Thank you to all the men and women who have served and continue to serve our country. 

The Ed Show will be back tonight at 8pET on MSNBC!

Advertisers rushed from Limbaugh, Romney perpetuated his plastic persona, conservative candidates campaigned on Super Tuesday, Obama orated on oil, Fox didn’t stick with the facts and the Ed Show covered it all.

Advertisers continued their rush from Limbaugh over the weekend, as the conservative radio host faced red-hot criticism for his inflammatory, sexist comments.  Rush Limbaugh sparked a fire when he targeted Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke after she testified in front of Congress in support of affordable contraception. 

On his nationally syndicated show last week, he called her a “slut” and a “prostitute,” firing off over 50 disparaging comments at Fluke, the women of Georgetown, and even Fluke’s parents.

After a number of sponsors pulled their spots from his program, Limbaugh issued a weak apology to Fluke via his website.  On Monday, Ed said that Rush “didn’t really apologize for what he had actually done…this was a 3-day attack over 9 hours of broadcasting.”

But Ed wasn’t the only one critical of Limbaugh’s lame linguistics.  Sandra Fluke saw through the dollar-driven request for forgiveness, saying on Monday, “I don’t think that a statement like this…changes anything.” 

Democratic Strategist Krystal Ball launched a website aimed at boycotting Rush, which collected over 100k online signatures in just three days.  In addition to a growing list of departed advertisers, at least two radio stations have said adiós to El Rushbo.  Even some conservatives including Ron Paul and John McCain condemned Rush’s words.

Despite widespread disapproval, the three front running Republican presidential candidates couldn’t muster up a strong opposition to Limbaugh, who has gained a reputation as a kingmaker among the GOP.  For a party already entrenched in an unpopular war on women’s rights, the lack of backbone displayed by Romney, Santorum and Gingrich will likely lose key female votes.

Romney can’t afford to lose any more votes if he hopes to have a prayer against Obama in November.  In a pre-Super Tuesday rally, Mitt’s camp furthered his reputation as what Howard Fineman called “plastic and impenetrable wherever he goes.”

Attempting to connect with the voters of Tennessee, Romney awkwardly recited a William Shatner-esque rendition of a song about Tennessee pioneer Daniel Boone.  Making matters worse, Ann Romney claimed in an interview that she doesn’t consider herself wealthy.  On Monday’s Ed Show, Nation magazine correspondent John Nichols said, “Every time the Romneys try to reach out to ordinary folks, to try to play it real…it always comes apart.”

The Romney campaign was able to hold it together on Super Tuesday to win six out of ten primary/caucus states, though Santorum and Gingrich each claimed victories as well.  A confident Romney aide said that “it would take an act of God for Mitt to lose.”  Maybe the recent solar storms are a sign from the heavens.

Ed asked Democratic Strategist Bob Shrum on Wednesday who he thought shined brightest on the most important night of the primary season.  Shrum replied, “I think Barack Obama was the big winner and the other big winner was the Democratic Party in 2016.”

With a divided GOP and sustained criticism from the right, Obama has begun ramping up his re-election campaign in recent days.  At a manufacturing plant in North Carolina, Obama responded to Republican attacks, saying “The next time you hear some politician trotting out some three point plan for $2 gas, you let him know we know better.” 

On Wednesday’s show, Ed laid out the facts of Obama’s energy policy, with clear data showing that “since President Obama took office…total domestic oil output is up 8%.”

Facts have never stopped conservatives from spewing wild claims.  Fox News has latched onto the GOP’s anti-Obama energy, and has been pumping fear over its airwaves about rising gas prices.  But just four years ago, Bill O’Reilly told his viewers that “The next time you hear a politician say he or she will bring down oil prices, understand it’s complete B.S.” 

On Thursday, Ed presented another example of Fox’s skewed reporting.  During his show Wednesday night, Sean Hannity showed an “exclusive” video of Barack Obama when he was a student at Harvard.  The footage was captured during a pro-diversity rally, and showed a young Obama hugging his professor after an eloquent introduction.

According to Hannity, this video is concrete proof that the president has a long history of rubbing shoulders with radicals.  In reality, as Washington Post Editor Eugene Robinson pointed out, “What you saw was a student at Harvard Law School embracing a professor at Harvard Law School.” 

Hannity and other conservative talking heads are desperate to poke a hole in the rising Obama reelection campaign, regardless of evidence and disregarding the facts.  Where’s the B.S. now, Bill O’Reilly?

Share your own thoughts and favorite moments from the Ed Show this week, and be sure to tune into the @EdShow weeknights at 8pET on @msnbctv.

The @edshow won't be seen tonight in its usual format in order to present MSNBC's rolling live coverage of the Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses, the biggest and probably most important single night of the GOP presidential primary season with 419 delegates at stake.

Ed, of course, is on the panel for that coverage tonight, beginning at 6pET, along with Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews, Lawrence O'Donnell, Rev. Al Sharpton and Steve Schmidt, who ran the McCain-Palin campaign in 2008.

And The Ed Show blog will have the latest results from all eleven states (at the very top of the page, refreshed every 2 minutes).  

The eleven states include (with poll closing times, all listed as ET):  Alaska (12 a.m.), Georgia (7 p.m.), Idaho (10 p.m.), Massachusetts (8 p.m.), North Dakota (9 p.m.), Ohio (7:30 p.m.), Oklahoma (8 p.m.), Tennessee (8 p.m.), Vermont (7 p.m.), Virginia (7 p.m.) and Wyoming (which picks delegates at county conventions today through Saturday).

The @edshow will be back tomorrow (Wednesday) for at 8pET full post-Super Tuesday coverage on @msnbctv.

Let's get to work (and like us on Facebook)!      

The @edshow won't be seen tonight in its usual format in order to present MSNBC's rolling live coverage of the Michigan and Arizona primaries.

Of course, Ed himself is on the panel for that coverage tonight beginning at 8pET, along with Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews, Lawrence O'Donnell, Rev. Al Sharpton and Steve Schmidt, who ran the McCain-Palin campaign in 2008.

And The Ed Show blog will have the latest results from Michigan and Arizona (at the very top of the page, refreshed every 2 minutes).

The @edshow will be back tomorrow (Wednesday) for at 8pET full post-Michigan/Arizona coverage on @msnbctv.

Let's get to work (and like us on Facebook)! 

Santorum rallied around radical rhetoric, the GOP continued their war on women, Obama responded to a campaign of diversions, Sarah Palin made a surprising forecast, a Conservative character slammed “The Lorax,” and the Ed Show covered it all.

It was a week stuffed with radical rhetoric, as unlikely Republican frontrunner Rick Santorum served up his ultra-conservative message to hungry fundamentalist voters.  As the convention approaches, GOP presidential candidates are ramping up assaults on each other and on the president, with the former Pennsylvania Senator offering a buffet of outrageous statements.

Santorum came out preaching on Sunday, attacking everything from Obama’s religious faith to the public education system.  Appealing to the same constituents that labeled Obama as a Muslim terrorist in 2008, radical Rick claimed that the president’s policies are grounded in “some phony ideology…not a theology based on the Bible, a different theology.”  While he didn’t manage to define Obama’s clandestine theology, a Santorum spokeswoman “accidentally” referred to the President’s “radical Islamic policy” during an appearance on MSNBC.  On Monday’s Ed show, Joy-Ann Reid explained that Santorum “feels the country should be governed…by the rules of the Catholic Church.”

In addition to his vision for a Catholic-American theocracy, Santorum also lectured voters about his views on education.  We learned that his radical plan is rooted in the belief that a family should be able to pick and choose their child’s curriculum.  It calls for the expulsion of all federal and state funding from public education.  MSNBC Contributor E.J. Dionne told Ed that taking government money out of education would essentially flunk the American dream.

But it was Santorum’s remarks at a Georgia rally on Sunday that fully exemplified the extent of his extremism.  In a lengthy rant, Rick puzzlingly equated America’s current condition to that of the pre-WWII era, saying that a major threat to the country is being ignored.  Part of his analogy drew an unmistakable comparison between Adolf Hitler, as the leader of the bygone-threat to America, and Barack Obama, the nation’s alleged biggest danger today.  E.J. Dionne said that he “cannot believe the Hitler metaphor” was used, and wisely called for a ban on such comparisons in American political rhetoric.

Rick Santorum wasn’t the only one pushing a radical agenda this week.  Republicans also sustained their war on women’s reproductive rights.  A newly proposed Virginia bill would require women seeking an abortion to first undergo a highly invasive trans-vaginal ultrasound.  Ed asked President of the National Organization for Women Terry O’Neill on Monday what her thoughts were on the procedure.  O’Neill said that because it would be non-consensual, she considered the intrusive practice to be rape. 

On Tuesday, Ed deconstructed the reasons behind the intensified attacks on the president, and the GOP’s new focus on contraception, abortion and even gas prices.  With the Dow Jones breaking the 13,000 mark for the first time since 2008, Republicans no longer have recession-laden fuel to power their campaign against Obama.  According to Ed, “The economy is not the President’s weakest spot right now.”

In a diversionary campaign, right-wingers are taking the focus off of real issues and are parading social conservative flags in an effort to rally a small fundamentalist population.  But in doing so, GOP leaders have alienated a massive portion of the electorate, including moderates and independent women. 

Mitt Romney knows a little something about alienation.  On Tuesday, he split with his party by saying, “as you cut spending you slow down the economy.”  The Democratic-leaning sentiment left Mitt in a hairy situation.  Going against the Republican grain is likely not the best move for a candidate who has already spent over $32 million only to end up bleeding in the polls.

A hemorrhaging GOP train-wreck is not bad news for all Republicans.  Sarah Palin hinted this week that a brokered convention might be her ticket back into the presidential race.  Regarding this possibility, Palin said “perhaps it would be in the end very good for our party.”  Ed was joined Wednesday by Ring of Fire Radio Host Mike Papantonio, who called Palin “a shameless manipulative opportunist who has never stopped trying to run for president.”  The last time the Alaskan’s name was on the ballot, American voters made their voices heard loud and clear.

American voices were audible in other ways this week.  Wednesday brought a major victory for Democrats and women across the country.  The party that supposedly champions limited government has forced its way into bedrooms across the nation.  Concerning his state’s controversial new abortion bill, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell finally conceded that “mandating an invasive procedure is not a proper role for the state.”  Ed noted the significance of this win, saying “the American people will not sit quietly while a political party tries to stomp all over their rights.”

GOP Presidential hopefuls tried to stomp on the President during Wednesday’s twentieth and final debate before the Arizona and Michigan primaries (Feb. 28) and Super Tuesday (March 6).  Newt Gingrich called Obama “the most dangerous president on national security grounds” in American history.  Ed pointed out that it was as if the candidates had agreed to unite against the president rather than take serious jabs at one another.  Despite their alliance, former Democratic Senate staffer Jimmy Williams told Ed that overall, it was the Obama campaign that was energized by the debate.

Obama took up the topic of energy at a University of Miami speech on Thursday, which further fueled support for his re-election.  Responding to fuming Republican criticism, the president dismantled the GOP’s drilling proposal and condemned conservative celebrations of higher gas prices as evidence of his failure.  In reality, as Ed pointed out, “American oil production has increased dramatically under President Obama.”  Nevertheless, John Boehner told Republicans to “embrace the gas-pump anger they find among their constituents.”  Fox News jumped on the bandwagon, not even attempting to hide their glee at rising gas prices.  Obama struck back, saying “only in politics do people root for bad news.”

And finally, to cap off a week of cartoonish republican rhetoric, Lou Dobbs publicly denounced the new animated film “The Lorax.”  Without any evidence, Dobbs drew the conclusion that “the president’s liberal friends in Hollywood [are] targeting a younger demographic using animated movies to sell their agenda.”  Oh the places they’ll go!  Ed sketched out the facts on Thursday, explaining that the Dr. Seuss book on which the movie is based was written 41 years ago.  According to Ed, “Maybe they’re just upset that these kids’ movies are more realistic than the cartoon characters in front of the cameras.”

Share your own thoughts and favorite moments from The Ed Show this week, and be sure to tune into the @EdShow weeknights at 8pET on @msnbctv.

The nation mourned a fallen star, Republicans fought against civil rights on multiple fronts, Romney’s ride stalled in Michigan, the president locked down a visit to Wisconsin, conservatives relayed racist remarks and the Ed Show covered it all.

It was an emotional weekend as the country mourned the premature death of a legendary vocalist and as conservatives vocalized their own heated feelings at CPAC.  In addition to singing the praises of Sunday’s Grammy awards, which he called “a fabulous concert,” and noting the loss of Whitney Houston, Ed detailed the blazing battle against civil rights being fought by the GOP on two distinct fronts.

On the first battleground, Scott Walker continued his war on workers at the annual CPAC convention.  Walker gave a fiery speech stressing the importance of winning his Wisconsin recall election and limiting the power of America’s middle class.  According to Ed, Walker’s problem is that “he doesn’t see collective bargaining as a right.” 

In fact the governor stated that “Collective bargaining is not a right… [it] is an expensive entitlement.”  Clearly Walker doesn’t appreciate the value of collective bargaining, which, as Ed pointed out, has won employees the 40 hour work week, 8 hour work days, overtime, paid vacations, and much more.

The second battle being fought by the GOP is the war on women’s health.  On Monday, Ed discussed Republican hostilities toward Obama’s contraception plan, which would require employers to provide family planning coverage.  Ed said that despite being masked as a religious rights issue, “this is nothing more than a frontal attack on President Obama...” 

Ed welcomed Democratic Strategist Krystal Ball, who claimed that “women are absolutely on the side of the president here.”  Joan Walsh, Editor at Large for Salon.com, said that conservatives are “stuck back in the culture wars of the 1980s.”  These culture wars are not only dividing the ranks of the GOP, but they’re also alienating potential voters across the nation.

One GOP candidate is following his party’s lead by also losing important constituents.  On Tuesday, Ed analyzed the reasons behind Mitt Romney’s stall in the Republican presidential race.  In Romney’s key home state of Michigan, the Obama-led bailout of the automobile industry revved up job creation and saved a critical sector from being totaled.  Ed said that Mitt is “all wrong on the auto loan,” and “he’s not honest with the economic facts of what is happening with the economy.” 

According to Michigan Congressman Gary Peters, if Romney had his way, “these companies would have liquidated, and with that hundreds of thousands of jobs would have been lost.”  So far, Michigan voters agree with Ed and the congressman.  Recent poll numbers show Romney trailing Santorum in the Wolverine state.  Nevertheless, new mud-slinging ads and an upswing in campaigning prove that the GOP race will continue to be a real dog fight.

Speaking of dogs, a group called “Dogs Against Romney” marked their territory outside of Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.  The organization comprised of dogs and pet-owners protested Mitt’s treatment of his late Irish Setter, whom he allegedly strapped to the roof of his car during a “ruff” 12 hour ride from Boston to Canada.  In response to the story Ed quipped, “I guess it’s tough passing yourself off as a dog lover when you’re out there protecting the fat cats.”

Also on Tuesday, the GOP threw Obama a bone by saying they will negotiate to extend payroll tax cuts.  In a victory for Democrats bigger than Malachy the Pekenese’s win at the Westminster Dog Show, Ed reported that the deal would also include “up to 75 weeks of unemployment benefits for the hardest hit states.”  MSNBC Political Analyst Jonathan Alter joined Ed on Tuesday, and remarked that Republicans likely caved because they started to feel “the political heat at home.”

Governor Scott Walker was feeling the heat at home on Wednesday when Obama visited Wisconsin.  The president made a special visit to the Master Lock company, where a combination of union strength and insourced jobs has unlocked its full potential.  Walker was supposed to join Obama for a tour of the factory, but bolted from the scene because he wasn’t feeling well. 

Perhaps Walker just couldn’t stomach the clear evidence of Obama’s job creation success.  Maybe he was licking his battle wounds from his unpopular war on workers.  Ed guessed that the governor simply “can’t face the people of his own state because his job record is really in the tank.”  The president’s employment record, by contrast, is stronger than ever as the economy continues to rebound and new jobs are created.

In a speech at the factory, Obama challenged his listeners to “Ask yourself what you can do to bring jobs back to your country.  And your country will do everything we can to help you succeed.”  He outlined a plan to insource more jobs back to America, offering benefits like double tax deductions and assisted financing for companies that make products in the US.  Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett told Ed that the President’s speech was “an important economic and patriotic message to tell the American people.”

On Thursday, Ed analyzed a very different message being littered to the American people by the Republican Party.  A string of bigoted comments directed at everyone from Whitney Houston to a sitting African American congresswoman have polluted the airwaves in recent days. 

In Los Angeles, trash-talking conservative radio hosts called Whitney Houston a “crack ho,” and questioned why her death “took this long” to happen.  But the shocking racism didn’t stop there.  Fox News’ Eric Bolling responded to remarks made by Congresswoman Maxine Waters about the GOP by saying “Step away from the crack pipe, step away from the Xanax.” 

Ed noted that as Obama achieves more, “…the frequency of the racial overtones just increases everywhere.”  Lehigh Professor Dr. James Peterson agreed, saying “Republican Presidential politics has been embracing racially insensitive discourses.”

Conservatives also ventured into sexism this week.  Millionaire investor and Santorum backer Foster Friess made an outrageous remark about contraception on MSNBC Thursday.  Responding to the Obama administration’s policies on birth control, Friess said that “Back in my day they used Bayer aspirin for contraception.  The Gals put it between their knees and it wasn’t that costly.”  It’s unclear exactly when “back in my day” refers to, but at a moment when their struggling party needs all the help it can get, sexist and racist comments might have some Republicans wishing for a time machine.

Share your own thoughts and favorite moments from the Ed Show this week, and be sure to tune into the @EdShow weeknights at 8pET on @msnbctv.

Superbowl spots sparked super-sized controversy, the LGBT community scored a major victory, Santorum stomped the competition in the Republican Presidential race, Sean Hannity came down with a case of Obama Derangement Syndrome, Conservatives met in D.C. to spread hate and bash the President, and the Ed Show covered it all.

Like many other Americans, Ed was paying close attention to Sunday’s Super Bowl commercials.  Interspersed among beer ads and celebrity cameos were two politically charged spots that made headlines Monday morning.

Hours before the first Super Bowl ad aired, NBC’s Matt Lauer sat down with Obama to discuss the state of America.  The President made a solid case for a second term, pointing to the strengthening economy.  Ed welcomed E.J. Dionne, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, who explained that “what’s significant is…Americans are starting to believe that it’s improving.”  This belief in the President’s playbook is clearly visible in new general election poll numbers, which show Obama leading Romney by 6 points.

During Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime, Chrysler released an inspiring ad narrated by Clint Eastwood.  Highlighting the country’s resilient spirit, it acted as a tribute to America’s aforementioned economic comeback.  Republicans were eager to downplay the President’s success in bailing out the automobile industry, with former Bush Senior Advisor Karl Rove claiming that Obama is “using our tax dollars to buy corporate advertising…”  Congressman Gary Peters, whose district houses the Chrysler headquarters, told Ed that Rove “…never lets facts get in the way of his opinion.”

And the facts are as clear as the diamonds on Eli Manning’s new ring: auto loans saved more than 1 million jobs in 2010, and prevented nearly 97 billion dollars in personal income losses.  In addition, Eastwood and the CEO of Chrysler each stated that the ad was meant to be politically neutral.

Maybe Republican curmudgeons should be more concerned with saving their own image than blitzing Obama’s.  But the Republicans lost yardage on that front as well Sunday, in a second noteworthy ad.  This time, Republican Senatorial Candidate Pete Hoekstra aired a xenophobic spot bashing his Democratic rival.  Employing just about every Asian stereotype was “creative” advertising in Hoekstra’s mind.  According to Sociology Professor Michael Eric Dyson, “It is very creative: it’s creative bigotry, it’s creative intolerance, it’s creative hostility and indifference...”  

Meanwhile, a group that has seen incessant bigotry and intolerance, the LGBT community, scored a major victory Tuesday.  The decision was made to uphold the reversal of California’s controversial Proposition 8, which says that only marriage between a man and a woman can be legally recognized by the state.

Ed asked MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry if the verdict was a “benchmark moment for civil rights.”  She claimed that it was a “huge win,” and equal rights activist Lt. Dan Choi added, “I don’t think we can underestimate the social impact…”  Unsurprisingly, not everyone saw the reversal of Prop 8 as a victory.

The same party under whose banner Hoekel released his intolerant Super Bowl ad was decidedly against the Prop 8 ruling.  Gingrich and Santorum were quick to send out inflammatory tweets Tuesday opposing the Court’s decision.

Despite their shared outlooks on the Prop 8 reversal, it was Santorum who prevailed in Tuesday’s Republican “Night of Non-Binding.”  With big victories, but no awarded delegates, in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri, Rick rolled over the competition.  On Wednesday, Ed analyzed the new developments in the GOP race, saying that “Romney has some serious issues…in the middle of the country.”  Republican strategist and MSNBC contributor Steve Schmidt said “Santorum has had a compelling message to blue collar Republican voters.”  Part of that “compelling message” shined through in his victory speech, when Santorum inexplicably claimed the President “thinks he’s smarter than you.”

Santorum wasn’t the only one coming down with Obama Derangement Syndrome this week.  Sean Hannity displayed the classic symptoms, claiming with no evidence that the President didn’t want Bin Laden dead.  A brief twitter war ensued between Ed and Hannity, followed by cold hard facts from Ed that Obama was integral in the decision to take out the al Qaeda leader.  Hopefully facts and evidence will prove to be the prescription for ODS.

But on Thursday, Sean continued his disinformation campaign, claiming that an audio interview between Brian Williams and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta proved that Bush-era enhanced interrogation techniques provided the direct link to finding Bin Laden.  Ed had the counter-evidence to invalidate Hannity’s assertion.  In a speech made by John McCain, the Senator said that the information leading to Bin Laden was in fact not obtained by Bush’s interrogation methods.  For Hannity the truth pill is hard to swallow.

Also on Thursday, Ed provided a look inside the annual CPAC gathering, were Obama-bashing was the main activity on the agenda.  MSNBC host Martin Bashir said that attacks on Obama and the Democratic Party were “juvenile and barely intelligent,” pointing specifically to comments made by Marco Rubio, Rick Perry and Herman Cain.  Other baseless claims will undoubtedly be uttered at the conference in the coming days by a Republican Party struggling to keep its head above water.

Share your own thoughts and favorite moments from the Ed Show this week, and be sure to tune into the @EdShow weeknights at 8pET on @msnbctv.   

There is good news all around in our A block tonight.   Good news on the economy, a good speech by the President on how things are turning around, and brand new poll numbers showing the president beating Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich in a head to head match up.

Let’s face it.  Progressives have been worried silly over all these subjects.  We all want the economy to improve.  We all know people who have been affected one way or another.  If the economy doesn’t improve, we face the possibility of President Obama being ousted by a Republican who is more than eager to roll us back to the Bush years, except far worse.

Here’s the hard news.  The auto industry continues to be a success story.

President Obama touted that success today in Ann Arbor.

And a new Wall Street Journal / NBC News poll shows the public is starting to believe in this recovery.

President Obama also joined the Democratic caucus retreat in Maryland today and said “You guys have had my back and I’m going to have yours.”

This is an important moment.  Substance and message are merging.  As the economy shows further signs of life, the President can point to the success, and he can take an even more unified front with his fellow Democrats.  

The South Carolina primary could decide the GOP presidential race, or at least decide how much longer it will go.

The Ed Show is taking the weekend off as usual, but Ed is, of course, on the panel tonight as part of MSNBC's rolling live coverage of the results, along with along with Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Rev. Al Sharpton and Steve Schmidt, who ran the McCain-Palin campaign in 2008.  Chris Matthews is also checking in from Tampa Bay, Florida.

And The Ed Show blog will have the latest results.

The @edshow will be back, of course, on Monday at 8pET for full post-South Carolina, pre-Florida NBC debate coverage on @msnbctv.

Meantime, Ed is holding his own South Carolina online primary.  He's listed all nine candidates on South Carolina ballots in alphabetical order:

It's the Friday before the New Year's holiday weekend, but with only four days before America begins choosing her next president, Ed is busy putting together another packed show.

In Iowa, Newt Gingrich breaks down after falling into fifth in the polls, Willard Mitt Romney says he'll think about releasing his tax returns (if he's elected president) and Michele Bachmann said her favorite hunting weapon is an assault rifle.

Democratic strategist and NYU Professor Bob Shrum will help us make sense of it all. 

Chris Moody of Yahoo! News and John Nichols of The Nation report from the campaign trail. 

Also, Ed checks in with an all-star panel including Washington Post Columnist E.J. Dionne, Real Clear Politics' Erin McPike and "Ring of Fire" radio host Mike Papantonio.

They'll discuss the GOP presidential race, including these tidbits: Chris Christie threatens to go "Jersey Style" on a crowd in Iowa.  Do Iowans think his bullying is funny?  And Sarah Palin for Secretary of Energy?

We've tallied up the numbers on this year's Psycho Talk segments.  Tonight, Ed will countdown the top Psycho Talkers of the year (click here to vote for your favorite!).

And with this, the final "Ed Show" of the year, Ed reflects on the incredible year of 2011.  You won't want to miss that!

It's going to be another packed @EdShow at 8pET on @msnbctv.

And join the conversation now or during the show by commenting on Facebook and/or tweeting (with the #edshow hashtag) so we can share your thoughts on the show!