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in mourning as the u.s. diplomatic corps and, indeed, entire nation reels from an attack on the united states consulate in libya with four americans killed, including ambassador christopher stevens. the president visited the state department earlier today signing a book of condolence in honor of ambassador stevens. flags have been ordered at half-staff at white house and all public buildings for five days to honor the deceased. with 55 days until election, violence in libya and cairo has also become a flash point in the presidential campaign. providing a perfect case study in how these candidates respond to crisis. the president spoke in the rose garden this morning, alongside secretary of state hillary clinton. >> as americans, let us never, ever forget that our freedom is only sustained because our people who are willing to fight for it, to stand up for it, and in some cases lay down their lives for it. today we mourn for more americans who represent the very best of the yat of america. we will not waiver in our commitment to see justice is done for this terrible act. make no mistake, justi
as president of the united states. they'd like to hear some specifics. >> well, i can tell them specifically what my policy looks like. i will not raise tacks on middle income folks. i will not lower the share of tacks paid by high-income individuals, and i will make sure that we bring down rates, we limit deductions and exemptions. >> what are we talking about, the mortgage deduction, the charitable deduction? >> the devil is in the details. the angel is in the policy which is creating more jobs. >> right. freedom, check. angels, check. throw in the towel, mr. president. this guy is going to obviously win. let's get right to our panel. in los angeles msnbc contributor matt miller. in minneapolis anna marie cox, correspondent for "the guardian" and in washington msnbc political analyst karen finney. anna, if i might begin with you, in listening to mitt romney's responses this weekend and looking at the diagnosticcle and statistical manual of mental illness he appears to be suffering two forms of delusion, grandiose delusion where the individual has an inflated view of himself and also perscu
promise he'd made to the american people. >> madam speaker, the president of the united states. >> obama decided this was an issue he needed to take on early in his presidency or forfeit it entirely. >> chris, picking up your co commentary there, how much of this fight is still about the president's decision on health care reform? >> well, i think the republicans think it's a bad thing. even though it's something that american presidents have really argued for since the days of teddy roosevelt. certainly all progressives, all of them including harry truman and kennedy and johnsens and going back to both roosevelts. it's something that's always been on the progressive agenda and never been realized. of course conservatives are opposed to it. they were opposed to social security and medicare and medicaid and unemployment composition and child labor laws and minimum wage. i was just reading this book about the young winston churchill in the early part of last century. the politics haven't changed. they haven't changed. it's the same old arguments. predictable opposition to social progress.
of the united states, and i don't think that they actually wanted to interview him. i don't think the republican party wanted to bring him in for a live interview. they saw his resume. it's a fantastic resume when you look at it on paper, but then you look at his record now and his positions now versus his record then, they don't trust him as dr. peterson just said. that's the problem. they don't actually think he's a conservative, and if you don't believe me, look at his record as governor. they know that. republicans aren't stupid. at least most of them aren't. i would say the same amount of dumb democrats, if you will, so they balance each other out. but my point is he's interviewing for a job and they don't like the candidate for the job and guess what? he may not actually win. >> martin, i'm glad you pointed this out. one, that sort of gives you the reason why he's creating this insane rationale about the 47%. he's trying to prove how he's going to be able to secure the office but it also underscores the fact that this is a transactional relationship. this is a quid pro quo relationship whe
pennsylvania and i'm going to become the next president of the united states. >> okay. just to clarify, the romney campaign is running no ads whatsoever in pennsylvania. mr. romney is down 12 points in "the new york times" poll this week. pennsylvania is not in play. i guess that's why tonight he'll head up to battleground massachusetts. yes, another fund-raiser. this time with the president of the new england patriots, son of the patriots owner. good thing that strike is over. could be a bit awkward collecting 75 grand a plate. if you're wondering why mitt romney isn't complaining in, say, florida, it may be that mitt romney never, ever wants to cibo se see boca raton again. case in point, vice president joe biden in boca raton this afternoon who had a quite different view of the 47%. >> these people are fighting back with every single thing they have. i don't sense any sense of dependency. they're just looking for a little opportunity, a level playing field, a fair shot. my dad used to say, joey, i don't expect the government to solve my problems but i do expect them to understand my