In engaging remarks on The View, President Obama talks about his former support of civil unions, his now fully evolved marriage-equality views, his belief that DOMA is not Constitutional and his ignorance of 50 Shades of Grey.
Above: A day ago, I'd have been happy to be in a sexless, frustrating relationship with Jake Pavelka, one that ends in a televised interview in which he seethes, "You disgust me!" and defends his masculinity. But now that he's openly flirted with Elisabeth Hasselbeck...ick. This is just one pic for the road, from Star (August 16, 2010). Well, I'd take him back if his flirting somehow cost Hasselbeck her marriage. Oh, and below, from Mira! (09 de Agosto 2010), a great shot of sexy mofo Julian Gil. He says he wants a girl to understand and love him, and who is transparent. He wants a transparent girl on his arm, I want a transparent Speedo on his [inject Marilyn Monroe voice] "Deep South!" region:
According to a press release, The View's Obama edition was its most-watched telecast ever, with 6.59 million total viewers, or just over half the number of kids who watched the series debut of iCarly in 2007. Anyway, it had a lot of viewers.
I thought they did a decent job, but I didn't like Joy's pop-culture segment so much; I would have preferred a question on DADT or gay rights in general. Obama was very good. Still, though, I think he's so bad at manipulating and running down his opponents. All this high-ground stuff was great as an antidote to Bush, but these are different times (already)—he needs to be more aggressive.
President Obama will tape an appearance on The View Wednesday that will air Thursday—the first time a sitting U.S. president has appeared on a daytime talk show. Kudos to Barbara Walters for this big get; Walters will be returning for the first time since her heart surgery for this episode.
This is going to be a huge deal. Not only will Obama have to be on his toes for whatever right-wing bullshit Elisabeth Hasselbeck will spring on him in order to score points with her base, he'll also have pointed, I would assume, questions from the left's Joy Behar. After all, things have changed since his 2008 appearance as a candidate.
I wonder which will bring up Don't Ask, Don't Tell or gay issues in general—the left-leaning crew, out of genuine interest, or Hasselbeck, out of a desire to stick a salty finger in the wound between the president and gay activists?
He's got a lot of other stuff to be grilled about, too—BP, the economy, Afghanistan and Iraq, fluffy stuff, the upcoming elections, Shirley Sherrod. Hope he takes it as seriously as one last Hillary Clinton debate.
Via Joe.My.God.: Yesterday on The View, fill-ins D.L. Hughley and MSNBC's Thomas Roberts (the former much more so than the nervous latter) contributed to a discussion on the FDA's decision to maintain its ban on blood donations from any men who've had sex with other men since 1977. Hughley eventually stated agreement with the decision, stating that "political correctness" has no place in the medical world.
"Gay-lifestyle" foe D.L. Hughley and out MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts joined The View today, and the results were...a whole lot of crazy coming from Elisabeth Hasselbeck and way too many prayer-obsessed hosts. The debate was whether or not President Obama should have referenced prayer regarding the BP spill. Joy Behar said no because it's not logical, which led to Hasselbeck insisting that prayer IS logical. Oh, and of course Sherri Shepherd emphatically believes prayer "works."
Elisabeth Hasselbeck was seething all through The View's interview with Kathy Griffin, but it never got past Griffin telling her, "Actually, this moment is what I live for—so bring it!" All Hasselbeck could muster? "It's all...cool."
Rosie O'Donnell has announced she'll be back in the public eye...or at least its ear...with her own Sirius XM Radio show. Rosie Radio will be on daily, so I imagine it will be a much-needed return to constant controversy, considering she will have to comment on all the day's news just like she had to do on The View. The first guest should be Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who says she had to restrain herself from hitting Perez Hilton when he was on The View—a feeling a lot of people probably have to stifle when they're around Hasselbeck.
I saw D-list darling Kathy Griffin for the first timea year ago, then I saw her at Madison Square Garden's WaMu Theater last night. As she pointed out, the WaMu has to be renamed in a few months thanks to its namesake bank's disastrous collapse and since nobody wants to pay for the privilege it'll just be called "The Theater" again. Even when she plays MSG she's D-list, forced to appear in the wing with the undesirable sponsor.
Reality check: It was the opening night of a sold-out run of shows.
Griffin's increasingly popular comedy is fascinating to me because it's anti-cerebral and yet still incredibly smart. She's a consummate pop-culture connoisseur and observer and owes a huge part of her following to how much her audience probably agrees with every word out of her mouth, whether she's joking or being serious or both.
At one point, she made a side reference to Jessica Simpson's weight gain, which got a big hoot. This led to a coquettish, "Shall we?" This is her secret—she knows her fans' limits (non-existent) and revels in seeking our approval for her obscene and obscenely funny remarks.
Her gay following is not surprising considering her surgical take on pop culture—I think gay people are particularly good at observation, deconstruction and destruction—and due to her explicitly identifying as one of us. She ended her set with a funny report on how she spent her birthday with Cher, during which she admitted "as a gay man" it was an amazing thrill meeting Cher. Remember when Madonna started the "I'm a gay man trapped in the body of a woman" trend 18 years or so ago? Kathy has dropped the body of a woman part.
(Oh, and she's rooting for The Woz on Dancing With The Stars.)
It was a hilarious evening, a real pleasure and was almost 100% new material. She's funny, fearless, desperate for attention and an unflinching liberal big-mouth—if I believed in organized religion, I might nominate Kathy for Jesus.
MSG as gay mega-church.
Some of her highlights (or lowlights, depending on your last name):
Miley Cyrus is a whore: "I'm just gonna come out and say it—Miley Cyrus is a whore. I don't care anymore! She's a whooore...whooore...oh, God...whooore! That's not, that's not nice to say about a 16-year-old. But don't you think she would fuck a cucumber at this point...if it was attached to her dad?...Believe me, she is sore right now from some shit...Granted, this girl is 16 and I'm definitely being too hard on her, but she's a little advanced. Can we at least agree that she's a little what we could call forward? When I was 16, I was such a nerd I was looking at my mom and saying, 'When will I get menstruation?' I wasn't sending pictures of myself in panties on the Internet...which they didn't have. Nor did I use the postal system or a mule team. She's a whore."
