BEHAR: Ann Coulter, she says, Coulter, who makes a living by being provocative, picked a predictably offensive reason to oppose McCain. Quote, from Ann, "he has led the fight against torture at Guantanamo." That’s why she doesn’t like him because he is against torture. I think that’s fascinating.
GOLDBERG: I think if she meets him, he would torture her.
BEHAR: Well, she tortures us plenty.
SHEPHERD: Will Ann Coulter hurt Hillary’s campaign? You know how everyone’s getting on Bill and he won’t be quiet? You don’t think Ann Coulter-
BEHAR: No, she hurts McCain in this conversation because she and Rush Limbaugh and all these very extreme right wing conservatives are against McCain. So a lot of people are listening to him.
HASSELBECK: McCain is the most sure shot that they have in terms of- if they want to have a Republican in the White House, he’s the most sure fire shot.
BEHAR: But you’re assuming those right wing conservatives will not stay home on election day because they can’t stand him because he hates torture.
HASSELBECK: Well, they shouldn’t sit this one out. I don’t think anyone should be sitting this election out. It’s way too important.
For the record, Ann Coulter, in citing her opposition to McCain, did use the actual term "torture." However, Behar still lumped Ann Coulter with other conservatives, such as Rush Limbaugh in supporting "torture."
Additionally, in recapping the Super Bowl ads, the panel discussed NOW’s statement condemning some allegedly sexist ads. After playing the Planter’s ad depicting an ugly woman attracting many men because of her cashew "perfume," all of the co-hosts agreed the ad was "funny" and did not find the sexist nature that NOW apparently found. The transcript is below.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: I know that a lot of the folks were upset about some of the Super Bowl ads. Some folks thought that they were nasty towards women. Some folks thought that some of the politicians that were in them shouldn’t have been in. Can we show any of them please? Can we just show one or two of them. We’ll just talk about them as the do.
[Play Planters ad]
[laughter]
JOY BEHAR: It’s funny.
GOLDBERG: Now, it is funny.
SHERRI SHEPHERD: I thought it was funny.
BEHAR: Funny.
SHEPHERD: But were people mad about that?
GOLDBERG: The National Organization for Women.
SHEPHERD: The New York branch?
BEHAR: Yeah, which branch?
GOLDBERG: It’s the branch under my arms. Whoever it was, they put out a statement. You have to put out singular statements. They just felt that several of the ads were, are demeaning to women. See I, this ad I thought was very cute and fun, especially given "Ugly Betty." I mean, you know.
SHEPHERD: Yeah, it was like a spoof of "Ugly Betty."
ELISABETH HASSELBECK: I think they were, there were some things.
BEHAR: I think they used a mentally ill girl with the crazy eye brows and the thing. I think most girls can wax that. Most girls can wax that and get rid of this, so it was almost like over the top.
HASSELBECK: Well, let me tell you, those cashews are good so it works. I, I feel as though, you know they, they have this percentage of women. I think the percentage is 38 million females watched the Super Bowl. So if most of them find it funny, you got to roll with it and find it funny.
BEHAR: How many million men watch it if 38 million females?
HASSELBECK: I think 93 million, there were 93 million viewers last year who watched the Super Bowl. I don’t know if we have last night’s numbers yet. I mean, that’s a lot of people, right? And think if 60 percent of the women watch it with their kids. And the only thing I say maybe to be careful of is, okay if you’re watching it with your kids, and I’m watching it with my daughter, what kind of image of a woman is being portrayed? Not there, that one was funny. But there were some kind of, like sexy ads.
GOLDBERG: Well, there’s a lot of other ads that I would have picked over this one.
HASSELBECK: Absolutely.
GOLDBERG: You know, I just thought that this one was fun.
