The View from the Gutter: Whoopi Goldberg and the Politics of Crudeness

Let’s start with the image.

Not the library. Not the rendering. Not the architectural design that Whoopi Goldberg claims resembles a part of the male anatomy. The image of Whoopi Goldberg herself. Sitting at the table on “The View.” Surrounded by her co-hosts. In front of the cameras. Speaking to millions of Americans. And using her platform to reduce the former president of the United States to a crude joke about his genitalia.

“Did you see the rendition of the Trump library that he’s building? It’s a giant… it looks like a giant penis.”

That is what passes for political commentary on one of the most-watched daytime television shows in America. Not a discussion of policy. Not an analysis of his record. Not a critique of his administration. A penis joke. A juvenile, middle-school-level insult delivered by a woman in her sixties who should know better.

The audience laughed. Of course they laughed. They are there to be entertained. They are there to be validated. They are there to hear their own prejudices echoed back at them by someone on television. They are not there for serious discussion. They are not there for thoughtful analysis. They are there for the crude joke, the easy laugh, the moment of cheap catharsis.

Whoopi gave it to them. She gave them exactly what they wanted. She lowered the discourse. She debased the conversation. She proved that the left is just as capable of juvenile insults as the right. She demonstrated that there is no high ground. There is only the gutter. And she is wallowing in it.

The Library

The Trump library is not a joke. It is a monument. It is a place where history will be preserved. Where scholars will study. Where future generations will learn about the 45th president of the United States. Love him or hate him, he was president. He will have a library. It will be built. It will be visited. It will be studied.

Whoopi Goldberg reduced it to a penis joke. She looked at a rendering of a building that will cost millions of dollars, that will employ hundreds of workers, that will serve as a repository of American history, and she saw a penis. That is not a reflection of the building. It is a reflection of her.

The library is not the problem. The problem is a culture that has become so degraded that a woman of Whoopi Goldberg’s age and stature thinks it is acceptable to make such a joke on national television. The problem is an audience that laughs. The problem is a network that airs it. The problem is a society that has lost the capacity for serious discourse.

The Trump library will be built. It will stand for generations. It will be a place of learning and reflection. Whoopi Goldberg’s joke will be forgotten by tomorrow. The library will remain. That is the difference between substance and crudeness. Substance endures. Crudeness fades.

Whoopi chose crudeness. She chose the easy laugh. She chose the cheap shot. She chose to be remembered as the woman who made a penis joke about a presidential library. That is her legacy. That is her choice. That is her shame.

The Double Standard

Imagine the reaction if a conservative commentator had made a similar joke about a building associated with Barack Obama or Joe Biden. Imagine the outrage. The condemnations. The think pieces about the degradation of political discourse. The calls for apologies and resignations.

There would be no end to it. The media would be in a frenzy. The left would be apoplectic. The commentator would be fired, shamed, exiled from polite society.

Whoopi Goldberg will face no such consequences. She will return to her seat at the table tomorrow. She will continue to be paid millions of dollars. She will continue to be treated as a serious voice. The media will ignore her crudeness. The left will defend her. The audience will laugh.

That is the double standard. That is the hypocrisy. That is the reality of modern political discourse. The rules apply differently depending on who you are and who you attack.

Whoopi Goldberg attacked Donald Trump. That is allowed. That is encouraged. That is celebrated. She can say whatever she wants about him. She can be as crude as she likes. There will be no consequences.

If she had said the same thing about a Democrat, her career would be over. She would be finished. She would never work again. That is the double standard. That is the hypocrisy. That is the reality.

Whoopi knows this. That is why she made the joke. She knew she could get away with it. She knew the audience would laugh. She knew the media would ignore. She knew there would be no consequences.

She was right. There will be no consequences. She will continue to sit at that table. She will continue to be paid millions. She will continue to be treated as a serious voice.

And the discourse will continue to degrade. The gutter will continue to deepen. The double standard will continue to apply.

Whoopi Goldberg is not the cause of this. She is a symptom. The cause is a culture that has lost its mind. The cause is a political environment that rewards crudeness and punishes civility. The cause is a media that amplifies the worst impulses of its audience.

Whoopi is just along for the ride. She is just giving the audience what it wants. She is just doing her job. That is the tragedy. That is the shame. That is the reality.

The Audience

The audience laughed. That is the most depressing part of the story. Not that Whoopi made the joke. That the audience found it funny. That millions of Americans heard a woman in her sixties make a crude joke about a presidential library and thought, “Yes, that is what I wanted to hear. That is what I needed to hear. That is what I will share with my friends.”

The audience is not innocent. The audience is complicit. The audience is the reason Whoopi made the joke. She was giving them what they wanted. She was telling them what they wanted to hear. She was validating their prejudices.

The audience does not want serious discussion. They do not want thoughtful analysis. They do not want to engage with the complexity of the world. They want cheap laughs. They want easy targets. They want to feel superior to the people they hate.

Whoopi gave them that. She gave them a moment of cheap catharsis. She gave them permission to laugh at someone they despise. She gave them a joke they could repeat to their friends.

The audience laughed. They are still laughing. They will keep laughing. They will not think about the degradation of the discourse. They will not think about the double standard. They will not think about the consequences of their own behavior.

They will just laugh. And then they will move on to the next outrage, the next joke, the next moment of cheap catharsis.

That is the tragedy. That is the shame. That is the reality of modern America.

The Last Word

Whoopi Goldberg looked at a rendering of the Trump library and saw a giant penis. She shared that observation with millions of Americans on “The View.” The audience laughed. The media ignored. The left defended. The right condemned. The discourse degraded.

That is where we are. That is what we have become. A country where a woman in her sixties can make a crude joke about a presidential library on national television and face no consequences. A country where the audience laughs. A country where the media looks away. A country where the discourse is in the gutter.

The Trump library will be built. It will stand for generations. It will be a place of learning and reflection. Whoopi Goldberg’s joke will be forgotten. The library will remain.

That is the difference between substance and crudeness. Substance endures. Crudeness fades.

Whoopi chose crudeness. She chose the easy laugh. She chose the cheap shot. She chose to be remembered as the woman who made a penis joke about a presidential library.

That is her legacy. That is her choice. That is her shame.

The rest of us can choose differently. We can choose seriousness over crudeness. We can choose substance over cheap laughs. We can choose to elevate the discourse rather than degrade it.

That is the challenge. That is the opportunity. That is the hope.

Whoopi Goldberg failed that challenge. She chose the gutter. The rest of us can choose better. The rest of us can demand better. The rest of us can be better.

That is the only way out of the gutter. That is the only way to restore the discourse. That is the only way to save the country.

Whoopi Goldberg is not the cause. She is a symptom. The cause is a culture that rewards crudeness. The cure is a culture that demands better.

We can demand better. We can be better. We can choose better.

That is the challenge. That is the opportunity. That is the hope.

Whoopi chose the gutter. The rest of us can choose the high ground.