The View: Week of 3/31/2025

[falltime]

Monday, March 31 – Sara Gilbert (actor, “The Conners”)

Tuesday, April 1 – Michael Angarano (actor, writer and director, “Sacramento”) and Michael Cera (actor, “Sacramento”); Elie Mystal (author, “Bad Law: Ten Popular Laws That Are Ruining America”)

Wednesday, April 2 – Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate (actors, “Dying for Sex”)

Thursday, April 3 – Laurence Fishburne (actor, “The Amateur”); Audra McDonald (Broadway’s “Gypsy”)

Friday, April 4 – Kevin Bacon (actor, “The Bondsman”); Dulé Hill (actor, “Good American Family”)

[Glitches]

“The Conners” series finale on ABC on April 30. Six of the seventh seasons are on other platforms. 
“Sacramento” in theaters April 11. 
“Dying for Sex” dramedy miniseries on FX for Hulu drops Friday. Also a podcast. 
“The Amateur” opens in theaters on Friday. 
“The Bondsman” limited series premieres on Prime video on April 3. 
“Good American Family” miniseries five of eight episodes now on Hulu. Last episode April 30.

9 hours ago, falltime said:

[KittyQ]

It was a little bit of a throwaway comment, but does Whoopi collect her Soc. Security checks at a Soc. Security office? Is that why she thinks that there's some way that people in wheelchairs won't be able to get their checks? I get mine through direct deposit, which got set up when I signed up. It seems to me that I recall that back in the day when people did go to the offices to get their checks that there were thieves who would pounce on those folks to steal the checks - not sure if that was closer to the SS office, or perhaps the bank, but whenever you have a routine that involves money, you are vulnerable to being robbed. 

Nude parents: I'm with Whoopi, here - knock before you enter! It is common courtesy (a word that isn't much in vogue lately).                                         

[Soapy Goddess]

13 hours ago, KittyQ said:

but does Whoopi collect her Soc. Security checks at a Soc. Security office? Is that why she thinks that there's some way that people in wheelchairs won't be able to get their checks? I get mine through direct deposit, which got set up when I signed up.

I thought the exact same thing. Maybe she was thinking about the unemployment office (you know, because they're both gov't run 😉). Regardless, for a supposedly smart woman, she sometimes says the dumbest things.

[Haleth]

She was still correct in that some issues require an in person visit to the SSA office and with the threat of closures it will create hardships for people who are unable to travel distances. (Although I saw that the administration is backtracking on closures?) Still, staff cuts will create long wait times for help. 

[lookeyloo]

Sometimes I think some of them are so narrow in their views (haha) that they think everyone is like them.  Have a family member, transportation, physical ability, to navigate systems and take them places.  Do they really consider what rural living is like?  Especially with reduced means and sometimes reduced capacity and no subway to hop on.  Of course this doesn't apply to all rural folks, just the ones who would have trouble getting to a far away office.

[KittyQ]

6 hours ago, Haleth said:

She was still correct in that some issues require an in person visit to the SSA office and with the threat of closures it will create hardships for people who are unable to travel distances. (Although I saw that the administration is backtracking on closures?) Still, staff cuts will create long wait times for help. 

I had issues to talk with Soc. Sec. in person about during COVID - those were long wait times! There was a line outside the office and managed on a one-in, one-out basis. It was like a very dull, very boring line to get into a club. Only things missing were the cover charge and hand stamp! 

10 hours ago, Soapy Goddess said:

I thought the exact same thing. Maybe she was thinking about the unemployment office (you know, because they're both gov't run 😉). Regardless, for a supposedly smart woman, she sometimes says the dumbest things.

Even the unemployment offices don't require in-person visits the way they used to*. I don't think they are even called "Unemployment" offices anymore; I think it is now "Work Force". It's been a while for me, but I applied for unemployment in the 2000's, and just about everything could be done online, with the checks either mailed or direct deposited. They did offer in-office resources for job hunting, if you wanted, though.

*In the "old days", I had the opportunity to participate in the ritual visit to the Unemployment office with my paper log showing that I had applied for jobs during the week. It was like being interviewed by Customs officials every week.

[Sue in her 60s]

On 4/1/2025 at 12:47 PM, KittyQ said:

It was a little bit of a throwaway comment, but does Whoopi collect her Soc. Security checks at a Soc. Security office? Is that why she thinks that there's some way that people in wheelchairs won't be able to get their checks?

Others have already commented, but I'd add a couple things: Joy was first to bring it up and Whoopi agreed. I think they were referencing the proposal (or is it now in force?) to require SS recipients to visit the office in person when they need to make a change to their bank info, for instance. This can be very hard for those who have trouble leaving their homes. It seemed to me that Joy and Whoopi briefly referred to the SS office as the place where checks are sent from, which isn't true.

[KittyQ]

1 hour ago, Sue in her 60s said:

Others have already commented, but I'd add a couple things: Joy was first to bring it up and Whoopi agreed. I think they were referencing the proposal (or is it now in force?) to require SS recipients to visit the office in person when they need to make a change to their bank info, for instance. This can be very hard for those who have trouble leaving their homes. It seemed to me that Joy and Whoopi briefly referred to the SS office as the place where checks are sent from, which isn't true.

Based on the official Social Security site, you don't need to go to an office for most things, but you may need to go to prove your identity* in certain circumstances (quote below):

You do need to visit a Social Security office:

• if you start an application by telephone for Retirement, Survivors, or Auxiliary (Spouse or Child) benefits.
• if you use a paper application.

 

*It is a good thing that people have to prove their identity, to prevent scammers from stealing the benefits, which we know has been an ongoing problem for years. Perhaps a little inconvenience is worth it to ensure that the correct people receive their entitled benefits. 

[Sue in her 60s]

A Newsweek article (April 2) said:

"On April 14, those applying for retirement, survivor or spousal benefits and those who want to change their direct deposit information will no longer be able to verify their identity over the phone.

"This means that anyone unable to prove their identity online must visit a Social Security field office to complete the process."

So if someone can't navigate the SSA website, or the internet is not available,  starting in two weeks they must visit the local SS office. At the same time SSA is planning on laying off 12% of the employees and closing or merging local offices.

No one wants fraud, but has anyone counted how many people are getting the rug pulled out from under them with little to no warning?

[andidante]

34 minutes ago, Sue in her 60s said:

A Newsweek article (April 2) said:

"On April 14, those applying for retirement, survivor or spousal benefits and those who want to change their direct deposit information will no longer be able to verify their identity over the phone.

"This means that anyone unable to prove their identity online must visit a Social Security field office to complete the process."

So glad my mother changed banks last year! She doesn't have internet and does not drive. She would be freaking out.

[Dimity]

21 minutes ago, andidante said:

So glad my mother changed banks last year! She doesn't have internet and does not drive. She would be freaking out.

In the last years of her life my mother was bedridden and almost blind.  Surely they must know that some of their recipients are in a similar situation. 

[rwlevin]

55 minutes ago, Dimity said:

In the last years of her life my mother was bedridden and almost blind.  Surely they must know that some of their recipients are in a similar situation.

They don’t care. As far as they’re concerned, this is a win for them because they’re saving a whopping $5100/month, at most, because people can’t actually access social security. Once again, cruelty is the point.

[Blissfool]

Speaking of dumb things Whoopi says, earlier this week she was defending the comedienne that was cut from performing at the White House Correspondents Dinner by saying something along the lines of "last time I checked we still have freedom of speech in this country." The comic's firing has nothing to do with freedom of speech, it's more a matter of preference. If I don't like the jokes a comic makes, I'm not going to hire them for my party. They can tell their jokes somewhere else. A violation of her freedom of speech iwould have been if she was being arrested or being banned from the country because of her jokes.

FTR, I hope the comedienne takes up Anna's invitation to go perform her bit on The View.

Edited April 3 by Blissfool

[Mollywolly555]

Amber Ruffin is a regular contributor/writer on Seth Myers' show, had her own show,  and appears on other shows,  and was the comedienne who was supposed to do the dinner.  

I have enjoyed her comedy for years and read both books she wrote with her sister, a social worker.  Amber seems like a fun person to hang with too. 

She gave a gracious, albeit tongue-in-cheek, commentary on Seth's show on Monday night about her dismissal.

No surprise that she was uninvited because she is a not White male conservative comedian. 

In addition to DEI, we all know Trump has no sense of humor and is infamously thin-skinned about his image.

 

[bluegirl147]

10 hours ago, Mollywolly555 said:

No surprise that she was uninvited because she is a not White male conservative comedian. 

They can say whatever they want but this is the reason she was disinvited.

14 hours ago, Sue in her 60s said:

No one wants fraud, but has anyone counted how many people are getting the rug pulled out from under them with little to no warning?

They are purposely trying to starve the SS administration, among other government agencies, so when they fail they can say see they are terrible at their job they need to be privatized. And before we know it we will have to pay to receive our mail. 

[KittyQ]

16 hours ago, Sue in her 60s said:

So if someone can't navigate the SSA website, or the internet is not available,  starting in two weeks they must visit the local SS office. At the same time SSA is planning on laying off 12% of the employees and closing or merging local offices.

I think the first part (being unable to validate ID online for whatever reason and having to go to an office) is not really different from the way it works now - you need validation to make certain changes, because without validation of identity, there's a potential for other people (unknown scammers or even greedy relatives) to make those changes to benefit themselves and steal your Soc. Sec. money. It is inconvenient to have to go to a local office, but better than losing your money.

The second part (cutbacks of employees) - is more difficult, as it can make it harder to get an appointment for an in-office visit in a reasonable time frame. It would be nice if those cutbacks are being planned after a good review of the current vs. anticipated office traffic, but there's a lack of transparency concerning how cuts are being determined. I would prefer it if government (state as well as federal) had websites available where they show the numbers supporting these changes - it is a pipe dream, I know.

[KittyQ]

Audra McDonald in "Gypsy" - she's an iconic Broadway star, and Mama Rose is an iconic character. The musical is (apparently very loosely) based on Gypsy Rose Lee's life, but I'm guessing many people no longer even know who Gypsy Rose Lee was, let alone having an idea of how she looked IRL. The themes of ambition and mother/daughter/sibling conflicts are universal. Great that Audra McDonald has taken this on and is killing it!

[lookeyloo]

23 minutes ago, KittyQ said:

Audra McDonald in "Gypsy" - she's an iconic Broadway star, and Mama Rose is an iconic character. The musical is (apparently very loosely) based on Gypsy Rose Lee's life, but I'm guessing many people no longer even know who Gypsy Rose Lee was, let alone having an idea of how she looked IRL. The themes of ambition and mother/daughter/sibling conflicts are universal. Great that Audra McDonald has taken this on and is killing it!

I am old enough to remember and there are vintage clips of the real GRL on You Tube.

[Denize]

~20 years ago my mother had to change her bank deposit information for her SS checks and we helped her. Since her mother had died when Mom was 3, when it came to her mother's maiden name, we knew how to pronounce it but it took two tries to spell it the way the SS office records spelled it (incorrectly actually based on my genealogy research). They still let us change it over the phone. We would have hauled her into a SS office, but in the middle of a blizzard we were glad we didn't have to, but it would have been really easy to do if we were scammers or greedy kids or grandkids with access to her mail.

[Haleth]

The man they were talking about who was sent to El Salvador?  Vance tried to justify this by pointing out he had outstanding traffic violations. Traffic violations. Thus he was a criminal and subject to deportation to a foreign prison. Without due process. Without a mechanism for bringing him back.  Traffic violations. 

Edited April 4 by Haleth

[Mollywolly555]

Several x today they said "Biden didn't drop out of the race on time". 

As though it's ONLY his fault that we have Trump in the White House.....and all the crap T is doing.  

Shut up,  just shut up!!!!!! 

Or fucking talk about all the good that Biden did,  for a change.  

[KittyQ]

13 minutes ago, Mollywolly555 said:

Several x today they said "Biden didn't drop out of the race on time". 

As though it's ONLY his fault that we have Trump in the White House.....and all the crap T is doing.  

Shut up,  just shut up!!!!!! 

Or fucking talk about all the good that Biden did,  for a change.  

The show hasn't aired here yet, but I can understand why people say this. As long as Biden was considered to be the de facto candidate, no other people were groomed or chosen for that position; even Kamala didn't seem to be well prepared to take it on, although in the end, she did as well as she could. If Biden had agreed not to run again earlier, there was an opportunity for the Democrats to come up with a candidate who could have given Trump a better challenge. So, it isn't ONLY Biden's fault that Trump won, but failing to drop out earlier limited the options for a viable candidate to be ready to run, so he does have some responsibility. Undoubtedly, there are plenty of behind-the-scenes people who contributed to this failure, but they are "nameless".  

[KittyQ]

Re: Books by Biden administration employees - There are always books written about administrations afterward. Some of them are just gossipy, but some are thoughtful and insightful. I'm positive that post-Trump 2, there are going to be a flood of books about it. 

Near-contemporaneous accounts are valuable to historians, even if they aren't best-sellers. Otherwise, all we have to go by are news stories and personal recollections and both of those can be biased (for or against). 

 

[Sue in her 60s]

On 4/3/2025 at 10:26 AM, bluegirl147 said:

And before we know it we will have to pay to receive our mail. 

We already pay to send mail - it's called a stamp. And even as the cost has increased, it's a pretty good bargain to get home service 6 days a week, no matter where you live. When a corporation takes over, not only will it cost more, they will stop Saturday delivery, insist on more grouping of mailboxes rather than deliver door to door, and many rural residents will be SOL.

[Sue in her 60s]

On 4/3/2025 at 12:51 PM, KittyQ said:

I think the first part (being unable to validate ID online for whatever reason and having to go to an office) is not really different from the way it works now - you need validation to make certain changes, because without validation of identity, there's a potential for other people (unknown scammers or even greedy relatives) to make those changes to benefit themselves and steal your Soc. Sec. money. It is inconvenient to have to go to a local office, but better than losing your money.

 

Much like the mandatory voter ID issue, changing the rules may cut a few instances of fraud, but will cause hardship for many more honest people. How is an invalid in a nursing home supposed to visit the SS office in person? SS must offer exceptions in this kind of circumstance.

[Haleth]

They’d need staff to process non office visits. I know already you can wait an hour or more on the phone. I don’t know if online requests are affected. 

[KittyQ]

3 hours ago, Sue in her 60s said:

How is an invalid in a nursing home supposed to visit the SS office in person? SS must offer exceptions in this kind of circumstance.

How do they do it now (prior to any changes)? How many changes are likely to be done when a person is in a nursing home? Are there accommodations in place now?

When my uncle was older and had dementia, as his Power of Attorney, I was able to visit the Social Security office on his behalf with my appointment papers. Note that everyone who is in a similar situation should have someone who can be trusted to manage their financial situation. If you or someone you care about is in this situation, take steps to cover it.

 

Edited April 5 by KittyQ

[Sue in her 60s]

21 hours ago, KittyQ said:

How do they do it now (prior to any changes)? How many changes are likely to be done when a person is in a nursing home? Are there accommodations in place now?

When my uncle was older and had dementia, as his Power of Attorney, I was able to visit the Social Security office on his behalf with my appointment papers. Note that everyone who is in a similar situation should have someone who can be trusted to manage their financial situation. If you or someone you care about is in this situation, take steps to cover it.

 

Then your uncle was able to take advantage of an exception (and you were a wonderful person for helping him). The new rules as shown on the SSA website don't mention any exceptions.

[shok]

Gee @KittyQ. you sound just like Alyssa.

[Dimity]

14 hours ago, Sue in her 60s said:

Then your uncle was able to take advantage of an exception (and you were a wonderful person for helping him). The new rules as shown on the SSA website don't mention any exceptions.

This is an excellent example of what happens when people who do not know how things work get to be the ones making the decisions.  Hopefully that website will soon be changed to reflect the exceptions that anyone working in this field would know must be made.

[TheGreenKnight]

7 hours ago, shok said:

you sound just like Alyssa.

Not in reference to anyone specifically, but I've had the sense the last couple of years that someone or other from the show may be posting here as well as other places in an attempt to "steer" the conversation online... Wouldn't be surprised at Alyssa or Brian at all considering the way they obsess over the other ladies on the show these days to almost the same level as Geddie-Bitsy.* Meghan McCain wouldn't surprise me either because I remember how she obsessed over online feedback to the show and she was crazy as hell and still obsesses overthis show. I couldn't help noticing some of those Primetimer articles a few years ago that seemed like they always fixated on Ana and Joy read just like McCant could've written them. Just the manner in which they were written to be as deliberately misleading and hidtrionic as possible reminded me of her diatribes. 

* Speaking of Brian, I recall listening to one of Joy's appearances on the podcast that had an interesting aside about the discourse around the show. I remember posting something or other here once about how the show would be dumb to take feedback on how to improve the show from people who are clearly just watching to terrorize the co-hosts with hate-filled commentary, sort of the same way those disturbing ads were aired during the show last Fall simply to antagonize viewers of the show. Joy brought that same point up on the podcast and Brian tried to pretend that feedback from "haters" is equivalent to feedback from fans simply because they're watching the show, too... TBH, I'd say the only reason the show got back to #1 like they have the past few years is because they listened to the people who respond to the show without some kind of ulterior motive. Hiring Sunny and Ana because they were the most popular people with the viewers when they auditioned, for example, getting rid of McCain, axing the fluff that Jenny McCarthy and Raven were a part of and returning to a better mix of serious and light-hearted topics instead, etc. The hateful commentary can be useful sometimes--like a thermometer on how much impact the show's having (sparks and all that), I suppose--but it doesn't make sense to decide the direction of a show based off of feedback from people who would like it to be canceled, LOL.

[KittyQ]

13 hours ago, shok said:

Gee @KittyQ. you sound just like Alyssa.

I doubt that Alyssa and I are in such close alignment, but I can see that there are some issues that we may agree on.

My perspective is based on what I've learned over decades dealing with work, friends, family, and life in general. One of the tenets that is important to me is that personal responsibility is contributes to good character. It isn't always easy to accomplish, though. I also think that it is important to be aware that things in the past were not always ideal as people make it seem, and things in the present are not always as horrible as people make it seem. Of course, horrible things do happen, and they always have. Fixing them requires clear thinking and hard work, which I hope most people are prepared to do. 

(Sadly, I didn't look as attractive as Alyssa, even when I was her age.)

[Natalie68]

On 4/4/2025 at 3:55 PM, Sue in her 60s said:

Much like the mandatory voter ID issue, changing the rules may cut a few instances of fraud, but will cause hardship for many more honest people. How is an invalid in a nursing home supposed to visit the SS office in person? SS must offer exceptions in this kind of circumstance.

Years ago Jim Cramer spoke of trying to get his father a valid ID for voting.  I am not sure if he ended up with it but he talked about how hard it is for some seniors and he was lucky he was around to help.

https://bluevirginia.us/2012/09/lesson-from-jim-cramers-dads-effort-to-get-a-photo-id-inequality-under-the-law

Edited Wednesday at 10:48 PM by Natalie68