Transcripts For CURRENT Viewpoint 20130110 : vimarsana.com

Merica did not elect anyone to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of fame. This despite the fact that to of the best players of the last 30 years were on the ballot. Roger clemens and barry bonds. A seventime mvp, the only player in Major League History to hit over 500 home runs, bonds is the alltime least leader with 762. But his connection with the infamous balco lab and subsequent conviction on obstruction of justice led he many to believe that he had used performanceenhancing drugs. Like bonds Roger Clemens has a well documented cloud hanging over his career. After his former trainer claimed he injected clemens with steroids. With the suspicion of drug use of clemens and bond looming in the mind of baseball writers they received less than half of the votes needed to be elected to the hall of fame. Lets bring in Sports Editor for the nation and host of edge of the sports radio dave zirin and columnist for mlb. Com richard justice. Gentlemen, its a pleasure to have such esteemed writers as yourselves. Thank you for joining us tonight tonight. Thank you. John youre allowed to vote for ten players and you voted for barry bonds and clemens. Yeah, i didnt know who used and who didnt, and i wasnt going to punish bond and clemens because they got caught. I voted for the best ten that i saw on the ballot. John are you taking heat for that from fans . Not really. I try to explain it. You saw the vote totals. People are torn by it. We know theyre the best players of the generation. What do you do . How should we handle steroids and basically youre on your own. Right now the message from the writers is if we know that you used steroids, if were reasonably certain you used steroids youre not going to get in. Then we move on. John are you surprised that no one was inducted even players with no steroids associated with them guys like craig biggio or mike piazza. I want to applaud richard for making those votes. The Baseball Hall of fame seems to be senting the message that the 1990s just didnt happen. And the Baseball Hall of fame bills itself of being a museum. There were tons who paid before 1947 when the leagues were all white. There are players in the hall of fame who played in the 1960s when amphetamines were described being in the locker room like they werent m ms. Ms then you have people like bonds and clemens who have legal ramifications with performanceenhancing drugs surrounding them and then piazza whose only crime was he had acne on his back when he was in the locker room. And then poor craig biggio who would have been the first person to go in the hall of fame as a houston astro his crime is that shared a crime with jeff balance bagwell where people said something happened. John there is a whiff of hypocrisy about it when you consider all the memory of speed freaks who made the game great. Do you get a sense that bonds and clemens will get in next year and this vote may have been a way for writers to send a message . No, i think that the message has been spent pretty much since we began voting on guys we suspected of steroids. Including mark mcgwire. I think its the bbwaa with the 569 ballots. I think we fail. I bet half those guys have not seen a guy in 25 years and this idea that youre in able to vote forever. There were deserving players tim raines, alan trammell. It seems like the votes are getting stupider and stupider. This is apart from steroids, which is a very complicated issue. John what do you think, is there a chance well see their names on the ballot next year and their punishment is that theyre not eligible the first year. People like barry bonds sammy sosa, Roger Clemens theyll be on the ballot next year but the storyline will be tom glavin, maddox. They will be clean players where well celebrate maximum god glavin, maddox and frank thomas. And i dont see how you have a hall of fame that is supposed to be a museum, mind you that doesnt have these players. Its like a museum as written by joseph stalin, they didnt exist, therefore it didnt happen. The 90s just didnt happen. Well guess what, a lot of writers who are doing this voting and handing in blank ballots, they cheered on the 1990s, they cheered on mark mcgwire, sammy sosa race. You spoke about a whiff of hypocrisy, i would call it an overpowering stench. There are two parts of the hall of fame. One is the museum, and bonds and clemens are there. Theyre respected there in several different ways for their accomplishments but the room where the plaques are thats the bestowing of the higher honor. Guys with very Good Intention are trying very hard to grapple with steroids. What is it . Is it a parking ticket . A mass murder . Were talking about it amongst ourselves. My position is i dont know who used. Im going to vote for the best guys. People who have been caught, people think with clemens the use is evident theyre grappling with that. John the Grammy Awards are not for merit, its who helped the industry. I think these players all help the industry of baseball. A lot of people have forgotten that and the debate will rage on. There will be an asterisk because of this asterisk. Thank you dave dirin and richard justice, totally fascinating debate. I cant wait to see how this unfolds. I thank you both for your insight this evening. My privilege, thank you. Coming up, Chris Christies rise cannot be stopped who is this . Thats pete. My. [ dennis voice ] allstate agent. A starving artist has an allstate agent . He got me. [ dennis voice ] the allstate value plan. Its their most affordable Car Insurance and you still get an agent. [ normal voice ] i call it. [ dennis voice ] the protector. Is that what you call it . The protector okay. The allstate value plan. Are you in good hands . [ ryon ] eating shrimp at red lobster is a fantastic experience. 30 shrimp for 11. 99. I cant imagine anything better. Youre getting a ton of shrimp and it tastes really good [ male announcer ] hurry in to red lobsters 30 shrimp for just 11. 99 choose any two of five savory shrimp selections like mango jalapeno shrimp and parmesan crunch shrimp. Two delicious shrimp selections on one plate all with salad and unlimited cheddar bay biscuits. 30 shrimp, just 11. 99 for a limited time. Wow, thats a lot of shrimp. Im ryon stewart im the ultimate shrimp lover, and i sea food differently. John Chris Christie, a guy so nice they named him twice. Im just throwing out a possible slogan for christies 2016 president ial run. Governor christie still insists hes not thinking that far into the future. Thats why he didnt mention romneys name in the first 15 minutes of his keynote address in the republican convention. Christie said 2016 not even on his mind yet. What are the prospects of a christiehillary clinton race. As good a prospects against anybody else. Anybody who tries to plan four years from now is crazy. The fact of the matter is im going to follow the advise my mother gave me, which is to do the job you have right now as well as you can do it, and your future will take care of itself. John like beating up on teachers unions. I hate to be the one to rain on christie parade. Lets get past he seems like a really nice guy and hes charismatic thing. To quote a colleague here at viewpoint, facts matter. Under governor christie unemployment in new jersey is 9. 6 . National unemployment, is 7. 8 . That 2 difference the largest the state has been above the average for 30 years. The man who refers to himself the boss, a springsteen fan who has never listened to the lyrics of any springsteen songs have left a lot of employees looking for work. With me now dean obeidallah, politico median, and scott blakeman, politico median, and lee camp, a pleasure to have you all. A christian, a muslim, a jew and an atheist who looks like jesus, and they all walk into a bar. Despite employment is down, job growth is not as high as he claims, and policies could be hurting the state. What makes him so popular . Is it just charisma . Do the people care that much about personality. Im from new jersey, i can tell you there is somethingits a cliche but he speaks trait forward and very direct. Jersey people like that. All the bs that is going on in this world that we live in now he was everywhere. He was like giuliani after 9 11. And then fighting for his own party. Thats something that we dont see anywhere, members of the party fighting visibly for their own state. John to be fair, scott he criticizes congress when its popular. Is it rank opportunism. The reason why they support christie is amnesia. He has not done anything. He has taunted teachers, as you pointed out, and has done a whole wrath of things that didnt work out. I will say he did the right thing after Hurricane Sandy like giuliani at 9 11. But i didnt agree with anything that giuliani did before or after that. When they look at a guy like christie, hey, i want to help my state. Ill work with the president. Hes a traitor thats the real insanity. I think theyre just impressed there is a republican with empathy. He cared for his people. Thats just being a human being. But a republican with empathy its like an unicorn eating four fourleaf clover. John democrats loves having a republican that they love. Most democrats have a republican dad. Like mccain, mike huckabee, a charismatic guy who is a straight talker. George w bush, damn them all. It happens. When did he become this popular among democrats, is it just popularity. Are you saying we just enjoy a spanking . We want a father figure. John no, im saying when you look at president ial elections isnt always the most charismatic who win regardless of platform. Sadly they will negate. When clinton gore and bush,. John and gore won. Lets just say gore for the purposes. But the thing is, it really isand there are other men jon huntsman who ive met. Huntsman is a bright, articulate guy who believes in science. Hes wacky for that. I disagree with him on most issues but we need someonewith christie, he does show flexibility like in new jersey he said after sandy were going to have to raise taxes. That points to the other republicans who were sothey dont live in reality. Chris christie lives in the real world. Christie has done a great effort to reach out to minorities who are demonized by other republicans. A muslimamerican who was demonized, and christie said enough of this crazy. He called out the shariya law they were scamming. He nominateed them and they were rejected by the senate. You support muslim, support gays mr. Christie meet the tea party. Because hes moderate on abortion. Hes with the exception of rape and incest, which is nowit used to be that was a conservative position. Now its a moderate position. And the etchasketch. John thats right. For Chris Christie, for all the things people like about him he Still Believes women who terminate pregnancyies serve to be in jail. We have more to talk about right wing extremists have set up a purity test. More of these guys when we come back and for a peak of what is coming up with say anything with joy behar, i give you the brilliant joy behar joy . Thanks, john, on tonights say anything, what happens when we die . Is there after life. And what is up with vinnie on jersey shore. All italians. They theyre pretending to be italian. I dont want to fight on the show. I want to eat and talk to girls. Joy ill talk to vinny and um, hello. These ugly stains are ruining my good looks and style. And good luck using that cleaner. Excuse me, miss . Hes right. Those are tough hard water stains, and that cleaners not gonna cut it. Truth is, 85 of us have hard water and many dont even know it. You need limeaway. Limeaway is specially formulated to conquer hard water stains. Its 4 times more effective at removing lime scale than the leading bathroom cleaner. See the limeaway difference or your money back. John even though Chris Christie gets to utter something reasonable now and then, other republicans can be putterly the conservative purity test. A group called for america issued attack ads against him from the right just because forest grump made a deal that avoided the fiscal cliff. The Senate Minority leader is not alone for nixons hunt birthday fox news called the career anticommunist our last great liberal which by todays metric is weirdly true. And if you harbor some vaguely humane thoughts about samesex marriage, what are you going to do next . Legalize pedophilia. There is a movement on to normalize pedophilia. I guarantee you your reaction to that is probable much the same a your reaction when you first heard about gay marriage. What has happened to gay marriage . Its become normal, and in certain demographics it was the most important issue. John that was grand inquistor Rush Limbaugh on monday. Lets turn back to my panel dean, scott and lee three fine comedians. Dean im going to start with you because youre the only man in new york wearing color. Rush limbaugh he compared pedophilia to gay marriage. How crazy does he have to sound before even his fans hear it. I think what he wanted to doyou remember that sick feeling when you first heard of gay marriage. You know that sick feeling you felt when you heard about blacks and white getting married . He couldnt say that any more. This is the snake oil salesman. The rest of them, these publicity whores. We know hes a homophobe. This is the most shocking thing is the reason Rush Limbaugh found out about the pedophilia thing was by reading the guardian in england but Rush Limbaugh represents republicans who are dying on the vine. Republican party and Rush Limbaugh will not to continue to exist if they go on normalize pedophilia. I think Rush Limbaugh exists for stupidity and ignorance. How much decades did he reached hatred. No one should give credence to a single word coming out of his overrated face. I like to know how you really feel. Now that we know Mitch Mcconnell is getting ads against him online, is it certain that hell get a primary challenge in 2014 and should the rest of sane america be excited about this . This is great. Can we get some marinara and drape it so they really can eat their own. Theyve created a frankenstein monster. And they wouldnt have the crazies, the mcconnells, and sharon engels. John michigan mcconnell could stand up against the tea party. Yes, i did help out the fiscal cliff and i saved the economy. And it would win moderates but hes not going to do it. But isnt there a lot of money to pull the right further to the right, but there is not a lot of money to pull the left further to the left. There is no one there are no ads calling him to the left, but there is money on the right. John that is a very good example. Were talking about purity test. If youre not prochoice you cant get that far in the Democratic Party with a few notable exceptions. But the republicans still have this automatic purity test that kicks in. Is there any way to break free of it. If they want to win an election ever again which i hope they dont they shut should go down the path. When they said, the fiscal tragedy should not come out of a physical tragedy. They stand on principle the tea party, you know what the principle is . Meanness. Thats what we have call them on. Its just mean. John speaking by a person who was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy, if they call the iraqi funding bill they will rubber stamp without thought. Where is the progressive protest against mr. Drone bomb, mr. Torture, mr. Kill list mr. Brennan heading the c. I. A. . That is a very good point. John were not going to see it. Are we going to see any democrats stand up. Democrats stand up with the spine of an arthritissic jelly fish. When you have two parties you feel the obligation to stand with the president. Chuck schumer, he wont come out against hagel, he said, im going to hear him out. Even when he wasnt good enough four years ago now he is now that hes in wiretapping. John fox news called nixon liberal. Look a ronald reagan, could reagan ever find a place . Nixon would be a liberal democrat, equal rights, epa healthcare act that even ted kennedy said his biggest regret he didnt embrace nixons health plan. They have gone so far to the right. John but he hated blacks and jews rest in piece mr. Nixon. Dean and scott, and the lee three of my favorite new york politico medians. Thank you so much for joining us. Up next, happier news, same sex weddings, guess who is flipping out. Thats up ahead. John tonights commentary, church is so gay. Specifically the Cathedral Church of st. Peter and st. Paul known as the National Cathedral in washington, d. C. The beautiful neogothic house of worship is the sixth largest cathedral on earth. Teddy roosevelt was there when they began building it in 1907, and george wh bush was there in 1980. Congress has dedicated the cathedral as the house of prayer and helen keller is buried on the ground. But today the cathedral made history when they announceed theyll host same sex weddings. Now predictably many of our right wing blogger friend are acting like dc didnt make samesex marriage legal but mandatory. Imagine they can marry who they want has outraged tons of homophobic followers of non nonhomophobe jesus. Thats onlythats fitting that the can three traditional is a few blocks away from the Supreme Court six guys wearing long black d