Bernie Goldberg Calls ABC’s ‘The View’ a ‘Klan Meeting’

Former CBS reporter Bernie Goldberg was Bill O’Reilly’s guest on Thursday’s “O’Reilly Factor.” In the wake of actor Danny DeVito’s recent drunken rant about the President, Goldberg had some extraordinarily harsh observations about ABC’s “The View” (video available here). Goldberg began:

I would rather do hard time in a Ugandan prison than watch "The View". But I did watch the clip -- I did watch the clip online. And you know what it reminded me of? A Klan meeting.

Sound a bit farfetched? Stick with it:

You know, you go to a Klan meeting -- I mean, I've never been to one, but I imagine what it would be like. You go to a Klan meeting and all these idiots sit around and say, "Oh, yes, that man, he did that. Oh, that -- and he did that." And they all slap their knee, and they all laugh, because they're comfortable in their element.

Goldberg then interestingly tied it all together:

In the same way Danny DeVito, who by the way, was on FOX a few hours earlier… He didn't -- he didn't have the guts to say what he did or the stupidity to say what he did. But when he went into the Klan meeting of "The View", he knew he was in company...that would laugh and howl and slap their knee. You know, it's the same thing.

Interesting point that I hadn’t heard raised about this issue. DeVito was indeed on “Fox & Friends” earlier in the day, and though the hosts said they hadn’t detected alcohol on his breath, and just felt that he seemed a bit tired, DeVito made no such scathing observations about President Bush. Why? Because that wouldn’t have been as friendly an environment to do so. But, as Rosie O’Donnell’s presence on “The View” has made this a daily Bush bash, DeVito was not only free to say any despicable thing he wanted about the President, but might have felt it’s almost necessary.

ABC executives ought to be very proud of what they have created. What follows is a partial transcript of this segment.

BILL O'REILLY: Look, the overall presentation of Danny DeVito, whether he was intoxicated or not -- and I don't know, Bernie, and I really don't care. But the overall presentation was grossly disrespectful.

You can mock President Bush. I mean, that's legitimate. Satire is legitimate. But this was -- and I told this to Alan Colmes last night -- this was a deep-seated hatred, I think, that came out of DeVito because he had a little too much whatever he had a little too much of.

JANE HALL: He was doing that kind of "Three Stooges" thing. I'll tell you why I do feel critical. I think -- I mean, I'm old fashioned enough. I think the people on the "The View" should have said, "Hey, come on." You know?

O'REILLY: Barbara Walters did, if you look at her. And we're going to analyze her body language next week.

HALL: Barbara Walters was -- Barbara Walters was -- yes, she was like...

O'REILLY: But the others hate Bush, too. They hate Bush, too.

HALL: I would say they should not have seemed to endorse what he was doing.

O'REILLY: But they did.

HALL: OK. That, I think, is worth criticizing.

O'REILLY: Go ahead, Bernie.

BERNIE GOLDBERG: Bill, listen, you know, I mentioned to you once before, that I would rather do hard time in a Ugandan prison than watch "The View". But I did watch the clip -- I did watch the clip online.

And you know what it reminded me of? A Klan meeting. You know, you go to a Klan meeting -- I mean, I've never been to one, but I imagine what it would be like. You go to a Klan meeting and all these idiots sit around and say, "Oh, yes, that man, he did that. Oh, that -- and he did that."

And they all slap their knee, and they all laugh, because they're comfortable in their element. In the same way Danny DeVito, who by the way, was on FOX a few hours earlier.

O'REILLY: Cold sober. Cold sober. He wasn't drunk on FOX.

GOLDBERG: He didn't -- he didn't have the guts to say what he did or the stupidity to say what he did. But when he went into the Klan meeting of "The View", he knew he was in company...

O'REILLY: Absolutely.

GOLDBERG: ... that would laugh and howl and slap their knee. You know, it's the same thing.

HALL: I think you're giving him credit for logical behavior. He was drunk, and he was out of control.

O'REILLY: How do you get drunk in two hours at 10 in the morning? I don't know about that.

HALL: I don't know. Maybe in the limo between those things (ph).