This is a rush transcript from "FOX News Watch," August 11, 2007. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
BURNS: "Quick Take" headline number two, public or private? It's an extraordinary week for coverage of the 2008 presidential campaign with the media apparently already running out of things to say about the candidates. So they're saying things like this. "Fred Thompson's powerful but mysterious wife. In '08 race, a little leg may go a long way. Drawing fire, Judith Giuliani gives her side." Are we done with the candidates this early?
THOMAS: It started too early, lasted too long and allows the media to go down all the side eddies. Some of the spouses are interesting — Judith and Giuliani forgetting to tell him about her second husband? But we know from recent administrations, certainly every administration it's fair to say, since maybe Eisenhower, or Pat Nixon, that the spouses, especially if Hillary Clinton is elected, the spouses are quite influential. We do need to find out more than the superficial.
HALL: It shows we're very conflicted in this country about women in power. On the one hand, Hillary Clinton could be the nominee of the Democratic Party, and on the other hand, there's this sex-power thing going on with much younger trophy wives, catty things, much of it written by women.
THOMAS: It shows how lazy journalists want to smuggle in the celebrity-style junk into the political report. They can't even cover health care and they're talking about wives. Please.
PINKERTON: I have to say in "Vanity Fair" on Judith Giuliani was not lazy. You don't have to like it.
THOMAS: The idea is lazy. That's what I'm saying.
PINKERTON: Well, the idea is lazy. But the execution was not, so there.
BURNS: I'm trying to think if you made an interesting or impossible point. Never mind.
And headline number three: slugger gets slugged. Barry Bonds has now hit more homeruns than anyone else in baseball history.
Comedy Central's Jon Stewart reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON STEWART, COMEDY CENTRAL: Let's begin tonight with a story from the world of sports. Last night, Barry Bonds his 756th career homerun breaking one of the greatest records in baseball held by hank Aaron, sending a message to all the kids, you can achieve whatever you want if you eat the Wheaties and they're laced with human growth hormone and horse steroid.
[LAUGHTER]
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNS: Jim, fair point to make?
PINKERTON: Bonds will always have an asterisk on him this was a drug- induced homerun record. I'm with Gary from ESPN who said that he's a heretic in the church of baseball.
THOMAS: Bob Costas coverage on HBO was superb. He interviewed the guy who developed the clear steroid, who had apparently no ethical or moral center and found it was perfectly illogical and tried out his own product. Costas did an exemplary job.
BURNS: But he was a good scientist.
HALL: I was glad he didn't break the record when Cal Ripken was speaking at the Hall of Fame and 75,000 people came out to talk to and listen to a guy who said, we are role models whether we like it or not.
BURNS: Largest crowd ever.
HALL: And "the Washington Post" printed the whole speech. I'm not a sports fan, but I thought it was a great speech. Bonds is not a great role model.
GABLER: I'm a huge sports fan. There won't be an asterisk in the record book, but the media have attached a giant asterisk. And I agree with Cal, Bob Costas was on this story a long time ago. He's been brilliant on the thing he said is Bonds was always a great baseball player, but he took something that made him super human, that's what we saw this week.
BURNS: We have to take one more break. When we come back...
ANNOUNCER: A paper that's delivered some classy headlines has been delivered a final blow. That story next on "News Watch."
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