O'Donnell Fires Up Herman Cain, Barbara Walters' Smackdown, Rosie's One No-No

Friday, October 7, 2011 WATCH: O'Donnell Fires Up Cain With VERY Bold Question Lawrence O'Donnell and GOP presidential contender Herman Cain got into a tense argument about an unexpected topic on O'Donnell's Thursday show: Cain's participation in the Civil Rights movement. The two also discussed Cain's predilection for calling people "brainwashed." He refused to back down from his assertion that many black voters have been brainwashed by the Democratic Party, and also told O'Donnell he thinks that the 81 percent of Americans who support a surtax on the rich have been brainwashed as well. O'Donnell asked about the Hank Williams Jr. controversy. Cain said that Williams had made a "poor choice of words," but refused to say that ESPN was right to end its association with him. Then, O'Donnell took a surprising turn. He read out a passage from Cain's new book in which Cain discusses his childhood in Atlanta. In the passage, Cain says that he was too young to participate in the Civil Rights movement, and that his father told him to "stay out of trouble" by moving to the back of the bus. "Where do you think black people would be sitting on the bus today if Rosa Parks had followed your father's advice?" O'Donnell asked. It was an audacious question, and Cain took the bait, reacting forcefully. Anderson Cooper On Bullying: 'Too Many Kids Have Died' WATCH: What The Heck Is Going On Here? WATCH: Barbara Smacks Down Elisabeth Rosie's Avoiding One Big Thing On New Show Schultz' Surprising New Documentary BLOG POSTS Richard Peppiatt: Journalistic Practice Beyond the headline grabbing revelations of phone hacking, this is the ethical rot that I urge you to consider Lord Leveson, because it undermines real journalism, it perverts social debate, it divides communities. Yvette Kantrow: Dog Days Revised Money magazine, which for decades has been pushing stock investing as a means to a rich retirement filled with luxurious homes, exotic travel and maybe a second career as a vineyard owner, is changing its tune. Dylan Ratigan: One Wave, One Message -- Restore Fairness. End Bought Government Zuccotti Park in New York is just the beginning. Like a magnet pulling iron out of sand, folks from all walks of life are rejecting our auction-democracy in order to give America the debate it deserves. Joseph A. Palermo: The Big Banks Lose Control of the Optics If the feds under Reagan could prosecute a couple of corrupt high rollers on Wall Street, why can't they do it under Obama? Jason Linkins: Trying To Discern Occupy Wall Street's 'Demands'? Think 'Jubilee' Over at Salon, Alex Pareene writes about the struggle that the media is having discerning the "demands" of the Occupy Wall Street movement even though it's easy to discern the larger concerns of the 99% if you just start paying attention.

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