the senate. and so i stopped in to see john stennis. i never call him john. chairman stennis. he was sitting at the end of this great big table. a miniature version of what is in the cabinet room. that as hise used desk. he was sitting at the head of the table. he looked at me, and i walked in, and he said, son, sit down. he said sit down, sit down. i sat down. he looked at me and he said, now, son, what made you run 29 years old? like a game full, i answered him modestly before thinking. i said civil rights, sir, sort of, and as soon as i said that i could feel the sweat around my arms -- [laughter] i swear to god, this is a true story. it is in the mississippi state library. he looked at me, and he said, good, good, now that was the end of the conversation and i left. [laughter] true story. ironically we became friends because we shared five months in the hospital at walter reed in adjoining rooms. in the meantime i had gotten to know him better, so it came time his last year after us being 20 years together, he was leading -- leaving the senate, and some of you jen please note the way is get a senate office senior arty. senators get to choose. i was pretty senior, and my staff wanted to look at senator thurman's office. bigger than mine. i had robert kennedy's office, which i had an emotional attachment to. i was walking in the enter rural corridors, and i walk in and i see his secretary, i believe her name was am a, and all the boxes pop up, and i said, is the chair in? she said, you go right in. he was sitting in the exact same spot. he had come in the side door, but this time one leg in the wheelchair, looking out the window to the supreme court. he said, joe, sit down. sit down. truth. he said to me, he said, joe, he said remember the first time you came to see me? and i did not. and he recounted the story. i looked at him and i said, i was a smart young fellow, was denied, mr. chairman? here's what he said to me. he put his hand on the table and erupted like it was an object. he said, you see this table and chair, joe? yes, sir, mr. chairman. this is the flagship of the to 1968acy, from 1952 h. senator russell had all of us from the confederate states meet here. there's an actual picture of the table with all the people he talked about at that table. he said, and we sat here every tuesday to plan the demise of the civil rights movement. joe --said, it is time, god's truth -- it's time he goes from the possession of a man who was against civil rights to a man who was for civil rights. [applause] and i know it sounds corny but it was pretty moving. as i got up to walk out, he said, one more thing, joe. i turned around. the civil rights movement did more to freedom white man than the black man. i look at him, and i said, how is that, mr. chairman? he said, if read my soul. soul.ed my gentlemen, there is a lot of people out there who are ulying to put that solu back in a different place. there are a lot of people out there, even though we re- authorized the voting rights act in 1965 when the solid south was still voting against the voting rights act at that time, strom thurmond, jim eastwood, jesse helms. but by the time after 17 years of being chairman and ranking member, not because of me, but because of my longevity there, we have ultimately passed the voting rights overwhelmingly. it was overwhelmingly accepted, and even strom thurmond voted for the running rights act in 1980. even in 1989, john stennis nuven was the right thing. it2006 we were authorizing 98 -- zero to the scent. 30 in the house. we thought we had finally established without any exception -- question that not only was the right to vote the most important right of democracy, but it continued to be vigilantly looked at to make sure it was being protected come in because those negative voices did not all disappear in america. one of the very -- on the very day i was making the speech as vice president celebrating the 75th anniversary of the fair labor standards act, the supreme court ruled that the heart of the voting rights act was no longer needed. no longer needed? despite the federal court had just declared texas voter i.d. laws so harsh that it would impose strict, unforgiving? burdens on the port no longer needed. despite the fact that at least 90 similar bills were being considered in 33 states? like the one in north carolina which imposed a new photo i.d. requirement, eliminated same- date wedding registration, and alabama and a voter i.d. bill that was passed in 2011 but never committed because the voting act is now the law? ruth bader ginsburg got it right when she said throwing out the existing process when it is working and continues work is like throwing away an umbrella in a rainstorm because you're not getting wet. now we are in a hailstorm. new attempts by states and localities to limit ballot access without full protection of the law. folks, it is time we take stock. in 1967 at the southern leadership conference, dr. king was a question, the same question we should be asking now -- where do we go from here? he answered his own question. he said we have to honestly recognize where we are. let me tell you where i think we are today. i think we are on the brink of bringing 11 million people out of the shadows onto a path to citizenship, making us not only a more humane country, but more economically successful country. i think we are in the process of guaranteeing that no one that works 40 hours a week will have to continue to live in poverty. we are going to raise that minimum wage. i think we are in the final stages of rectifying the injustices of income inequality between -- women and men. not only is it unjust, it is stupid economically. it is against our economic interests. and it is way past time that we stop arguing about whether every american has the right to adequate, affordable health care. --nks to brock of obama, thanks to barack obama, that fight is over, and we are not going back, period. i'm confident that with all these fights come as in the past, we shall overcome, but let me remind you all, it all rests ultimately on the ballot box. so keep the faith, or as my grandmother would say, no, joey, go spread the faith. it is time to spread it. may god bless you all and make god protect our troops. thank you. [applause] thank you. i did not even see you there. you're both here. good to see you. , we mayay, jean and i not be black, but i tell you what, we are irish and we know how to fight. and anthony foxx is the real deal, too, by the way. it is good to see you guys. i apologize you for not recognizing you. [applause] >> i think without question the communications act at this point is not keeping pace with where the marketplace is. as a general principle, what i try to advocate is the fcc should do what it can to calibrate its regulations to fit the times. if a statute requires us to the contrary, we are stuck. every point in giving the intermodal competition that we see that the fcc needs to be able to take actions to bring its regulations into the 21st century. wereduce the silos that our best to -- avatar us to treat cable companies and phone companies differently, even if they provide the same service. an update would be useful, and i have worked closely with our colleagues in congress to help make that a success. pai tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span two -- c- span2. >> because i know truthfully that every single problem in if morewould be better people could read, write, and comprehend, and just know that. is we would be able to -- we would be able to compete with the rest of the world. we would not have these children who are committing crimes because their families do not have jobs. they do not have jobs because they cannot read, they cannot write, they do not understand. and i think every thinking american is coming to that conclusion. we have got to educate our children, and we have got to educate their parents. it is not just a whim. ares a necessity, if we going to compete in this world. >> first lady barbara bush tonight at 9:00 eastern live on c-span and c-span3, also on c- span radio and www.c-span.org. >> on the next "washington sloanl," melanie discusses the consequences of the spring court costs -- of the spring court's decision of citizens united v. the federal election commission. then efforts to fight the decision and recent efforts to update voting rights legislation. then u.s. job growth in 2014. if your comments by phone, twitter, and facebook. "washington journal," live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. bring public affairs events from washington or correctly to you, putting you in the room at congressional hearings, white house events, briefings, and offering complete gavel-to-gavel coverage of the the serviceall at of public and private in history. we are c-span, funded by your cabletv or satellite provider. follow us on twitter. evan sayet is a former tv writer and standup comedian who wrote the book "kindergarten of eden." he spoke to a conservative forum of silicon valley. this is about an hour and 15 minutes. >> good evening, everybody. happy new year. i'm in wending my way right up front that i am taking the easy way out tonight with my introduction for tonight's guest speaker, evan sayet. there is no reason for me to invent the wheel when i can refer to comments made by three well- respected conservatives. david horwitz says that he is simply the best political comedian working in america today. about his book, bill whiddle says, perhaps the most important book i have read in the past 10 years. last but not least, andrew breitbart, describing a lecture from the heritage foundation, said this, one of the five most important conservative speeches ever given. by the way, this talk at heritage was the single most- seen lecture and the heritage foundation's history. in his latest talk, again delivered to the heritage foundation in 2013, evan talks about his unified field theory of liberalism to show how and why the mainstream media has gotten literally every major story of the modern liberal era not just wrong, but as wrong as wrong can be. with their every mischaracterization benefiting all that is evil, failed, and wrong while working to the detriment of all that is good, right, and successful. evan has written and/or produced in just about every medium that exists, including television, movies, documentaries. he segued into politics after 9/11. it is worthwhile mentioning that he joins an exclusive circle of prestigious individuals, those who switched sides and became champions of individual freedoms or conservatives. that circle includes david mamet, david horwitz, andrew breitbart, milton friedman, thomas sole, and ronald reagan. not bad company. evan's career is divided almost exactly down the middle. his time split between political humor and serious lectures. dissecting and analyzing the liberal mindset is not a job for the lightweight. the book is called brilliant. if you had not had a chance to read it, i recommend you do. evan will be selling and signing his book after the q&a tonight. please join me in giving a warm welcome to evan sayet. >> i just have to correct rita. i don't think it is that we switch sides, i think it is that we grew up. there is this belief when you are a child in liberalism because there are no consequences to your behaviors. by definition, your parents look out for you to make sure you do not get hurt so you can have this fantasy life of being a liberal. then you enter the real world and most of us grow up. i think the lights are good enough for me. c-span, am i ok? how cool is that c-span follows me wherever i go. you guys get to enjoy me. i have heard me. but i was really enjoying listening to rita. i never quite know how to start these talks. having given that original lecture to the heritage foundation that my friend andrew breitbart called one of the five most conservative speeches ever given, and his story is another story that the mainstream media has gotten wrong. how can you be against truth? having given this lecture that people started to call the unified field theory of liberalism, 20 people send me individually. having explained it all, having explained why good, decent, otherwise smart people i'm not talking about the ideologues. we know why the marxist sides was evil, they want to overthrow western civilization and replace it with marxism. the islamist wants to overthrow western civilization. my cousin is not an ideologue, he is not a marxist. he is not an islamist. he is just a jew. i am talking about your colleagues, i mentioned barack obama. it is the modern liberal. it could have been hillary clinton. it could have been john kerry. it is an ideology, a way of thinking. that is what i explained to perfection because it happens to be true. forgive me. what am i supposed to do? it is true. i can lie and be modest. but having already explained it all, what is my next talk to be about? it seems to me i have two options. i can either give that original talk over and over and over again. how many of you have seen that original lecture? more applause because it is more impressive on tape. this is what i'm going to do. i want you to tell the people who haven't seen it how great it was. [silence] i will stick my fingers in my ears. so i can give that original lecture and a good many of you will be hearing it for the first time, but it will be redundant and boring for you guys who have seen it. or i can take the unified field theory of liberalism and show how it applies in the specific. i will show how it applies to the mainstream media. i have a problem. in order to show how the unified field theory of liberalism applies in the specific, you have to know the unified field theory of liberalism, which means i'm back to giving that first talk over and over again. i start my talks with a truncated version of that original speech. it is available on my website at heritage.org. it is available a thousand places. find it, watch it. it is 47 minutes long. in the original talk, i began by saying to the audience, i have got to imagine that just about every one of us in this room recognizes that the democrats are wrong on just about every issue. what i said to the crowd that they is that i am here to propose to you that it is not just just about every issue. it is quite literally every issue. it is not just wrong, it is as wrong as wrong can be. 2007 -- i said, give the modern liberal the chance between saddam hussein and the united states. he will not only side with saddam hussein, but he will viciously slander good and decent americans to do so. bush lied, people died. general "betray us." give the modern liberal the choice between the vicious mass murdering dictator yasser arafat and that tiny and wonderful democracy of israel, he will plagiarize maps, falsify documents, and engage in one blunt libel after another like jimmy carter did in his despicable book "peace, not apartheid." domestic policy, social policy. give the modern liberal the choice between promoting childhood abstinence and childhood promiscuity. they will use their movies, their tv shows, jerry brown will make a law that a 17-year-old man can follow a 5-year old girl into the bathroom if he feels like he is a woman. at the same time, a rather typical democratic party organization, a pro-abortion group masquerading as a pro- choice organization, will hold a fundraiser they call f abstinence. it is not just f, it is the entire word. vulgarizing society is a part of the modern liberal agenda. why? for the full answer, watch that full video. even better, read my book. as that talk was going viral, one million people have now seen it. that is unheard of. as the talk was going viral, i was reminded that a theory, even in the softest of soft sciences, like psychology, philosophy, a theory is not accepted as true simply because it offers an eloquent narrative or an elegant narrative to describe things that have already happened. in order for a theory to be accepted as true, you have to be able to take that theory and then anticipate behaviors that have not yet come to be. when i gave that talk in 2007, i could not have known barack obama would become the democratic party nominee. i certainly could not have known he would be elected president. obviously, i could not have possibly have known that as president of the united states barack obama would bow down before some world leaders, but not others. but yet my theory had anticipated to perfection that if a future president obama were to bow down before some world leaders but not others, it would be to the despot at king of saudi arabia to whom he would bow. it would be to the symbol of japanese imperialism that brought us the bataan death march to whom he would bow. but not to the queen of england. see, i could not have known that back in 2007, that a future president obama -- any modern liberal -- would order nasa to use its dwindling resources to honor one religion, while spitting in the face of two others. this is what he did. i could have predicted he would honor islam. he ordered nasa to use the resources to send a muslim into space. while at the same time when the jews were imperiled in israel, he publicly snubbed the jews. he made the peaceloving dalai lama exit the white house for a photo opportunity in front of the barack obama family trash. i could not have known back in 2007 just who would and would not give a future modern liberal president gifts. my theory had anticipated to perfection that barack obama, a modern liberal, would accept an anti-american propaganda vote from the socialistic hugo chavez while unceremoniously returning a gift of a bust of winston churchill to our allies in great britain. i could not have known back in 2007 just where revolutions would crop up across the globe. had i known, my theory anticipated to perfection that a modern liberal president would oppose the democratic uprising in iran, support the overthrow of america's ally who attacked peace in egypt, and would call for a leftist coup to overthrow our democratic ally in honduras. see, my theory was able to anticipate every single one of these policies, not because barack obama is a muslim. i don't care if he is or isn't. i don't care what he believes but what he does. not because he is black. it is because the modern liberal, there is something about his ideology that leads them to invariably and inevitably side with evil over good, wrong over right, the ugly over the beautiful, the profane over the profound, and the behaviors that lead to failure over those the lead to success. so what is that something? let me give you the essentials that you will need for tonight's stock. that is just the preamble. [laughter] the first two laws of the unified field theory of liberalism. the first two are what you need for tonight. i will give it to you the way it is written in the book. the first law is that the modern liberal was raised to believe that indiscriminateness is a moral imperative mess. -- imperativeness. because it's opposite is discrimination. in the 1980's, by no coincidence, the children of the 1960's when they became the professors of the 1980s, the journalists of the 1980s, the entertainers of the 1980s -- in the 1980's, thinking was outlawed. [laughter] it was deemed a hate crime. here is the concept behind it. anything that you believe, anything that i believe, anything that you believe, even you, anything that you believe is going to be so tainted by your personal prejudices -- prejudices we all have, it is all part of being human -- the color of your skin, nation of your ancestry, height, weight, sex and so on -- anything that you believe is going to be so tainted by your prejudices, that the only way not to be a bigot is to never think at all. that is why their answer to everything is you are racist, a homophobe, a xenophobia. the only reason you could be against something is because you are a racist or a phobic. raised to believe that indiscriminateness is a moral imperative because it's opposite is discrimination. the second law of the unified field theory of liberalism, as it is written in the book, indiscriminateness of thought does not lead to indiscriminateness of beliefs. indiscriminateness leads invariably and inevitably to siding with evil over good him a wrong over right, ugly over beautiful, and so on. because of no religion, no culture, and a behavior, no person, no moral governing, if nothing is better than anything else, then success is unjust. why should a person, a nation, a government, a religion succeed and it is not better than any other? there was liberalism that says everything is equal. it does not make everything meet in the middle. it makes the better bad. failure, as proved by nothing other than the fact that it has failed, it is proof positive that something is taken place. why should it fail if it is not worse than anything else? by the same logic, by extension, if success and failure are proof of injustice -- then great success and great failure is proof of great injustice and at a certain point, great and sustained success and failure -- 6000 years of jewish survival, thriving when it is oppressed, america surviving -- i wonder why they hate america and israel most. why there is this campaign to ostracize and destroy and jimmy carter will lie for jewish deaths? how is israel worse than that? great and sustained success and failure is proof positive not just a great and sustained injustice, but that this injustice is intentional and part of an evil conspiracy. why? why an evil conspiracy? think about it this way. let's say you are playing roulette. no numbers better than any other number. you spin the wheel, some people win, some people lose. that is the game. one thing is for sure. you cannot say the people are smarter or harder working or better than the losers. what if that same number came up 10 times in a row? and the same people win and the same people lose? that might not prove conspiracy, but it is a cosmic injustice. you can see the losers looking over at the winner's pile and going, you did not build that. [laughter] [applause] demanding just a little redistribution. now what happens if that same number comes up 100 times in a row? and the same people win and the same people lose? if you're the casino, you don't have to know how the conspiracy is done. you just sit around trying to figure it out. the one thing you know for sure is that the game was fixed. great and sustained success and failure is proof positive that the injustice was intentional and part of an evil conspiracy. those are the two laws that you need to know for tonight. they were raised to believe that indiscriminateness was a moral imperative and indiscriminateness of thought leads to siding with a lesser over the better, the ugly over the beautiful. are you with me? almost? [laughter] what's it going to take? just the rest of the speech. i will ask you again at the end. let's see if my the unified field theory of liberalism applies to the mainstream media during the modern liberal era. the first thing that i would have to establish is has the mainstream media gotten every major story of our lifetime not just wrong, but as wrong as wrong can be? let me begin to prove this by pointing out one of the good guys. do i get to recommend a speaker? bret stephens. an editorial writer for the wall street journal. many years back, he wrote a piece that began something close to this. a historian, looking back at the contemporary journalism leading up to the major events of our lifetime, looking for clues and that reporting as to the major events that were about to transpire, will have found that reporting to be mostly useless. stevens is wrong. he is wrong and that he does not go anywhere near far enough. that reporting was not just useless, but anybody who looked for things at the time wanting to know what might come next around the world will have been led to anticipate exact way the opposite of what actually came to be. i want you to think of our news media as our personal intelligence agencies. they put their operatives in the field, sending back dispatches, to provide us with inside information so we can make good, personal policy. anybody who trusted the mainstream media, abc, nbc, cbs, time magazine, newsweek, the new york times, everybody but fox -- we will talk about fox -- anybody who trusted the mainstream media as their source for intelligence not only got useless intelligence, they got intelligence that was diametrically opposed to the truth. stevens offers examples. many of us will it -- remember how many of us were stunned at the collapse of the soviet union. how is it we were all so completely unaware? an empire does not collapse in a day, a week on a month, a year. anymore than it is built in a day, a week, a month, a year. how was it that we did not know this empire was about to collapse? because to a point, stevens is right. the reporting was useless. it was worse than useless because as the soviet union was crumbling to nonexistence, they were still telling us the soviet union was a coequal superpower. tied for first in the strongest nation in all of human history, when it is actually crumbling to nonexistence. this is not a little bit off, folks. ok? this is diametrically opposed to the truth. the mischaracterization making an evil empire appear stronger than in fact it was. there is the paradigm. not just wrong, but as wrong as wrong can be. always to the benefit of evil, failure, and wrong. to the detriment of good, right, and successful. most of us will remember the contemporary journalism of the 1980's that was telling us that japan was an unstoppable economic juggernaut. this, as they were about to collapse, into what is now a decades long recession. unstoppable economic juggernaut -- decades long recession. this is not a little bit off. this is diametrically opposed to the truth. in this case, the mischaracterization making a non-western culture appear stronger than in fact it was. how many of us leading up to 9/11 were stunned to learn that islam had spread across a third of the planet if not more? the most vicious, mass murdering and homophobic, misogynistic, and the somatic -- anti-semitic [laughter] how is it we did not know this was going on around the globe? because not only was the reporting useless, but the mainstream media was telling us, they continue to tell us, that islam is a religious of peace -- religion of peace. the most murderous, hateful, violent, torturous ideology -- a religion of peace. diametrically opposed to the truth, obviously to the benefit of an evil, fails, and wrong ideology. you have to be a little bit old to remember this next example. back in the 1970's when we were being told that americans -- it was the wild, wild west -- we were lawless gunslingers. time magazine had as its cover new york city, ungovernable. we are savages. rudy giuliani comes along and new york city is governable and it is the safest large city anywhere in the world. the mischaracterization making the good and wonderful people of america appear savage. i don't remember stevens mentioning the vietnam war. a good many of you know that the tet offensive which was reported as a act breaking defeat for freedom was in fact a war ending defeat for the most murderous ideology in human history, communism. i could go on and on and on and on. benghazi was not an coordinated attack. it was our freedom of speech. i will add two more and then i will get into the why. anyone who trusted cnn as their source for intelligence leading up to the first democratic vote in iraq, was told that our mission was a failure, that the streets were chaotic, that no one would go out and vote and those who did would be mowed down by al qaeda. do you remember the pressure on president bush to postpone indefinitely this vote? talk to me. i am live. i am here. folks at home, you do not have to talk to me. i am not live there. what happened? millions of iraqis went out and voted. a higher percentage went out and voted than americans voted in our own election. not only did millions of iraqis go out and vote, but they dipped their fingers in purple and danced in the streets for hours. to my knowledge not a single one was mowed down by al qaeda on that day. virtually no one would vote and those who did would be killed. millions voted and no one was killed. that is diametrically opposed to the truth. making al qaeda appear stronger than they were. anybody who trusted "the new york times" during the first battle to liberate 30 million human beings from rape, torture, and genocide in iraq -- anybody who trusted the times to describe that first battle said that we were pinned down, that it was a bloodbath. in fact, "the new york times" used to the cue word quagmire. when our forces arrived in baghdad three weeks later, it was in fact the culmination of the swiftest military victory of its time in all of human history. never before had that much enemy territory been traversed in so short a period of time. quagmire, in fact the swiftest military victory in human history. that is diametrically opposed to the truth. all to benefit a mass murdering, genocidal rapist and torturer and prevent us from liberating 30 million human beings. the question becomes why? because i don't think there is a single one of us who thinks that katie couric is an evil genius. [laughter] on both counts. [laughter] she is not evil. she is far from a genius. she is an idiot. to show you what idiots journalists are, this is a woman whose greatest credential as a journalist is that she was a daytime chat show host who once interviewed and got a secret recipe. obviously, they know the news is a joke. then to have the university of southern california, the annenberg school of journalism, to give her the walter cronkite award for excellence him -- in television journalism. if she is the most excellent television journalist out there, how bad must wolf blitzer be? [laughter] [applause] why did she do it? what does she take every news story and flip it on its head and ally like nbc news edited the 911 calls to make it sound might -- like george zimmerman what are they do it? why does anderson cooper do it? he is not an evil genius. on both counts. he is not evil. he is a professional cutie pie. he does his job well. i don't go that way. [laughter] but if i did, i think andy might be my guy. [laughter] he puts on a black shirt, he looks serious, he must be important. it is not just those two. it is across the board. except for fox news. and across the decades. so why do they do it? here's the answer. if i were to poll the great journalists of all time -- i don't mean the most famous, those with the bluest eyes, the highest ratings, the richest -- i certainly don't mean those with the most walter cronkite awards -- if i were to ask them, what is the single most important trait in good and accurate reporting? anybody? how do you get to the truth? i'm looking for the truth? would anybody have a problem with the word objectivity? objectivity. let me now introduce you to a man who is perhaps the most beloved and influential modern liberal of all time. his name is howard zinn. he is adored. when he died, springsteen wrote a song to him. zinn is the author of the single most assigned text on american history among public schools and private schools. this means that your children are learning our history from the man i am about to tell you more about. it also means that whatever administrators pick that book to be the history book, they also picked all the other books that your children are learning from. howard zinn said, objectivity is impossible. it is also undesirable. that is, if it were possible, it would be undesirable, because if you think that history should serve a social purpose, then you make your choices based on that. in other words, he is an ideologue. the facts are not important to advancing his ideology. i don't think i would get much disagreement from the left that he is a leftist ideologue. katie couric is not an ideologue. why does she do it? it is because that in the 1980's, the hippies that are not now teaching at our schools and the children of the 1960's, they used their power because they recognized objectivity is undesirable because it gets in the way of their stupid ideology that sounds brilliant, but it does not work -- you cannot be objective. are you sure that is not productive? you can't be objective. that is your bigotries. they use the power. the ideologues who believe objectivity's undesirable to brainwash successive generations. in the schools, starting at the age of five. by the way, there is a book written by a liberal, where he proudly -- this is not self- conscious or tongue-in-cheek. -- he is proud of the fact that all i ever really need to know i learned in kindergarten. it is true. after kindergarten, you cannot be objective, so all you learn is to coexist. you do not coexist without. live and let live requires you to live. it is really not that deep. those who recognize that objectivity is undesirable to the utopian ideology use the schools and the other mediums -- media -- to brainwash successive generations into believing it was impossible. what is it that makes objectivity impossible? anybody? it is the idea that anything you believe is going to be so tainted by your personal prejudices that the only way not to be a big it is to not think at all. thinking is a hate crime. so now, the most important trait in good and accurate reporting is not only undesirable, it is evil. it is the act of bigotry. to be an objective reporter. this is why they hate fox news. you do not hate people because they are wrong. we don't hate katie couric. we wish she was not an idiot. we wish she would go do a daytime chat show. we do not hate anderson cooper. they hate fox news because fox news is evil. because fox news reports objectively. because the report objectively, they are far more accurate. then are any of the other news networks. how do i know this? because if you trusted cnn as your source for intelligence leading up to that first democratic vote in iraq, you were stunned when exactly the opposite game to be. if you had watched fox news, you might not have known it would be a million, you might not have known the color of the ink, you might not have known the nobody would be killed, but when what came to be came to be, if your source for intelligence was fox news, you are far less surprised by reality. if your source for intelligence during that first battle to liberate the people of iraq was the new york times, when what came to be came to be, you were stunned. but it fox news, you might not have known it would be three weeks -- the tide could have changed along the way and so the reporting changes along the way but when what came to be in iraq came to be, if fox news that been your source for intelligence, you are far more intelligent. when the muslim brotherhood took over in the arab spring that the leftist media could not tell us because that would be bigotry don't they want freedom and democracy just like we do? then you are a bigot. [laughter] they could not report objectively. of course the muslim brotherhood is going to take over. excuse me. try talking every day for an hour. and then going out and doing karaoke. [laughter] so now, the single most important trait in good and accurate reporting is not just undesirable, it is an act of evil to be avoided at all cost and to be refiled when seen practiced by others. katie couric wants to be a good newswoman. anderson cooper wants to be a good journalist. wolf blitzer wants to be a good journalist. but the most important tool has been taken away from them. but what they substituted is that while you are never, ever, ever, ever an objective reporter, what you strive for is a concept that sounds good. it sounds like objectivity, but in fact it is its opposite. the good journalist today went to journalism school -- the good journalist is never objective, he is always neutral. what is the difference between objectivity and neutrality? let me give you a silly example. let's say that keith olbermann your history is in the sports world. your assignment was to cover the new york jets, san francisco 49ers game. the jets win 87-3. it is my story. [laughter] i get to do it and whatever i want. forget it. i will make at the 49ers. i will make it the bengals. the jets win 87-3. your article is about how the jets are a better team when you are a reporter. the most salient facts of the touchdowns, the interceptions, the facts, the rest. how do you know the jets are really a better team? how do you know that you don't just think the jets are a better team but you grew up near an airport? [laughter] and you always love their planes? how do you know the bengals are a lesser team? maybe your favorite uncle was eaten by a tiger. [laughter] so to make sure there is zero bias in your reporting, zero, that is why they are so arrogant about it -- there is no bias in my reporting -- you have to report that the jets and the bangles are equally good teams. now you have a problem. every story you write is going to be wrong. the jets are a better team in my story. the bengals are a lesser team. but now the purpose of your article has to become, how did these two equally good teams come to such disparate outcomes? obviously, the jets must've cheated. [laughter] but we are not even talking a little bit of cheating. it wasn't like 17-14. that has got to be an evil conspiracy. with that much cheating going on, why didn't the referees, penalties? -- call more penalties? forget the referees. why didn't the announcers in the booth say, hey, i just saw a holding. who could afford -- who could afford a conspiracy of this size? the evil one percenters. and now it becomes the job to invent the narrative. of coarse they don't want that bengals in the super bowl. the world is flat. what the hell does that mean? the world is flat? this is going off subject. you're going to give me a rousing ovation, then i will take questions. let me just expand this to, this is a silly example, but there was one aspect of that industry that was overwhelmingly conservative. they get just as rich as the rockstar, they're just as beautiful in their own way of -- and get rich at the same young age. and yet their conservatives, do you know who they are? professional athletes. why? because athletes do things. they catch the ball, they dropped the ball. you cannot say this victory -- you cannot say it is bigot. he was jewish, and he dropped the ball because it was pigskin, no! there is also a aspect of the industry that is overwhelmingly conservative. stuntmen. they have to know overwhelmingly objectively what they are doing. if you're like alec baldwin, you get 10 takes to do it. but what if you were raised to believe, and then it was reinforced from kindergarten on all the way through overture elementary school, junior high, alan g -- all the way through graduate school that you're not allowed to report that any culture, any nation, any form of government is better than any other. after all, how do you not notice just your prejudices? barack obama was asked point blank do you believe in the american exceptionalism? he made a very clever answer and when he said yes, but then that it clear he meant no. he said i believe in american exceptionalism as the greeks believe in greek exceptionalism and the british believe in british exceptionalism. it is not based on new think of the fact that he believes they are -- that he lives here. it is not our protestant work ethic, our christian heritage, he just happens to live here. you're stuck with it. if america is not exceptional, then how is somebody like barack obama to explain america's successes? given that we are the most successful nation in all of human history, barack obama and the modern liberal has no choice to up their ideology. short of that, given that we're the most successful nation in human history, the modern liberal has no choice but to believe that we are the latest greatest injustice in human history. when you go back to the journalist, you wonder why they are so arrogant and lie about israel? how do you explain tel aviv and the gaza strip? how do you explain symphony orchestras and the ied? there's nothing a journalist is allowed report. they want peace, that is what they have to bleed, other eyes otherwise there something wrong with islam, and they cannot say that. why do the muslims murder jewish children? blow up buses, that is the new story. the journalist goes and say the palestinians must want peace, so the jews must have provoked it. now they need to look for what that provocation is. because they do not provoke him they to find something moronic. it is because a jew build an extension on his home in jerusalem. you have to be a moron, but there is nothing else they are allowed to believe. if it was a well-timed, well coordinated mass murder of an ambassador, then it must be something wrong with islam. that is off the table. it doesn't matter about a video made 6 months ago. i laugh -- you and i laugh, except for the fact that it is so horrible, but how much more moronic must the new york times the -- be to believe something so stupid, but they have no choice. they have been morally and will intellectually retarded at the level of a five-year-old child. coexist. that is the lesson they are taught in kindergarten. you will find it in the book. if you boil down the intellectual rhetoric of thomas friedman, and another i particularly dislike, if you boil down the pseudo- intellectualism of the leftist editorialist to its essence, it is one of the lessons they learned in kindergarten, extrapolated into pseudo- sophisticated language. those are the two things i think you understand. they were raised to believe that thinking is a hate crime, and indiscriminateness lead to indiscriminate beliefs. it leads invariably to siding with the soviet union over the united states. saddam hussein over america. mass murdering corrupt terrorist dictators over israel. thugs like trayvon martin, one story after another after another. i would be very happy to take questions. thank you for having me. [applause] as a understand it, the questions of already been prepared? >> no. we are passing cards around the audience. please write them down and bring them over in this direction. first question, you used the term modern liberal several times. i'm intrigued by the word modern, is this a new phenomenon? did this person not exist a few decades ago? >> no, this ideology has actually existed since john clouseau. something stunning changed post- world war ii, leaving up to it again -- leading up to it. from the dawn of time, until just before i was born, every human being had to avoid disease, hunger, poverty, and physical pain. by the time i came of age, polio was vanquished, the chickenpox was a gift, disease was vanquished. hunger, by the time i came of age, find a dollar in the street, and you can eat ramen noodles for three days. poverty, is so nonexistent and america they had to invent a whole new terminology to define what poverty is. poverty being something that kings and czars and folks of your would have happily traded for. hot and cold running water, showers, disposals, televisions, cars. post-world war ii, you did not have to be smart, because this there was nothing horrible that could happen to an idiot. they were called the hippies. [laughter] the hippie, 200 years ago would starve to death. but with welfare programs and so much abundance, and whatnot but you could have a moronic ideology that has some followers that can be able to become the teachers with nothing but clever words. >> why do you think so many american jews are liberal? >> this is a simple question, but not a short answer. in order to be called a jew, to even call yourself a jew, is different than any other religion that is out there. in order to call yourself a christian, you have to believe something. you to believe that jesus christ as your lord and savior. if you believe this, you're a christian. if you do not believe this, you're not a christian. if you do believe that, there are certain rights, and rituals, and teachings that tend to follow. to call yourself a muslim, you have to believe something. you have to believe that the koran is the final testament of god, and mohammed as is -- is perfect messenger. if you do not believe this, you're not a muslim. if you do believe this, there are certain rights, ritual practices you have to follow. but to call yourself a jew, you do not have to believe anything. all you have to do is plop out of a jewish womb, [laughter] so let's call these jews the plopping jews. there's absolutely no -- sometimes they're called secular jews, the non-jewish jews, there's nothing jewish about them except that action which was not -- which was involuntary. why would you expect this large section of jews who are not jews to think like a jew about jewish things? then, you have your three groups of jews who are in any way jewish at all. you have reformed jews, conservative jews, and orthodox jews. the reformed jew has done one thing, in order to be a reformed jew you have done one thing jewish by choice your entire life. do you know what it is? bar mitzvah is still too young. circumcision? [laughter] would you make that choice? [laughter] maybe you have. by the way, i think it's fair to let you know that my jewish upbringing was a plopping jew. it consisted of three days. at the age of eight days, people i had barely met a week ago took a knife to my most sensitive part. they were so pleased with what they had done they threw themselves a small party. [laughter] 12 years and 357 days later, i said words of a language i did not understand. they told me i was a man. they were so happy they had survived my childhood, they threw themselves a party. [laughter] almost exactly 10 years later i stepped on the glass and i was married. they were so happy i was moving out of the house, that they threw themselves this gala. that was my jewish upbringing. i've been trying to be more jewish, because i would not be a conservative because i was a jew, i would learn how to be a jew because i am conservative. the one thing that they do is join a synagogue, the reformed jews. they join a synagogue because it is the local recreation center. it is cheaper than the country club, and more expensive than the ymca, but they do not have to worry about getting naked in front of the strangers. if he is single, it is the first time he looks in the mirror and says oh yes, where am i going to find somebody who thinks i am a catch? you go to the synagogue. there is a direct line, a diagonal line from non-jewish jews to a little bit jewish news to conservative jews to orthodox jews that rejects liberalism. the reformed jew, the secular jew vote republican almost not all. modern liberalism is the antithesis of judaism. it was the first time we had a just god that expected us to be just people. a call for justice, not vengeance. the punishment shall not exceed the crime. liberals don't want justice, which is why they assert that insert a modifier before the word. it is something they do over and over again to make sure we support the opposite. truth matters. it is important to be correct, but not when you are a liberal. they entered the modifier politically before correct and become the opposite. women who are the majority are the minority because they put the modifier of oppressed. jews are not a minority, social justice is the opposite of justice. the more jewish you are by knowledge, practice, and education with the more -- less likely you are to vote democrat because democrats despise the concept of justice. [applause] >> before i get to the next question, i guess you and i are both plopping jews that vote republican. we are an elite group. what is your view on glenn beck and his efforts to bring truth to journalism? >> he made a very big mistake in my eyes, which is charging. i really don't watch a lot of glenn beck, god bless and, i think we have to come from different directions. i think this is an ideological war, thank goodness it has not been violent for the most part, but it has always been from the left when we have had violence. al sharpton, no justice, no peace. give me what i want, we will bring violence. the modern liberal era, it is always been from the left. this is an ideological war, and we need every weapon, which is why got back into standup comedy. i was a screenplay writer, but after 9/11 when i said my liberal friends say we deserve these attacks, that it was the chickens coming home to roost, that we were all little -- i have to fight this war. i had to find the weapon we were missing. i said we need a bill maher from right, and that is what i going to do. [applause] but without the prostitutes on my arms. [laughter] >> have you been able to convert any of your liberal friends or relatives? >> many, many, many. [applause] and here is how you do it. except for the fact that my voice is starting to go, and i do not know what your rules are, i am willing to answer questions about because as a conservative in the bay area, i have nowhere else to go. [laughter] i have a program that i call adopt a democrat. because the good news is that america is not divided in two, we are divided in three. there are those of us who get it, that right and wrong, good and evil, better and worse, ugly and beautiful exist. we seek to conserve those things that are beautiful, good, wonderful, most especially in this room tonight, the exceptional united states of america. [applause] and so we seek to conserve this and that is why we call ourselves conservatives. all the way on the other side are people like my friend rosie o'donnell, about whom there is nothing you can do anything about. she is a moron, a troubled idiot. this is how she gets out her anger, and thinks that she is smart. remind me what i'm talking about, eventually. c-span, do you have enough battery life? the two questions i always get is why are you liberal -- are jews liberal, and what happened to bill maher? he was not this sick, radical, left-wing hate job that he is now. bill has not changed one whit. bill was never a libertarian, he's not a liberal, not a modern liberal, he is not a left-wing fanatic for he is a sick narcissist. a narcissist needs strangers to tell him how great he is. when we did the show out of new york city, out of the show you walk down or take the elevator down, and you walk to where you're going. you pass doormen, cab drivers, construction workers. you have to appeal with people with jobs. when the show moved out to los angeles and hollywood, you leave the studio and get in your car, the gate goes up, there are no doormen, taxidrivers, people of the bus stop who do not understand what you're saying. you keep driving until you get to your gated community. who is there to tell you that we love you? susan sarandon, alec baldwin, the other hollywood superstars. he did not change at all, all that changed was the city from which the show was being done. you have the people on the left, but there is somebody that i believe -- i believe that the vast majority of people who vote democrat do not hate america. they have been lied to, my friend ben shapiro makes a great point. both campaigns accomplished what they wanted to accomplish. the romney campaign were portrayed obama as a good and decent family man who happens to be stunningly incompetent, and the obama campaign portrayed romney as a dog hating, woman hating, homosexual hating men, who used cancer for more money. i don't know a single person who votes democrat. i know lots of people who vote against republicans. the left cannot honestly protect and defend, that is why objectivity is undesirable. if you are raised to believe that it is a hate crime to think, everything we do is racist. what you need to find is a whole bunch of the middle, the people who vote democrat who have never heard from a conservative what a conservative believes. where would they have heard it? cbs? or nbc? the new york times? or the washington post? there are three mediums that the liberal hates. fox news, conservative talk radio, and the blogosphere. truth.org, you should look into them. fox news is only 15 years old. if your friends are my age, that means they were 38 before there was a single television news program that did not advance leftism. if you want to tie conservative talk radio to rush limbaugh, that was 20 years ago. well into my family life, talk radio and fox news and the blogosphere, 2004 when they caught dan rather using forged documents. but as the first time they have been caught. you can find somebody in your life who you know is not a brain-dead radical leftist. if you have one in your family, just love them. talk about the weather, but then there is global warming, so -- [laughter] >> one more question. >> it is important that it be somebody in your life. what they do is they dismiss us as nazis, fascist, and raises, racists, which they cannot do if you're their brother. over time, don't take every fight, do not take every story, do not pick every issue. most of the time of his talk sports or whatever, but when they say something particularly moronic, like that guy should not have made that video, you take the opportunity to lay out the facts. it is like adopting a child. every once in a while, but then let them win. over time, when i write, i write and i write at my friend's coffee shop. i put out an ann coulter book, just to bug him. it became harder for him to dismiss me that the caricature that the media portrayed. if you can change just one person, we double our numbers. >> how does the mainstream media get away with sustained professional malpractice? why do people keep buying their product? >> first of all, they are not. the new york times had to sell their building, and then use that money to pay rent on their building. ratings are dwindling everywhere but fox. cnn's numbers are the lowest in 20 years. what is interesting -- i know this about hollywood, money is not the primary concern. not to the owner of the new york times, who inherited his fortune and did nothing to earn it. he really doesn't care, he will always have enough money. he would rather that they go down in flames than tell the truth. thank you so much. don't forget to buy my book. [applause] lex you. >> steve phillips talks about race, politics. our firstage of ladies series in one hour. conversation on the health care law and health care costs. on the next "washington journal," melanie sloan discusses the consequences of the supremes -- of the supreme court's decision on the fourth anniversary of the decision.

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