McCain praises Obama

>>> now let's get some response from our panel on these stories. john mccain has written an article praising president obama 's memorial speech and calling for more respect and civility in politics. but i think that he flip-flops a lot, doesn't he? what do you think? we'll ask the panel that.

>>> and majority leader eric cantor has come out in support of mixing up the seating at this year's state of the union . not bad, huh? tonight, stephanie miller , nationally syndicated radio talk show host is with us and amy holmes , nationally syndicated radio talk show host. all right here we go. john mccain , stephanie, we know he's never flip-flopped before. do you think that he'll flip this time or what do you think?

>> well, i got to give him credit for this one, ed, because he did what exactly the point that you're trying to make in this last segment what sarah palin did not do. he took his own responsibility for being part of this climate because he's engaged in some pretty nasty rhetoric since he's lost the election and he took responsibility for that. sarah palin , as you say, has not.

>> amy ?

>> well, actually if you look at john mccain during the campaign, he took an opportunity when barack obama became the first african-american nominee of a major political party for president of the united states to congratulate him, to say this was an important moment in america, that he was proud of his fellow americans, and you know what, now the bow is on and may the best man win. we saw that graciousness during the campaign. we've also seen from john mccain as a legislator, that he's reached across the aisle to the chagrin of a lot of conservatives and republicans. when he did mccain-feingold, when he did the tobacco deal.

>> i don't disagree on with that, amy .

>> be willing to be a statesman, reach across the aisle. work with the other side.

>> amy , i can't wait for that statesmanship. i can't wait for that statesmanship because that means we won't have as many filibusters in this next session of the congress as we did in the last one.

>> we already saw it with this idea of mixing up the state of the union seating. john mccain came out and said that he was for it.

>> that was a good democratic idea and i'm glad he did, but can john mccain be trusted, amy ? i mean, he flip-flops on so much stuff. do you think he's genuine when he comes out on the heels of all of this, you know, obstruction that's been going on in the last session of congress? so you think he can be trusted with this letter and with this op-ed, right.

>> i think that he can and i think that it's important top senator mccain and to his own self-identity, the way that he wanted to be remembered as a united states senator , it's been a part his career. it's been part of his legislative history and as a mentioned it was even part of the campaign in 2008 when you know stakes are at their very highest.

>> 2009 and 2010 , what do you think, stephanie?

>> well, he also visit onned sarah palin on us. let's not thank him for that. and in that op-ed he defends sarah palin and i agree with you, ed. no defending someone who comes out on the day of mourning when the president is trying to unite us and further divides us and smears another entire group of people doing it. there is no excuse for her. there really isn't. she has no place. if she wants to be on coulter, fine, but she has no place of leadership in in thcountry in my opinion.

>> i've been to a few state of the unions and there's a few things that happen that are not on camera. boisterous and thunderous applause. it was certainly happening under president bush . and president obama when he gave his state of the union , obviously there was a great deal of enthusiasm in the chamber. and it was also very contentious. we -- amy , do you think that mixing the seating up. making it bipartisan seating will have any effect on the demeanor of the chamber, what do you think?

>> i think that that's really an interesting question and if you notice the biggest proponents of this, at least until eric can't ior came out and said that he'd be open to it, we're democrats, and i think that's because they wanted to dilute the image that they got a shellacking in november. and they didn't want the public to see how much their numbers are diminished and how much the other side of the aisle has grown.

>> please, amy .

>> but here in asking the question about demeanor.

>> please.

>> if people are mixed up it does nake a lot harder to stand up and applaud when someone is sitting down next to you. a lot to do on the content of the own president's --

>> that's really cynical, amy .

>> cynicism in politics. cynicism in washington, d.c., of course.

>> oh please.

>> i love the idea and i hope that someone holds john boehner on their lap because he'll probably cry and need comforting.

>> stephanie miller , amy holmes , thanks.