As she debated conservative rocker Ted Nugent on a special edition of CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 on Wednesday during the 9:00 PM EST hour, liberal comedian Roseanne Barr tagged Sarah Palin a "loon" and a "traitor to this country" and, although she apologized later, called Palin's followers the "dumbest people on Earth," and described them as being "on the government dole."
Barr: "I think she's a loon and I think she's kind of a traitor to this country because she would love to erase the line between church and state, which I think this country was founded upon and should never, ever be trifled with in any way."
After guest and Democratic strategist Cornell Belcher brought up the popularity of anti-intellectualism, the liberal comedian added: "Yeah, she's got that, her followers are the dumbest people on Earth. ... No, but seriously, they can barely scare up a pulse. I'm serious. They're not, they are really stupid. They're stupid."
She soon continued: "The people who like Sarah Palin are all on the government dole going out there and bitching about people wanting to get on the government dole. Please. Every one of them is on the government money.
As Nugent voiced his support for the Tea Party movement and complained about tax dollars being used to pay people not to work, Barr blamed the wealthy for the financial problems of the poor, called the Tea Party a "big fat con," and somehow managed to bring up former Vice President Cheney, claiming he had "never worked an honest day in his life":
TED NUGENT: Who said you can pay people not to work and not be productive? If you're not productive, you get no money. How's that sound?
BARR: That sounds like you're blaming the victim. Sounds like you're blaming the poor people.
NUGENT: Victim?
BARR: Yes.
NUGENT: What, victims of sleeping in?
BARR: Yeah, I think you're blaming the victim. I think it's just a big fat con, and you work for the richest guys in the world. All you Tea Party spokespeople, you work for the Koch brothers and they're like billionaires.
The sparring soon continued:
BARR: No, but you're working for the wrong people, brother.NUGENT: I work for myself. I work for myself, and all my buddies work for themselves. They work and they expect to have something left and not give it to people who didn't earn it. Real simple.
BARR: Who? Like Dick Cheney?
NUGENT: Mao Tse Tung didn't work then. Mao Tse Tung isn't going to work today.
BARR: Dick Cheney didn't, Dick Cheney didn't earn one damn thing. Guy's never worked an honest day in his life.
NUGENT: Who's this?
BARR: Dick Cheney. He's never worked an honest day in his life.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portions of the special episode of Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN, which ran during the 9:00 p.m. hour on Wednesday, January 5:
TED NUGENT: That's why I would like to run. I would revel in the attacks on me. I consider that a party because it's all such nonsense. It's about getting the job done. I'm an asset-
ROSEANNE BARR: What's the job, though? I mean, you say these things, you remind me of Sarah Palin a little. You say these broad things, but what's the job that needs to get done? Like robbing all the working people of every dime they got?
NUGENT: Accountability. Making sure-
BARR: What does that mean exactly? Accountability?
NUGENT: Well, that means when you have X amount of income from the tax coffers that you don't spend beyond it. I live within my means, I would hope that you live within your means, and I expect my government to live within their means.
BARR: What about Goldman Sachs? What do you think of that?
NUGENT: I think they ought to be stoned to death. That's what I think.
BARR: Do you think this government is owned by Goldman Sachs and rich people?
NUGENT: Unfortunately right now, especially the Obama administration, yes.
BARR: But why-
NUGENT: That's why they hired him.
BARR: Why do you say that about Obama when people pay less taxes under Obama than they did under Reagan? Why do you say stuff like that?
NUGENT: Well, that's another example of abandonment of accountability. They're paying less taxes, they're getting less revenues and they're spending more. Their deficit and the debt has never skyrocketed like it is right now because the socialist-
BARR: Because of Bush. How about Bush? How about Bush did every-
NUGENT: -mentality is to redistribute wealth and abandon, he did a horrible job. I didn't like that either. Put it there, put it there. No, that's, it's rampant. Bush blew it. Obama's blowing it even better. Clinton blew it. I think politics, there's a military term. It's three syllable. I'll give you two of them. Cluster. It is a cluster of politics right now. And that's why the Tea Party is so important for saying one simple thing: Be accountable.
BARR: But the Tea Party is owned by the richest people in the world. Come on-
NUGENT: They aren't. The Tea Party are welders and farmers.
BARR: No, they're not. It's the Koch brothers-
NUGENT: I hang out with them. I hunted with some Tea Parties last week. They're carpenters. They're people that make a minimum wage.
BARR: Well, it's not their fault that they're being lied to and tricked. It's not their fault.
NUGENT: The Tea Party is about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
BARR: Telling rich people what they want to hear is not good for Americans.
NUGENT: That's not what the Tea Party is about at all, not even close. You couldn't be more wrong about that. Tea Party is about working hard, playing hard, simple families going: Be accountable. What are you doing with our money? Who said you can spend on that crap? Who said you can pay people to stay home? Who said you can pay people not to work and not be productive? If you're not productive, you get no money. How's that sound?
BARR: That sounds like you're blaming the victim. Sounds like you're blaming the poor people.
NUGENT: Victim?
BARR: Yes.
NUGENT: What, victims of sleeping in?
BARR: Yeah, I think you're blaming the victim. I think it's just a big fat con, and you work for the richest guys in the world. All you Tea Party spokespeople, you work for the Koch brothers and they're like billionaires.
NUGENT: I'm just a deer hunter. I don't know what you're talking about.BARR: No, but you're working for the wrong people, brother.
NUGENT: I work for myself. I work for myself, and all my buddies work for themselves. They work and they expect to have something left and not give it to people who didn't earn it. Real simple.
BARR: Who? Like Dick Cheney?
NUGENT: Mao Tse Tung didn't work then. Mao Tse Tung isn't going to work today.
BARR: Dick Cheney didn't, Dick Cheney didn't earn one damn thing. Guy's never worked an honest day in his life.
NUGENT: Who's this?
BARR: Dick Cheney. He's never worked an honest day in his life.
NUGENT: Oh, you got to be kidding me.BARR: Are you kidding me?
NUGENT: Give me, give me Barack Obama's resume.
BARR: You talk about people working for their money?
NUGENT: Show me all his jobs that he's had. Show me a product that Barack Obama ever produced. Show me one. Time's up.
CORNELL BELCHER, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, actually, Ted, he did start actually working for the churches in Southside Chicago.
NUGENT: Where's the product?
BELCHER: Well, the product is actually helping people, but to get back to what-
BARR: Thank you.
NUGENT: Chicago people don't look very helped to me. It looks like a tragedy.
BELCHER: Well, you got to-NUGENT: Did he help Cabrini Green? Was that one of his projects?
BELCHER: Well, you got to keep trying to help people. I mean-
BARR: Yeah, you know-
NUGENT: No, you can't, no. You need to try to help people by scolding them to help themselves. If you keep rewarding them-
BARR: I'm scolding you because you're full of it. I'm scolding you.
NUGENT: If you keep rewarding them for sleeping in, then they'll never get out of slavery. Why would you support slavery?
BARR: I'm solving you because you're blaming the people at the bottom who have nothing whatsoever to do with it.
NUGENT: I'm blaming people who refuse to be productive.
BARR: Why don't you blame the people who have the blame? Why don't you ever put the blame-
NUGENT: What, do you want to blame the people who have jobs and that produce things?
BARR: I want to blame the Koch brothers and the billionaires and all the people who robbed the taxpayers of this country, absolutely.
NUGENT: The government is the one who's robbed the taxpayers of this country.
BARR: What would we do without government, expect the rich people to take care of the poor? Are you crazy?
NUGENT: The rich people are the ones providing jobs.
BARR: No, they're not.
NUGENT: The government doesn't provide squat.
BARR: There are no jobs, there are no jobs. And rich people-
NUGENT: Where there are jobs are rich people who put all their lives on the line to get creative.
BARR: Rich people don't pay squat and it's proven.
COOPER: Guys, let me, let me just jump in here. We're going to-
NUGENT: Jump in, Anderson, quick.
COOPER: We're going to take a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Do you think she could be, do you think she could be a good President?
NUGENT: It's too early to tell. Right now, if we had a vote today, I couldn't vote for Sarah Palin, and I love her. I love her madly and I respect.
BARR: Even though she's so good looking you couldn't vote for her?
NUGENT: That has nothing to do with it, Roseanne.
BARR: That's what you said. What?
COOPER: What do you think of her?
BARR: I think she's a loon and I think she's kind of a traitor to this country because she'd like to-
NUGENT: Whoa.
BARR: -she would love to erase the line between church and state, which I think this country was founded upon and should never, ever be trifled with in any way....
BARR: No, but I mean, she's another one like Ted, excuse me, Ted, don't come after me with a gun.
NUGENT: I love you madly.
BARR: And I'm heavily armed myself. But, listen, she tells rich people what they want to hear and calls herself a maverick for doing it. She's not a maverick. She's a dupe, and she gets paid for helping to dupe other people, too. You know, scaring the hell out of Americans so that they vote against their own best interests, and they think, and they vote against the social safety net.
...
COOPER: There were all those people after she lost with McCain who said, look, she needs to go, study, practice, you know, maybe take some foreign trips.
NUGENT: We all do. We all do.
COOPER: But no, no, but she totally ignored that advice, did it, is doing it her own way, and is doing it in a way that's been very-
BELCHER: There is also a history, a history of anti-intellectualism that's pretty deep in America.
BARR: Yeah, she's got that, her followers are the dumbest people on Earth. I mean-
NUGENT: Thanks a lot, Roseanne.
BARR: No, but seriously, they can barely scare up a pulse. I'm serious.
BELCHER: That's kind of mean.
BARR: They're not, they are really stupid. They're stupid.
NUGENT: Roseanne, you couldn't be more wrong. You look at the Tea Party people. You know what the Tea Party people, they're solidly in the asset column of America. They are the producers, Roseanne. Why don't you like producers?BARR: Because I would rather fire producers, don't you know anything about me?
COOPER: She has a long history of firing-
NUGENT: I'm glad we have her here. I love the ying and the yang, baby. Believe me, Sarah Palin gets it. She represents the most productive element of this country, people who are willing to sacrifice, get up extra early, be the best that they can be, and at the end of the day, live within their means and be providers of jobs, be providers of quality of life.
BARR: The people who-
NUGENT: That's what Sarah Palin represents. Your turn.
BARR: -like Sarah Palin are all on the government dole going out there and bitching about people wanting to get on the government dole. Please.
BELCHER: From a campaign-
BARR: Every one of them is on the government money.
...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)COOPER: Welcome back. I honestly have no idea what I'm doing here.BARR: You told me that I could apologize because, you know, sometimes I shoot my mouth off and say really stupid things.
COOPER: What do you want to apologize about?
BARR: I did not mean to insult all of Sarah Palin's supporters, you know, I, it just flew out of my mouth.
NUGENT: I accept your apology.
BARR: It's not their fault. I feel they're being duped, and I really do feel that they're being duped, but I don't blame them for that.
- Brad Wilmouth is a news analyst at the Media Research Center