Politically Incorrect Transcript(6/27)

Bill: That's funny. Hi, welcome to "Politically Incorrect." Our last real show because tomorrow is our finale and that will be a special finale. And here to join me tonight, Mr. Tim Robbins came by not because he's a big movie star, because he likes this show.

Bill: Because we never pander to movie stars and God knows they never pander to us.

But, and you're an Oscar-nominated director -- Actor's Gang Theater is your group out here in L.A. and your play, "The Guys," opening July 10th. It's about a 9/11 New York Fire Captain challenged with writing eulogies for firefighters. That sounds interesting. Thank you for coming by one more time.

Bill: Genevieve Wood, I'm so glad you came back one time. I don't know how many times you've been here but it's a lot. You're always a great guest. You're a political commentator and the spokeswoman for the Family Research Council. Michael Moore, your book is number one. "Stupid White Men." And your new film, "Bowling for Columbine" out in November, and you are my good friend. And Larry Miller and I go back to the clubs in New York. 1979 Larry Miller was one of the, I think he was on the very first show we ever did of "Politically Incorrect" in 1993. He's been on here probably 25 times. And I've never liked him. Please, give a hand to this panel, if you would.

Bill: I forgot to mention that Larry has "A Guy Thing" with Julia Styles, opening this fall and "A Mighty Wind," opening later this year. And by the way, I've been with you on nights when you produced a mighty wind and that's why I don't like you.

No, I'm kidding. All right, so Michael Moore, you have a big "I told you so" coming to the United States of America, don't you? Because who was more on the side of corporate America is greedy, evil and arrogant -- and now a word from our sponsor.

Bill: -- That Michael Moore. My God, I was watching "Martha Stewart Living" today and she was actually cooking the book.

Bill: So, speaking of fuzzy math, George Bush was outraged the other day, I heard him say, when he found out about Worldcom, the latest in corporate malfeasance going down the books, down the drain. So, you think he really has a right to be outraged the way he says he is? I mean, isn't his -- he was always against campaign finance reform. It seems like he's against business -- outraged at business practices that really wouldn't be flourishing if he practiced a different form of government.

Michael: That's right. Listen. Bush is, these people are all thieves, all right? And I don't feel "I told you so," in fact I would never want to -- I feel bad that we're at this point. I mean, that these people have gotten away with so much. I mean, you think about this. Not just Worldcom, not just Enron, Tyco, you go down the whole list. This has been going on for a long, long Time. Not just during Bush two, it was during Bush one, it was during Clinton.

Tim: And backed by a Republican Congress. This is where it all started to fall apart.

Michael: The Telecommunications Act that allowed Worldcom, MCI, to get away with what they get away with, to expand and merge without regulation, which is what these people, which is what the Bush's wanted. They want it. They created this whole system. It's not gonna be enough just to send the head of Worldcom to jail. I mean, they all belong in jail. You've got people in this state, there's a guy up in San Quentin because he sold a ball cap from Mervins. I mean, you know, we put a lot of people in jail. For a lot of things, and we never put these people in jail. So they all do belong in jail but there's a much bigger problem with the system.

Bill: In 1973 the average CEO made 45 times what the worker, average worker made.

Bill: So, in 25 years, yeah, I mean, I agree, a groan. It went from 40 times, which is a lot more than the average, to 450 times. That's an earnings raise of 4,300%.

Larry: By the way, forgive me, in the interest of full disclosure, as a sweatshop owner --

Michael: As long as they've got a big picture of you there, Larry, to look at, you know, while they're working, you know? It inspires them. Larry Miller.

Larry: You know what, by the way? I don't know when this has been different. I mean, I don't know, I honestly don't know --

Larry: Wait a minute, the whole hands up thing in the middle of a sentence, that's what this means.

Tim: Who's gonna suffer the consequences of this? It's gonna be the people that work for these corporations that are unemployed now because there are going to be cutbacks and rollbacks and what happens ultimately when these industries start to fail is -- the crime has ramifications throughout society through many economic levels. Eventually, more crime is wreaked because of the economy being more and more depressed by these kind of corporate criminals.

Tim: Nine times out of ten the government's gonna bail them out with some kind of corporate welfare and it's all going to be paid for by us.

Genevieve: They're always throwing in some culture thing here, though. These aren't the only bad guys. I mean, you obviously have people at Worldcom but there's all other industries all over, whether it's politics and the like, where you got people lying and stealing and cheating. And what's amazing is I think we're so tuned into it right now because it affects our money. I mean, I would say -- look, yeah, we have stock in these companies and we're obviously upset about it but I think we have stock in our country, so I was upset when Bill Clinton was running around chasing interns -- Bill, I had to bring it up on the last show, I had to for you.

Bill: Billions of dollars out the back door because people like this are watching about the interest.

Genevieve: No, no, no. I'm talking about culture and I would also bring up he was some interesting shenanigans with the Chinese Communists he was bringing to the White House. The point is -- when you turn your back on the chief executive of the country and act like what he's doing behind closed doors is okay, what are you signaling to other people in the country?

Michael: Let me tell you what tonight is, Genevieve. Tonight is the eve of the day when 17,000 people at Worldcom are gonna lose their jobs.

Michael: All right? And this is all part and parcel of a system that Bush and the people before him helped set up so that few people could get rich and everybody else here has to worry about where the paycheck's gonna come from next month.

Genevieve: Hey. Nobody here was upset when the stock was going up. They weren't even paying attention to it. The point is, nobody cares until they lose their money. How about we should be paying attention to lying, cheating and stealing the whole time, not just when we lose our money.

Bill: You're right. The people are easily distracted, as Tim was just pointing out.

Michael: When you draw up in the working class, they hold these carrots out there and they say, "You know what, if you just do this, you'll be like the rich man. You'll have the house like him, you'll have the car like him." And so in the 80s and 90s it was the 401k. "Invest in the stock market. Now we're all owners of America." No, the stock market was the rich man's game and it's set up and it's rigged so that the top 10% make all the money and the people lose the money.

Genevieve: Michael, the point is, who was paying attention in the 80s and 90s? Who was paying attention? Lying and cheating and stealing and people didn't pay much attention 'cause they were raking the money in.

Tim: Are you saying that if there was no shenanigans in the White House that this wouldn't have happened?

Genevieve: I'm just saying, it's always easy to pick on big business and make them look like bad guys and that they don't have --

Michael: You know, I don't have to make them look like anything anymore. It's a daily "Roger and Me," now, right? I don't have to toot us anymore.

Michael: The point is, I would say that some of the business leaders might be falling --

Genevieve: I think it's a cultural indicator, as you might say and that it's not just businesses, as I mentioned earlier, kids are cheating at higher levels on tests than they ever have. I mean, you think we ought to think about this culturally, why that people think they can just get away with -- and they have no problem with.

Tim: Because maybe they see the richest people in this country got there by cheating.

Tim: Also, by the way, when these guys get caught, all of our children see --

Tim: When they come out they still got plenty of K. So don't talk to me about --

Tim: These little kids, they're seeing this and they're going, "Wow, you can do that, billions of dollars and get two years in jail."

Genevieve: Or you can lie to the country and still be President. Isn't that a great signal that we send our children?

Larry: You know, oddly enough in this case, I agree with Bill. Bill, right? [ Laughter ]

Larry: By the way, you know what? You know what's really sad? That's next week.

Michael: Bill, tell me just before you go onto the next topic, though. Talk about corporate crime. There's something that just -- I mean, it's just really been bothering me. And it's about this show. It's the fact that Disney, which owns ABC, has canceled this thing. Now, let me tell you something. I just think at a time when we have so many problems facing this country, this has not been a very good year for America. I mean, we're faced with a lot of crap right now. This is not the time to be reducing the number of voices that we have on television where there's discussion about the issues. We need more discussion of the issues.

I have -- let me just say this. I want to just say this. It -- it lessens the democracy when you have less discussion. You need more discussion. You need more people informed. You need more people thinking about this. I don't care about the ratings. Listen --

Bill: Whoa, whoa, whoa. That bothers me. Wait a second. This show is not going away because of the ratings. The audience --

Bill: That -- See, Mike, that's why I am not mad at the network. I am mad at the press because they got the story wrong. We didn't go away because the audience went away.

Bill: That's a whole different story, but it's not because -- it's not because --

Michael: Let me -- I don't think -- let me tell you. I don't think it is the ratings. I think --

Bill: It's an insult to our audience there who stayed with us when it was not easy to stay with us. And it insults me on behalf of my audience that that gets out there, because the press is too lazy to find out. And it's just so easy to go, "dwindling ratings." Our ratings never have dwindled.

Michael: That's the truth. And the millions who are watching the show right now are actually watching it. The people who are over there on NBC now watching Jay, I mean, God bless him. But the people are asleep, all right? I mean, I hate to say it. I know he's a friend of yours, but, you know, there's so much crap on TV that --

Bill: He's not only a friend of mine. He's one of the best friends I've ever had, because this is a guy, even though we were competitors -- and again, you don't hear this story in the press often about how well we did. But we were competitors with Jay and with Dave. And in the top ten cities, we beat some of them often.

Bill: Gave them quite a run for their money. We were second, not third. Okay. Jay Leno never stopped being my friend.

Bill: He called me with good ideas, good advice. He never took -- the friendship was always above the competition. He took it -- he takes that to a level that is rare to the point of being unique. I never knew anybody else in show business who was that way.

Michael: I'm not attacking Jay. I'm just saying that people watching this show are watching it. They're watching this show and, you know, I want to know. I mean, where are the people from ABC right now? This is the last night. I mean, are they watching us right now in a control room somewhere? I mean, where -- is this set into AB -- you know, the weird thing about this is -- I don't know if the public knows this. We're at CBS right now.

This is going out on ABC on a show that's currently owned by Time Warner. You know, where's the diversity of voices here? I don't --

Larry: You're right, by the way. And if I weren't pitching a show at ABC next week --

Bill: I mean, honestly, you could say what you want about ABC, and I might agree. I betcha almost every other network would have done pretty much the same thing. So, you know --

Michael: That's the sad truth. That's right. Does that make us feel better that essentially they're all the same? And that we suffer as citizens of this country because we don't get to have a discussion, you know, about the issues, that we have one less place now to go to to find out about this? You know, I never thought about buying a hybrid car until you started pushing it on the show. I'm buying a hybrid car because I watch the show.

Bill: Well, that was a -- that was certainly better than the issue I had planned.

Tim: Freedom is a tough thing to really embrace because it really involves a more difficult road, because you have to challenge yourself constantly. And you've done that with this show, and we really appreciate it.

Bill: Well, I appreciate that. And, you know, somebody said to me tonight, "What will you cherish most about this show?" And I answered that -- they were laughing. I said, "The boos." And I don't mean the booze in here.

I mean that I say things frequently that make people boo. Or groaning is good, too. I like groaning. Um -- but that means that you're not pandering to their already settled prejudices. You are trying to -- I mean, hybrid car. People, "Please, Bill."

Michael: But, see, you said it. You said, "Oil is the drug. It's the drug we can't get off of. And it will be our undoing."

Genevieve: What's great about this show is, somebody who does a lot of other network news-type shows, the reality is people who watch this show aren't people who often watch the other stuff. I mean, so many people that went to high school, whatever, who don't do politics, watch this. And they got something out of it because they weren't watching "Meet the Press" every morning. So it's reached a lot of people.

Larry: I said something to Genevieve during the break, also, that -- one of the other things that is great about the show. That -- I was kidding around saying, "Boy, you should get an award just for walking into these guys with that last topic." But that never occurs on any other show, where folks who are not scholarly folks, no one's stupid, but we're not necessarily the top rung of people. The dry Op-Ed articles of, "Well, the settlements are interesting because -- " it's something that's a free-for-all. It's very American in that way. It's something about yelling and shouting and saying, "Don't say this to me, and I won't say this to you."

Bill: Those pundits who do those news shows, excuse me, are on their best day not as smart as all of you people who are sitting right here.

Bill: Just because they have professional jobs -- Anyway, I have to take a commercial. We'll be right back.

Michael:Imagine if we were doing this over at Black Entertainment Television. Of course, the budget would be a lot lower, but --

Surprised you changed the hat. Anyway, I've got a few things I would like to get out of the way.

Bill: First of all, I have to plug my Website. This is important to me because this is my last issue show so I do want to give a shout out to two people. You know, I appreciate your remarks, everybody's hearing what we were saying in the break and I agree with this wholeheartedly. It is the conservatives who stood up for me when I was in trouble more than anybody else. And you mentioned Dr. Monica Crowley coming to your aid when they tried to get rid of your book.

Michael: They tried not to release my book and she called the head of Harper and said, "You should release that book. I don't agree with him, but he has the right to say this."

Bill: So, you know, it's great to stand up for your convictions, I hope I have. Some people get convicted for their convictions. And there's two people I've become friends with. One long distance, which is Dr. Kevorkian. As a Libertarian, and people know that is my policy, I have always defended Dr. Kevorkian. I don't think he's going to see the light of day again. I want him to know he's not forgotten, nor is his cause.

Michael: I had him on my show. I did a whole segment with him on my show. You're right, Bill.

Bill: And my friend Todd McCormack, who people know also. In jail for -- he was, been a cancer patient his whole life and silly of him, he trusted that when California passed medical marijuana in 1996 they meant it. Of course, it became a big pissing match with the feds. They came in and he's in jail. He will be out soon.

You know, there's a lot of talk these days about, since 9/11, losing our civil liberties, and maybe we are. But we should remember that before 9/11, they were pretty good at robbing civil liberties. Todd's trial, he was not allowed to mention, in the trial, one, that California had passed the medical marijuana law, or that he had been a cancer sufferer his whole life, or that government studies showed that it helped cancer patients. Not allowed to mention that in a trial. That's what I call a show trial. I don't think you could do Joseph Stalin any better than that. The government said it was not relevant. Apparently, the only things that are relevant are things that help their case. So vigilance must go on.

Bill: I can't, Larry, I got to take a break. But we'll have a few minutes when we get back.

Bill: Now, Larry, I cut you off, and actually, I should -- What are we doing? Oh! How subversive.

Tim: I want the phrenology thing and I want this thing right here. Where is it? [ Laughter ]

Okay - I don't know if I can post this -- but I will and see what happens... I can't stand this show but I tuned in to see Moore (whom I also can't tolerate) - this guy monopolized the whole conversation - it was so boring. Just wondering if anyone else watched the show and what they thought. Is Maher really going off because of ratings or what -- I tend to believe that it is ratings -- I can't name one person I know who watches this show... Oh - and when has Maher ever been booed? I have never heard anyone boo him.

Thank you for the post. Funny, I never heard "Bill" answer the question about why his show was going off the air, just that it wasn't because of the ratings. Kinda strange, don'tcha think?

BTW, I actually read quite a bit of this transcript you posted and I think I deserve a medal. It's awful in the transcript form.

Does it sound any better when you see it?

Oh - and when has Maher ever been booed?

On his honeymoon.

I cannot stand the show and will not watch it. The only parts of the transcript I read are the ones you bolded. I don't know about the ratings, but Bill Maher's mouthing off did him more harm than anything. Besides, the show isn't politically incorrect; it is full of idiot liberal yes-men as guests who get together to whine about Reagan, whine about the 80s, whine about Bush, whine about conservatives, etc. I honestly don't know why his show wasn't shown on CNN, since it would fit in perfectly with their general line of bull. Like you, if I want a serious discussion of the issues, I'm not going to waste my time listening to a bunch of delusional, ivory tower idiot celebrities.

Bill Maher is a stand-up comic who never went anywhere until he got P.I. You can tell he is really stuck on himself and thinks everything that spews out of his empty head is the cutest and funniest thing ever said. He is the talk show equivalent of Madonna; they thrive on controversy to keep their names in the news.

I caught the show last night. I watch it most of the time. Sometimes I have the greatest enmity towards this guy. At the same time Bill Maher has said one or two things that I completely agree with. He has been all over the "idiots" and their unbounded idiocy regarding the utter failure of our nation respective to our security policies and to those same morons whom are totally against racial profiling of any kind, with regards to; Muslim / Middle Eastern / Arabic / Extremists / Terrorists / Males, between 17-40 years of age.

In a nutshell, two words: GOOD RIDDANCE !

His liberal leaning qualities or negatives far outweighed the miniscule and feeble attempts he made, to offer up a balanced discussion or fair dialogue. It was rare when there was more than one token conservative on the show at the same time. By the way, I am watching the last show right now. Ann Coulter's comments are actually quite complimentary towards the show and to it's host Bill Maher.

Whoops there it is...the finale ! It's history.

My two cents worth of opinion. Simply providing a link to this transcript would have been a better use of bandwidth and would have provided a far greater public service than posting it verbatim.

For the record. I receive two channels of television programming at home. abc and nbc. I can't stand Jay Leno and his gratuitous pandering and patronizing to the empty heads eminating from southern california. Left with the lesser of two evils (PI in this case) I usually am at my computer surfing Free Republic with the idiot box running in the background (for white noise purposes) and turn to PI out of sheer exasperation or is that desperation ?

Everything is ratings. If the ratings are high enough, SOMEONE will spend advertising dollars. He lost a lot of viewers and sponsers with his critisism of the American military. You cannot convince me that ABC/Disney pulled the show out of concern for the opinions of conservatives!

This transcript shows why the program had no substance.

It's defenders claim that they may not have agreed with the views of some of the guests, but that it allowed discourse (by many coke headed pop celebs).

Read some passages of the transcript again and you'll find very few coherent thoughts articulated. As someone starts to make a point, the others butt in and then Bill says, "Let's move on". Resolution? Issues? Opinions? The show was a joke.

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