0 marijuana across the desert. in this special edition of "hardball" we can count down the most knuckle headed statements in these categories. hatred of the president, hatred of the president's agenda, denial of reality, ted cruz and a special section devoted entirely to u.s. congressman steve king of iowa. joining me our panel of all-stars, howard fineman of the "huffington post." jonathan capehart of the "washington post" and joan walsh of salon. lets get started with a look at had red. u.s. congressman from texas. the tea partier made headlines when he sided with a group of birthers in a town hall and ultimately discussed impeaching the president. an ardent supporter of ted cruz 2016 campaign for president. this is a clip from the appearance on "hardball" in september. it's remarkable. >> obama is president, ted cruz can be president. >> what do you mean? this is serious business, congressman. >> absolutely. >> you've been touting the guy, said he can run for president. explain. is he eligible? you brought it up, i didn't. >> i think he's eligible. i'm giving you a yes answer. >> if obama was born overseas to an american mother even if the crazy theory of donald trump is true eden eligible by that standard. >> we're talking about ted cruz. >> can't you an inch mentally, just an inch. >> i'm telling you president obama is the president. if he can be president ted cruz -- >> you brought this up. >> yes. >> is he legitimately like the president of the united states? >> i wasn't in congress to determine that. that was determined before i got here. >> howard fineman, he won't do it. i guess he's afraid of losing one or two votes out there by saying this is a duly elected united states. >> if you dig down to the very core, to the ninth level -- to the ninth level of the anti-obama movement, you find people who not only view him as from another party or another country but practically from another planet. the president is fully aware of this. i remember him saying a lot of these people don't even think i was born here and he wasn't even sure what he meant by here. that's the theology of it, chris. there's a theological belief at the heart of this that obama -- the president is somehow not only not legitimate, not american but not even from here. that's an element of theology with these people. that's where everything starts. goes back to birtherism and back to their rejection, sort of like tissue rejection of him from the body politic, they have never, ever accepted his jittery. >> i think that's cosmic thing is totally true you said. just down to the narrow conversation i was having with that u.s. congressman. i said if you're for ted cruz, we know he was born to an american mother born in canada. i believe he's an american. i'm a pretty liberal guy about this. most are. the most crazy case was donald trump saying he was born in kenya. therefore if you accept cruz as a legitimate president you should accept obama as president. that was a narrow question to put to this character and he wouldn't answer it, even in the narrow bounds i set it up. >> chris, you're asking for something they can't give you. you're asking for moral and political integrity, consistency. they don't have it when it comes to this president. just to continue what howard was saying, the reason they do this is because it works. for a year end piece i'm doing for salon, i'm looking back to 2009. the president takes office with approval rating in the '70s. approval among white voters in the '60s. the summer of joe wilson saying you lie in september. his approval rating plummets from the 60s into the 40s into the 30s and it's never budged. this strikes a chord beyond the narrow boundaries of the fringe. that's part of what scares me now. >> okay. lets take a look at number two on the countdown. congressman from michigan during a town hall meeting in august he told the crowd he wanted to impeach the president and couldn't tolerate the president's mere physical presence. a u.s. congressman responding to a question about impeachment. lets listen. >> if i could write that bill and submit it. >> do it. >> excuse me. it would be a dream come true. i feel your pain. i know. i stood 12 feet away from the guy and listened to him. i couldn't stand being there. >> i couldn't stand being there, david. you're going to get a shot. this thing about cooties, some physical presence that disturbs me. people go to work every day, they deal with people they don't know or like in some cases in business and sales. you've got to come up against all kinds of -- nobody says i couldn't stand being -- this is high school stuff. i don't even know what it is. what is it? >> everybody at this table has been in a room with barack obama. it's not hard to be near barack obama. >> he's a light presence, easy presence. >> he's smart, engaging, he does reach out to people he disagrees because he wants to win the argument. he can be fierce as a debater but by and large he's not a difficult person to be around. so it's really not about barack obama in reality. it's about what barack obama stands for and picking up on what howard and joan said a moment ago, pibbing up the objection, they believe in a cultural fight obama embodies everything they can't stand. >> he's the ultimate gentleman. he's charming. whatever you think of his politics, he ain't hard to take. my question, this is a great question as a columnist. are these people saying this because they feel kind of a yuck factor with them. i don't think they do. or they are selling yuck factor. yucky poos on the far side who need to be consoled every moment of their life. they won't let us down by hugging him like charlie crist did. >> it's a combination of the two depending which member of congress you're talking to. bent vollio, i think he believes it. he doesn't like the president. most of these folks don't like the president. we're talking about folks who have come to congress who aren't, a lot of them, terribly smart. the guy you interviewed, i wasn't here to determine whether the president was legitimately president. these are folks who failed school house rock. this is what's ridiculous about this. the level of disrespect shown by the president -- >> i remember dick cavender show, i only believe what i see. have you been to japan? no. do you believe there's a tokyo. number one goes to tea party activists lat s clayman. red hot rhetoric thanks to appearances by sarah palin and ted cruz. claman's wild rant. lets listen. comment on this, joan. >> a president who bows down to allah. this president is not a president of we the people. i call upon all of you to wage a nonviolent revolution, use sichl disobedience and demand this president leave town. disobedience and demand this president leave town.c disobedience and demand this president leave town.iv disobedience and demand this president leave town.i disobedience and demand this president leave town.l disobedience and demand this president leave town. to put the koran down, get up off his knees and figuratively come up with his hands out. >> my god, that's a hell of a demand, put your hands up, get off your niece, put down the koran and leave town today or else we'll have a nonviolent second american revolution. >> and we've elected the president twice. i love the way i throws in figuratively so we can't say he's inciting violence. of course he is. remember, this is a guy with a confederate flag there. they are outside the home of a black family. they are outside their home telling them to get out. >> an eviction notice, if you will. >> eviction notice. thank you, we've elected that man to lead us twice. they don't accept his legitimacy and they don't accept ours either. but there's something so deep and so disturbing about taking that to -- i know it's the people's house and our house but they live there. that was so deeply disturbing to me. no one, to my knowledge, i don't know that ted cruz was ever asked to disavow any of that. he was there at that rally. that was the same event. why aren't they asked to disavow that. >> i agree completely with that. clear to the crazy. if this president was a tyrant, imperial power dictating the world, why are you able to be such clowns in front of his house. coming up, attacking the man or attacking his plan? republicans saved some of the craziest talk for the affordable care act. this is "hardball," a place for politics. ep, featuring three cleaning zones that remove up to 100% more plaque than a regular manual brush. guaranteed "wow" from oral-b. #1 dentist-recommended toothbrush brand worldwide. mom swaps my snack for a piña colada yoplait. and when mom said i was going out too much, i swapped it for staying in. 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