Donahue 12/16/02 (America Hating Appeasers on Parade: Sarandon, Robbins, Peck)

MSNBC's Donahue Show ^ | 16 December 2002 | Show Transcript (Excerpted)

[Stultis]

‘Donahue’ for Dec. 16

---

Read the complete transcript to Monday’s show

Guests: Edward Peck, Dan Flynn, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Bob Barr, Hugh Downs
       
       ANNOUNCER: You’re watching America’s News Channel, MSNBC. Now,
       DONAHUE.
       Tonight, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins go inside the issue. Is being anti-war un-American?
       While President Bush bangs his war drum, some Americans think we should explore other options. So is protesting for peace unpatriotic?
       Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon and a live audience. DONAHUE starts right now.
       PHIL DONAHUE, HOST: Good evening. Welcome to DONAHUE, live from New York City. Where else would we get this kind of enthusiasm? Last week, last week many Hollywood stars stepped out to protest the possibility of war with Iraq. And Sean Penn has just made what he called “a humanitarian visit” to Baghdad. Many people were outraged by these actions, but the stars say just because I’m against the war, don’t you dare call me un-American.
       (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
       DONAHUE (voice-over): The anti-war movement is heating up. From Washington, D.C. to California, last week alone, there were demonstrations against a possible invasion of Iraq in an estimated 37 states.
       And the stars have come out as well in protest, prompting some to call Hollywood un-American. Are these protests a good thing for a nation at war? Or are the protesters the real patriots?
       (END VIDEO CLIP)
       Well, we’ll be joined shortly by actors Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins. And veteran journalist Hugh Downs is here.
       But I want to start with Dan Flynn, author of “Why the Left Hates America.” And you’re talking about me, Dan. And former ambassador to Iraq, Edward Peck.
       I don’t hate America. Why would you say such a thing like that? Because the left doesn’t hate America. You’re on the air. Tell us what you think about...
       DAN FLYNN, AUTHOR, “WHY THE LEFT HATES AMERICA”: Well, you look at a guy like Sean Penn going over to Baghdad. I think he should stay over there, if you ask me.
       But you listen to a lot of these Hollywood stars. And Susan Sarandon, who is going to be joining us. I mean, she said after “Thelma & Louise,” the United States is a land that has raped every area of the world. If she believes that and doesn’t hate America, maybe she should. Because if you think the United States has raped every land in the world, then it would logically follow that you do hate America.

[go to source for full transcipt]

[Stultis]

Unfortunately Flynn wasn't especially articulate or well prepared. Barr was much better, but given very little time. The audience was heavily slanted against America. It was basically a radical fest.

[Leclair10]

I saw it stultis it was basically a hit piece supporting Sean Pean the one guy definately made the point that most in the anti-war movement are communits and have no liking for America for some reason the guy never brought up the fact that the Iraqi guy at the UN basically said if not for the first Gulf War Saddam would have the A bomb now, if I remember correctly they where part of the 1991 anti-war movement as well. Decenting opinion is one thing downright siding with Saddam is another which seemed that some in the audience actually did.

[Leclair10]

Sorry Communists.

[Thebaddog]

That show can't leave the air fast enough. Now he's teasing the subject of Christians trying to convert Jews. What would Jerry Springer say about all this?

[God'sgrrl]

Sign the Petition. Citizens Against Celebrity Pundits.

[Stultis]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was going to say I’m still trying to figure out what that first Gulf war was for because when they were selling it to us, it was about freedom and democracy. And there was no election in Kuwait after we liberated it. So I think part of this is that we didn’t-we got sold a load of bunk the last time. We’re not willing to go there again.

"UNIDENTIFIED MALE" indeed! It was Robbins that said this!!

If you think about it for half a second -- considering the murder, torture, rape and pillage visited on Kuwait and its citizens (e.g. dipping victims slowly in acid baths) -- this statement is incredibly cold. Liberating Kuwait from this brutality was "a load of bunk" as far as Tim (white, well-fed and never dipped in acid) Robbins is concerned.

Furthermore the claim about elections is almost certainly untrue. Kuwait did and does have an elected parliament. It is true that the executive power is invested in the unelected monarchy, which does have the power to disband the parliament, but for all Tim's elitist sneering this is in fact one of the freest and most progressive regime in the Gulf, or indeed, along with Jordan which has the same system, in the entire Arab world.

Someone needs to write the Kuwaiti ambassador and/or any english language Kuwaiti papers regarding Tim's smear.

[fight_truth_decay]

FLYNN: It was not the largest march since Vietnam.
SARANDON: According to the local police, it was the largest-I don’t know...
DONAHUE: That would be anti-war march, I think you believe.
SARANDON: That was the anti-war march.
FLYNN: Could I say something about the march?
DONAHUE: Please, Dan. Yes.
FLYNN: I mean, look, you had people at that march chanting, George Bush, you can’t hide, we charge with you genocide. It was organized by a bunch of...
(APPLAUSE)
FLYNN: ... of communists...
DONAHUE: Right.
FLYNN: ... and yet you went there and spoke!
DONAHUE: All right. So it’s their language...
(CROSSTALK)
DONAHUE: They’re over the top. They’re excessive...
SARANDON: There were church groups. There were not one group organizing...
FLYNN: Look, you were-you got in...
SARANDON: ... you know...
FLYNN: ... for what they would...
SARANDON: That’s not the point.
FLYNN: ... once call “useful idiots.”
SARANDON: That’s not the point I’m making.
FLYNN: The bunch of dupes that went there...
DONAHUE: Dupes?
SARANDON: I’m saying-this woman says, why do I have a right to talk? I only have a right as a citizen.
FLYNN: Why didn’t you speak out about those guys saying that George Bush is guilty of genocide? The whole crowd was chanting that...
ROBBINS: Listen, you can’t control...
FLYNN: ... We charge you with...
ROBBINS: ... thousands of people!
FLYNN: But you can say, Shame on you!
ROBBINS: You happened to find a couple of lunatics...
FLYNN: Shame on you for...
(CROSSTALK)
FLYNN: ... throwing around a word like genocide so loosely!
ROBBINS: Shame on you for putting those people’s words in our mouths!
(CROSSTALK)
FLYNN: You could have spoke out against it, but you were silent!
(guess I didnt read it your way...I felt Robbins and Sarandon were floundering)

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

You’re watching America’s News Channel, MSNBC.

LOL - More like Josef Stalin's News Channel.

[Stultis]

SARANDON: There were church groups. There were not one group organizing...

Flynn wasn't sufficiently well prepared or articulate enough to (ever) point out there indeed WAS one group responsible for organizing the event; that the group was A.N.S.W.E.R.; that they are a creature of the communist, indeed Stalinitic, World Workers Party, and so on. Instead he baldly asserted that the organizers where communists, failed to support this except by assertion, and came off looking to the uninformed sheeple like a McCarthesque nut.

[fight_truth_decay]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Christine King with the New York Young Republicans. My question is...
DONAHUE: Young Republicans. Well, welcome.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. Thank you.
My question is don’t you think that the American people are speaking out and publicly showing that they are willing to support going to war?
DONAHUE: Sixty-one percent-the president is in the 60s in terms of popularity and approval. So you do have some numbers to support it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we also-I’m sorry. Can I please finish my statement?
SARANDON: Oh, I thought you asked a question.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I’m sorry, Ms. Sarandon, may I please finish my statement?
SARANDON: Sure, I thought that was it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I’m just saying that the American public has just elected their first Republican president...
SARANDON: That’s debatable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... and Congress for the first time in a long time.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I’m just saying that obviously, the American people are supporting our president.
ROBBINS: It’s far from a mandate, too. Let’s not forget that more than 50 percent of the people did not even show up to vote when given the choice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just think that everyone should get behind the president, because he knows a lot more than he’s telling you or anybody else.
DONAHUE: But if I could just interrupt for a second. It doesn’t make you wrong. And I thank you. I’m glad that-my name is on a program that gives you this opportunity. You said that to Johnson during the Vietnam War. We were behind him, too. We now have 58,000 names on a black granite slab in Washington, D.C., guys and women who will never have their own talk show, who didn’t enjoy the real fruits of America because they were sent to a war where you couldn’t protest, but people called you names.
FLYNN: And Phil, we have 3,000 names-we have 3,000 names in New York City...
(CROSSTALK)
REP. BOB BARR ®, GEORGIA: Well, absolutely, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the divergence of views. There’s nothing wrong with protesting. Let me say that right off the bat. But I think in this particular case, Phil, you can see from the comments of Ms. Sarandon, for example, that she still harbors great resentment against Mr. Bush. She’s mad about the election. She doesn’t like Republicans. So I think we can dismiss a lot of what she’s saying.
DONAHUE: Well, that’s an awful lot of conclusions there you’re drawing on Ms. Sarandon. Just because she disagrees?
BARR: No. The fact-you know, she displayed her true colors, I think, when one of your other guests mentioned that Mr. Bush is the president. And she said, well, that’s debatable. You know, and I think that indicates where she’s coming from.
But I think, Phil, what the most amazing thing about a lot of these Hollywood types that are against the conflict with Iraq is their naivete. They’re willing to overlook the very clear evidence of what Mr. Saddam Hussein really has done and continues to do to aid terrorists, not only in this country but around the world.

Robbins is assuming those that did not vote had they voted.. would have voted Democratic and Sarandon hasn't moved on since the Chads.

[fight_truth_decay]

When you are in a free for all discussion with "those people"..it's like a game of tennis for instance, it's difficult to play your best game when the person you are up against isn't at your level.

[fight_truth_decay]

..the nuts were..Sarandon and Robbins..but then that is my take on this after reading the transcript and reading all the rest of the garbage they so innocently put out there because a microphone just happens to be shoved into their face.

[Stultis]

One of the funnier exchanges from the duplicate thread:

wideawake: Phil is just getting in his last hurrah before his show gets canceled and his eleven viewers go back to polishing their mood rings.

Mixer: I think you meant to say....washing their burkas.

[finnman69]

I caught 3 minutes of these and watched all the brainwashed little high school goths/punks/anarchists with their Che guevera t-shirts on and studded noses bitch and moan. there was a little gang of them in the back row. Their parents must be soooooo proud.

The pro-war guest was outclassed and was ineffective when ganged up on by everyone in the room.

[Stultis]

The pro-war guest was outclassed

Actually Flynn (but not Barr) is opposed to war with Iraq. Besides, I always describe the appeasing America haters as being the true "pro-war" party. Maybe Susan hasn't noticed (as if) all the implicit, and often enough even explicit, support for violent insurgency movements (e.g. the current Palestinian "intifida," actually a WAR against the Oslo PEACE process) at the so-called "peace" rallies.

[ru4liberty]

FReepers, take a good look at the names on the list below. There are a few there that are surprising/disappointing to me.

*************************************

THE PETITON LETTER

TO: President Bush
SUBJECT: Artists Say Win Without War
__________
War talk in Washington is alarming and unnecessary.

We are patriotic Americans who share the belief that Saddam Hussein cannot be allowed to possess weapons of mass destruction. We support rigorous UN weapons inspections to assure Iraq's effective disarmament.

However, a pre-emptive military invasion of Iraq will harm American national interests . Such a war will increase human suffering, arouse animosity toward our country, increase the likelihood of terrorist attacks, damage the economy, and undermine our moral standing in the world. It will make us less, not more, secure.

We reject the doctrine--a reversal of long-held American tradition--that our country, alone, has the right to launch first-strike attacks.

The valid U.S. and UN objective of disarming Saddam Hussein can be achieved through legal diplomatic means. There is no need for war. Let us instead devote our resources to improving the security and well-being of people here at home and around the world.

Signed,

Artists for Winning Without War

Mike Farrell, Co-Chair Robert Greenwald, Co-Chair Gillian Anderson Edward Asner Rene Auberjonois David Bale Kim Basinger Ed Begley, Jr. Theo Bikel Barbara Bosson Jackson Browne Peter Buck (REM) Diahann Carroll Eugene J. Carroll, Jr., Rear Adm. U.S. Navy (Ret.) Kathleen Chalfant Don Cheadle Jill Clayburgh David Clennon Jack Coleman Peter Coyote Lindsay Crouse Suzanne Cryer Matt Damon Dana Daurey Ambassador Jonathan Dean (U.S. Rep. to NATO Warsaw Pact) Vincent D’Onofrio David Duchovny Olympia Dukakis Charles S. Dutton Hector Elizondo Cary Elwes Shelley Fabares Mike Farrell Mia Farrow Laurence Fishburne Sean Patrick Flanery

Bonnie Franklin John Fugelsang Jeananne Garafalo Larry Gelbart Melissa Gilbert Danny Glover Elliott Gould Samaria Graham Robert Greenwald Robert Guillaume Paul Haggis Robert David Hall Ethan Hawke Ken Howard Helen Hunt Anjelica Huston LaTanya Richardson Jackson Samuel L. Jackson Jane Kaczmarek Melina Kanakaredes Casey Kasem Mimi Kennedy Jessica Lange Tea Leoni Wendie Malick Camryn Manheim Marsha Mason Richard Masur Dave Matthews Kent McCord Robert Duncan McNeill Mike Mills (REM) Janel Moloney Esai Morales Ed O’Neill Chris Noth Peter Onorati Alexandra Paul

Ambassador Edward Peck (former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq) Seth Peterson CCH Pounder David Rabe Alan Rachins Bonnie Raitt Carl Reiner Tim Robbins Steve Robinson, Sgt., U.S. Army (Ret.) Mitch Ryan Susan Sarandon Tony Shalhoub Jack Shanahan, Vice Adm. U.S. Navy (Ret.) William Schallert Martin Sheen Armin Shimerman Gloria Steinem Marcia Strassman Michael Stipe (REM) Susan Sullivan Loretta Swit Studs Terkel Lily Tomlin Blair Underwood Dennis Weaver Bradley Whitford James Whitmore James Whitmore, Jr. Alfre Woodard Noah Wyle Peter Yarrow Howard Zinn

[Mixer]

Jackson Browne is the only person on there that I am disappointed in. Everyone else never got a dime from me in the first place and never will.

[hellinahandcart]

The way things are going, the only movie I will ever be able to see in future is an independent production starring Mel Gibson and Andy Garcia.

Which wouldn't be torture, now that I think of it...

[hellinahandcart]

Oh Lordy, I just read the whole transcript. What a damned sideshow.

I'm just speechless, for now.