David Corn’s ‘Showdown’ with Obama’s GOP critics

>>> one of the favorite guests of this broadcast has a new book out today and we thought that was reason enough to match up some of his greatest hits on our broadcast. a cornucopia of david kosh.

>> i don't buy bread but i know lots of owners of agribusinesses. and newt gingrich with his grand i don't think at this becomes even large he. he does look like the ned beaty character. the dirty harry type of moment when he would say do you feel lucky, punk? i think the obama . it is not just an open book . it is an open sewer. squealing like a pick.

>> stop! i'm sorry. even watching it is too much for me. david corn is back. this new book is called "showdown" the inside story of how obama fought back against boehner , cantor and the tea party . i've read it. it is fascinating. one of the things i took away was a very different impression of the president. we keep being told he is aloof, cautious, like a lecturer to some extent. in this book you describe him as something of a rick taker. how?

>> i think to begin with, i think the president is a very complex fellow and has a lot of facets to his personality. it is very easy given any media narrative to focus on one at the expense of others. if you look at thing like the bin laden raid is the best example. the decision to go to war in libya. these are instances when he overruled the advice, or went over it from joe biden , bob gates and other top national security people to do something that was rather risky.

>> it wasn't just in foreign policy . you point out that on the grand debate, the grand bargain debate with boehner , the president was being advised not to go so far. yet again he was prepared to take risks.

>> he is a fellow prepared to take ricks after a certain amount of due diligence. maybe that's the lawyer training in him. and he has a very long and steady and calm strategic overview of what he's doing. so you know, people ask me, what was the big surprise in doing this book? this book looks at a particular period of the white house . from the mid-term elections in 2010 , a low point to the start of this year when he sort of got h his groove back. i saw the president who doesn't get buffetted by the cable debates of the nanosecond or the political crises of the moment. but sort of picks a course and has an internal fortitude, a steadiness about that. but stick to that course. maybe we should do this, maybe we should do that, others say.

>> fox news are a little upset with you, as you know. you make a claim that in a meeting with a labor official, fox news was blamed for pushing the mythology that the president is a muslim. brett by aer has said that no fox hoeft has ever called him a muslim. asking islam or isn't he? about the president? what is your reaction to the fox news condemnation of your text?

>> while they're reacting to obama , they're not condemning me. i have the notes from the meeting. no one has said this didn't happen. this is in december 20 , 2010 . it was a nightmare for the democrats.

>> he was sort of complaining about the political culture and saying that it has driven to the right by fox news. where people, he says, fed by fox news. you're 24/7 that obama is a muslim. he was not saying that fox news 24/7 says obama is a muslim but that's how fox took it. i went back and did the research this morning. i can tweet this out. david corn dc after the show so people can see the link. there are plenty of instances where people on fox either defended the view that he was a muslim, suggested that he was a muslim. and you had time where brett bair. i like brett . i think he is one of the better reporters at fox news. when he and others have validated or explained why people believe this in a way to sort of advance the notion, rather than shoot it down as being nonsense. so i think brett is on the wrong side of this debate.

>> one of the things that we've repeatedly suggested on this broadcast is that eric cantor is machiavellian behind speaker boehner . in the book you talk about that discussion where boehner according to your book was being threatened by cantor with a rebellion.

>> he walked out with the reduction plan quite. the second time has been written about. even the past few days. the first time what happened was they were about if they didn't come one all the revenues that they promised, they would have to cut back on the bush tax cuts for the wealthy. as that was happening, friends of boehner 's in the house, house moderates, moderate republicans, went to boehner . had a meeting with him and said, do you know what? eric cantor is running around town, our caucus, and saying you're going rhino. republican in name only. the worst insult you can hurl at a republican conservative. they said you're too far over the tims of your skis. if you keep going down this path, he will be there to lead a mutiny against you. what did boehner do? he dropped all talks with the president and bolted.

>> that shows you the power of eric cabotor, also known as machiavellian. the book is called "showdown" and it is out in book stores today. thank you.