i'm from west virginia and in the eastern panhandle there's a single-payer group in west virginia and there are literally scores of these groups and the list a lot of them at the resourced page at single-payer action.org. a lot of it is spontaneous grassroots. their national organizations. as mikuak said we are coming together. the first thing would be to defeat this democratic bill and to have a single-payer advocates in the house and senate in the lead on defeating the bill so for the second round we have a leg up on the debate and not just let the republicans take charge in the defeated the bill. last question. >> back to the whole process thing, before the teabagger thing happen in august as you noted that the beginning of the news conference, a bunch of you were arrested at those hearings and what was a mistake to step back from that? the illusion that there is a settlement made. >> that was just a legal settlement and it was a legal settlement and it was pretty much a plea agreement with part of the condition of the plea, we did not plead guilty, but we said we would not protest

he said the president is always welcome at the commonwealth of virginia. there has to be a personal grace note that the republican caucus has lost. he is the president. he is a figure that has -- demands our respect and he is well-liked and we need to do a better job as a party to separate -- and separate the differences of opinion about policy compared to how we speak to hiabout him as a person. there are people in our caucus who do not -- are not able to bridge that note. >> we spent time thinking about this but we will try to be concise. i would say to the republican caucus that i know lee atwater said when your opponent is busy destroying himself, do not interfere. do not think that your opponents failures and weaknesses are your success. if everyone took a step back in line you somehow step forward. believing that is a prescription for permanent minority status. people want a society that works. people want solutions and leaders to a better -- and lead us to a better place. i would say to republicans, it is jobs and economic growth, it is all that. yo

i live in northern virginia. mr. bennett if i see one more negative tv added lagat friars race i tell you, and i also lived in seattle washington so i know how things go. i would like to throw a couple of things negative you to read to the gentleman from seattle people don't vote because they don't have choices. alexandria just changed the way against the public opinion in alexandria va how we are going to elect the next mayor and council and school board in order to increase voter turnout so it would be in the election cycle with the president. seattle washington state has a million things on the ballot next to election year. volume for proportional representation. i agree. i am against campaign finance reform because in virginia anybody and their mother can set up a pact and that would go against the campaign finance laws or reform. what do you think of having open primaries where you have now heads of the democratic republican party say yeah you can vote an open primary but you have to declare your party. so rathe

from virginia's 11 district. my question and i regret that jackie salett and cynthia mckinney are not here. it's an honor to be in a room with ralph nader with all of you. why can't we get everybody to play well together? and take the ideas in ralph nader's book. their eight fundamental electoral principles. why can't we get the greens, libertarians, and independence to basically demand of obama, as a price of anything in 2010.t. pass the electoral reform act of 2009? >> i'll assume everyone -- >> go-ahead. >> well, i have no problem with that. i think it's a wonderful idea. we just need to, you know, we need the choices, new places. and actually, you know, third parties can anybody candidates to just write cato is trying to do. they're trying to increase the range of political debate. >> good to meet you in person, mr. steele. thank you for coming. i'd like to say it's really -- the minor parties and third parties and independents don't all have obviously the same platform, so they can get together and should ge

jayson blair is from just thank you road near snerntville, virginia. he attended the university of maryland. on march 11, 2003, it was disclosed that he had "committed frequent acts of journalistic fraud." the widespread fabrication and plagiarism represented profound betrayal of trust and a low point in the 152-year history of the newspaper. the times went on -- "the reporter misled readers and times colleagues with dispatch that is purpose -- purported to be from maryland, texas and other states, when often he was far away from new york. he lifted news articles from wire services. he gave the impression he had been elsewhere when he had not. the times reporters found that -- of 73 stories blair had written, 26 has substantial problems. like journalists elsewhere, the times took this very hard. the paper's postmortem ran 7,000 words. it was published on a sunday and it started on page one. by comparison, a year later when the paper finally recognized that its prewar coverage of weapons of mass destruction was badly flawed, the acknowledgement ran 1,10

this comes from hillary from virginia beach. [laughter] she got from pakistan to virginia beach very quickly. it is capitalism married to a democracy so that as one goes, so goes the other. >> i actually think it is. one of the biggest problems in the world in the last 50 or 20 years is because the two of them run together, democracy has gotten into trouble. i think trade is a great thing. when we did all of the free trade, that i approve of, it has done a lot for the geopolitical stability of the world, the free-trade agreements we cut with folks were great for corporations. it was not free trade for people who worked in these countries. one of the most chilling things that happen to me in between my race for president and my stand as dnc chair, i went to a foreign country to give a speech. the flights leave at all hours. at 2:00 in the morning, i'm sitting with my host on my way out of the country. we were getting away you get to a clock in the morning, you say a lot of things you would not say during regular social hours. he

man the best person win in virginia, and made the election be over soon. thank you. >> jim, to you want to start? >> i'm not quite sure what your question was. beyond that, i am for a dank. i think it is an american to try to close things down and the press people and keep people off the ballot. i think we need to do whatever we can do tend to encourage new voices and new choices. it's very important. i don't know if moving elections, for example, to a presidential year would guarantee better people in office or what not. it just seems to me that we need a lot more issues and ideas on the table. that is kind of what -- where i come from in this. [inaudible question] >> that would be fine. that helps open up the process. that is exactly what i was saying. i am in favor of anything that opens the process up. >> with the primary system, look, yeah, you want to have an open election system, but you also want the parties to be able to a have some control over what they do. all of those parties do not want people coming in and voting in there primary fights who

from virginia's 11th district. my question, and i regret that jackie and city are not here. is an honor to be in the room with ralph nader. why can't we get everybody to play well together and take the ideas and ralph nader spoke less there are 800 the electoral reform principles. why can't we get the greens, libertarians and independents that basically demand of obama as the price of anything in 2010, that he passed electoral reform act of 2009? >> i will assume everyone. >> go ahead. >> well, i have no problem with the. i think it is a wonderful idea, we just need to open up -- we need new choices, new voices. actually, third parties, independent candidates do just what cato is trying to do and what heritage is trying to do. they are trying to increase the range of political debate. >> good to meet you in person, mr. steele. thank you for coming. and i would like to say that it's really -- minor parties and third parties and independents, they don't all have the same platform. they can get together and should get together on removing this systemic barriers to entry, but af

west virginia, on the independent line. caller: hello, first of all the democrats started out negotiating from a point of weakness when it took single- payer off. then when it had organizers during the summer time volunteering for american nobody was talking about a trigger until august. the liberals in the democratic party need it to stop bowling down to the conservative democrats. the democrats have republicans in the democratic party. we do not need the republicans or the conservatives to stop on this initiative because we have republicans in the democratic party. the people like a byayh to get hundreds of thousands from the insurance company and his wife sits on the board of an insurance company making $2 million, and they said that does not influence their votes? the democratic party sends out things to ask for money because of rush limbaugh when they have sold their soul to give olympia snowe. i did not to vote for olympia snowe to be president, so i will not give the democrats another penny. host: new jersey, on the

i'm reverend benson from arlington, virginia. i'm a minister member of the national council of presbytery here in washington, d.c. as we move forward in this effort to talk about advocacy to right the wrong and the inickities that we see, i would like to ask all of us that are assembled here and members of congress that we be cautioned that as we move forward to promote the efforts for advocacy for our people and for other people of color that we do so on a position that supports our president and his administration as opposed to being on the opposite end. drawing on the words from reverend jackson earlier that this is a time when we turn to each other and not against each other. because i feel that sometimes it can be a move to discredit this great man at his great time. and we need to try and support him as we advocate for the different issues that have been placed before us. thank you. >> do we have a question? right up here. >> thank you. carmen morris, miami, florida, sanctuary of moses, combating child trafficking and slave

from virginia's 11th district. my question endeavor? that jackie salem and cynthia mckinney are not here, it is an honor to be in the room with ralph nader and all of you. why can we get everybody to play well together and take the ideas and ralph nader's book? their eight fundamental electro principles. why can't we get these saluda terry incent independents to basically demand of obama as the price of anything in 2010 that he passed the electoral reform act of 2009? >> i will assume everyone-- >> go ahead. >> i have no problem with that. i think it is a wonderful idea. we just need to-- we need new choices in the voices and actually third parties, independent candidates to just what qada was trying to do and what heritage's trying to do. they are trying to increase the range of political debate. >> good to me you in person mr. steele, thank you for coming and i would like to say it is really, minear partisan third partisan independents don't have obviously the same platform, so they can get together and should get together on removing

it was a case of virginia involving whether it was a violation of first amendment for virginia to make it unlawful to burn a cross. and all of the sudden, his voice came out. he has an amazing voice. it is this extraordinary sort of base. he was very powerful and spoke with great passion, question after question after question period -- question after question after question . he has to decide how to be a justice. it is too bad not to have his voice, but that is a decision for him. >> he had taken over case i argued about 10 years ago and asked questions for the upper side -- other side. but as an advocate, i appreciate telling the court with lawyers think, and it would be nice to have an opportunity to get points we hope to make. >> yes, right here. >> i suspect more than one attorney has left the court after an argument and tried to figure out how the case would be decided on the basis of questions and responses. two of you argued and won reported. from your experience, how reliable are those questions as a gauge of how the questions come down? >> some cases are too close to call, bu

. >>> plus, virginia and virginia tech renew the rivalry for the commonwealth cup. while maryland tries to end a disappointing season on a high note, next. i'll be an alcoholic. all: hi, emily. announcer: kids who drink before age 15 are 5 times more likely to have alcohol problems when they're adults. so start talking before they start drinking. >> at the top of the hour, muss the caps and canadiens for the plus channel in your area visit csnwashington.com. season finale for ralph friedgen and company. the terps hosting boston college in the 1st. terps up 3-0. b.c.'s shin sleet ski wide open over the middle, finds the seam and the eagles up 7-3 on the road. to the 2nd. terps down but driving. scott the carry from six yards out. scores, knotted at 10. the eagles strike back in the 2nd. not once, but twice. steve, knocking in field goals from distances of 36 and 23 yards before the first half time expired, 16-10 boston college. to the 4th. 3rd and 10 jamarr robinson hooks up with adrian cannon who catches the ball near the first down marker. instead of asking for rev

virginia was the nation in its own eyes and in the eyes of many others. but by 1815, 1820 that was no longer true. and virginia and the other southerners see themselves as a beleaguered minority, even though they are in control, still in control of the national government. now all of these demographic commercial changes could not help but affect every aspect of american life. and i want to just touch on some of them to give you some of the of what i think was happening in this period. politics first of all became democratized as more americans gain the right to vote. but it isn't just the right to vote. columnist had two thirds of white american males could vote, but now it's different. is not only the right to vote is extended, but the interest in voting has been expanded. is entering the aristocratic world of the founding fathers in which these stood for election, that's the term they use, was largely replaced by a very different democratic world, erected by the plea modern world. even my 1810, recognizably modern world of competing professional politic

identify yourself. >> i am from the university of virginia. i was struck by the professors comment about how regime change can be achieved. even in the context of eastern europe, did we see regime change? presumably, it can be achieved from the outside. is this a reverse of the soviet attempt in 1947 or the successful results of the external efforts at regime change in the late 1980's? not to put the whole burden on the soviet union. if we look at the american cia's help in putting the shah into power in iran, that was a successful regime change. then there was a reversal of that creating problems with an anti-american regime in iran 30 years later, after the original regime change success. that was one of the things that the cia was proudest of in the 1950's. even beyond that, do we want regime change or regime reform? do we want specific results? there are certain things we want like the elimination of poverty or effective governedance? or do we necessarily need the elections that are so easy and effective political structures? what would we

host: next up is our line for independence from springfield, virginia. caller: i want to ask about the right wing politicians like dick arfmemey and bill like -- and te like -- are they considered homegrown terrorism? i'm talking about undermining the president of the united states. they undermine him with their rhetoric they accuse him of being a socialist and accuse him of not being born in the united states. they are undermining the president of the united states that was just elected with an overwhelming majority. i think that those are homegrown terrorists. thehost: what about people who y they are expressing their first amendment right to speech? caller: they say that but it is not homegrown braylon it is all manipulated by the republican party. that is where the difference comes in. guest: i think it would take a different from your point of view. i do not do those people or dissent from the democratic party or the republican party critical of the president or critical of the republicans as anything but an expression of the first amendment. i am t

he is in centerville, virginia. he was a reporter from "the new york times." he had a front-page story that he "had enacted a journalistic fraud." they said it was of a trail of trust. -- a betrayal of trust. it said that he mislead readers. he fabricated comment. he concocted scenes. he selected from across -- photographs the been the more he had not. they found that the 73 stories he had written, 36 had potential problems. they took this very hard. they ran more than 7000 words. by comparison, when the paper finally recognized it covered a weapon to mass destruction the and the knowledge mitterand 1100 words. it was published on -- ran -- the acknowledgement ran the 1100 words. it was published. they were forced to resign. to some observers, it looked like the affair was a tire that was a being handled recklessly. he who longed to matter ended up marrying in ways he had not anticipating. that was them. i read a profile of his reemergence. we got in touch. here we are. perhaps now he has a chance to matter in different ways. i'm here neither to praise him or

they reversed it, virginia tech out. got the slash to the rim. >> joe: tech feels that way to get into position and draw the charge. temple getting the chance here but used the shot clock in doing so. and worth a. we're at the 1:24 mark. it will go temple's way. >> michael: the season high against delaware in a temple win. and tomorrow night in the final day of the event. temful will take on st. john's. continuing a big second half he drills the 3. but it will come in a say most disa-pbt ting offensive performance for the club. inside the final minute of this one. temple has done the job on the defensivend. >> joe: delaney with 30 of the 48. a tough way to play. >> michael: virginia tech in the acc is, you know, they're not. they're going to have to share the wealth a bit and get more involved to go through the rigors of the acc season. >> joe: keep jeff down and get a double-double out of him. >> michael: and fernandez let's take a look at the play of the night. watch this beautiful from fernandez for the crush. that ou

ep joy virginia tech and temple. we get to the hoop here. and virginia tech in the home whites. delaney going to initiate the offense. remember they were in the a-10 together for five seasons. and that's delaney jumper will trop on the first offensive look for virginia tech. >> the hokies didn't beat temple in the meetings between the two. they shared space. the all-time series 9-1 favorite. including a victory in the ncaa tournament. >> michael: williams getting the start for michael eric and williams will launch. and 3. >> that's what he does. he is -- he is a power forward defensively but offensively, he floats around the perimeter and shoots flatfooted 3s. he was key in the run through the atlantic ten tournament. >> michael: that shoot around today, that's what we were being told. that came up short. guz man to the offensive end. and brooks on his first. a sophomore out of argentina. what are the skis for this. >> joel: virginia tech has two guys and they have to produce in trouble figures. it is a team that is 16th in the country early on in forcing turnovers. temple, on t

. >> this year's tree is a douglas fir from west virginia. here's a look at its arrival at the north portico. [indistinguishable conversations] the >> tonight on c-span, former new york times reporter jason blair on journalism ethics. also a discussion of u.s. troops in afghanistan with freelance journalist david axe. and another chance to see "the white house: inside of america's most famous home." but first, jason blair talks about the scandal he was involved in. this is one hour and 25 minutes. >> welcome to the 48 institute on ethics in journalism in washington. my name is edward, i hold the ninth chair. what happens in this auditorium will be happening for the next hour or hour and a half. and it is the public part of a much larger and age it rigid arduous educational undertaking. -- much larger and arduous educational undertaking. students from our ethics class have joined with a distinguished group of journalists and academics to wrangle over the rights and wrongs of cases. that seminar takes up about seven hours. i know i can hear you

what i would say is, look at virginia. bob macdonald reached over, not by moderating his principles, but by saying that his principles were not only good for saying, no. he says he wants to grow the economy, but he just wants us to do it, not washington. there is a positive, republican agenda out there. we will see more of that in 2010. >> when i first opted to propose the question, this was slightly more off-base. i want to bring up the idea. i came down here from boston, where republican was a dirty word. not because of the belief system but the reputation. my question is how much opinion is placed in the word, republican or democrat. and how much is in the ideology. how much will this affect things over the last year? how much has that changed? >> it is an interesting attachment to the word republican, as there is to the word liberal. both of them have baggage right now. by a majority of two to one, people consider themselves republicans over liberal. the job will be to reattach conservative to the sound of democrat. >>

you will pursue lee's army in northern virginia -- even if it takes all summer. pretty good strategy. and not relevant for this area. well, some strategists it longer to execute than others. the point is i think in our system in particular -- and i think it has gotten harder and harder and harder over the years since the end of the second world war because the bureaucracies have become bigger, there are more of them, there are more players at the table, and therefore translating a president's intent for the commander in chief's intent, in strategic terms, into actual policies become harder and harder. i certainly agree -- and i think phillip and bob zoellick said this as well -- anything that is run through the interagency bound not to come out as a strategy but stapling together of different wish lists. but i think there is some utility in having reduced in some place and very short statement of what it is they are trying to accomplish as a demonstration, what should our objectives date, what are the priorities and how should we try to go about making those choi

any name is joseph, i'm a senior at virginia wesleyan in norfolk, virginia. i was -- this question is for dr. wiker and dr. edwards. i took a class my junior year, and one of my favorite authors that i used to quote although liberal was father benedict row shell. he's from new york and the bronx, and he writes a lot of books. i was in a class of 30, i was the only one defending terry shy slow. my question was when i was in that class, i felt so outnumbered, and i didn't know what to do. and my question is, do you think when we have a class that challenges us that it would be good to take out quotes maybe and have, like, a list of talking points that would help us? because i'm a senior now, so it's like one more year and i'm done, but i felt that if i had some advice to really help me in really battling that, it would have helped me. so if i could give any light to that, thank you. [inaudible conversations] >> oh, okay. >> yeah. >> it's -- i went to vanderbilt, and it was awful. [laughter] but i learned a lot about how it is that you function in sort of the in

tyler is from virginia. he gets a virginia and maybe some of those other voters in the south. but tyler is essentially a democrat, not a whig like harrison, and he switches parties so that he can run with harrison. harrison dies and a tyler becomes president. the whig party in congress, headed by henry clay, is extremely upset. they tried to prevent thomas -- they try to prevent tyler from becoming president and almost established a parliamentary system in congress. tyler would not allow that, making it clear that he is president and congress will accept that. you also had the difficulty with lincoln and andrew johnson. lincoln -- again, an assumption made here because of our thoughts about lincoln and now -- it is assumed that he was exceedingly popular in the north. but this is not true in 1864. it was seen as a very close election, lincol takes a democrat unionist, andrew johnson of tennessee, to help him get the presidency. when johnson becomes president, you have a dreadful conflict between the johnson and the congress, because his policies are not republican. the republi

carla, roanoke, virginia. you're on with temple grandin >> caller: thank you so much for taking my call and it's a pleasure to talk to you an honor and a pleasure. i have actually two questions and if you want to take them separately that's fine. i have a 14-year-old son with asperger's and sensory processing disorder. and basically he does fairly well academically. however, he has a real problem with reading comprehension with regards to the abstract or, you know, idioms or anything that's innuendo of that nature. do you have any recommendations regarding how we might be able to help him understand, you know, the subtle nuances of reading so they expect more than thomas the tank engine and the reading is getting more difficult. and my second question is how do you feel about faith and god and do you believe in -- do you believe autistic children have any concept of that. >> carla, thank you. >> i'll start with the reading comprehension. first of all, start with real concrete things. okay, if there's a story a

for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia rise? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without, the gentleman is recognized. mr. cantor: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise to speak about the majority's move to overhaul our health care system this week. and from what i can see, mr. speaker, the version of health care reform that this majority is bringing forward is a horrible, horrible step. the bill is something unseen before. it's a $1 trillion attempt to overhaul the system we know with one that we don't. mr. speaker, the republicans will stand united against this bill. mr. speaker, and we'll do so because, one, the american people have spoken out and they see that this is an extreme attempt to try and address what's really wrong with our system and it doesn't match what the mainstream commonsense american wants. number two, mr. speaker, contrary to the suggestions on the other side, we do have a better way. we will be offering our republican plan. and that p

what i would say is, look at virginia. bob macdonald reached over, not by moderating his principles, but by saying that his principles were not only good for saying, no. he says he wants to grow the economy, but he just wants us to do it, not washington. there is a positive, republican agenda out there. we will see more of that in 2010. >> when i first opted to propose the question, this was slightly more off-base. i want to bring up the idea. i came down here from boston, where republican was a dirty word. not because of the belief system but the reputation. my question is how much opinion is placed in the word, republican or democrat. and how much is in the ideology. how much will this affect things over the last year? how much has that changed? >> it is an interesting attachment to the word republican, as there is to the word liberal. both of them have baggage right now. by a majority of two to one, people consider themselves republicans over liberal. the job will be to reattach conservative to the sound of democrat. >>

virginia's u.s. senator james m. mason and a great grandson of mason of gunston hall, the venerated declaration of rights. green was an attorney of obvious ability when later he became a justice of the west virginia supreme court of appeals and they think such provided in this courtroom in the west virginia supreme court of appeals held its sessions here. the overriding problem with the court-appointed attorneys was simply that brown did not choose them to represent in and he had no confidence in them. shortly after he was captured, brown wrote letters to ohio and massachusetts. in both of which states he had formerly lived, asking attorneys there to come to charlestown to represent him as codefendants. but by the time the attorneys were able to respond to brown's letters, the trial that artie begun in charlestown without him. the three attorneys who came to charlestown response to brown's letters were hiram griswold from ohio, samuel chilton from washington d.c. and george white from washington and

the bitter struggle as to which town would be the county seat was decided by the west virginia supreme court in july of 1871 and a disappointed shepherdstown almost succeeded from the county. [laughter] the ruined courthouse would now be reconstructed area it would be bigger, stronger, taller, the bell tower was increased fantastically inside and the clock was added. great very well partitioned the ground floors into offices. the exterior walls, windows, and columns were raised higher and to create a for a brand-new courthouse -- courtroom upstairs. basically house of the courtroom, the position of the judge, jury box, the well, enclosed with feeling, similar to that in which john brown was tried. a gigantic chandelier was put in for evening sessions. a balcony was added which was referred to as the ladies listening gallery, this seems an awful lot like a gen-probe. for 40 years, from 1873 until 1912, this courtroom would be the home -- one of the homes of the west virginia supreme court of appeals. in its early days are supreme court with a circuit riding court. during its routines ar

[laughter] >> she got from pakistan to virginia beach very quickly. it is capitalism married to democracy and said that as one goes so goes the other? >> i think it is. one of the biggest problems in the last 18 or 20 years is that because the to the run together, democracy has gotten into trouble. i think trade is a great thing. i think it has done a lot for the stability of the world. the free-trade agreement that we cut our great for the corporations. one of the most chilling things that happened to me in my race for president if i went to a foreign country to give a speech. flights leave at all hours. i was at the airport at 2:00 in the morning. we started singing things a lot of things you would not say during regular social hours. he wanted to know why americans but democracy was so great. this is a country where we had exchange urban poverty for rural poverty. they have not seen any benefit from free trade. they thought capitalism did not work. they thought democracy did not work. but it to capitalism for a second. -- let's get to capitalism fo

sunday, two programs on democracy and the internet, including the university of virginia panel. facebook founder chris hughes on how social networking is changing the political process. this holiday weekend on c-span. >> thanksgiving weekend on c- span, american icons, three nights of original documentaries on the icon mccombs of the three branches of the american government, beginning tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern. the supreme court. then, friday at 8:00 p.m. eastern, inside america's most famous home, the white house. our visit shows the grand public places as well as those rarely seen spaces. saturday at 8:00, the capital, the history, art and architecture of one of america's most symbolic structures. american icons, three memorable nights, starting tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. the dvd set is $24.95. you can order it online. >> now, remarks from actor and recording artist ludacris on the importance of community service and what his organization is doing to help youths in need. he spoke last month for an hour. >>>> good afternoon and welcomeo the national press club.

we still don't have the services we need here in west virginia. we live in a pretty productive city. but i have hired attorneys to try to protect my son. they sent him away for 60 days. put him on drugs. as far as i'm concerned, he's worse now than he was when we had him on omega 3 supplements and kept him on the schedule. even to the weekend when the schedule changes from school to the weekend, he's only up until 1:30 now. he just goes off. and the pass two weeks, he's declined. so severely, my husband is out walking with him now. he's great in the woods. and he's a great athlete. wonderful baseball player. but i would consider him more asperger when he was younger. now he can barely write, he can barely stick with anything. we just don't know what the next step is. i've even looked into a special residential place. >> you can get people loaded up on too many of the drugs, he is a zombie. if he can't write. did he write before, now he can't, you need to look at all of the drugs. he maybe on all of the wrong stuff. i have found in traveling around

here is what i would say -- what i would say is look at virginia. bob macdonald, shoots a conservative fellow reached across the middle. and- -- a very conservative fellow reached across the middle. i want you to have the choices, not washington. there is a positive republican agenda out there. i think you are going to see more of it in 2010. >> when i propose the question i thought it would be more off base. i wanted to bring up the idea, i came down here from boston corp. the republican was a dirty word -- i came down here from boston where is the republican was a dirty word. how much of the voters' opinion is placed in the word republican or democrat and how much is an ideological ideas? to cut that is a great question. -- >> that is a great question. there are interesting attachments to the word republican and liberal. both have baggage right now. people consider themselves conservative over a liberal. as part of the republican job in the next cycle to be reattaching the word conservative to republican. the go there is simplicity to the argument

sunday, two programs on democracy and the internet, including the university of virginia powell on how the political process has been affected by the internet. the facebook founder will talk about how networking is changing the political process. this holiday weekend on c-span. >> thanksgiving week and on c- span, american icons, three nights of cspan original documentaries on the iconic homes of the three branches of american government beginning tonight at 8:00, eastern part of the supreme court reveals the building through the eyes of supreme court justices. friday at 8:00 p.m., the white house, inside america's most famous home, be on the bill that ropes. will show the grand public places as well as the rarely- seen places. saturday at 8:00 p.m., the capital, the history, art, and architecture of one of america's most symbolic structures. american icons, three memorable nights starting tonight at 8:00 on c-span. get your own copy of american icons, a three-disc dvd said. it is $24.95 plus shipping and handling. order online. movie director steven -- steven spielberg received the li

of the commonwealth of virginia. that's all there is to it. and brown said, well, he department care particularly one way or the other, so he let them do it. >> how about his individual constitution? >> it was introduced in evidence in the trial, and portions of it were read to the jury. >> [inaudible] >> yes, uh-huh. yes, sir. >> [inaudible] tried in federal court, but if he'd been tried in federal court, the evidence, would he still have been convicted and hung? >> yes, i think he would have been. >> thank you. >> oh, that satisfies you? [laughter] well, i think he would have been. he was -- he broke the law. i mean, he broke the law in a violent way. you break the law in a violent way, they don't say go home and don't do it again. they, in those days they strung you up and hanged you, and i think that would have happened. but it would have been a much different trial in many respects. one, one important difference would be that the aggrieved party in that case would have been the united states of america. seeking

armory and arsenal in harpers ferry, west virginia. he went to trial after his capture and was hanged in charlestown, west region, on december 2nd, 1859. brian begin to discuss is the trial from the courthouse where it took place in charles town, west virginia. [applause] >> good evening and welcome to the court house in jefferson county. before i begin any remarks i would like to notice that the court house has just now reached the final stage of what has been six months of renovation. kurt davis who is with the county here, capital improvement, has been shepherding this project along and this is the first meeting of any nature we have had in the new refurbished courtroom. we are very proud of it and all the work. why don't you raise your hand? [applause] before i introduce tonight's speaker i have been asked to give some background about the court house itself. two years after jefferson county was created, the first courthouse was built on this spot on land donated by george washington's younger brother charles. was a modest structur

the state of virginia has made substantial progress. the state of maryland has made substantial progress. again, these are states where you see all kids going up, but the rate stops for latino and african-american kids, which is exactly what we want to see. everybody gaining, but kids that are behind gaining faster. [inaudible] >> i think there are a combination of approaches, but one of them that is important is providing lots more guidance to teachers about what to teach. one of the big worries that johnson and many other have is are teachers just teaching to the test? what we are finding is that when districts and states provide more help to teachers, more guidance about how to teach the standards, more christmas home run support, more lessons, units and assignments they can draw on, that helps teachers aim hirer in bringing kids who are behind up. is the expectations over time just get watered down. and so, the districts and states that are actually making more progress or confronting the issue directly by providing teachers help in

he has excited a lot of fans and my home town of roanoke, virginia. and then playing for the new york giants. i would like to ask dr. maroon, as a team physician and maybe doctors bailes as well. this problem at the nfl level, that you have a multi-billion dollar industry. players with multi-million dollar contracts. fans that pay hundreds of dollars for a ticket to see the game. the hundreds of millions that watch it on tv. we all know what an advertisement goes for 30 seconds on the super bowl. there are lots of resources available to address this. is the risk reduced by that, or is it just as great because, while you have more equipment and better positions on the ground, -- physicians on the ground, you have stronger, faster, more aggressive -- you are playing at the top of this game. is that more likely to result in those kinds of concussions? or is the risk of greater for high-school and college teams that don't have those same resources, especially at the high school level? they are faced with making a different set of decisions. is the problem

i'm from west virginia and in the eastern panhandle there's a single-payer group in west virginia and there are literally scores of these groups and the list a lot of them at the resourced page at single-payer action.org. a lot of it is spontaneous grassroots. their national organizations. as mikuak said we are coming together. the first thing would be to defeat this democratic bill and to have a single-payer advocates in the house and senate in the lead on defeating the bill so for the second round we have a leg up on the debate and not just let the republicans take charge in the defeated the bill. last question. >> back to the whole process thing, before the teabagger thing happen in august as you noted that the beginning of the news conference, a bunch of you were arrested at those hearings and what was a mistake to step back from that? the illusion that there is a settlement made. >> that was just a legal settlement and it was a legal settlement and it was pretty much a plea agreement with part of the condition of the plea, we did not plead guilty, but we said we would not protest

you saw that in virginia this last cycle. the media has a stronger role to play in terms of being a referee. they need to let the public know what is a fact. >> remember when the mccain campaign said that barack obama called sarah palin and take? it was the media that shut that fight down. >> i am a recovering journalist. there was no reason for three days of cable tv talk shows to be talking about it. >> it was the campaign talking about it and the media replayed what obama said and what the comment was. >> don't you think that if cable had ignored that silly little thing, it would have died down? >> i think that these commercials are written for cable. edu a small one and you hope that cable expands it. -- you do a small one and you hope that cable expands that. the accelerate the fight. in some respects, the media is willing. in other respects, that issue i distinctly recall the media shutting it down. >> we would have more fun if they accelerated the fight over substance. coverage is there and we can get our coverage out

perhaps we found some this election tuesday in virginia. i am sure we will find more. it may take a cycle or two to get the new generation of republicans out there. all of a sudden we're seeing a lot of republicans encouraged to run, a lot of new candidates as a result of tuesday's election. >> what lesson do you thought of bob macdonald's victory? beside a big shift among independents. do you need to run to the center to be successful republican? >> guest: yes that are two ways of doing that. the lessons of the past election, the democrats are in this wonderful place where when you ask why they're going to win in 2010, because the republicans are a mess, they are divided and eating their own, i have told that story. usually when you tell that story, that is a bad place. the republicans are very unified at this point. we are unified, fiscal issues, a big umbrella. you saw it in congress when voted against the stimulus and in places like florida where the fellow out of the mainstream is one guy who happens to be the governor. every other republican in the state doesn't

host: our last call for you is from springfield, virginia, democrats line. caller: good morning, susan, thanks for susp -- thanks for c-span. dp, i am so excited to see you. guest: this this -- is this portia? caller: it is. senator pryor was the best boss i ever had. guest: she was out or were the director -- our worthy director of staff. she is a wonderful arkansas product and i am happy we can reconnect. caller: happy thanksgiving to you and your family. i am so glad to see you. host: are you still working on capitol hill? caller: i am not i have not worked on capitol hill for quite awhile now. but senator pryor give me my start in my career but i am very grateful to him. host: what would your assessment be of today's climate versus when you serve? caller: it is so different. actually saddens me quite a bit. in my days -- i am from the old days -- it was a different atmosphere. much more supportive of each other, much more bipartisan. it is very sad to see how things have changed. host: thank you for your call, portia. i am sure the senator appreciates it

>> i got it in my favorite store in richmond, virginia. >> [inaudible] >> not recently. thank you. >> use of the politicians talking to the press there. you are one of the reporters standing behind the rope. what sort of questions are they ask when they come into the white house? >> they are soft ball questions. they are about what you are wearing. what you want to talk about tonight? for instance, we asked: paul that -- colin powell that, who was he wanted to meet? he said he was looking for to keep eating. this is the time to have fun and mix and mingle. we asked marty nesbit, obama's best friend from chicago. people come. in a way, in all of washington, there is a little bit of glad- handing and back? -- back-slapping. >> a fashion as part of the evening, and many people will be focusing on what the first lady is wearing. who design her dress, and why -- what goes into choosing the dress for the first lady? is she trying to send a message? >> she is trying to send a message. they do not always like to talk about fashion and how she makes these choices, but this is dip

i think he saw that in virginia this last cycle. but i think the media does have a strong role to play in terms of being a referee. pointing out when facts are not correct or when things are not correct, let the people know about it. but the public know that this is an unfair attack. here are the real facts of what you're talking about. >> remember mccain said barack obama called sarah palin a pig. then they had a three day fight over lipstick on a pig. it was really the media that shut that fight them. >> i am a recovering journalists. but there was no reason for three days of cable tv talk shows to be talking about those comments. >> the media kept replaying what obama said and what the palin comment was. >> but they don't think that if cable had ignored that silly little thing that it would have died down? >> i think these commercials are written for cable. you do a small by and you hope the cable expands it. >> my point exactly. >> but in many respects, the campaigns are on the phone with the media all the time. they are acceler

host: west virginia, you were on witare on with lewis morris. good morning. caller: good morning. i was reading an interview with malcolm sparrow. guest: i have a signed copy of it. caller: in this interview, he said that you folks estimate 3% is fraud, which is $60 billion. he thinks it could be as high as 30%, or 20%, which could be $600 billion in fraud. he said we do not know how much is being lost. we should know. the government knows how to measure it, but it is avoiding doing it. the news would be too bad. he goes into detail exactly how you are refusing to measure the exact profit. i am sure you know this argument. guest: i am familiar with the argument. i think there are some assumptions teammate which we do not share. first, it has got to be recognized that successful frauds, by the very nature, are undetected. i'm not sure we will ever know the full extent of fraud. i do agree it is possible that the fraud is far more extensive than we think. one of his point is that a very clever fraud scheme has the appearance that everything is regular, so it is harder to detect. i d

jay rockefeller of west virginia chairs the commerce and transportation committee. this is one hour and 35 minutes. >> this social event will come to order. and i'm going to give my opening statement, and then the ranking member, kay bailey hutchison will do the same. and then we'll call on an interesting very successful, beginning a political person from the state of new york i think. the honorable charles -- yes. thank you so much. and i needed that. i needed that a law. okay. at this very moment right now, 11 percent of all drivers on the road are holding an electronic device. they are calling home on their cell phone or they're reading text from a friend. or they are sending an e-mail to their office on their blackberry. or they are looking up directions with a gps system. that amounts to, please note, 812,000 distracted voters at any given moment. and those 812,000 drivers are not focus on the road. they are focused on their devices. and in this is much danger. they are putting their own lives at risk. that is their right. they are putting their passengers lies

we will go on to sterling, virginia. caller: i am wondering why it took him so long to impose a war tax we have had a war tax on every war since the civil war of 1%, and as soon as the war was over with, we took the tax away. we are in debt to china and other countries because we are borrowing from them to pay for the war in afghanistan and the war of choice in iraq. i want to know why the bush administration did not impose a 1% tax on everybody across the board and we would have the revenue to finance these wars, the unjust war in iraq and the war that we needed to do in afghanistan. host: thanks. we will go to nancy in green bay, wisconsin. we are asking taxes, soaking the rich, the editorial in "the financial times." good morning, nancy. caller: good morning. i hope my voice is not shake too much. i am kind of nervous. for the lady who just called, there has never been a tax that was repealed. never. it stays, just like all taxes, whether it is a war tax or whatever. i'm going to become about our congressmen in wiscon

. >> and senior member of the judiciary committee from virginia, bob goodlat. scry want to take the opportunity to welcome ticky barber, a star of the giants now retired who hails from my hometown of roanoke, virginia and who will be testifying on the second panel i believe and can share a lot with us. he and his brother rondy not only were great stars in the nfl but also, at the university of virginia and -- prior to that, in -- in the city of roanoke in -- in football played there. and -- and in high school. and so they could share this perspective with us, at each level of competition. and i also -- want to note that the great work that he has done in promoting football and -- recreation and athletics in general. he and his brother have -- have sponsored camps and other activities and i have seen first hand their great passion for -- for our young people. and i also want to associate myself with the remarks of the gentleman from california and -- as well, the ranking member. i share the concern about some of the practices that take place in football and i th

he said the president is always welcome at the commonwealth of virginia. there has to be a personal grace note that the republican caucus has lost. he is the president. he is a figure that has -- demands our respect and he is well-liked and we need to do a better job as a party to separate -- and separate the differences of opinion about policy compared to how we speak to hiabout him as a person. there are people in our caucus who do not -- are not able to bridge that note. >> we spent time thinking about this but we will try to be concise. i would say to the republican caucus that i know lee atwater said when your opponent is busy destroying himself, do not interfere. do not think that your opponents failures and weaknesses are your success. if everyone took a step back in line you somehow step forward. believing that is a prescription for permanent minority status. people want a society that works. people want solutions and leaders to a better -- and lead us to a better place. i would say to republicans, it is jobs and economic growth, it is all that. yo

he said the president is always welcome at the commonwealth of virginia. there has to be a personal grace note that the republican caucus has lost. he is the president. he is a figure that has -- demands our respect and he is well-liked and we need to do a better job as a party to separate -- and separate the differences of opinion about policy compared to how we speak to hiabout him as a person. there are people in our caucus who do not -- are not able to bridge that note. >> we spent time thinking about this but we will try to be concise. i would say to the republican caucus that i know lee atwater said when your opponent is busy destroying himself, do not interfere. do not think that your opponents failures and weaknesses are your success. if everyone took a step back in line you somehow step forward. believing that is a prescription for permanent minority status. people want a society that works. people want solutions and leaders to a better -- and lead us to a better place. i would say to republicans, it is jobs and economic growth, it is all that. yo