On Monday’s Joy Behar Show on HLN, host Behar and comedian Lewis Black berated right-leaning celebrity Kelsey Grammer for his involvement in promoting the new RightNetwork, with Behar lamenting, "Just what we need, more right-wing rhetoric." The HLN host soon portrayed Grammer as "the rich constantly bitching about taxes," and suggested that conservatives like Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, whom she sarcastically referred to as "brain trusts," don’t "give a damn" about the poor:
JOY BEHAR: Well, they don`t seem to care about poor people. Do you think Sarah Palin gives a damn about poor people or that other bargain, Michele Bachmann? They don`t care, those two brain trusts.
LEWIS BLACK: No, they don`t care, and they act like they`re getting something. What the poor are getting at this point allows them to breathe. They act like they`re going to clubs, they`re having the time of their lives, there`s nothing better than poverty.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Monday, April 19, Joy Behar Show on HLN, with critical portions in bold:
JOY BEHAR: I`m gladly back with a man who genuinely is always pissed off but in a good way, the fabulous Lewis Black. Okay, there`s a new right-wing channel coming out, and it`s not called "Fox News Part Deux." It`s actually called RightNetwork, and guess who is its spokesman? Kelsey Grammer. Watch this.
KELSEY GRAMMER, IN AD FOR RIGHTNETWORK: Things that just aren`t right: Big government. More taxes. Group hugs. Cats on leashes. There`s wrong, and there`s right. Right Network. All that`s right with the world.
BEHAR: Just what we need, more right-wing rhetoric.
LEWIS BLACK, COMEDIAN: That`s perfect because, really, I, there`s not enough room for more, I need more, I need something, I know Fox isn`t enough coffee in a day, you know? I mean, seriously, you watch it and-
BEHAR: Plus Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, it`s an assault from the right. Why do we need another one?
BLACK: And Kelsey Grammer. What has he got to tell me? And what really irritates me is I did his roast. I wouldn`t have done the roast.
BEHAR: If you knew that, really?
BLACK: No, I would have done it, but I would have said something about the fact that, "Why do I listen to you politically when you can`t get your car out of your driveway, ass-(BLEEP)?" (BEHAR AND OFF-SCREEN STAFF LAUGH) You know, I mean, it`s 12 feet.
BEHAR: Okay, but what kind of a career move is this for Kelsey Grammer really?
BLACK: I don`t know. There must be something in it. There’s got to be something in it. Well, I guess he wants to protect his tax thing. You know, I mean, that whole thing about not taxing-
BEHAR: Do you know how rich Kelsey Grammer is? Do you have any idea how wealthy this man is?
BLACK: Yeah, yeah.
BEHAR: I love it when the rich are bitching constantly about taxes.
BLACK: You`re rich now.
BEHAR: I don`t bitch about taxes. I`m happy, give or take it.
BLACK: The first time I went to the accountant to deal with, when I had real money-
BEHAR: Yeah.
BLACK: -and he said, well, you know, we can, he says, you know, we can do this and that and the other. And I said you don`t seem to get how excited that I can finally kind of give back. How come it`s not seen as patriotic?
BEHAR: It should be.
BLACK: It`s insane.
BEHAR: It should be, but it`s not. It`s seen as, "They’re taking something right out of my mouth."
BLACK: Well, it`s why schools suck. I mean, it`s like, you got to pay for stuff.
BEHAR: But there`s an issue, too, in this movement that`s going on with the country, this right-wing Tea Party movement, that they do not seem to want to give what they’ve got to poor people. They feel that Obama favors poor over the rich. Duh. I mean, shouldn`t the President of the United States care about poor people? What have we come to that we’re not interested in poor people?
BLACK: Well, who was Jesus caring about? Who was Jesus caring about? Google it! It’s the poor!
BEHAR: All right, I know.
BLACK: And it`s unbelievable to me. But that`s the way it works. I don`t understand what was the big shock to them. One side wins, and we diddle along with those idiots for awhile. Then the other group of jackasses show up and we diddle with them. How far do we move as a country? A smidge. We move like a little, so all of a sudden, this administration go, there are poor people, that`s how far we`ve come.
BEHAR: Well, they don`t seem to care about poor people. Do you think Sarah Palin gives a damn about poor people or that other bargain, Michele Bachmann? They don`t care, those two brain trusts.
BLACK: No, they don`t care, and they act like they`re getting something. What the poor are getting at this point allows them to breathe. They act like they`re going to clubs, they`re having the time of their lives, there`s nothing better than poverty.
BEHAR: Yeah.
BLACK: I`ve been in it.
BEHAR: Another day in paradise, what`s that song, Phil Collins, right? Isn`t that what that song is about, homeless people? There`s no sympathy or empathy for people. It`s just pathetic, I think.
BLACK: No, well, you say the words "common good."
BEHAR: Yeah.
BLACK: You can`t even say the words "common good."
BEHAR: Yeah, yeah.
BLACK: Strike that, edit it.
