Lawrence O'Donnell has an uncanny ability to finesse an eye-catching headline out of nearly all of his guests. Previously he's mercilessly grilled Levi Johnston, been scolded by Ron Paul and caught Michael Steele in a revealing gaffe (and also made one of his own while he was at it). So it's inevitable that he would be hosting outgoing Congressman Alan Grayson on his show. Why?

Good question. Grayson last week made a memorable speech on the House floor trying to rally his colleagues against extending the Bush tax cuts. But in doing so, he also slathered on a series of personal digs against nearly all prominent conservatives (the Wire kept a running tally here). O'Donnell probably knew that Grayson would be contentious, and--as usual--he set the stage by asking the Congressman a question that he didn't plan on hearing the answer to.

The question: which tax bracket, if Grayson is successful in killing the bill going through Congress, will be hit with the largest percentage increase? When Grayson began to respond, O'Donnell swiftly cut him off and--armed with his own set of facts--answered: "Wrong, Congressman. Stop there, it's the bottom tax bracket, not the top tax bracket...You are wrong sir." He then proceeded to near-shout at Grayson, asking incredulously how he could possibly justify his position to his constituents. The legislator, in response, waved away O'Donnell: "Let's not insult each other ... this is supposed to be the intelligent network."

[H/T: Glynnis MacNicol at Business Insider]

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Erik Hayden