The View is back from summer break and today, so am I .  Catching up on Mon and Tues-

Monday was a “book” show with Whoopi and Sherri Shepherd guest hosting

Hot topics: 

They talked and talked and talked about dieting…

Shepherd is going on the no chewing for 21 days and weekly colonics- really is this what they have come to?

Al Gore’s kid got picked up going 100 mph.  Joy referred to him as “a little pest” but they did note at least he was driving a Prius...

Then they chose to tread where no ignorant liberal should dare to go:

******

Joy notes: Paris got more time than Scooter Libby
Whoopi: Don’t get me started on Scooter
Elisabeth: Now wait a minute
Joy: One of them lies under oath and goes free the other one drives drunk a couple of times but doesn’t hurt anybody
E: Did he lie under oath or did he not remember something about a crime that he didn’t even commit?
Joy: Oh, oh, oh okay
Whoopi: But here’s the real question- will we ever actually get the information because Scooter is not going to say where he got that information from and you know if it’s the big guy you know he’s definitely not going to say it. You know what happens top people who talk- look at that old man- went huntin’ with him (shaking her head and her pointer finger) I’m just sayin’…

*********

Does Whoopi not read the papers? Newsflash for her: There is no missing information.  Valerie Plame was not an undercover agent.  Libby was not even charged with a crime in relation to Plame.  The prosecutor knew before he even interviewed Libby that Libby did not leak anything- he knew the leaker was Dick Armitage. (Click here for MSNBC story)

The prosecutor proceeded to interview Libby repeatedly, for no legal reason. Eventually, Libby was caught up in not remembering trivial details that were irrelevant to the matter because there was no issue to investigate. Libby couldn’t remember things then did remember things as he was repeatedly questioned but then, because of his change in answers he was accused of committing perjury.

Lord help any person interviewed by the FBI on multiple occasions and also brought before a grand jury repeatedly.  If  a prosecutor wants to manufacture a perjury charge, just keep interviewing the person until some little remembrance varies slightly and it is done.

I wonder what Whoopi thinks about the “I did not have sexual relations…” statement that was not an “I can’t remember” but a straight lie…  Or of Hillary’s assertion that a “right wing conspiracy” was to blame for her poor innocent, loyal, faithful husband’s plight when she knew that he was an adulterous man-whore.  (If she didn’t know he was lying to the country, how could she ever be fit to be President? If she knew he was lying, their cover-up cost the taxpayers untold millions of dollars and international embarrassment.  What patriots!)

In  terms of the VP accidental shooting of a long time friend, where was I when it was determined that Cheney shot the old man because he has spoken about an issue? Silly me, I thought it was an accident.

How irresponsible for Whoopi to imply that the accident was an intentional act on the part of the Vice President.  She may not like him but she shouldn’t lie about him.

More recap to come...

Commentary on June 20th show, continued

Bloomberg has left the Republican Party.

Where is Joy’s talk about Hookerville when we need it…

First he was a Democrat wanting to run for mayor in New York but recognizing that there were too many Dems in the race for him to break out of the pack. He switched parties to get himself in the race, which he ultimately won; partly because he had so much money to throw at the election he could have outspent anyone but Bill Gates.

Bloomberg spent $74 million dollars to buy the 2001 election and $66 million to buy the 2005 election. Billionaires get to avoid playing by the rules because they use their own money to get elected.

His switch is not ideological, it is practical.

The women discuss whether or not he will run for President. That has to be his motivation here. They recognize his ability pay his own way. Bloomberg wants to play- his ego is driving him and his money is the fuel.

He has a very tall girlfriend who is in banking. BW wonders whether they would need to get married. Elisabeth points out she could be the First (legitimate) Girlfriend. Sort of funny…

The truth about Bloomberg: No self-respecting Republican outside of New York would believe he is conservative. The Democrats in the pool don’t want to swim with him - he has Republican cooties.

That leaves the Independents- the people with no party for a variety of reasons.

Switching offers him a ticket to the game. His money will help him be a contender.

Hookerville. Definitely Hookerville…

commentary on the June 20 show

Gayle King guest hosted

They opened with a discussion of the Clinton spoof on the Sopranos: Hillary as Tony? She orders Bill carrots? Chelsea is parallel parking? Who did their makeup? Couldn’t their friends in Hollywood have given them some acting tips?

The women all think she was very clever. I wondered who she has had whacked…

Celine Dion wrote the song that will be Hillary’s campaign song so Joy wonders if this matters. Should the song be by an American?

***

Joy asks: Who is more American than Celine?”

***

Let’s see: Every American.

BW moves on to the “I’ve got a crush on Obama” song being viewed on YouTube. They play a clip and then talk about the woman, Amber Lee, who was hired to sing the song.

Apparently the woman’s name reminds Joy of a porn name. Because the woman has said she doesn’t know who she is going to vote for in the election Joy says

***
Joy: You know I read she’s not even going to vote for him. She doesn’t know yet who she’s voting for, you now what I mean? That’s real hookerville.

***

The song was not written by the bimbette in the video- she was hired to lip sing to it and dance around. The song was written by Ben Relles an ad guy who used the video to launch his website barelypolitical.com. It seems as though his intentions are to publicize political videos that show some skin- get it: BARELY political…

I think someone with musical ability should write a song with lyrics about Crushing Obama: A GI Joe, maybe looking like Romney, should pummel a Ken like Obama into the ground. If only I had the lyric writing ability to do it.

Just what this country needs, people voting for President based on which song had the cutest actress dancing around in trampy clothes…

Rosie Update:

Rosie posted a home made movie on her blog on Friday, June 15th, Daytime Emmy night.  I am guessing she was celebrating the View's loss on the one hand and wishing they had won so she could take credit on the other.

The intro shot of the video is of Elisabeth sporting a T-shirt with the words "Be Ugly" but the message is much louder.  (click here to see Rosie's movie)

Clearly, Rosie had access to many clips of Elisabeth but chose this one for a reason- she believes Elisabeth is an ugly, disloyal person.

Her attempts to be cute to her followers are really a pathetic example of her lack of class. Behavior like this will only affirm the opinions of those who see Rosie as a sad, angry figure.
 
Rosie's need to continue the jabs is indicative of her state of mind.  She really should spend some time alone, thinking about where she wants to go with her life and her relationships.  She sets a poor example for her children when she allows her mental health issues to control her.

I appreciate Elisabeth's efforts to say only positive things about Rosie since the split screen.  I hope Rosie can move in the same direction.

Commentary on June 19^th Continued

After the break, they resume their talk with Barbara leading a discussion of the Forbes lists about Presidential candidates: Hillary and Gore are the most boring. The creepiest: Newt, HRod, Gore, Romney and McCain. Thompson is the least creepy.

Joy thinks Thompson is the most creepy because he has jowls. Elisabeth thinks Kucinich is the creepiest but Joy counters he isn’t creepy, he is just short. To ease Barbara’s confusion about what creepy actually means- Elisabeth explains bears are scary and lizards are creepy.

Barbara seems shocked that Elisabeth would equate Hillary and Al Gore to lizards.

Back to Thompson- Parker tries to explain why people like Thompson- they watch “Law and Order” and he does a good job. The third of the people that might think he is creepy would never vote for a conservative so he shouldn’t waste his time on them.

I wish all conservatives would understand this point. Sacrificing principle to appease your foe doesn’t get you anywhere but further away from your goals.

In the middle of this discussion, Joy again patronizes Parker with the comment:

***

Joy: Down girl, down

***

It’s really not funny. Joy has had enough and goes on a mini-rant:

***

Joy: You know what Star? 70% of Americans want the war in Iraq to end. 70% of Americans want insurance health care to be universal. We’re going to be talking to Michael Moore all about health care in this country. These are the issues that Americans care about. They don’t care if they are creepy. They don’t even care of they believe in the Bible these days.

EH: That’s not true. 91% of voters want someone that has a sense of faith or a greater being

Joy: If I am starving I don’t care. I want food. And if I am getting shot at in Iraq I want that to be over before I talk about anything else.

***

First- there is no way that 70% of Americans want the Iraq war to end with American soldiers returning to the U.S. with their proverbial tails between their legs. The American people would like to see a victory over the insurgency in Iraq and a strong and stable Iraqi government as soon as possible.

Second. There is no way that 70% of Americans want universal health care. Many Americans agree there are m any reforms needed to streamline healthcare delivery in the U.S. but implementing the current government healthcare programs on a scale 10 times the size should horrify every taxpaying citizen in the United States.

They go on to discuss the intent of the Framers to have three branches of government each checking the other. Parker understands how it is supposed to work. Barbara and Joy are clearly so clueless about the structure of our government it is actually embarrassing. At some point the producers should just have a show to discuss government with the hosts and the audience.

***

Joy: This administration has taken over the executive, the legislative and the judicial branches of government. We do not have three

EH: Wait a minute- did they take over or did the individual people in the country elect them?

***

Silly me- I missed the coup d’etat!

Hard to believe but it does get worse:

***

Joy: The Alberto Gonzales case shows you that a lot of this is coming from the White House and it’s got to do with his will.

***

Joy, please, please, please. You need to understand that when George Bush was elected President, he was supposed to take over the Executive Branch. That is what a President does.

Next, the Legislative Branch is being run by Pelosi and Reid. These two DEMOCRATS might be a little shocked to learn that Bush is their puppeteer.

Finally, while I know it is confusing to have the Attorney General serve in the Executive Branch, he does. Gonzales is not a part of the judicial branch. You can stop worrying about it.

I think Joy took lessons in government from Rosie when she was there because Joy is now recycling Rosie’s positions.

Barbara can’t take the conflict so she stepped in to change the subject to Angelina Jolie…

June 19, 2007

Star Parker guest hosted. After a week of boring, the show finally has some substance.

***

What an intro by BW: This is a woman who had 4 abortions, stole, did drugs, was on welfare is now a conservative, heads a conservative think tank. How did you turn your life around? That is quite a (unintelligible)
SP: I needed a lot of help.

****

She explains some about her past and tried to explain that the pressure to live the life she had been leading was great:

***

SP: In our community you are not supposed to mainstream your life

***

She explained how she tried to earn money to supplement her welfare check but the people she approached wouldn’t pay her under the table. They challenged her to turn her life around and encouraged her to go to church with them until she finally agreed:

Funny comment by Parker:

***

SP: Had I known a lawyer from the ACLU I may have sued them for religious harassment but I didn’t known any lawyer so I ended up at their church

***

As they try to have a serious discussion about Parker’s conversion to Christianity, Joy has to break in with a joke:

***

Joy: Being born once was enough for me. What does it mean to be born again? Does it hurt?

***

This show was an opportunity for Parker to offer her experiences as a Black woman in America as an example of how a woman can turn her life around. Joy’s bias against evangelical Christians is painfully obvious at times like this. She really can not imagine how a woman with Parker’s background could possibly be a conservative. It is as though the slowly turning wheels are saying to her- “she’s been brainwashed” over and over again.

Parker, being very tolerant of the patronizing tone, says:

***

SP: Yes, it does hurt. You have to change your world view.

***

Parker goes on to explain, in terms that Joy might understand, how she came to believe what she does and how she lives her life making choices every day to do the right thing. She sees the tragedies in her life as a gift from God, and that her suffering will lead her to other opportunities.

When asked by Barbara if she was conservative Parker explains she is extremely conservative. Joy then has to throw out the most controversial issue she can:

***

Joy: What do you think about gay marriage? That’s a family value- when two people love each other they get married
SP: That’s not a family value. That’s not what family is. When you talk about
Joy: Why not?
SP: lets take biblical world view versus secular world view: That’s probably the struggle we have in our society today. Those that come from the biblical world view say “I believe that these 10 things I should try to live up to” well when it says “Honor your father and your mother” he’s talking about a household here. When Jesus said “For this reason a man leaves his father and mother and cleaves to his wife” we’re talking about family development and the people who come from a biblical world view have to take that seriously.
Joy: There are things in the bible that

***
They all talk over each other

***
EH: That is something that I often times struggle with because I think okay the first law of the Bible is “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, love your neighbor as yourself.” Love is the ultimate I think law in terms of the Bible itself so I see that is loving another person truly for who they are- I don’t see it as anything better than that.
SP: That is New Testament

***

Then they all talk over each other so Barbara takes over and moves on to a different subject, abortion:

***

BW: Do you think women have the right to choice?
SP: No and I believe that we have done a disservice to them not to tell them their full choice. I work with Carenet and
Joy, interrupting before Parker can explain her position: How about birth control? How do you feel about that?
SP: No-
Joy again interrupting her: That’s not allowed either
SP: Allowed? What does that mean? We were talking about me and my personal choices and a biblical world view does not include birth control according to the way that I interpret
EH: Ideally
SP: Ideally because you are to be fruitful and multiply n the context of marriage

***

They all talk over each other so Barbara again changes the subject:

***

BW: Do you believe in evolution?
SP: Do I believe in evolution, like did we evolve from apes? How can I believe that when I believe scripture that says God created? Why would I believe evolution?
Joy: People say they can believe in both. I have heard that from many people
SP: I am thinking now how in the world do you do that? If you really sat this is my world view this is what I am going to do- This is my faith. Of course I won’t know until I cross over
BW: So do you think the world is 5000 years old?
SP: I haven’t thought about adding it up. I know one thing- there is a scripture that says “A day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day” so I think that God has time that we can’t even relate to. I know another thing that when he thinks about our lives he thinks about our lives over our lifetime not just one little part of it So you know there are issues that we all work through but once you make the decision that

***

They talk over each other and then Joy with a deep thought:

***

Joy: It’s interesting that you went from one extreme to the other- there’s no middle ground
SP: Who says they’re both extremes? There isn’t middle ground for people that choose
EH: It’s interesting that when you talk about the whole abstinence thing I think that’s a huge hot button with most people because you think about practically speaking alone, abstinence works better than anything else- 100% secure right so why won’t people take that and say this works?
SP: They don’t want to do it That’s why- it’s hard
Joy: But wait a minute- if you’re abstinent, according to the Bible, you can’t even masturbate. Now I don’t understand that at all. If you’re gonna be abstinent, at least love yourself.

***

The conversation begins to take a turn but Parker gets back on track:

***

SP: Sex ed works. When we started sex ed in our schools 20% of kids were sexually active. Today they’re at 50%. You keep this sex ed stuff up and eventually 100 % will be sexually active and the next thing you know they’re gonna be at the junior high
Joy: So ignorance is bliss according to you
SP: No ignorance is about
Joy: According to what you’re saying it is

***

Barbara then breaks in because Parker is being put in the hot seat repeatedly

Parker explains people can read about her life and views in her two books: “Pimps, Whores and Welfare Brats” and “Uncle Sam’s Plantation” and furthers tries to make Joy understand that the problem facing people today is the politicization of the issues they are talking about.

She makes a good point- there used to be right and wrong. Then people began to push the limits of morality. When others pushed back questioning those decisions, the Democratic Party began the call to arms. Conservatives, trying to slow the slide towards immorality became labeled as judgmental, biased…

If something is morally wrong, it is wrong. No amount of political pressure, no Supreme Court decision and no law can change the wrongness of an act.

Commentary on June 18th

Margaret Cho guest hosted.

First- who dresses these people- It is unbelievable some of the getups they come up with.  Joy had Cho show everyone her outfit- really, she shouldn't have...

The Hot Topics started out not so hot again today.

Cho compliments Joy on what a great stand-up she is and then promotes the True Colors Tour to benefit Human Rights. Cho talks about missing her dogs more than her husband and then explains she wishes they had dog prostitutes...

Onto the Emmys: Cho asked if they won.  I think she really had no idea, which is interesting because one would think if you were guest hosting on the show, you might brush up on it just a little.  Barbara then explained that they lost to Ellen Degeneres in both categories.

***
BW: We are a very controversial show, evidently.
Joy: We are a very controversial show.  People feel they hate us sometimes.

***

Joy has a theory about why they don’t win: there is always at least one of them the judges don’t like. Barbara makes a good point- maybe the judges don’t like any of them. She also thinks it’s easier to vote for one person than it is to vote for four people.

Who knows why they didn’t win again? Maybe they should work harder to actually discuss real issues in a challenging manner.

The show did win for hair and makeup.

Then they moved onto Barbara's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. A lot of people were there. Joy cracked a joke about the mayor of Munchkin Land- Johnny Grant- giving her the award. I don't get the joke (Click here for his bio) Is he short?

Brief talk about how people can't tell the difference between any of the Asian actresses.  If people can't tell the difference between Cho and Lucy Liu or Lisa Ling then I don't know what to tell you...

After the break, BW raised the issue of body image and Cho's history of weight loss to play herself. Some discussion about growing issues related to bulimia, binging and the new diet pill Alli that can cause diarrhea.

From there we go to the hot topic of some new reality bachelor show "The Age of Love" in which a tennis star- ranked 114th in the world- is going to choose between a bunch of women. The twist in this show: the bachelor didn't know he would be dating women in their 40s.  The 40 year olds didn't know they would be competing against 20 year olds and the 20 year olds are happy because they think that half the women aren't really competition anyway.  These young women ought to hope their bodies hold out because in the end, their ability to engage in meaningful conversation will far outweigh the importance of their looks.

Who is kidding who here? This sort of "reality" tv has nothing to do with reality.  What a waste of air time. I would have expected more from the guy who is married to Kelly Ripa but...

After talking about Barbara's star during the Hot Topics segment, they now spend an entire segment on it. They showed a clip of her giving her acceptance speech: "To me this award is an Emmy, an Oscar and a Tony all in one.  I will walk a little taller and prouder from this day on. Thank all of you."
 
After the ceremony, they showed Elizabeth sporting a microphone at a party at Wolfgang Puck. Kathy and Nicki Hilton were there, missing poor Paris, offering BW their congrats. She deserves kudos for her contributions to the industry. Congratulations to her.

Next topic.

Kyra Sedgwick came on to talk about her show.   She has been married to Kevin Bacon for almost 20 years and has a kid going off to college.  It was a really quick segment.  They talked about nothing of interest other than Sedgwick's belief that women get sexier as they get older. 

Experience and self-acceptance do contribute to a person's attractiveness.  A confident, intelligent woman has more to offer, across all areas of living, than a 20 year old bimbo.  The 20 year old bimbos should realize that a new crop of bimbos is always just behind them.  For men interested in a bimbo, age matters.  For men interested in finding a smart, interesting partner, bimbos are a joke. (Actually, bimbos are always a joke.)

Congrats to Sedgwick on her show and on her success in her personal life.  She and Bacon are exceptional in Hollywood.

Then they go on to Mario's Daytime Emmy Wrap-Up:

"Hello Losers!"

His first tip: in order to win the awards, you must be lesbian!  He may be right...

He moves on to their outfits- Elisabeth and Barbara are feminine and Joy in her pantsuit is moving in the right direction.  He then compares Ellen's outfit to Pinocchio and says: "I'm going to grow up someday and be a real boy." Very funny.  Something a straight person couldn't joke about. 

Ellen's speech talking about the View was a back-handed compliment.  She is going to start a segment called Hot Pockets because Hot Topics is so successful...

Mario pointing out that The View's win in hair and makeup should be taken with a grain of salt was hysterical- they beat out bald Dr. Phil's hairstylist...

Last weeks Thursday and Friday episodes were prerecorded so didn't touch on current issues.

Grace is getting potty trained, BW was getting her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and author Michael Smerconish talked about his book that came out one year ago.  Joy made a couple of gratuitous sex jokes about Monica...

On  Friday it was more of the same with the Hot Topics- dieting, pregnancy, eating during pregnancy and cleavage during pregnancy. Some brief discussion about Joy's sex life with Steve...

Jessica Alba was on- which only left me wishing the tabloids spent more time on her and less on the trio of tramps.  Alba seems bright and well-pulled together.  She has a stable family, a single boyfriend, six movies coming out and no obvious drug problem.  Why would she be a role model?

Then the women had on Grace Ann and Ted Koppel.  Grace Ann has a chronic respiratory condition that went undiagnosed because doctors didn't give her a simple breathing test.  She nearly died as a result.  She now works an advocate educating doctors and patients on the importance of pulmonary function testing for people over 40 with shortness of breath or a lingering cough.

I was surprised to see Ted Koppel behavior- he walked out on stage in front of his wife with no regard as to where she was.  As she brought up the rear, he was busy talking to Barbara.  He didn't even give her a hand up on the platform...

Maybe they should spice up the Friday shows by inviting a panel of four guest hosts to duke it out rather than pre-record the episodes on Wednesday.  It could be an interesting experiment.

 Wednesday, June 13th, continued

Jacque Reid- brings up Gore and Joy responds:

***

Joy: Al’s gonna win the Nobel prize and then he’s gonna come in- just watch

**

As I’ve noted before, I think he wants in and if he can get Obama to be the VP they would be very tough to beat.

Gore still thinks he was robbed and most Democrats agree. He has worked hard to reinvent his image.  Liberals and the media are all over global warming: Gore has become a sort of czar of environmental issues. 

This race is going to be fascinating...

Commentary, Wednesday, June 13^th

Jacque Reid guest hosts

BW opens Hot Topics with a discussion about Fred Thompson, who hasn’t announced his candidacy but already leads everyone but Giuliani. She explains we don’t know much about him yet, other than he is conservative. Joy with a one-liner:

***
Joy: He wants to do everything a President can do- like start a war

***

Joy is really funny- too bad for him Bush already started the war…

The women talk about how conservative he is: he’s opposed to Roe v. Wade and against gun control. BW noted he said that Hollywood seemed more real than DC. That is sad, if true.

The conversation deepened: Elisabeth is concerned that when a candidate has to appeal so much to the base to get the nomination, it can be difficult to then be attractive to the general population.

Joy gets the A+ for the day. As she explained, politics is “tricky” because you have to appeal to the base to get the nomination and then you have to sell your message to the general population. It is difficult.

They are right, it is difficult, especially if the voters of the base or of the general public begin to feel that the candidate is shifting positions for merely political reasons.  If the conservative candidates stick to their conservative beliefs, their positions are not hard to sell to the general public.  Sure, the far left won't buy in, but they wouldn't vote for a conservative, no matter what.  

The left leaning democrats are in the same position.  The difference is, far left positions are less palatable to the average person then are conservative positions.  Democrats can continue to delude themselves that the country has shifted left.  America is not a far left country.  There were a number of reasons Republicans got spanked last year but adherence to conservative positions was not really at the top of the list.

While candidates may wide ranging views on different issues, and may deviate from conservative values on certain issues of particular importance to themselves, we should all hope conservatives have faith in these principles, generally, and adhere to them throughout the primary season through the general election.

June 12th show cont

Barbara saved us from the incessant Couric talk by segueing to Hillary Clinton's support amongst certain women.

***
BW: By the way talking about women we have always heard that women do not support Hillary Clinton but now it comes out that at the moment she has a 15 point lead over Obama in support from women.  They don't know what this means in the national election but it seems that women do like her. It seemed they also say that it is the less educated women who seem to like her more- maybe they appreciate her spirit or the fact that she (unintelligible) or her courage.  But that's interesting because we always hear they don't like her
Joy: The more education they have the less they like her
BW: Sort of
Joy: That's odd, isn't it
BW: The more educated they are the more they SEEM to like Obama
Joy: They like Obama more when they have more education

***
This is really priceless:  Less educated women like Hillary better. Why could this be? Could it be that the very fact they are less educated means they have NO IDEA why they like her? As soon as women start learning facts about Hillary, the smart ones run the other way.  Is it because they are more likely to have a wandering husband or boyfriend so they have empathy for her?  If this were a poll of conservatives and a group liked a white person better, there would be questions about the tendency of the group to harbor racial bias. Could uneducated women be more racist than educated women?

They go on:
***
EH: Obama matches up better against the Republicans then Hillary does in most polls.  He actually- against Guiliani- She actually falls by like 10% but Obama actually has a closer number to Guiliani in polling so Obama seems to be the better candidate versus a Republican.
BW: And then we have Fred Thompson who is getting closer to Guiliani who most people know from Law & Order television
Joy: Well we have to scrutinize Fred Thompson. We haven't been able to do that yet because he hasn't really said he's running

***
I must have missed the scrutiny of Obama because he is running and rarely has Joy commented on his previous work.  I wonder if Joy has looked at his resume and compared it to previous Presidents.  Let's see: community organizer, civil rights attorney, eight years as a state senator and two years as a U.S. Senator.  Most of his experience has been as a follower- perfect for the committees in the Senate. No grown-up executive experience.  No leadership positions of any depth. Other than being the first African American to be President of the Law Review- he has no real noteworthy achievements on his bio page of his Senate website.

Pretty scary that a guy with as little experience as Obama can be in the top tier of candidates for President. 

Back to the View:

***
EH: That's tactical, pretty much but um Hillary is doing an interesting thing trying to go after these women because I think that there are t 21 million under the age of 44 who are not registered to vote so if she can get them to actually- she's making it very easy for them to register- her campaign is so they can register them and actually get them to the polls, that 54% of women that showed up that last election will go up, probably in her favor.
BW: Whatever you feel about the parties, Democrat, or whatever you feel about the general stance, you've got to give this woman credit. She is the first woman running for president.  it is a courageous thing to do
EH: Absolutely
BW: She has a lot of knowledge. I mean you know.
Syler: She really is making a concerted effort to go after women of color because they are having a big pow wow and they are getting like 300 women of color to go out in their neighborhoods and bring these women- the women that she is doing very well with are women they call "women of needs"- the lower socio-economic groups that you were talking about.
Joy: Why? They think that she will help them in their real lives
Syler: Well like Barbara said, her spirit
Joy: Well because of her politics in New York state.  She is more interested in the lower echelons than she is in giving tax breaks to the rich.
EH: She also fails to understand sometimes in her politics: There is capitalism and if there is no profit there is going to be a lack of jobs so if you look in some of her policies or some of her idealistic policies they may not actually serve those who need to be working in those entry level jobs

***
As Syler points out, Hillary needs to court the support of people who are uneducated about her, and often about politics, economics and social policy, if she hopes to be a viable contender for the Presidency.

Why is it worse to seek the support of a corporate executive who runs a business employing hundreds or thousands of people or the support of a self-employed business person who works a sixty hour week to keep the business afloat than it is to pander to uneducated women who are dependant upon the business person for their own survival? Elisabeth tried to make the point that these "women of need" need the capitalists to secure jobs and an income.  If these women don't work, then they need those people to pay taxes so they can be taken care of by the government.

Hillary seeks the support of these women through promoting false notions of classism and racism.  There is an undercurrent in democratic party positions that suggests that conservatives are racist.  (Last week Kathy Griffin stated that no black woman could be a Republican because the Republican agenda doesn't support Black women.)

Women of Need:  BEWARE!  Hillary does not want you to become educated because she knows you will be lost to her if you do.  She needs you to remain a woman of need.

Women of need must become women of action.  They must begin to take control of their own lives and teach their children to do the same.  They must teach their children to dream big and then help them take the steps to achieve those dreams.  Success will not come in the form of a government handout.  It will come as a result of their sweat, and their perseverance and it will be worth it.

Women of need, send Hillary home! Her product is toxic to you, your family and your community.

June 12 show cont.

Joy is really upset about this Couric thing.  Now she has to drag Bush into it:

***
Joy: Yeah, but it is so sexist of Dan Rather. I mean every man on every channel talks about a smackdown and we're gonna go get them and Bush is the most macho.  Nobody really goes after them in this way. It's sexist.  They're not saying "Oh Bush is butching up the war" do they? No. They say "She's tarting up the news." I think that is very rude of Dan.
Syler: Yeah but one person said it. That's not (people talking over her)
BW: Go ahead
Syler: I was just going to say, one person has said that- it's Dan Rather. It's not like I think everybody is out there going "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah! She was tarting it up." 
BW: She's been working very hard.  She comes in everyday and she does her job. It is very hard to change viewing habits and it is mostly older people who watch the early evening news and whatever and I know what Katie's gone through- I went through some of it myself years ago when I first came to ABC as the first co-anchor of a network news program and it's tough and I give her great credit and she handles herself with charm
EH: And I think a statement like this is you know in a funny way he's trying to make a statement about Katie and in fact tells more about him than it does about her

***
I would love to have heard Elisabeth ask Joy what news anchor, on Fox or any other news show, EVER either used the word smackdown in terms of the war and referred to Bush as macho?  She should have to name names on those points.  Every man on every channel? What men on which channels? RIDICULOUS!

I don't think Rather's statement says anything about Dan Rather- it makes an honest statement about news anchors.  They aren't necessarily deep thinkers but they do need to be able to listen to voices in their ears and talk at the same time (that leaves Joy out of the running) and be attractive.  Is that really shocking to Joy?

Surely Barbara and the others understand that it does not matter how hard someone works if they don't get results.  People who don't perform get let go.  I am surprised CBS has hung on to Couric this long.

While it is true that Dan Rather doesn't speak for the masses, his point should not be missed.  CBS thought Couric would be attractive to a larger segment of possible viewers and that her lighter, fluffier daytime approach to news would be appealing to that audience.  CBS was wrong, or at least wrong about Couric being the woman who could dumb it down, tart it up and bring in a larger audience.  Maybe the hiring folks at CBS should turn on Fox news and try to recruit some of the women from its news desk. Oh wait- he said they want to dumb it down? Go to CNN and start over...

June 12th show continued

Joy gets really worked up about the Dan rather comments about Katie Couric:

***
Joy: Dan Rather has said something to MSNBC that I thought was a little tacky about Katie.  You know every day they are after Katie because her numbers are down and so they are relentless against her- She's working hard
EH: Yes they are
BW: She's working hard. I like Katie very much and I think it's just mean of them to keep going after her. To add on top of that, Dan Rather, who used to work for CBS, he said to MSNBC "I want to make it clear that I have nothing against Katie Couric at all. She's a very nice person, however it was clear at the time, and I think it has become clearer that the mistake was to try" now listen to this "to try to dumb it down and tart it up in hopes of attracting a younger audience."  This totally insults young people and stupid people and tarts.
EH: Right
JB: I mean that's so wrong of him
EH: It is. I thought let me see where you could have possibly went- so I went and broke down what he said word for word and under tart it came "to tart something up" it started in 1938 I found out at dictionary.com tart was used as the word prostitute in some cases in 1887 sometimes said to be the shortening of sweetheart but ...(she goes on with her dictionary definitions of tart)
BW: In other words, it isn't a good thing
EH: Not at all
Syler: She was trying to bring eyeballs to the TV set, as was CBS and younger people but that is a day part that is resistant to change and so she has unfairly been the target of some criticism

***
First-  the dumbing down part is right on, in this situation.  Katie Couric is not the best example of a high intellect newscaster.  Maybe her morning routine was interesting to some, but really- she is mediocre, at best.  I have never understood people who thought she was talented- never seen it in her...

Next- "Tart it Up" and Katie Couric do not belong together in a plan to attract viewers. At the risk of offending someone, Couric is no tart- she has been pegged the girl next door but to say she could tart anything up... If CBS wanted to tart up the evening news, there are countless women much better looking (although not necessarily less intelligent) and more talented.

If CBS wanted to attract a younger audience, CBS needed to put an intelligent person in the spot.  Many young people are engaging in politics and current affairs and they want substance. Looks are neat but they can't articulate a policy, or ask a hard question.

I am not sure why Elisabeth had to look anything up in the dictionary but I don't want to go there as a part of a discussion about dumbing things down...

Finally- any television show, news or otherwise, is made or broken by ratings and then ultimately advertising.  Couric is playing with the big boys now and if she can't cut it she needs to get out.  She should not whine about it.  Her job was to bring in ratings.  She's not getting the job done.  People aren't watching her. The truth is in the numbers, no matter how likable she is or isn't.

Couric is a bust in the evening. 

I would suggest she go back to daytime but am afraid they might try to put her on the View...

Comments On June 12th show:

Rene Syler guest hosted. Syler wrote the book Good Enough Mother.  She says good enough is the new perfect. 

First topic: The Sopranos

BW noted that people are upset because no one got whacked.  She reports that the show's creator/ writer, David Chase, tried to escape to Paris (we just can't get away from Paris) to find some peace after the fan furor over the non-finale finale.  Supposedly Chase said there will be no movie.  We'll see...

On to the really important topics of the day: Paris

BW noted that some people were touched by the phone call between Paris and BW. 

Elisabeth commented that she felt that people's criticism of Paris for now reading the Bible was an attack on Christianity.  I disagree with her and think Syler tried to make the point that people are critical about her drive thru approach to turning her life around.  Unfortunately, Barbara interrupted her to try  to explain why people should be patient with Paris.

***
Syler: I am not sure that that is why they are jumping on her. This is a woman who has made her mark partying and otherwise.
BW: We know that Rene but what she is saying is "I'm going to try to change. I'm going to try to be different." Somehow when bad things happen to you that is when you pick up the more spiritual books, including the Bible. I mean what we have to see is does she come out and lead a somewhat different life.
Joy: But there is a certain disingenuousness to the fact that it was like overnight. Like Ted Haggard, that other one
BW: SHe didn't say overnight.
EH: It's been seven days (lots of audience laughter) A lot happened in the Bible in seven days
***

Good point by EH.

***
BW: This has not been seven days.  Why am I sounding like a publicist. She's done seven days in jail but what happened to her- the whole indictment- its been weeks. What she is saying is "this has been very difficult in all different kinds of ways and it has made me more spiritual."
Joy: She says she's smarter, also which I - and she said she feels like she's in a cage- DUH! You're in a cage- you're in jail.
***

Exactly...

***
Syler: When I saw that my first response was you know- how many people fell like when they are in prison that they feel like they are in a cage? I understand that but would her treatment would have been any different if her name had been Paris Jackson?
BW: Maybe it would have been less time, maybe it would have been more time.  We don't know.
Joy: Paris Jackson? What do you mean Paris Jackson?
Syler (trying to be very clear with Joy, who at times amazes me): Here are the lines. Here are the lines
Joy: I am trying to figure out where are you going with Paris Jackson
Syler: If she had been a woman of color
Joy (The light going on): Oh, you mean like Jesse Jackson

***
There are moments when one really must wonder...