The View May 8th Recap: Robert Downey, Jr. and Clay Aiken
Whoopi Goldberg will be hosting the Tony Awards this year. She can’t remember if she hosted the Tonys in the past, but remembers she hosted the Oscars only because she saw pictures of herself. Sherri Shepherd asked her if she was going to wear a dress and Whoopi asked, “Why do you do that?” She will wear jewelry because you can wear it with anything and you will look good.
Joy Behar will be on Relative Madness: Mama Drama, which is a special about television mothers. It will be on tonight on SoapNet.
Whoopi asked whether a polygamist husband has to get all the wives Mother’s Day presents. Joy said that they should get them DNA tests and Sherri said that they should get bottles of hairspray. That morphed into a conversation about being only children and Joy is one and thinks there is nothing wrong with it. Sherri would like to have a sibling for Jeffrey. Elisabeth said that having a second child was less for her and more for Grace. Joy said it is like a 25 year play date. Sherri said that having more than one child takes the burden off them when they have to care for their parents later in laugh. Elisabeth said that one child usually ends up taking care of the parents anyway. Joy said that she knows a lot of people who don’t speak to their siblings.
Then they talked about American Idol and how Jason Castro forgot the words.
Hillary Clinton may be holding out for Barack Obama to ask her to be his vice-presidential running mate. Sherri thinks that Barack would not want anymore Clinton influence because he wants change. Elisabeth said this works positively for the Democratic party because you haven’t heard McCain’s name much in the past couple of months. Joy said that she doesn’t believe that Clinton supporters will not vote for Obama and once white women realize that McCain will put conservative judges on the Supreme Court, putting Roe v. Wade and women’s rights in jeopardy, they will vote for Obama. Elisabeth and Joy argued about whether whether the surge worked. Joy said that neither of them know enough to properly debate the issue. Elisabeth said that they should bring in some military experts. Elisabeth said that Obama will raise the capital gains tax. Whoopi said that they are all going to raise taxes. She also added that the candidates promise things and then when they get to the White House they can’t do sh-t.
Then they played the winning video in the Disney vacation contest, which was pretty cute. It was two kids saying what they have in common with the View hosts. Then they gave away something called a Stress Eraser which is a machine that reduces stress. (?)
Robert Downey, Jr. appeared on the show to promote his film Iron Man, which is based on a Marvel comic book character. He is “stoked” that the movie has been such a big hit. There will be a sequel. He had to work hard to get the part because they didn’t think he would be good for the job. He studied the lines very intensely and then did well at the screen test and got the part.
He tries to being a bit of himself to each role, because audience expect it now. Whoopi loved the movie and is very happy for him. Money doesn’t make him happy, but his wife and 14 year-old son do make him happy. His son is very into the Iron Man video game now. Robert went to ring the bell at the Stock Exchange, but it started ringing before he even pushed the button.
Whoopi worked with Robert on Soapdish in 1991. A lot of the scenes they ad libbed. Whoopi said that they filled in the holes in the conversation to make it better.
Sherri told Robert that he was “so sexy” in Iron Man and had a lot of sexual tension with co-star Pepper. Sherri asked if they would consummate that in the sequel. Robert said that it is better to keep the sexual tension.
Robert said that he wants more kids. Elisabeth said, “Sherri wants more kids, too!” Sherri said that Robert told them during commercial that he had a dream that he came out and laid down the couch and Elisabeth said something about there being a lot of bosoms on the couch. Then Robert laid his head down on Sherri’s lap, and put his legs up on the couch, facing Joy and Whoopi. Joy made a joke about how they should see the Iron Man from her angle.
Robert is taking his father to the Time magazine 100 Most Influential person awards, as he is part of the 100 list.
Clay Aiken appeared on the show to promote his new album On My Way Here. He just finished his role on Spamalot and he received an enthusiastic response in his final curtain call from the Claymates.
He wants to do a Merv Griffin type talk show because he likes to talk and listen to people as well. He wants to tell real people’s stories. He has a foundation that helps kids, but does not get to do as much hands-on work with kids.
His new album talks about experiences that you go through to mature. He said that most everything his mom told him growing up, she was right about.
He thinks that innocence is gone from American Idol because the good part of when he was on was that it was the geeky skinny kid from North Carolina and the fat guy from Alabama.
He then performed the title song from his album.
At the end of the show, Whoopi said that she wanted to go to the DVD store and start watching her old movies.
The View, Barbara Walters, Sherri Shepherd, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Downey, Jr., Iron Man, Patrick Stewart, Macbeth, Clay Aiken, Barack Obama, John McCain, Hillary Clinton, American Idol
May 8th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Winnie, I haven’t seen the show…was Whoopi seriously saying she can’t remember if she’s hosted the Tony’s before and didn’t remember hosting the Oscars until she saw pictures? I mean was her tone serious?
That to me seems a little b.s. if she was serious. You would remember whether you hosted a huge event like that or not. I’ll have to watch a clip of it later and see what the tone was.
May 8th, 2008 at 11:18 am
ShannonP: I think she was serious, implying that she has done so many events, she can’t remember them all. Let me know if you think differently.
May 8th, 2008 at 11:19 am
1st time poster
Loved seeing RD Jr., he is a real talent. Was nice to see he and Whoopi in the Soap scene. Mr. Clay can sing, huh? lol (not a fan of AI)
Just curious, does anyone else think EH is pregnant? When she hugged Clay at the end of his performance, from the side view it sure looked like it. Would explain why she has not got her roots done lately.
May 8th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Okay Winnie, I just watched the clip on RL and she was being serious and I agree with Joy “you’d remember that”. I think Whoopi really tries too hard to sell that I’m aloof, I’m too cool for this panel type of vibe.
I can get if you were talking about hosting some obscure little show, but she’s talking about the Tony’s. Tony’s, Oscars, Emmy’s etc…you’d remember.
I just didn’t buy it. I know it’s such a minute little detail, but it bugs me when she does stuff like that. Maybe my perception of it is off, but it just smells fishy to me.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
I think Whoopie was serious about not remembering…… in a “senior moment” sort of way. That was how I took it. I’m sure that the fact I have “been there - done it” helped me “lighten up” on her remark.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Gotta wonder what the real agenda is when they let EH say such stuff that’s plain wrong, and that she can’t back up:
Paraphrased:
EH: Barack is one of the most liberal Senators
JOY: What are you referring to? Back it up
1. He’s against the war
(Him a a few million other AMericans)
2. He was against the surge, which was a huge success
(query 1: Isn’t a surge that lasts months an oxymoron?
query 2: Define success.
query 3: Would “success” encompass accomplishing the purpose of the surge, which was presented as part of a larger plan for troop withdrawal and reducing the numbers of troops?
query 4: Did the surgein in providing the breathing space needed for reconciliation of Sunnis Shi’ites so Iraq can police itself, actually result in any significant political progress in Iraq?
Note: I’m not saying “the surge” was a failure, or wrong, just that it can’t yet be said it’s was an unmitigated success. I’m not taking a position on the surge in asking these questions.
3. He wants to tax corporate gains more
4. He wants to tax something above ~$97,000
Query 5: Could it be because some conservative group labeled Barack the most liberal senator - the same group that labeled HIlary the second most liberal (4 years ago she wasn’t even in the top 10) and labeled John Kerry the most liberal four years ago? Curious how that works - the democratic candidates become “the most liberal Senator,” while Ted Kennedy, Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, Russ Feingold, Bernie Sanders aren’t mentioned. Back to “define liberal.”
Query 6: Exactly why is being “liberal” bad? (honest question. I just think it’s disingenous to say “liberal” like it’s disdainful and wrong. Let’s talk about the issues, not labels.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Whoopi acts like she’s on another planet sometimes and occasionally having a “senior moment” happens to her and a lot of us others, I can’t see ever forgetting hosting a big event like that. C’mon whoopi! Everytime I tried to watch today’s show, EH was either shouting about giving the audience a freebie or running up to the singer Clay Aiken and gushing. Where was everybody else? Went over to Hoda/Kathie Lee and KL was getting ready to bring out her family (sis,mom,etc) so switched to Nick and Nora Charles movie. Remember those oldies? It was funny in a good old fashioned way. Think I’ll be done with “The View” till maybe Novermber elections.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
I have senior moments all the time and I’m not even a senior…but I don’t think unless you’ve done a lot of hard core drugs or you have an actual medical problem with your memory that you would forget whether you hosted an event like the Tony’s before.
Sometimes, to me, it feels like Whoopie is trying to sell an image and she isn’t being herself. Maybe she thinks if she acts all cool and laid back that the Fox Network types won’t come after her. I don’t know what the motivation there is, but I honestly don’t believe someone would forget whether they hosted the Tony’s or not.
May 8th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Darn, I missed RD Jr.! I am so turned off by Bits these days I won’t even TIVO the show.
As for Bits non-stop mantras of tax and spend liberals, the surge is working, the liberal media doesn’t like me…she has nothing to work with upstairs so she just repeats the Faux soundbites. The show has gone in the toilet and this latest round of Babs kissing and telling is disgusting. I don’t look at her as a pioneer anymore…much less a lady.
May 8th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
I’ve also thought the same thing, ShannonP. I’m sure every event she’s hosted, it really IS a BIG DEAL to her! She’s not fooling me because if she was really that nonchalant about the award shows she wouldn’t have been so hurt a few months ago when they forgot to mention her name at the Oscars.
May 8th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Hey Lajet!
Being liberal is not a bad thing! According to my dictionary liberal means the following:
1 Possessing or manifesting a free and generous heart; bountiful. 2 Appropriate or fitting for a broad and enlightened mind: a liberal education; liberal arts. 3 Free from narrowness, bigotry, or bondage to authority or creed, as in religion; inclined to democratic or republican ideas as opposed to monarchial or aristocratic, as in politics; broad; popular; progressive. 4 Bestowed without stint; abundant. 5 Not restricted to the literal meaning: a liberal construction. 6 Free by or from birth; hence, of high character; refined; independent.
Question for EH:
Aren’t these qualities we should look for in the President of the United States of America?
May 8th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
lajet # 6 i so agree these question are the ones that should be asked before you say a surge was good or not since we are no there to see for our selves. most impotantly success needs to be defined.
May 8th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Tina Says:
She’s not fooling me because if she was really that nonchalant about the award shows she wouldn’t have been so hurt a few months ago when they forgot to mention her name at the Oscars.
Great point Tina, I had forgotten all about that already!
May 9th, 2008 at 7:29 am
Tina Says:
“She’s not fooling me because if she was really that nonchalant about the award shows she wouldn’t have been so hurt a few months ago when they forgot to mention her name at the Oscars.”
I agree; excellent point!
May 9th, 2008 at 9:07 am
I’m sick and tired of Joy and EH arguing abut politics. they have both expressed their opinions, now let it rest! It’s enough that we are hit with this on every news program and then have to listen to it where you are suppose to be entertained
May 9th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
I like the fact that they talk about politics on the show. I think it adds to the balance. I don’t want to just hear about Hollywood, fashion and food. I like a serious topic discussion too. What I don’t like is when they keep saying the same things and throwing out the same soundbites.
Or when EH says ridiculous things and the other panelists have the brains to combat them with facts, but they don’t. I don’t give EH much credability or have much respect for her because she just uses hype and soundbites to get her views across, it doesn’t even feel like she has authentic views, she just sounds like a robot to me that is programmed to say the same thing over and over and over again without going off course or processing other’s input. And I lose respect for the others because they let her get away with it for the most part.
May 9th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Lajet Says: Gotta wonder what the real agenda is when they let EH say such stuff that’s plain wrong, and that she can’t back up:
Paraphrased - He’s the most liberal because of the % of his votes were “liberal,” 66 out of 67. He missed around 30% of the votes.
Compared to Hillary, she was “liberal” 77 out of 82 votes.
McCain missed about 50% of the votes.
As to why do presidential candidates receive a higher liberal rating, one option would be they return to work only for the issues important to them/party. They are out campaigning during voting on “conservative” issues which otherwise would balance out their “liberal” votes.
As far as the word liberal… if liberals didn’t have a problem being called liberal why do they now call themselves progressives?
May 9th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
Michael is back trying to bait people again. So Michael, what happened to your “Elisabeth is a Fox whore” line? Did you retire it?
May 10th, 2008 at 10:35 am
I have multiple personality disorder. I’m many people. Please don’t ridicule me about it.
Where was the bait? I tried to answer a question. I thought I did a good job.
May 10th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
“I tried to answer a question. I thought I did a good job.”
Answering with right wing talking points, using speculation/assumption and generalization is “a good job”?
May 11th, 2008 at 7:27 am
PRIOR POST: Paraphrased - He’s the most liberal because of the % of his votes were “liberal,” 66 out of 67. He missed around 30% of the votes. Compared to Hillary, she was “liberal” 77 out of 82 votes. McCain missed about 50% of the votes.
RESPONSE: he got the lable because his percentage of votes on selected questions - questions selected by people who wanted him labeled as “the most liberal.”
PRIOR POST: As to why do presidential candidates receive a higher liberal rating, one option would be they return to work only for the issues important to them/party. They are out campaigning during voting on “conservative” issues which otherwise would balance out their “liberal” votes.
RESPONSE: First, if you are correct, then it is an unscientific sampling of votes and therefore the conclusions are not valid.
Second, you misstate the issue, and what I said. It isn’t that presidential candidates receive a higher liberal rating. It’s that the front running Democratic candidates happen to be “the most liberal” during the year they are campaigning, according to this particular gorup. That defies logic. It suggests cooking the numbers. If these pronouncements came out before the campaigns were in full gear it would be more credible.
May 11th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
#19, Michael says:
“I have multiple personality disorder. I’m many people. Please don’t ridicule me about it.”
Where’s the ridicule, Michael? I only asked if you planned to use the “Elisabeth is a Fox whore” routine again. That routine gave me doubts about your intentions when you post here.
May 11th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
he got the lable because his percentage of votes on selected questions - questions selected by people who wanted him labeled as “the most liberal.”
What are the questions? Then we could decide if the questions were selectively picked.
It’s that the front running Democratic candidates happen to be “the most liberal” during the year they are campaigning, according to this particular gorup. That defies logic.
I disagree. I think it proves my point. The frontrunners have been campaigning for a long time now. Otherwise how could you explain the frontrunners missing such a high % of the votes?
Your point about unscientific sampling has some merit, although I’m not in complete agreement. If a student misses XX number of tests should his grade be reflective of ALL the tests or only the ones he took.
May 11th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Answering with right wing talking points, using speculation/assumption and generalization is “a good job”?
Lajet made some well thought out points against my opinion.
You didn’t, you labeled me as someone posting right wing talking points. Wouldn’t that make you using the same speculation/assumptions and generalizations you claim are right wing talking points?
May 11th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
PRIOR POST: If a student misses XX number of tests should his grade be reflective of ALL the tests or only the ones he took.
RESPONSE: You misstate my point and set up a false scenario. Assume instead that the teacher has 3 questions/week for 20 weeks (60 questions). And a kid is absent for 10 of 20 weeks becuase his family travels a lot, or he was sick, or something. Statisticians would tell you that:
1. assessing him based on assuming 0 points for all the missed tests items, and assuming perfect scores on the remaining tests, so that he has 30/60 right, may be a fair way to give a grade (depending on what you think the purpose of grades is) but it doesn’t really tell you how well he understands the subject. He may have been present for weeks when he knew the subject matter well, so averaging the scores over all the tests wouldn’t make sense. Or he may have been a terrific student and gotten perfect scores on the remaining tests that he missed.
2. If I want to judge a presidential candidate on his positions AND reliability for votes, then MAYBE the test used is appropriate (and while I think reliability is important, the system is set up so that ALL presidential candidates miss votes when campaigning, and they generally show up if they know their vote may change the outcome - which in most cases it doesn’t).
But if I want to judge a presidential candidate on his positions, I wouldn’t used a skewed sample. I might more likely look at how often he voted with the other party. Or take a look at each of the positions and see how many times I agree with his positions.
Frankly, I’m not sure how important it is whether he is “the most liberal” or “the most conservative.” (except for smoke it creates to confuse the issues.) EH says it like it’s an awful thing. But truth is: most people I know don’t believe everything their party stands for so I don’t care who is “most” liberal. I care about who is liberal where I want a liberal position, and who is conservative where I want a conservative position. (I think it’s more a matter of which party makes you hold your nose the least.)
PRIOR POST: What are the questions? Then we could decide if the questions were selectively picked.
RESPONSE: Truth is, I did some internet research, figured out what made sense to me, filed the answers in my brain, and moved on. I don’t remember how the votes were selected; I just remember reading various analyses and deciding I agreed with those who said the votes were skewed.
Hmmm. Maybe some of it is coming back. The candidates make an effort to come back for votes that will make a difference. Or votes that will play well to whatever constitutency they are trying to court. So it makes sense that those are the votes they will be come back for, and that they are likely to be more polar votes than typical.
IN addition, it is very easy for those making the assessment to set a time frame which looks fair on the face, but which they know is skewed to show more liberal votes.
If however, you were to compare them in a typical year, you are far more likely to learn that Ted Kennedy, Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, Russ Feingold, Bernie Sanders and others are signficantly more liberal - and an similar scenario for the republicans. That would be a fairer assessment - if you thought the label was important. (so why am I commenting on it - because there are some who use the label to create smoke, not because it is inherently legitimate.)
May 11th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Lajet:
“Gotta wonder what the real agenda is when they let EH say such stuff that’s plain wrong, and that she can’t back up:”
BG is a conservative. And Rosie O’Donnell said on her blog (when someone asked something) that BG adores EH. I’ve heard Joy say either in print on another show that Barbara adores EH. So he and Barbara could be overlooking her inaccurate and misleading comments because he adores her & doesn’t want to embarrass her.
Or: It could be because he also relies on inaccuracies and misstatements for political discussions, so he doesn’t recognize it when she does the same thing (or does recognize it for what it is — but doesn’t care).
Even if Barbara does adore EH. I give her SOME credit for actually correcting EH sometimes, either with facts or providing a larger context, or by pointing out that EH isn’t really addressing the argument.
BG also might encourage EH’s light on the facts and heavy on misleading innuendo type of arguments because that’s the style used on cable so often. Maybe he thinks it drives up ratings and keeps viewers who don’t investigate the facts for themselves tuning in.
The “most liberal Senator” line is a good example. Why check out the truth of this yourself when all you have to do is listen to EH repeat it, then others on cable (like Fox) and the radio? And like you said, not everyone cares about the label; it’s how a candidate is on the issues.
May 11th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
P.S. Another way to cook the survey is how you identify what constitutes a “liberal” vote and what constitutes a “conservative” vote. You can select to label certain votes as “liberal” so as further skew the survey.
Here are some examples I’ve found on the internet. I’ve not verified that these are correct, but they seemed credible to me. Feel free to do your own research. It shows yet another way you can cook the books.
- Establish a Senate Office of Public Integrity to handle ethics complaints against senators. (Voting for the bill is the “liberal” option.)
(Yea - because the conservatives are afraid of ethics complaints).
BTW, and he was joined by Republicans Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe Chuck Grassley, and JOHN McCAIN.
- Agree to final passage of a bill implementing the 9/11 commission’s homeland-security recommendations, including a provision extending collective bargaining rights to federal security screeners. (Voting for the bill is the “liberal” option.)
(I’d think EH would be for this, this being IATOW and all.)
- Prevent Mexican trucks from operating on most U.S. roads. (Voting *for* the bill - not against - is the “liberal” option.)
-100% inspections of shipping containers for national security threats a “liberal” position.
The survey also ignores the difference between a politician’s position on a particular bill, and how they vote. We all know there is horse-trading and that legislators make compromises all the time - on both sides of the aisles. And sometimes those compromises are for hte good of the nation with an attitude of the Best can be the enemy of the good - and sometimes it’s because they’ve been promised some bacon to take back home and they hold their nose. The survey can’t even analyze that.
Another factor to consider is not just how someone voted, but whether they were the lone dissent, part of a small minority dissent, or the bill was a close vote; as well as how many republicans/conservatives voted for the bill labeled “liberal.”