Guest: Jennifer Giroux, David Horowitz, Shmuley Boteach, Ron Maxwell, Jack Burkman, Flavia Colgan, J.T. “The Brick” Tourneau, Stacie Burns, Sid Rosenberg
ANNOUNCER: Tonight, the real deal on the stories middle America cared about this year. Welcome to SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY: BEST OF 2004, where no passport‘s required and only common sense is allowed.
“The Passion of the Christ,” Mel Gibson‘s biblical masterpiece, took America by storm, surprising Hollywood naysayers and breaking box office records.
“Fahrenheit 9/11,” Michael Moore‘s political hit piece, was nothing more than a string of sight gags and conspiracy theories. It won cheers from Bush bashers but angered those in flyover country.
Janet Jackson‘s halftime stunt was the last straw for kids fighting to protect their kids from sex and violence on TV. Joe heard your outrage, and he took it to Washington.
Plus Joe‘s experiences on the beaches of Normandy at the 60th anniversary of D-Day and his reflections on the passing of a great president.
This is SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY: BEST OF 2004.
From the press room to the courtroom, to the halls of Congress, Joe Scarborough has seen it all. Welcome to SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY.
JOE SCARBOROUGH, HOST: In the epic battle between the media elites and middle America, you can score the battle over “The Passion” a knockout win for middle America.
It‘s time for tonight‘s “Real Deal.”
Now, the hatred aimed at Mel Gibson‘s movie “The Passion” is getting more intense every day. Can you believe “60 Minutes” commentator Andy Rooney dismissed Gibson as a wacko on Sunday and then this morning he told Imus he wouldn‘t go to the movie because he refused to waste nine bucks on a couple of laughs.
Meanwhile, “The New York Times” continues its all-out assault on Gibson, trashing the movie in a review and running a hate-filled Maureen Dowd column in today‘s edition.
You know, it seems big media simply can‘t grasp why stupid Americans like you and me would make “The Passion of Christ” one of the biggest movie openings in Hollywood history.
But it‘s just like I suspected all along: the kings of Hollywood and the bishops of broadcasting just don‘t get it.
Meanwhile, Hollywood moguls are swearing revenge against Gibson and saying he‘ll never work in that town again. But even if Gibson is attacked for being a devout Christian, I‘ve got a feeling that the Aussie actor really couldn‘t care less.
Because let‘s face it, “The Passion” is a big hit. Mel Gibson is vindicated, and there ain‘t a thing that big media can do about it.
Score another win for the good guys.
And that‘s tonight‘s “Real Deal.”
Let‘s go first to MSNBC‘s entertainment reporter Dana Kennedy. Help me out with this $600 million figure. It sounds absolutely astronomical. In terms of movie history, does that make it one of the three or four biggest movies ever?
DANA KENNEDY, MSNBC ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, like right up there with “Titanic.” I mean, there is some thought that it could—it could either best “Titanic” or get pretty close to it.
Yes, and again, as I said, “The Titanic” was one of those kinds of movies you just had to see, and you often had to see it the second—you know, two and three times again.
So that‘s what “The Passion” is getting now. It has legs, as they say.
SCARBOROUGH: Dana—Dana, explain—explain this to me. I mean, when you talk to Hollywood insiders, when you talk to people that know the movie business, most of those people didn‘t think people were going to go see this movie the first time.
Why would a movie this violent—and again, take us inside the minds of the people that run Hollywood and know the movie business better than anybody else—why do these people think that Americans are going to see such a bloody, violent, and whether you like it or not, a disturbing movie over and over again?
KENNEDY: Well, first of all, most people in Hollywood who are honest at all will say that there are no rules and nobody really knows anything. The famous screenwriter William Goldman was famous for saying that.
So even though they may pretend they know what they‘re doing, they all really—they really deep down know that there‘s always time for a phenomenon that no one ever figured could happen.
I think that probably the cynics say, well, Mel Gibson, his very name and his stature in Hollywood made it safe for people to go to a movie about Jesus Christ, because they figured if Mr. Lethal Weapon is putting this out, maybe it won‘t be a typical religious movie.
And indeed, it‘s not, because certainly it is very graphic and very violent. And for that reason I think there‘s been a curiosity factor by some people.
But again, I think Hollywood executives are used to not knowing what‘s going to hit or what‘s going to flop.
SCARBOROUGH: Jennifer Giroux, let me bring you in here. “The Passion” dropped to second place this week. Do you think it has seen its best days or do you think it‘s going to come back for Easter?
JENNIFER GIROUX, SEETHEPASSION.COM: Oh, it absolutely has reboundability. I predict it will retake first place.
Dana, wrong again. People are drawn to the holiness of this movie.
It has nothing to do with the violence. It has nothing to do...
KENNEDY: I just move in the wrong circles, Jennifer, clearly. Not holy enough in my world.
GIROUX: Well, I know when Dana to view “Dawn of the Living Dead,” she took her air bag, because we‘ve all heard how weak her stomach is.
But wait a minute, I remember, walking into “Dawn of the Dead” was like going into “Bambi” after “The Passion,” right? Because “The Passion” is so violent, right?
It‘s fine to see people biting necks and squirting blood and everything else that‘s in there.
On a serious note, absolutely with Easter coming, I think people are going to go out and see this again. And truly, people see the good in this movie, from teenage years all the way up.
I think this is food for the soul that people are craving in a country right now that is in turmoil, especially with what they‘re trying do in the Supreme Court to the average American and what we think—where God should be in society.
So I look forward to seeing the rebound of “The Passion.”
SCARBOROUGH: Isn‘t that interesting, you bring up the Supreme Court. But there‘s obviously going to be a very important ruling this week, the Supreme Court talking about the Pledge of Allegiance.
Jennifer, isn‘t it something that the biggest movie of the year is a religious movie and one of the biggest Supreme Court decisions is coming up on—on whether “under God” can be in the Pledge of Allegiance?
GIROUX: It is, Joe. And I‘ll tell you what, I like to think I represent the average American out here that‘s just doing our every day daily duty. And we might not have the big letters after our names but we do have the ability to tell right from wrong and the discern that.
And what the Supreme Court is considering doing is dead wrong. And the people that are behind getting God out of society are dead wrong.
You wonder why the Columbines happen. You wonder why kids are turning to drugs and to other things. It‘s because we‘re depriving them of God in our schools, the morality, and in society.
You know, I think a loud message should be sent to the Supreme Court that there‘s a large sleeping giant awake out here from “The Passion of the Christ” that wants God back in society.
SCARBOROUGH: Let me bring—let me bring in David Horowitz. He‘s from the Center for Popular Culture.
David, we heard Dana Kennedy talk about $600 million for this movie, “The Passion of the Christ,” a very religious movie. And this week, also, the Supreme Court, as Jennifer was talking about, is going to be—going to be looking at whether we take the words “under God” out from the Pledge of Allegiance.
Do you think there might be a disconnect between Washington, D.C., and what middle America wants to see at the movies and what middle America want their children to recite in the morning at school?
DAVID HOROWITZ, CENTER FOR POPULAR CULTURE: Well, we have two—two cultures in this country, perhaps even two countries at this point.
As I said before, this is—“The Passion” is an awesome film, and it‘s as close as art gets to a religious experience. So I‘m sure that a lot of the audience is driven by that fact.
There are a lot of religious people in this country, and I‘m sure that Hollywood is going to serve them a lot better in the next year and the years to come because of what Mel Gibson has done.
I wanted to make one comment on the violence. Since in this story it‘s the son of God who is taking these hits and this whole process, The Passion, is fore ordained, as you are told in the movie, it‘s not the same as watching violence, you know, against ordinary mortals.
In some sense emotionally it‘s more intense, because this is a divine figure who‘s taking on our sins. But in another sense it‘s not gruesome and gory in the way that it would be if it was just, you know, a—a human being, who‘s—who‘s not God.
SCARBOROUGH: Rabbi Shmuley, let me bring you in here. Does the fact that this is preordained by God, if you believe the New Testament, believe the New Testament, is the fact that it was preordained by God make it less disturbing, make all the violence that‘s offended you less disturbing to Christians who go see this movie?
RABBI SHMULEY BOTEACH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: No, not at all. I want to see religion flourish in the United States as much as Jennifer. I want to see God being formally a part of all Pledge of Allegiance.
What I don‘t want to see is religion going down the road of Hollywood, having to emulate and ape Hollywood. On the contrary.
Jennifer is running a web site where she‘s taking charitable donations to try to get “The Passion of the Christ” an Academy Award. Who cares what the Academy says about religion? I couldn‘t care less.
The fact is, Hollywood has become a sewer. And the fact that people like Jennifer so badly need Hollywood‘s imprimatur in order to validate God is deeply disturbing.
We‘ve got to wean people off the popular culture, get them back to reading scripture, reading the holy Bible. The fact that this has become such a sacrament, of going to a movie theater, the fact that it‘s supplanting going to church is a testimonial to many Christians who believe that Christianity has failed in America.
Now we need Mel Gibson as the new apostle, as the new forerunner of Christianity, the second coming himself, I mean, Jesus Christ incarnate, in order to revive Christianity?
Now, you know, to us Jews especially, you know, had Mel Gibson simply lessened the violence and increased Jesus‘ message. And especially had he told the audience at the beginning of this movie that Caiphus, the high priest, is an ally of Rome. He is an appointee of Rome.
So the Jews did not kill Jesus. You have a Roman police enforcer named Caiphus, a Jewish capo, just like there were in the Holocaust, a collaborator who works with the Romans to kill a Jew who claims to be the Jewish king, because the Romans had already abolished the Jewish monarchy.
Had he told us that, then no Jews would have had a problem with the movie, and had he lessened the violence, it could have been a wholesome religious message.
Mel is a very violent man.
SCARBOROUGH: All right. Jennifer Giroux, let me go back to you and have you respond to some of Rabbi—the rabbi‘s comments. He said that this movie being a success and people like you depending on movies to promote Christianity proves that Christianity may have failed in this country.
And also that you and others look at Mel Gibson almost as if he‘s a second coming of Christ.
GIROUX: I won‘t even address that absurdity that you just said last. But let me say this. You know, St. Augustine, the doctrine of the Catholic Church, said that there is—and this isn‘t an exact quote—but there‘s no greater thing for your spiritual life than to meditate on the passion.
Mel Gibson‘s movie is a meditative tool for the passion. And it has been embraced by Christians and Catholics alike, and David Horowitz just said, too, Jews that also find it very accurate to their own tradition.
This is a beautiful prayer tool. And for the rabbi to act like we‘re picking some Hollywood movie like “Casablanca” to be our new religion is just absurd.
SCARBOROUGH: Dana, Hollywood‘s typically forced blondes with blue eyes on American movie goers, leaving Latinos, the largest ethnic minority in the country, with little to relate to.
But this is how Latinos are related to “The Passion.” Latinos are making up 40 percent of the total audience in several cities showing “The Passion.” Seventy-six percent of Latinos said they‘ll go see the movie again. Eighty-six percent classified the movie as “excellent.”
That‘s a pretty surprising demographic breakdown, isn‘t it?
KENNEDY: Well, I‘m assuming, obviously, many of them are catholic and have, maybe, a stronger religious tradition than some.
But you know, I will say as—as a witness now to that discussion, I have to say to Jennifer that when—if I were someone who just flew in from Mars and heard her talk about this movie—and presumably, she wants people to go to it.
She gives off such a sort of scolding schoolmarm 1955 vibe, it makes you feel like you should eat your vegetables and learn your catechism and go see this movie. It‘s a movie. There is a violence...
GIROUX: Dana, I talk to my children every day.
KENNEDY: It‘s not about morality and holiness. It‘s a movie, Jennifer!
SCARBOROUGH: All right. Listen, you know, I appreciate you being here. David Horowitz, Dana Kennedy, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, Jennifer Giroux.
ANNOUNCER: Coming up next, did the president take us to war over oil? Was he protecting the bin Laden family? Michael Moore makes those outrageous claims in “Fahrenheit 9/11.”
And later the wardrobe malfunction that started a revolution. Janet Jackson‘s Super Bowl stunt outraged parents in SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY and sent Joe on a road trip to Washington to make sure Congress got your message.
All that and much more when SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY: BEST OF 2004 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: You‘re watching SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY: BEST OF 2004. And now, Joe Scarborough.
SCARBOROUGH: Let‘s bring in Ron Maxwell, who‘s brought us great movies like “Gods and Generals” and “Gettysburg.” He recently was the executive producer of “America Will Always Stand: New Songs of the Civil War.”
Ron, obviously you‘re a celebrated director. Tell me, what is your take on Michael Moore‘s movie, “Fahrenheit 9/11‘?
RON MAXWELL, DIRECTOR: I must say that I found Michael Moore‘s film to be a great disservice to his countrymen. I found it to be crudely and cruelly manipulative. Crudely manipulative because it is a poorly made, clumsy collection of images juxtaposed. Your former guests have talked about it.
If you want to see good documentaries, look at “Frontline” on PBS. That‘s serious documentary making. Documentaries should be trying to get to the truth, not obscuring the truth for a political message.
And the reason I say cruelly manipulative is because it prays on the emotions of we Americans and especially the emotions of families. Especially, the film preys on the emotions of families who have loved ones in harm‘s way in the military.
What the film says—and this is the big lie which transcends all the little lies. The big lie of the film is it says that the war is being prosecuted for profit, for the profit of the Bushes and for Halliburton and for other corporations.
SCARBOROUGH: Well, Ron, the thing is—the thing that surprised me there—I‘m not filmmaker. I mean, I—I‘ve obviously—I‘ve followed movies for quite a long time. But what struck me as somebody who‘s a novice in this area was how crude the attempts were at pulling emotional strings.
You‘d have the mother, the heart-wrenching scene of this mother doubled over in pain, crying, who‘d lost her son. Or an Iraqi woman, you know, crying over her daughter that just died. You‘d see piles of dead people in the street.
And immediately, they would cut to a grainy, slow motion visual of George W. Bush. Or they would cut to shots of U.S. soldiers saying that they enjoyed—basically enjoyed going out there and shooting at everything that moved.
And that struck me as cheap attack ads that I‘d see in, like, local political races.
And yet, Ron, let me read you a couple of reviews that this film‘s gotten. “L.A. Times” calls it “excellent, ambitious and unapologetic.” “The New York Times” says it‘s “scorching, a powerful and passionate expression of outraged patriotism.” “The Washington Post” calls it “a cultural juggernaut.” “TIME” magazine says it‘s “enthralling,” says audience of all political persuasions will be engaged.
Peter Travers, a guy whose reviews I read religiously from “Rolling Stone,” says it‘s brilliant.
How could these critics, who usually get it so right—in fact, I‘ll tell you what, most of those critics I just read, they‘re the only people I listen to other than Ebert and one or two others, when I decide what movie to go to.
How could they see a ham-fisted movie like that and give it that sort of praise?
MAXWELL: Well, Joe, I think the obvious answer is that they hate George Bush and they want to see George Bush defeated more than they love cinema, because this is clearly a shabby, disjointed mess of cinema. The way it‘s put together, certainly. As I say, look at “Frontline,” look at documentaries that are made all the time.
But also because it‘s a collection of lies, which leads to a big lie. You can take an image that is truthful here, an image that is truthful here, mix them up and you get an untruth. And this is what‘s done constantly through this film.
It‘s terribly manipulative. It reminds me of some of the sophomoric films we saw in the first couple years of film school that we try to grow out of. I‘ve spent 30 years in this business. Many of my friends are documentary filmmakers. I‘m not. I don‘t pretend to be one.
But this is—this is a shabby piece of film making and profoundly dishonest.
SCARBOROUGH: You certainly would never see somebody like Ken Burns, who does remarkable documentaries for PBS.
Let me bring you back in, Lawrence O‘Donnell.
I‘m going to read you one of these conspiracy theories and get—tell me whether you agree with this.
“America invaded Afghanistan so an oil company could put in a oil pipeline?” True or false?
LAWRENCE O‘DONNELL, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: Joe, America has no history of going to war over a commodity that is for sale, not only for sale but at a very cheap price.
If America wants to take over the Middle Eastern oil industry all that will do is make it more expensive for the American oil industry to participate over there.
SCARBOROUGH: Exactly.
O‘DONNELL: And if that were the case, why did the first Bush administration create, in effect, an embargo on oil from Iraq for all those years when the American oil industry could have been profiting by it?
I think one of the really funny outcomes of the movie is Michael Eisner at Disney, his attempt to be the Bushes‘ best friend as he claims to Michael Moore‘s agent, that because Disney does business in Florida they didn‘t want to distribute this movie.
So that helped create an air, a bit of a phony air of suppression of the movie, which was all it needed to win the Palm D‘Or at Cannes and all it needed to become a movie that is the biggest hit in the—in the Hollywood liberal movie agenda ever.
And so with friends like Michael Eisner and his handling of this movie, the Bushes don‘t need any enemies in Hollywood. If Michael Eisner wanted to be their friend, he would have held onto it for Disney; he would have cut the advertising budget to zero; put it out on about 10 movie screens. The movie would have come and gone by now, if Michael Eisner really knew how to be a friend to the Bushes.
SCARBOROUGH: Jack Burton, did America invade Afghanistan to put an oil pipeline there?
JACK BURKMAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: No, they didn‘t, Joe. I mean, these questions—It‘s just—it‘s just a film strung together with nothing but absurdities.
But I will go back to I am surprised that a guy like Terry McAuliffe would be posing for photo opportunities with a person who makes a film that makes fun of American troops in battle. That‘s what really struck me today.
I mean, this is something unprecedented. I mean, yes, it‘s filled with lies and distortions, but it‘s also unprecedented. Never in American history in the middle of a war have we had a film maker—yes, we‘ve had people criticize wars, but we‘ve never had a film, we‘ve never had a person come out and say that—that, you know, make fun of American troops in the middle of a war.
I think it‘s overkill. You ask about the politics. I think it‘s overkill. I think a lot of people are going to hate this. And I think a lot of swing voters who are making up their minds might be moved by this.
All of the hype will work to Bush‘s advantage. It will work to Moore‘s advantage but also to Bush‘s. And here‘s why. Because everybody will see this film. Many, many people—many more people will see this film because of shows like this.
And what will happen, that will work to the disadvantage of the Democratic Party.
SCARBOROUGH: Flavia—Flavia Colgan, do you believe this could blow up in John Kerry‘s face?
FLAVIA COLGAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think that it‘s going to, as the focus groups in Michigan have shown. I think that it‘s going to be a wakeup call to the choir, to the Democratic base.
I also think that people that are still flirting with Ralph Nader will feel compelled not to. And I think for a lot of the people that feel disenfranchised, this movie connects with them in an emotional way that so far John Kerry, despite some of his credentials and gravitas, has not been able to connect with the American people in that way.
And I found in the movie the most compelling parts were not so much Michael Moore‘s commentary and some of his conclusions, which I didn‘t agree with, but the cinema verite aspects of it, where people were speaking for themselves.
SCARBOROUGH: All right. Thank you so much, Flavia Colgan, Ron Maxwell, Lawrence O‘Donnell and Jack Burkman. I appreciate you all being here.
And I do agree with Flavia in this one area. If Michael Moore had just kept his mouth smut and run the clips of George Bush, the soldiers and also the people, the civilians killed in Iraq, it would have been a very powerful movie. It was his zany conspiracy theories that ended up destroying what I believe was his already shaky credibility.
ANNOUNCER: Next up, after Janet Jackson‘s Super Bowl stunt, Joe received thousands of e-mails from outraged viewers. So he took every e-mail to Washington to make sure your voices were heard. We‘ll look back at that controversy and Joe‘s road trip to Capitol Hill, when SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY: BEST OF 2004 returns.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi. I‘m Mass Corp‘s (ph) Matthew James Anthony with the 1st Service Support Group at Camp Dicata (ph), Iraq. I‘d like to wish my family and friends in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, a safe and happy holidays. I love and miss you. God bless America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
SCARBOROUGH: Janet Jackson‘s story continued to rock America‘s media and entertainment industry. With us to talk about the fallout for the NFL, the media and other future live events on TV are three commentators who have been following this closely. First off, we have Sid Rosenberg from IMUS on MSNBC and also WFAN Sports. Sid, thanks for being with us tonight.
And the NFL is acting shocked over this halftime show. But behind closed doors do you think they may be loving this publicity?
SID ROSENBERG, WFAN SPORTS: You have a show with Nelly, and with P Diddy and Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake? There‘s trouble but the NFL loves it because they are getting all the publicity.
SCARBOROUGH: Now let me bring in radio talk show host J.T. “The Brick” Tourneau. JT, do you believe the NFL is in trouble or are they enjoying this publicity?
J.T. “THE BRICK” TOURNEAU, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I think they‘re in big trouble because a lot of their customers, the NFL fans, are very upset. Joe, let me tell you, I talk to these fans all the time. I talked to a dad who has a couple of kids, brought all the kids in for the Super Bowl party, just to watch halftime, not the game and he was furious he had to fast-forward to a conversation about sexual harassment and the way to treat women. This was a disgrace to the NFL, the worst moment in sports history for a non-sports story locked into a Super Bowl. It‘s a disaster for Paul Tagliabue and the NFL.
SCARBOROUGH: Stacie “The Sports Chick” Burns, you obviously talk to sports fans every day. What‘s their response in are they angry with the NFL or do they think this is business as usual?
STACIE BURNS, THE SPORTS CHICK: I think they‘re trying to get over it. There is too much talk about it now. They want to dwell on the fact that the patriots won the Super Bowl and I think as long as everyone stops talking about it, the easier it will be for everyone to forget about it.
SCARBOROUGH: But everybody‘s not stopping talking about it. In fact this morning in the “Washington Post” they talked about the fallout from the halftime show. And this is what the “Washington Post” reported, that CBS canned Janet Jackson as presenter from the Grammies and are just waiting for her to bow out gracefully. ABC is going to have a five-second delay for their Oscar for the first time ever and the NFL canceled their Pro Bowl halftime show starring Justin Timberlake‘s old band mate. And NBC removed an exposed breast from an upcoming scene in “ER.”
And now more importantly Congress is threatening to increase the indecency fine 10 times. Sid, let me bring you back in here. Do you think all of these people are overreacting? I know the guy you work with, Imus, thinks this is much ado about nothing and that people like myself and other parents who are offended by this ought to just get over it. What do you think?
ROSENBERG: I think he‘s right. If you watch the show you know it takes a lot to offend me. I‘m on the same boat as Imus on this. And don‘t be confused here. J.T., you know better, this is the epitome of hypocrisy by the national football league. Every commercial they run is almost pornographic. In the coldest climates in the country they have scantily clothed women as cheerleaders doing nothing but promoting sex. This league is all about that. Joe Horne on his cell phone after he scores a touchdown against the Giants. Don‘t start crying and complaining that now they‘re all of a sudden offended and surprised. It‘s all nonsense. It‘s the epitome of hypocrisy.
SCARBOROUGH: J.T. respond.
TOURNEAU: Joe, let me jump in here. Joe, who cares what a middle aged sports talk host or media critic thinks about this topic. It has nothing to do with us. It has to do with the kids and the parents of the kids who were offended. If some guy wasn‘t offended because he had a couple of beers and he was watching it with his buddies—It had to do with the people who were offended, and the parents of these kids. That‘s the topic, not what Mr. And Mrs. Joe Q. America thinks. It‘s about the parents and the people who are directly affected. Pornographic TV commercials? I watch and cover the NFL every day and they do a great job. This is the worst thing they were ever a part (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Janet Jackson‘s fault ...
ROSENBERG: John, are you nuts? You do ads for Trojan Condoms for the Oakland Raiders. Do you not?
TOURNEAU: I don‘t do any type of ads for Trojan Condoms. That has nothing to do with Janet Jackson exposing her breast or Justin Timberlake ripping across her chest and pulling something. That is the issue here.
Why are we comparing this to anything else other than what happened on
halftime of Super Bowl Sunday when families come together and they didn‘t
know that Nelly was going to be grabbing his private parts or Janet Jackson
(CROSSTALK)
ROSENBERG: Oh, they didn‘t know that? Well, if they didn‘t know that, shame on them because if you ever saw Nelly perform before that‘s all he does. So if the NFL didn‘t do their homework, shame on them.
TOURNEAU: Never happened at a Super Bowl before. Never happened in the history of the NFL. The envelope was pushed and the NFL is going to bring it back.
SCARBOROUGH: Sid, you know what? Here‘s the point I want to make. Am I personally shocked and offended by what went on at halftime? Of course not. It‘s aimed at teenage boys. I think it‘s sophomoric. I think it‘s stupid. But what does offend me is the fact I‘ve got five, six, seven kids sitting around the TV watching this and I‘ve also got young boys who watch Justin Timberlake, this pop star that pre-teens look up to, reach over and rip off the clothing of a pop star to the applause of 80,000 people. Am I overreacting or are parents overreacting because they are afraid their kids may be exposed to this they don‘t want their kids exposed to this?
ROSENBERG: Of course they are overreacting. There are a heck of a lot of things going on out there that are a heck of a will the worse than the Super Bowl show. And let‘s be honest again. The NFL got what they deserved. These are the acts they brought it. You weren‘t going to get, J.T., Joe, Nelly to come in there and do a nice Neil Diamond ballad. His whole act is based upon sex and grabbing himself. The same thing with Justin Timberlake. He‘s the king of the bump and grind. You know more about Justin Timberlake‘s sex life with Britney Spears than you do about half his stupid songs with N‘Sync- they got exactly what they deserved.
TOURNEAU: Hey Joe, thank God eight to 12-year-old girls don‘t have to worry about Don Imus and Sid Rosenberg censor them. The parents that I talked to around the country were offended. They are the listeners to my show and they are watching your show tonight and those are the people that count, not everybody who is saying this is great, let‘s see more. The eight and ten year old little girl, they have no control. This is not pay per view or “The Sopranos “ or Showtime or a porno movie. This was the Super Bowl halftime show and we shouldn‘t have seen the garbage we saw from CBS.
SCARBOROUGH: Bout one thing you have to admit Sid is 100 percent dead on in one thing. The NFL you knew what they were getting into. They knew what was coming. In fact, the NFL issued a statement immediately after the game and they said, and I love this. “The show was offensive, inappropriate and embarrassing to us and our fans.” Stacy, it sounds like the poor NFL thought we were going to be seeing a Broadway version of “Beauty and the Beast” here. The NFL knew exactly what was going to happen when they hired MTV to put on the show, didn‘t they?
BURNS: I think so. But I also think if the parents knew that MTV was producing the show then they shouldn‘t have watched it, they should have changed to channel. And if they didn‘t know MTV was going to produce the show and they saw Nelly or they saw P Diddy or they saw Kid Rock get on stage, then they should have changed the channel. Even if it was after the first crotch grabbing that should have been a pure sign to them to change the channel if they didn‘t want their kids to watch it.
SCARBOROUGH: Thanks a lot for being here, Sid, we appreciate it. Also, Stacy, thanks and J.T., “The Brick,” we appreciate you being in SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY.
You know, I told you if you wrote us an e-mail about Janet Jackson‘s Super Bowl peepshow I would deliver them to Washington and something would be done about it. And today I did go to Capitol Hill and that duffle bag I‘m carrying is stuffed with more than 1,000 emails. I took them to Senator Trent Lott‘s office and as I handed off this huge stack of emails, he told me why he thinks we‘ve gotten this kind of response.
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SEN TRENT LOTT, ® MS: I think the outrage really has reached a boiling point and a lot of people that have just been going along with it, ignoring the assault on our children in their minds, through programs like MTV and some of this sexually explicit, vulgar music that they have to listen to, people are saying they have a right to stand up and fight. So they have got a right to look to their elected officials to join the battle. I tell you, Joe, I was watching it. First I watched the pregame show and I was so proud. I didn‘t know what to expect but it was honoring our astronauts who gave their lives a year ago, the next team of astronauts and the singer sang “You Lift Me Up.” It was a patriotic and emotional thing and I thought, you know, Houston‘s got this right, the NFL‘s got this right. And then halftime, and I mean I love music. Maybe a different generation of music but I ...
SCARBOROUGH: You sing it.
LOTT: Right. I sing it. And I sing “Elvira” good music. But I kept saying to my wife what is this mind-banging stuff we‘re hearing and all this sexually explicit stuff. And she got so disgusted with me because I was complaining so loudly at the table she went into the kitchen and missed the final scene. I was so shocked. I said to her, “I‘m not sure I saw what I think I just saw.” Let me tell you, they‘re going to hear about this one. I think everybody bears some punishment here, too. What did the NFL, what did they think they were going to get when they went with MTV. The network, the parent company, Viacom, the people involved, it was all lewd, crude, and I hope socially unacceptable.
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ANNOUNCER: Coming up, Joe isn‘t right about everything, just most things. We‘ll take a look back at his election predictions and the Scarborough advice John Kerry should have taken. But first, Ronald Reagan changed the world continent by continent and one person at a time. We‘ll look back at how the gripper honored one of the countless heroes from D-Day.
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SCARBOROUGH: This is SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY best of 2004. This year we commemorated the 60th anniversary of the turning point in World War II and mourned the loss of a great leader.
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RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT: Men bled and died here for a few feet or inches of sand as bullets and shell fire cut through their ranks. About them, General Omar Bradley later said, “Every man who set foot on Omaha Beach that day was a hero.”
SCARBOROUGH (voice-over): President Reagan delivered these moving words at the 40th anniversary of D-Day in 1984, addressing the few survivors who could return.
REAGAN: Some who survived the battle of June 6, 1944, are here today.
Others who hoped to return never did.
SCARBOROUGH: This was a deeply personal speech for the president. Not only because it was at a place where so many Americans had died, but because of its inspiration.
REAGAN: Some day, Liz, I‘ll go back, said Private First Class Peter Robert Zaneta (ph) of the 37th Engineer Combat Battalion and first assault wave to hit Omaha Beach.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I‘ll go back and I‘ll see it all again. I‘ll see the beach, the barricades and the graves. I‘ll put a flower on the graves of the guys I knew.
SCARBOROUGH: It started with a letter.
REAGAN: Those words of the Private Zaneta (ph) come to us from his daughter, Lisa Zaneta Hinn (ph), in a heart-rending story about the event her father spoke of so often. In his words, the Normandy invasion would change his life forever, she said. She some of his stories of World War II but says of her father the story to end all stories was D-Day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, my dad always wanted to go back. That was his big thing. When he would tell us about D-Day, that someday he was going to go back and walk on the beach and put flowers on the graves. That was really important to him that he someday go back and walk that beach. But he never got a chance to.
SCARBOROUGH: Private First Class Peter Robert Zaneta (ph) died in 1976. He never got to see the graves, lay flowers and walk the beach again. But he managed to get to the beach in his own way.
REAGAN: Private Zaneta‘s (ph) daughter wrote to me, “I don‘t know how or why I can feel it emptiness, fear or this determination but I do. Maybe it‘s the bond I had with my father. All I know is that it brings tears to my eyes to think about my father as a 20-year-old boy having to face that beach.”
PEGGY NOONAN, FORMER REAGAN STAFFER: There are turning points in human history, great battles in human history, there are these moments when years later you can look back at them and you can see what they were, you can see the human beings acted in an exalted manner.
SCARBOROUGH: Peggy Noonan, what - who was on Reagan‘s staff at the time, remembers how profoundly the president was affected by his time in Normandy.
NOONAN: They moved forward with courage and they were valiant and they were inspiring in part I think because they were just average humans. When we think back to these battles. When we think back to D-Day and what was done there it gives us a higher sense of who we small human beings are. We can do great things. We can hold together. We can take that mountain.
We can change history.
SCARBOROUGH: For Lisa Zaneta Hinn (ph), hearing the president say her dad‘s name on the beach where he nearly died for his country was a fitting tribute for her hero.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then the president came out and started his speech. And then I remember hearing my dad‘s name, you know, Private First Class Peter Robert Zaneta (ph), and I thought, oh, my God, he‘s given me the greatest gift. He has made my dad immortal.
SCARBOROUGH: The president‘s speech helped assure Lisa that her father‘s memory would live on and now she focuses on her kids to try to pass on the stories to them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just want them to know so that they never forget. My dad talked about not just D-Day and World War II but the holocaust and all that stuff. Probably more than any other kids in the neighborhood we knew it all and I‘m making sure my kids know it all. Because there‘s that saying if you don‘t learn your history you‘re destined to repeat it. And my kids know their history.
REAGAN: Through the words of his loving daughter who is here with us today, a D-Day veteran has shown us the meaning of this day far better than any president can. It is enough for us to say about Private Zaneta (ph) and all the men of honor and courage who fought beside him four decades ago, we will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared. So we may be always free.
SCARBOROUGH: A message which would have made the private proud.
ANNOUNCER: Joe covered the battle for the White House from debates to conventions all the way through election night. We‘ll show you why this guy would have been a lot better off if he had listened to Joe. SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY best of 2004 will be right back.
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SCARBOROUGH: I think the Democrats were scared by the fact that this guy shot from the hip one time too many.
HOWARD DEAN, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And then we‘re going to Washington, DC to take back the White House. Yeaaaghhh!
SCARBOROUGH: That was perhaps the worst speech I have ever heard.
The only think we know for sure is Dick Gephardt‘s campaign and political career is over tonight.
DICK GEPHARDT, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Today my pursuit of the presidency has reached its end.
SCARBOROUGH: I am going to start the show tonight by giving John Kerry some advice on how he can win the presidential debate. You say, Mr. President, with all due respect, when it comes to fighting wars, you‘re not Ronald Reagan. Would Ronald Reagan have backed down in Tora Bora in Afghanistan in December 2001? Would he have Osama bin Laden captured?
SEN JOHN KERRY, (D) MA: Osama bin Laden, unfortunately, he escaped in the mountains of Tora Bora. We had him surrounded, but we didn‘t use American forces, the best trained in the world to go kill him, the president relied on Afghan warlords and outsourced that job, too.
SCARBOROUGH: First prediction of the night, though, and I‘m going to say it here at about five minutes after five. I think Dick Cheney is going to do extraordinarily well tonight.
RICHARD CHENEY, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: You‘ve missed 33 out of 36 meetings of the Judiciary Committee, almost 70 percent of the meetings of the intelligence committee. You have missed a lot of key votes on tax policy and energy and Medicare reform Your hometown newspaper has taken to calling you “Senator Gone.”
SCARBOROUGH: I have seen image after image after image after image of voters today from Alabama to California, all across America, and I‘ll tell you what, they look like the same middle-aged voters to me.
P. DIDDY, ENTERTAINER: And it‘s incredible, you know, it‘s a historical day and I‘m especially proud of the youth and minority voter turnout that is going to really shock this nation.
SCARBOROUGH: It‘s not that I‘m smart, it‘s just a reality check, Diddy will tell you the youth leave you at the altar every time.
George W. Bush, it drives people crazy on both the coasts, but George W. Bush clings to the heartland of America and it‘s those values that got him elected.
ANNOUNCER: A Mel Gibson masterpiece. A Michael Moore hit piece. A wardrobe malfunction and a heated election. These were some of the top stories in SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY 2004. Merry Christmas from our family to yours.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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