The Mourning Show - Cher Shares Some Horror Stories on C-Span

Village Voice ^ | November 5 - 11, 2003

[dead]

It started as just another C-SPAN call-in show bright and early on October 27. Then moderator Peter Slen punched up a call from south Florida. Here's an edited transcript:

Slen: Good morning, Miami Beach.

Caller: Good morning! Thank you for C-SPAN. I watch it every day! Uh, I would like to say I had the occasion the other day to spend the entire day with troops that had come back from Iraq and had been wounded and—I also visited troops during the Vietnam era, but the thing that I was most shocked by, as I walked into the hospital, the first person I ran into was a boy about 19 or 20 years old who'd lost both of his arms. And when I walked into the hospital and visited all these boys all day long—everyone had lost either one arm, one limb, or two limbs . . . and there were a lot of legs that seemed to be missing. A couple of the boys told me it was because the rockets pierce their vehicles so much, it's like being kind of in a tin can. Three guys in the same vehicle have lost a leg. Another thing that I saw was that if they'd lost one leg, that the shrapnel that had hit the other leg had been so devastating that they were having to pull, like, the thigh—you know, the muscle and the thigh—around the bottom of the calf to try to make the leg workable. But in some cases these boys had lost one leg and the other leg was so damaged that they weren't sure what they were gonna be able to do.

Slen: Where did you spend the day?

Caller: Walter Reed [Army Medical Center, in Washington, D.C.].

Slen: And you're down in Miami Beach, back in Miami Beach?

Caller: I'm down here today.

Slen: What were you doing at Walter Reed? Are you a volunteer?

Caller: No, I was just asked to come and spend the day. I was working that day in Washington, D.C., and—

Slen: What kind of work do you do?

Caller: Um, I'm an entertainer.

Slen: Oh, what kind of entertaining? Are you USO?

Caller: No, I actually was called by the USO but I'm—I'm just an entertainer. And I really don't want to go much past that, but um—

Slen: Is this Cher?

Caller: Yeah.

Slen: And you spent the day at Walter Reed.

Caller: Yeah. And I spent the day with—I mean they were great guys. . . . They had the most unbelievable courage. It took everything that I have as a person to—to not, you know, break down while I was talking to these guys. But I just think that if there was no reason for this war, this was the most heinous thing I'd ever seen. And also I wonder why are none of Cheney, Wolfowitz, Bremer, the president—why aren't they taking pictures with all these guys? Because I don't understand why these guys are so hidden and why there aren't pictures of them, because you know, talking about the dead and the wounded, that's two different things, but these wounded are so devastatingly wounded. It's unbelievable. It's just unbelievable to me. You know, if you're going to send these people to war, then don't hide them. Have some news coverage where people are sitting and talking to these guys and seeing how they are and seeing their spirit. It's just—I think it's a crime.

[dead]

Well, she may be a few rocks short of a box, but I commend her for visiting the troops. And she's right that these wounded boys deserve the attention and gratitude of our country, though the Dems would undoubtedly hammer any administration official, especially Bush, who visited them in the presence of a television camera.

[MLedeen]

it is true. we were there, she was terrific, not showing off at all, just being a pal, telling them how great they were, how much we all appreciate their sacrifice.

you would be amazed at how much is done by lots of famous people to support our troops and never makes the "news"...

among other things, the best restaurants provide some meals.

[sarasota]

They're in hospitals, Cher. The government is not "hiding" them. Sheesh.

[Hildy]

What were you doing there? I hope I'm not prying.

[Naspino]

Bush visited them back several months ago.

Bush Visits with Wounded Soldiers at Walter Reed Army Hospital, September 11, 2003

I guess its just easier for libs to think of Bush as an evil bastard that wouldn't.

Bush said he and the first lady had come to the hospital "to thank the brave souls who got wounded in the war on terror, people who are willing to sacrifice in order to make sure that attacks such as September the 11th don't happen again. ... I was able to pin the Purple Heart [medal] on a number of people upstairs, able to hug their parents and thank them. I'm so grateful that our country has got people who are willing to serve in a cause greater than themselves," he said.

[dead]

If you're not on television, do you really exist?

[sarasota]

Good question. All I can think of right now is Brad Paisley's song "Celebrity". And the beat goes on.

[bigeasy_70118]

Caller: No, I actually was called by the USO but I'm—I'm just an entertainer. And I really don't want to go much past that, but um—

Slen: Is this Cher?

How the hell did he guess that? I probably would have went through about 400 celebrities b/f Cher's name rolled off my tongue.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

They were on NBC's nightly news a couple of nights ago.

[MEG33]

I appreciate the attention and entertainment given the wounded.I am too old not to imagine the devastating wounds some of our guys have sustained.

God bless our wounded and may they receive the very best to help them recuperate.If and when they are ready for the cameras and to be shown on TV,I'm for it..but only if the wounded want it.

[MineralMan]

"How the hell did he guess that? I probably would have went through about 400 celebrities b/f Cher's name rolled off my tongue."

Nah. She has a pretty distinctive speaking voice and accent. Once she said she was an entertainer, I'm sure her voice was the main clue. Good for her for visiting the wounded, whatever else I think of her.

[discostu]

Cher's voice is pretty obvious, off the top of my head I can't think of anybody that sounds like her when speaking. There's probably a few regular citizens who sound similar but no other celebrities.

[cwb]

The only time liberals give a rats*ss about our soldiers is when they're dead or dying...and then, it's only to make a political point. As one father said on the radio, why should the media be allowed to cover my son in his death, when they never covered him in his life.

[bigeasy_70118]

"Disco Stu likes disco music- the cats in Funky Business know how to move it, groove it and prove it, ya dig?"

[mabelkitty]

Think she'd do it if she couldn't plug that deed on the radio?
Sheesh.

[sarasota]

He's got to be a fan of hers. Her voice is very unique if you've heard it a bit--from films, concerts, interviews, Sonny and Cher Show. Man, she's been around a long time.

[doug from upland]

We are at war. War is hell. I weep when I hear of an American death. But it is a battle we have to fight. It is a battle that is not going to end until we have crushed the radical Islamists and shown those in the Middle East that they and their families can have good lives without fear of torture and death by their government.

[Choose Ye This Day]

she's been around a long time.

Parts of her, at any rate.

As in: Cher just celebrated her 60th birthday! And her rear end just turned 10.

[cwb]

LMAO! Good one.

[whereasandsoforth]

Cher has been in show business since before Francis X. Bushman died. Her voice is embeded in most every American brain. How could you NOT recognize Cher's voice?