dr. james peterson joins me next. >>> welcome back to "the ed show." chris rock tweeted this about the fourth of july. happy white people's independence day. the slaves weren't free but i'm sure they enjoyed fireworks. here's what michelle malkin had to say about it. >> all the people of color around the world who want to get into this country, i think that's who chris rock needs to talk to. not that we whitewash our history, but yesterday was a day to celebrate the opportunity, the freedom, the uniqueness and exceptionalism of our country. and these people in hollywood refuse to see it even though they're the greatest beneficiaries. >> curious case of "our" from miss malkin. in 1852 franklin douglas gave -- at the outset he prassed the founding fathers. they were statesmen pate t yos and heroes. and i will unite with you to honor their memory. but later in the same speech, he addressed the reality of his time. i say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. i am not included within the pale of this anniversary. it only measures the distance bet

joining me is dr. james peterson from lehigh university. good to see you. look. didn't douglass strike right at the heart of this? we celebrate america. >> this speech is one of the classic speeches in american history. i would encourage viewers to read its to better appreciate the irony rock is getting at in the tweet. this is why we love twitter too. these remarks can be sort of realized about deep issues in this case the irony of black folks celebrating independence day. it's not we don't celebrate it. it's we also have to commemorate the fact our ancestors had to transcend violence and brutality and oppression for years to tap into what's called the american dream. >> perhaps if the sub bliem of douglass. here's cain on the chris rock tweet. >> i think it was chris rock who made fun of the fact, well, it might be independence day but the slaves weren't free then. look at it this way. if america had not become independent, slaves might still be slaves. america's ability to overcome those things that it needed to overcome is one of the greatest attributes of th

and dr. james peterson is a contributor to the greo.com. welcome to you both. toure, conservatives here and around the world don't seem to like mitt romney. here is the headline in the daily mail. they've branded him as, quote, devoid of charm, offensive, and a wazzock. so for those of you who don't know, dictionary.com defines wazzock as a foolish or annoying person. toure, i ask you, is mitt romney a wazzock? >> is it a wazz-ack or a wazzock? i would put a longer oh on that. the rank and file, part of why the primary took so long. and the chattering class elite conservatives are not in love with him, are quick to sort of jump on his back from the rupert murdoch tweet to krauthammer, they're constantly ready to criticize him because this is not a guy who they are in love with. and i think secretly they would like to see him lose and put up somebody who they love in 2016, because they'd be stuck with him for at least four years and they would be grumbling. but how can they be grumbling when it's their guy. this london trip is not making any of them. >> it's bee

james peterson, an associate professor, good afternoon to all of you. jared, if i can start with you. can you help us understand these 501 c4s? they're what allow corporations and billionaires to donate money with complete secrecy because the the tax code says groups like karl rove's cross roads gps are social welfare organizations. that's ridiculous, isn't it? >> it is. that social welfare becomes political war far awfully quick. quite hard to come up with these examples because you're right, the disclosure is minimal. but what examples we have are phony political ads for example. ginned up to character assassinate various people running for office. i've worked for non-profit organizations, many of which are dedicated to -- >> education. indeed. >> information on education, poverty, things like that. >> did they spend 25 million hammering a candidate? >> never in my career has anything like that happened. >> karen, the "huffington post" is now reporting that karl rove was the featured speaker at a luncheon hosted by tag romney's private equity firm. ro

james peterson responds tonight. >> i'm talking about a period of time where black people had no time. talking about the 1600s to about 1964. >>> president obama brought his re-election campaign to

james peterson and associate professor at lehigh university. we heard both the messages were fairly religious and very personal and dana, when have you heard of this before where two presidential campaigns stopped their activities because of perhaps some political fall that may have happened should they continue? >> it happens from time to time, richard. during the 2004 campaign when ronald reagan died, there was a pause for that. sometimes, it happens for more political reasons. i think everybody remembers in 2008 when john mccain suspended his campaign because of the collapse in the markets and barack obama famously decided not to go along with that. but you know, there's sort of no choice for the candidates at this point and nobody wants to campaign when something like this is going on. it's a pause. everybody knows it's a very brief pause and they'll be at each other's throat. it's a shame in a way it takes the tragedy like this to get people to realize we're all americans and human beings. >> and james, it is a time for a pause, to think a

karen finney, john harwood and political writer for the "new york times," dr. james peterson. good day to you all. let's start with the marvin gaye subsection here. let's talk presidents and tax returns. almost every major party candidate including his dad releases multiple tax returns. george and bill christol said as much. >> there's something he doesn't want to us see. i don't think it's anything criminal. it's more of the same. more offshoring, offshore investments and also i think it will be revealed he does let us see access for the previous several year, you'll see some of his investments were with institutions contributing to the downfall of our country. things like fannie mae and freddie mac, schemes we've seen in these sort of high-end financial institutions. you'll see bain and romney was probably involved in some of those things. illegal, but things that would be damaging to him. >> certainly. so john, any armchair campaign manager knows you have to release the tax returns, so why is the romney campaign stumbling on something so simple and obvious? >> his finances

james peterson responds tonight. >> i'm tking about a period of time where black people had no time. talking about the 1600s to about 1964. >>> president obama brought his re-election campaign to america's heartland today hoping to gain a decisi