April 14^th- more on elitism:

In perhaps the most ridiculous part of the show, Joy shares her frustrations:

Joy: You know what really bothers me now- they are calling Obama the elitist. First of all, I looked up the term “elitist” for us and it’s a group, or class of persons, or a member of such a group or class enjoying superior intellectual, social or economic status.  Now, first of all he was raised by a single mother

No, he was not raised by a single mother- his parents were married until his father abandoned them to go to Harvard to pursue graduate work. Then his grandparents and mother took care of him until his mother remarried when he was about 6 years old. Why do liberals continue to try to use stereotypical images to paint Obama as a person he isn't. Oh, silly me- it's because what he isn't is more politically attractive than what he actually is...  

Joy continues: the guy just finished paying off his student loans

This does not mean he couldn’t have afforded to pay them back more quickly, it simply means that he chose to spread his payments out over 15 or 20 years, which is what all smart people do. These loans are usually federally subsidized at an interest rate of less than 5% which means that people can actually be better off not paying off this particular type of loan quickly. 

By the way, he and his wife never have said what their student loan payments were.  I would guess that their payments were less than $1000 per month and that they could have paid them off a long time ago if they had wanted to. 

There is no rule that says wealthy people have to pay these loans back faster.

By the way, since the Obamas like to use the fact that they only recently paid off their loans as evidence of them being like regular folks- it would be interesting for someone to ask just how much their payments had been…

Joy continues: Hillary Clinton and John McCain are both worth over $100 million dollars

First, none of these people are currently in the poor house- who is she kidding.  It is true that McCain has made some good money but it is his wife who inherited the mass fortune. Hillary Clinton also is no pauper but I remember not too long ago when the whole country was asked to support her husband’s legal defense fund because they weren’t multi millionaires. Since Bill Clinton left office, the Clintons have accumulated an unbelievable amount of money- giving speeches is very lucrative for some people.

Joy goes on: so how is he the elitist exactly?

Did she read or listen to the definition she just read to us? The first descriptive used to describe an elitist was….INTELLECTUAL. Obama is an intellectual elitist who thinks many of us, particularly we conservatives, are just too close-minded or stupid to understand the real solutions for our society- limit or take away the rights granted by our Constitution, promote a large federal government and raise taxes to redistribute the wealth accumulated by the working people.

I know there was a big time span from the beginning of the quote to the end but really…

April 14^th goes on:

EH: I think people took it they seemed as though- and this is not me speaking- there are things he has said that I find more disconcerting to be perfectly honest than this - but I think that what people grabbed onto was that generalization and saying that “these people” -they-separating himself from them- Hillary Clinton’s camp is now saying he is separating himself from middle America and capitalizing on it

It is very sad that EH either does not see - or is unwilling to honestly state that she sees- what really happened and why Obama made the statements he did:  Obama was talking to a supportive crowd in one of the most liberal, far-left cities in the country. He thought he could speak candidly.  He was explaining why he was having trouble in Pennsylvania because he needs to ensure that people don’t start to worry about his poor polling numbers in PA. He wants to ensure that those at the fundraiser left motivated to tell their friends why HE should be the nominee and why Clinton needed to drop out.

He wasn’t being supportive or understanding of poor people in Middle America, he was trying to explain that it doesn’t matter that he has trouble with them- they are ignorant and unimportant and he can win without them.

They go on and it gets even worse:

Joy: You know what they say- “there’s no atheists in fox holes.” So that when people are sometimes very scared they will cling to religion. That’s what he’s saying.

EH says something that is fairly incoherent and then they all talk over each other.

By the way, it is true that sometimes people find religion when they are faced with life-threatening situations. Maybe it is because when someone survives a situation that seemed to have no good ending, the only thing that can explain survival is some sort of divine intervention.

Whoopi: What he is saying basically is the things that people cling to are religion or they are clinging to their belief in guns or they become anti-immigrant or – all of these things happen because once you start losing in this country and nothing happens and nothing gets better people come along and say “It’s their fault, it’s their fault”- like they did in Germany.  So he’s saying- “Listen, there is blame.”  That’s what he said in his big, beautiful speech about Black people and White people. He said “Listen White people- you have good reason to be upset. Here’s what’s going on. Here’s what’s happening in America”

Joy: What is wrong with that? What is wrong with what he said? I don’t get it

WHAT!!!- It’s like Germany under Hitler? Is Whoopi saying that not only are the poor people of Middle America bitter but that they also are White supremacists? What is she saying? Even Obama didn’t go this far…

The View- April 14, 2008

Whoopi quotes Obama’s “bitter” statement and then tries to analyze it. They all (except EH) work very hard to justify his use of the term bitter and his assertion that these bitter people cling to guns and religion.

Whoopi: He’s making a point.

SS: Obama said when he goes through stuff he clings to his spirituality you know he clings to his religion. He wasn’t saying it as a bad thing- that they cling- I don’t know what he meant – clinging to guns

Actually, religious people don’t cling to their religion in the manner that Obama implied in his speech.  Religious people generally have a faith that permeates their lives in good times and bad. Tough times may challenge people’s faith but “clinging” to one’s faith during these trials does not indicate bitterness. It indicates the opposite of bitterness- it shows optimism and an understanding that no matter how difficult a person’s life has become, they are never walking alone.

He seems unable to understand what faith means to truly religious people- perhaps he really wasn’t paying attention to Reverend Wright during the 20 years he sat in church. His post-speech efforts to clean up the mess only served to demonstrate the probability that his own religious experience is rooted in a secularist philosophy. Church, for many people, has become social. Obama would not be the first politician to “cling” to church for political reasons- belonging to a large Black church with many, many political connections certainly seems to have served him well…  

And to Sherri’s comment that she didn’t know what he meant about the clinging to guns part of his statement- he meant that people who have a deeply held belief that they have a Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms are ignorant. They cling to their guns out of some fear that they would need to protect themselves or their families from some non-existent threat. After all- the government that Obama envisions would be all powerful and ever-present…

People who infer a pejorative intent are not being hyper-sensitive. They are accurately recognizing the disdain Obama feels for people who are devout, non-far left Christians and for those people who cling to the Constitution because they believe it to be the best protection the people have from an oppressive government.

Just how does Obama separate out the non-bitter people from the bitter people? The non-bitter people must be the ones who plan to vote for him…

April 11, 2008 (cont.)

The last segment opens with a pan shot of Chris Rock’s mom, Rose Rock, on the couch with all 5 women.  She is promoting her new book- Mama Rock’s Rules.  After SS introduces the guest, EH stands up to welcome her from the side- completely oblivious to the fact that she has been sitting 4 feet away from her since the break…

EH: Oh my gosh!  I didn’t know you were there. How did you get there? (She goes over to give Ms. Rock a hug and says “Obviously I need to get some sleep as a parent”

If it weren’t so sad it would be funny…

To Elisabeth’s delight, they moved quickly onto Mama Rock’s parenting suggestions:  She says she would rather a person spank a child than use hurtful words as the words reverberate and the spank goes away.  I would rather parents did neither. I wish she would have said that parents should always apologize when they do step over the line with hurtful words.  My Dad used to say everything’s a memory but kids remember the bad much more clearly than the good.

Her best points:

·         Parents aren’t friends.

·         It’s not a popularity contest.

·         You only get one shot to raise a good child.

·         Every action has a reaction.

April 11, 2008

Hot Topics

Some mom in New York put her 9 year old on the subway and now is surprised that people question her judgment.  EH isn’t sure it’s a bad idea.

Is she serious? 9 years old? I wouldn’t let my 15 year old ride the bus in Minneapolis-let alone in NYC.  Giuliani may have cut crime but it only takes one person to ruin a child’s life…

And then EH continues: It’s almost less safe to go online if you are 8 or 9 years old in this city. You know, I mean, or in this world. You go online you don’t know where they are going. If they have a destination and you can control it might be the safest thing.

First, I really doubt either of her kids will be riding the subway alone at the age of 9.  Next, does she not understand that while the internet is potentially dangerous for kids, it is much more dangerous if parents allow their young children to gallivant around the city? Then they can have a rendezvous with the person they met on the internet?  Using the internet does not necessarily lead to some pedophile walking through your front door. If a child can’t leave the house unsupervised, then the Internet is not nearly as dangerous as the risks entailed in being alone on a subway.

SS then comments that when she was little she and her sister rode the bus to get groceries but no way would she let her kid today.

Joy asserts the crime rate is lower today than when she was young.

Shepherd seems to be the only one thinking- times have changed.  While there might have been mob violence when Joy was young, children were not targeted by the mafia. Murders may be down in the last decade but to think that putting a vulnerable child on a subway, alone, where any pedophile could sit down next to them, or follow them or simply just stare at them- NO WAY!!!

Whoopi then asks why Shepherd wouldn’t trust her child to do what she taught him and, thankfully SS is ready and explains it’s not about trusting the child- it’s about all of the crazy people who could be on the subway.

EXACTLY!!!! I live in the Heartland and there is NO WAY!!!  Parents: don’t put your kids on the Subway unless you are getting on with them…

John McCain on The View:

He jokes with Whoopi for being overdressed- always a good opener. Whoopi has a nickname for him- Jack Mac.  He likes it.

McCain opens with a comment on the polygamist compound-the key is get information to people- information is knowledge and knowledge is power.

***

I don’t know how you mandate polygamist leaders to provide the Internet to the young people on their compounds but it would be great…

***

BW: Most Americans oppose war- there have been increased violence… what are you seeing that others are not seeing

McCain’s responses, paraphrased in a nutshell:

·         The war was mishandled in the beginning

·         He detests war

·         If we set a date for withdrawal we would pay a very heavy price and we would be back. 

·         Iraq- no matter what it was in the beginning, we are there now

·         Rule of law is the hardest thing… Iraq has made dramatic progress but has a long way to go

·         Consequences of failure, in his view, are so catastrophic that we have to continue the current strategy, which he thinks is working

BW- refers to comments made by Colin Powell describing the U.S. Armed Forces as very, very stressed and expressing his concern about extended tours and his belief that we don’t have enough troops, and that the military is stretched beyond its necessary capacity to protect American interests around the world.

McCain agrees with the concern and explains that one of the mistakes we have made is we have reduced size of military since the first Gulf War:  some branches are now 1/3 smaller than they used to be.

McCain further explains: “There’s only thing worse than a stressed military and that’s a defeated military.”

***

Excellent point…

***

McCain went on to praise our volunteer military and assert we need to address ways to make the military more attractive to people by offering more opportunity for education and other inducements to serve. He also makes the argument that all Americans should find ways to serve this country, by choice. They can join the Peace Corp, teach, volunteer… everyone should serve.

***

He is right…

***

Joy:  I have a question I am really concerned about-Anyway- here’s my question- I’ve been reading all about you and all about – you know, I don’t like George Bush, as a President and I think he was one of the worst Presidents we’ve ever had- okay don’t applaud ( to the audience) please don’t- Let me just get through this question. I want to know- since you are for his tax cuts for the wealthy, that you are for staying in Iraq, that you are against Roe v. Wade therefore Supreme Court justices may come in and overturn women’s rights and in fact that you have hired Karl Rove as one of your campaign advisors which is like hiring Mike Tyson to be your body guard. How are you different from George Bush?

JM-First of all, we have not hired Karl Rove- I’ve spoken to him once in the last year or so.

***

FIRST THINGS FIRST: He distances himself from Rove, who is, apparently, way more politically dangerous than Bush…

***

McCain continues: Second of all, I respect President Bush- we have a friendly relationship.  There are issues that we have disagreed on: The conduct of the war for four years, spending, and climate change. There is a list of issues that we have open and honest disagreements, keeping with the overall philosophy of less government is better government, lower taxes, strong national defense, etc, etc.   We share a common philosophy but on an issue for example, such as climate change, I think it’s real, I think we’ve got to do something about it, I think we have to act quickly.

***

Here’s the best statement:

***

McCain: I think we have to have a global agreement with India and China included because we’re going to hand off a planet that’s damaged to the next generation

Joy: So you would have gone along with the Kyoto Agreement, wouldn’t you?

McCain: As long as India and China were part of it.

***

Good luck there…  

***

He continues: As you know, they’re the greatest emitters.

***

No, I’m sure she doesn’t know and has never even considered that the U.S. is not the sole problem re: global warming- wait- climate change is the new term…

***

McCain again: But I would have been very active in getting them included in the global agreement

Joy: And on immigration.  Are you similar to him?

McCain: Well, yes, because I believe that we need to have a comprehensive approach. Look we lost in the Senate because of opposition to it.

***

No, actually, the United States won in the Senate- John McCain and pro illegal alien Senators lost in the Senate.  He still does not get this…

***

McCain continues: We have to secure our borders. Borders have to be secured. And we have to have a temporary worker program that works, and I’ll make this brief- but we also have to address the issue in a humane and compassionate fashion.  These are God’s children, okay, they are God’s children and I think we can address it in a comprehensive fashion after we have secured the borders but it is a federal responsibility and we have abrogated our responsibilities.

***

What does that mean, “They are God’s children”?” Aren’t all people God’s children?  

Is there any limit to the number of God’s children we have to let into our country?

Aren’t all criminals God’s children?  Should we ignore all law breakers or just the law breakers with whom McCain sympathizes?

Should we promote public policy that helps to move third world countries toward capitalism rather than socialism? Is that possible, when those countries are losing their young and strong workers to the United States? John McCain’s immigration policies actually undermine the stability of the countries from where these illegal aliens flee.

Maybe the current rise in unemployment and the recession we are hearing about may be what it takes to convince Americans that illegal immigration must stop. We can’t afford the social service, medical and educational costs of caring for illegal aliens and their children when we can’t provide for the people of the United States.

McCain is right on a lot of things but not on this issue…

 ***

He then went on to rightly explain the importance of national security, the stabilization of the economy and volunteerism and service to the nation.  He discounted his lack of knowledge about the economy and asserted that he knows more about the economy than either of the senators against whom he will be running.

EH asked about the possibility of a McCain/Rice ticket.  He rightly praised Rice and her intellect and her service to the country but skirted the topic.  It’s way too soon…

The brief discussion:

BW- But you know the other part of it that we just don’t understand is the women who, whether they are brain washed or scared- and some say they even like it- why in this day and age this kind of thing happens and women still take it

Joy: It’s a polygamist concept.

BW: You have to understand why they like it

While Joy doesn't care if adult women choose to marry into polygamy- whatever they want- it seems fairly self-explanatory why these women “choose” this life. They don’t know anything else. Women in polygamist camps, women who stay with abusive men, women who have been made to feel as though this is their only option… These woman, at best, lack either the knowledge of opportunity, the strength or both to leave this life behind. At worst they stay because the danger in leaving is worse than the danger in staying.

They briefly continue:

EH: But look at Big Love the show that was on- is it still on? I don’t watch it but- it essentially glorified this lifestyle and made it seem a little bit, you know, beautiful, maybe a little bit fun, it kind of showed the complications of living with many women living under one roof. I mean we’re complicated women.

They babble back and forth and then Joy delivers a great one liner: When a man has lot of wives they call it polygamy; when a women has a lot of men they call them clients

She can be funny…

When I entered in “troop campaign donations” up popped a headline for a USA Today story, run also by  ABC, originally dated in mid-2007  (click here to read) the headline: "Obama, Paul net most military workers’ campaign donations”

Unlike Joy, I actually read the article and had to read to the sixth paragraph to learn that this claim is based on the donations of 44 people to Obama totally $27,000, 23 people donating $19,300 to Paul and 32 donors giving $18,500 to McCain.

The Center for Responsive Politics found that a whopping 99 enlisted people made donations to these three candidates.

When there are more than 1 million people serving in the military and a report is based on less than 0.01% of the military then I can safely say that any generalization would be lacking in credibility.

Note to Joy: Google is a great resource. Take the time to research your “facts”…