The View

With recent anti-Semitic remarks, Whoopi and Joy finally condemned Reverend Wright, while Joy ludicrously denied ever supporting President Obama’s former pastor. On the June 11 edition of "The View," Joy Behar logically concluded Wright is indeed an anti-Semite and even branded the reverend "evil."

When Elisabeth Hasselbeck noted such comments are on par with Wright’s past ravings, Behar immediately countered "no one liked him on this panel." While Joy may not have been Wright’s biggest cheerleader, she has attempted to justify Reverend Wright’s extreme remarks even labeling Wright’s "God Damn America" sermon "righteous," spinning an anti-Italian slur as a "compliment" and refused to "sit in judgement" over Wright’s sermons "because I’m not black."

It is not often that most of the women on “The View” agree on a controversial subject, but when Sherri Shepherd declared. “A man does not have a vagina,” nobody contradicted her.
 
That fact shouldn’t be in dispute, but in the case of Thomas Beatie, it is. Beatie, a woman who had a sex change to become a “man,” kept her female reproductive parts and has been labeled, incorrectly, by most of the media as the first “pregnant man.”  

But Shepherd correctly pointed out the obvious: “The baby came out of a vagina. A woman has a vagina,” and called Beatie “legally a man, but is a woman who had a baby.” And while Barbara Walters was hesitant to completely agree that Beatie is a woman, she did not contradict the statement either.
 

When it was announced that Hillary Clinton was going to give her first Sunday interview since becoming Barack Obama's Secretary of State to her husband's former advisor George Stephanopoulos, nobody envisioned a hard-hitting exchange.

However, as he tossed the softest of softballs at his guest, the "This Week" host mysteriously avoided asking any questions about Clinton's future political ambitions or the possibility that Obama, by involving Hillary and Bill in his administration, has effectively marginalized them.

As former Clinton advisor Dick Morris wrote two weeks ago in a piece entitled "The Incredible Shrinking Clintons":

In a video post dated June 2, 2009, Breitbart TV reporter Scott Baker reveals that – shocker – Whoopi Goldberg was lying about Glenn Beck’s lying. What’s more, Barbara Walters didn’t check her facts before the Baxter-esque duo ambushed Beck on his May 20 appearance on ABC’s “The View.”

The video – embedded at right – is quite long, but I’ve broken down below the information offered in it.

First up in Baker’s video is a recap of what was known before his investigation.  Beck rode the Amtrak Acela from Connecticut to Washington D.C., and along the way, encountered Walters and Goldberg.  The facts surrounding this encounter were hotly disputed in Beck’s appearance on “The View.”  As it turns out, Beck’s version of the facts were incredibly accurate.  For example, the main premise of the Viewettes’ accusations was that Walters called Beck over to their seats to speak with him – which Beck never claimed in the first place.

Baker follows with incredulity:

An ancient Christian religious ritual is apparently comparable to a controversial interrogation technique, according to Joy Behar of ABC’s “The View.” On June 3, the hosts of “The View” were discussing the new reality show, “I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here,” where pampered “celebrities” are placed in a jungle in Costa Rica. “Hills” reality television star Spencer Pratt was baptized on the show and “The View” featured a clip from his baptism in a river.

Behar, of course, had to add in her usual quip. “Isn’t it like water boarding- when they dump your head under there like that?” Fellow host Elisabeth Hasselbeck quickly replied with, “no.”

ABC’s “The View” is known for its outlandish statements. On June 2, the hosts were discussing gay marriage and former Vice-President Dick Cheney because, as Barbara Walters eloquently stated, “Well, the conservative Dick Cheney has come out in support of gay marriage” as the audience cheered.

In a discussion of Cheney’s support of same-sex marriage because his daughter is a lesbian, Sherri Shepherd speculated that some people are “intolerant” until “it happens in your own back yard.” Elisabeth Hasselbeck pointed out the irony, “because you have President Obama, who still believes that marriage is defined by a man and a woman and then you have Cheney.” She later asked the other hosts, “Do you believe President Obama is intolerant because he believes marriage is between a man and a woman?”

Joy Behar, a co-host of ABC’s “The View,” has been known to make anti-Catholic remarks. On the May 26 edition, Behar said something positive about Catholics, before adding in her usual quip.

During the "Hot Topics" segment, the hosts were discussing women and their level of happiness now that they have more opportunities available to them. On the topic of social movements, Behar stated,

**UPDATED WITH VIDEO**

 Glenn Beck was on “The View” today.  Predictably, the conservative talk-show host was attacked by Whoopi Goldberg, as a “lying sack of dog mess.” (Video embedded on the right.)

That, however, is not the only bias to come of this.  Huffington Post political reporter Jason Linkins throws out the red meat for the Web’s left-wing wolves, naturally ignoring the straw man fouling up the Viewettes’ argument.

About what was Beck accused of lying?  Beck, on a recent radio program, recounted a tale of meeting Goldberg and Barbara Walters on an Amtrak train bound for Washington D.C.  Finding seats was apparently difficult on that day (odd, for Amtrak), and upon finding a few open seats, Beck was told by an Amtrak official that those open seats were reserved.  A few minutes later, Beck says, Goldberg and Walters walked onto the train, and sat down in the reserved seats.

Mother's Day was invented by Anna Jarvis, a West Virginian who, from 1907 to 1914 devoted considerable energy to establishing state and national holidays marking Mother's Day. Jarvis's inspiration, of course, was her deep devotion to her late mother.

But don't tell Whoopi Goldberg that. [audio for download here]

"I feel like Mother's Day is a man's holiday. You know, because it was put together, a woman didn't put together Mother's Day. A woman put together several other holidays but Mother's Day was not one of them," the moderator of ABC's "The View"  insisted on the May 8 program.

The faulty assertion came during a chat with Alyse Myers, author of "Who Do You Think You Are?", which chronicles her strained relationship with her mother. 

"Joy Behar has called homeschoolers demented" and "is an ongoing, non-stop anti-Catholic bigot... yet it's Elisabeth Hasselbeck" that the media label controversial, laments Media Research Center President Brent Bozell. [audio available for download here]

The NewsBusters publisher appeared on the May 8 "Fox & Friends" to address how the media consider Hasselbeck "controversial" for teaching her kids to believe the Bible's creation account rather than labeling liberal co-host Behar "controversial" for suggesting that teaching children creationism is "child abuse."

STEVE DOOCY, "Fox & Friends" co-host: So they label Elisabeth as controversial or as the conservative but Joy Behar is always labeled the comedian!

Newsflash: ABC's "The View" leans left.

Barbara Walters, host of the daytime chat-fest revealed to CNN's Anderson Cooper on May 1 that "in general, [the] panel, with the exception of Elisabeth [Hasselbeck], tends to be, shall we say, more liberal."

Even casual viewers of Walters and company can tell the show is a liberal bastion. It features Joy Behar's repeated calls for the impeachment of Dick Cheney, Whoopi Goldberg asking John McCain, "Do I have to be worried about becoming a slave again?" and Sherri Shepherd's suggestion that "every woman" rooted for Hillary Clinton.

Thanks to Time magazine, we're having a "View" moment. Time recently honored Walters, Behar, Goldberg, Hasselbeck and Shepherd with a place on its list of "The World's Most Influential" under the category of "Artists and Entertainers." 

Joy Behar subbed for Larry King again on Friday night, and much like back in February, the "View" co-host invited on conservative author Ann Coulter.

On the agenda in round two was Arlen Specter's defection, torture, abortion, Sarah Palin, possible SCOTUS replacements for Justice Souter, Joe Biden's gaffes, the swine flu, and Obama's first 100 days.

Video part one is embedded right with part two below the fold along with full transcript (h/t Tim Graham):

They're rude, annoying, smug and biased. And to Time magazine's managing editor, they're "angels?" Richard Stengel called the four-fifths liberal hosts of ABC's "The View" on April 30 "Angels of Democracy" in an appearance on the show. As he discussed the release of "The Time 100: The World's Most Influential People, " which includes all five women, and lavished praise on them:

"Part of the reason you guys are on there, you're like America's water cooler. People come around, they listen to you. You start, you're like the angels of democracy. You start people talking about the things that are most important in society."

Things like sex, porn and sex toys, sex ed for five-year-olds, and more sex? Or maybe its bashing the Catholic Church, hypocritically defending Barack Obama or sniffing at religious Christmas cards?

The magazine hit news stands on April 30. People including Barack and Michelle Obama, Sarah Palin, and Zac Effron made the list. Each "winner," as Stengel referred to them, has their impact written by "somebody famous." New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg wrote the article on the ladies of the show.

Now that they made the list, the leftist hosts of The View, along with Elizabeth Hasselbeck's sole dissenting voice of the five, will be able to nominate influential people for next year's top 100 edition.

“People are looking for something to criticize.” Yes, Barbara they are. And you were once among them.

Barbara Walters took exception to complaints from some that the Obamas made a royal mess of British protocol when meeting the queen of England. However, just over a year ago, Walters herself sniffed at the Bush White House for sending her a Christmas card containing [gasp!] “Scripture.”

On the April 2 episode of “The View,” the co-hosts discussed the murmurings that the president and first lady broke protocol when meeting the queen of England. Walters got visibly upset, waving her hands and speaking in a high, mocking tone saying, “And then people criticize because you know people are looking for something to criticize,” she said. “It makes me unhappy we are always looking for something to criticize, ‘Why did she put her arm around the queen?’.”

Liberal "View" co-host Joy Behar appeared on Thursday's edition of "Good Morning America" to promote her new children's book "SheetzuCacaPoopoo," an allegory for Barack Obama's rise to power. According to Behar, the illustrated tale the book is really about the new President. She explained to GMA co-anchor Robin Roberts, "The dog- Max is in trouble. They send him to obedience school, okay? When he's in obedience school is when he becomes Barack. He becomes a community organizer."

As a somewhat incredulous Roberts watched, Behar continued, "And he organizes the big dogs around the little dogs. 'Cause at first, the big dogs, also known as the Republicans, don't like him. See?" With no spoiler alerts, Behar concluded, "And so, he finds ways, pragmatically, to help the big dogs...And so, he becomes popular. And everybody loves each other. " [audio available here]

If you're going to criticize a member of Congress on national television, wouldn't you try to get his or her name right?

Seems like a slam dunk if you want to be taken seriously, correct?

Well, on Thursday's "The View," MSNBC's Rachel Maddow poked fun at Indiana Congressman "Steve" Pence for wanting to freeze government spending.

The Stanford and Oxford educated Rhodes scholar with a Ph.D in political science also claimed such fiscal restraint "is what made the Depression 'Great'"(video embedded below the fold, relevant section at 6:45):

"The View's" Joy Behar believes last week's controversial New York Post cartoon which mocked the recently enacted stimulus bill represented an assassination threat on President Barack Obama.

She even wonders if the author should be investigated by the FBI.

I kid you not.

As host Barbara Walters on Tuesday addressed Rupert Murdoch's apology for the cartoon published in his paper, Behar said the following (video embedded below courtesy Ms Underestimated):

A discussion on The View on Wednesday about sin quickly devolved as the hosts reiterated common media myths about the Catholic Church and its teachings. Elisabeth Hasselbeck read a bogus list of seven “new” sins that the Vatican supposedly came up with, while Joy Behar misrepresented the Catholic Church’s teachings on papal infallibility. When Barbara Walters later asked what the “biggest sin” was, in their opinion, Behar and Whoopi Goldberg agreed that it was “intolerance.”

Goldberg began the discussion by bringing up how a “new study by the Vatican says that men and women sin differently. They said men are more likely to commit sins of lust and gluttony and sloth, and for women, it’s pride, envy, and anger.” She then prompted her co-hosts for their take on this. Barbara Walters joked, “Yeah. I mean, with men, it’s much more the sexual and the lust, and the women are angry that it’s much more the sexual and the lust....They cheat more.” It’s funny that the ABC veteran put it that way, since she admitted to having an affair with former Massachusetts Senator Edward Brooke.

Bristol Palin's comments about abstinence sparked a lively discussion about sex education on the Feb. 17 broadcast of ABC's "The View" in which Whoopi Goldberg insisted she would be okay if Bozo the Clown gave teens the information they needed about sex.  

Palin, a new teenaged mom and daughter of Alaska governor Sarah Palin, stated during her Feb. 16 interview with Fox's Greta van Susteren that sexual abstinence "is not realistic at all."

Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepherd defended abstinence as a very good thing to teach teenagers. Hasselbeck stated she didn't "think there's anything wrong with teaching an ideal to your child. It is ideal to be really nice to somebody, it is ideal to not drive drunk, it is ideal to wear your seat belt, it is ideal to not have sex until you're in a committed relationship. Why not?"

With so much populist outrage at bankers and other corporate types these days, Hollywood is predictably trying to capitalize on it (TNT's "Leverage" is just one example.) "The International," from Relativity Media was just the latest to hit theaters with its Feb. 13 opening.

In the slow-moving thriller "The International," the executives of the fictional International Bank of Business and Credit (IBBC) aren't just crooked, they willingly hire assassins - the executives call them "consultants" - to get rid of anyone about to expose their crimes. The protagonists are Louis Salinger, an Interpol agent played by Clive Owen, and Eleanor Whitman, a Manhattan District Attorney played by Naomi Watts.

Owen made the morning talk show rounds hitting CBS "Early Show" Feb. 11 and ABC's "The View" on Feb. 13. In both cases, the hosts sought to find out if this story was grounded in reality.

"This is based roughly on a true story," CBS's Harry Smith queried. Owen replied that the script was "well-researched" and "well-informed." Owen's comments on "The View" were similar, but at least on ABC the actor admitted that the script was in fact "fictional."

"Now this movie, it really shows you that banks are terrorists in many ways, you know. I mean they do the same things to people in this movie that real terrorists groups like al-Qaida would do. Is this based on fact?" Joy Behar asked Owen.

Earlier today my colleague Tim Graham noted how on February 5, Time magazine's Michael Grunwald compared GOP critics of the Democratic stimulus package to the geese that downed US Airways Flight 1549:

It's hard to take Republican leaders too seriously when they criticize the recovery plans for the economy; it's sort of like those geese criticizing the evacuation plans for US Airways Flight 1549.

Well, Grunwald's quip got a larger audience today as a co-host of ABC's "The View" regurgitated the line on the Feb. 10 edition of that program:

On Tuesday's edition of "The View," co-host Barbara Walters dismissed a series of interviews Sarah Palin gave to a conservative filmmaker as "disturbing." The veteran journalist stiffly claimed that "one is not sure why she keeps doing these interviews." The comment occurred while the women of the ABC program were debating an assertion by Palin that the media may treat possible New York Senator Caroline Kennedy in a more favorable light.

Responding to a clip of the former Republican vice presidential candidate arguing that there might be a class issue in how reporters will treat Kennedy, Walters complained, "...Why she still makes it a class issue is something that, especially right now, and when we all want to work together, I found disturbing."

Whoopi Goldberg accused conservative author and pundit Ann Coulter of not being able to "take it" during this morning's broadcast of "The View" after Coulter criticized Goldberg and her co-hosts for not allowing her to fully explain statements from her new book, "Guilty: Liberal Victims and their Assault on America." 

Goldberg immediately asked Coulter, "What is your issue with single mothers?" and cited stats from "Guilty" that said 70 percent of inmates in prisons come from single-parent homes.  Coulter tried to defend her statements but Goldberg wouldn't let her finish before attacking the studies Coulter used:

COULTER: We now have 30 or 40 years of social science research. I mean, I'm just citing, this is um, you know, dressed up numbers crunching. I'm just giving the numbers. 80% of the inmates in prisons were raised by single mothers. About 70% of the runaways of the child, um juvenile delinquents, juvenile murderers, rapists, raised by single mothers. And the point is this didn't happen by accident. The illegitimacy rate alone has gone up over 300% since 1970. And as I describe in my book, this was a specific plan by the left attacking the nuclear family the most famous example --

GOLDBERG: Wait a minute.

“The View” moderator Whoopi Goldberg is apparently still unaware that the Constitution explicitly forbids slavery. Appearing on the December 21 edition of “Reliable Sources” (video here), host Howard Kurtz played a clip of Whoopi Goldberg questioning John McCain, that is he were to appoint strict constructionist judges, if she should fear a return to slavery. 

Unfazed, Whoopi replied “I thought that was reasonable.” After complaining many took her remarks out of context, the daytime star continued “if you were going to say you wanted strictly by the Constitution, it has to be a fluid thing, because we'd still -- I'd be working for somebody right now.” Goldberg, months after the interview, apparently still does not know that slavery was banned by the 13th Amendment, something a strict constructionist judge can very clearly understand.

On Thursday’s The View, co-host Joy Behar expressed her displeasure at President-Elect Barack Obama’s choice of Rick Warren for the invocation at his inauguration: “I don’t think it’s appropriate. It’s like putting, you know, Cheney in charge of gun control. It’s wrong....it’s just wrong.”

The topic of Obama choosing Warren came up during the regular opening “Hot Topics” segment of the ABC daytime program. Whoopi Goldberg, who moderated the segment, introduced the controversy behind this choice: “...[A] lot of folks are opposed to this gentleman: gay -- because he opposes gay marriage, he’s anti-abortion -- he’s got a lot of different stances. There’s a lot of people saying he’s a bad choice.”

Elisabeth Hasselbeck was the first co-host to come to Warren’s defense: “I think he’s a great choice. He held the forum -- remember when he did the forum between McCain and Obama during the election? He sat them down and had the faith forum, which I found was great during our times right now. And I think that he’ll -- I think he’ll do a great job. He’s got an incredible following, he’s a strong speaker.”

Joy Behar knows why Rush Limbaugh is such a success on the radio: He’s too ugly for television! On the December 4 edition of "The View," the panel discussed Barbara Walters’ upcoming interview with Rush Limbaugh and his comments on Hillary Clinton and our looks obsessed culture. Behar quipped, to the audience amusement, "I think looks do matter on television. That’s why he’s on radio."

Limbaugh’s comments about Hillary Clinton, aging, and America’s visual culture drew discontent from Whoopi Goldberg who, not giving the king of talk radio any doubt, declared "he was being crappy." When Elisabeth Hasselbeck urged Whoopi to read the transcript, Goldberg claimed to listen to the king of talk radio regularly.

The transcript on Rush Limbaugh's website is not available, but ABC's Jake Tapper offered some context.  Rush Limbaugh noted an unflattering picture of Senator Clinton and blamed Hollywood for a culture obsessed with physical appearance. This will subsequently harm Hillary Clinton as she grows older. Sherri Shepherd and Elisabeth Hasselbeck read the transcript and drew the same conclusion.

Like clockwork Barbara Walters successfully landed an interview with President-elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle. Channeling Lee Cowan, Walters claimed on the November 26 edition of “The View” she is “supposed to be neutral” then heaped praise on the Obamas. Barbara painted the soon to be first couple as “so smart” and “the most appealing couple” and then passed on a White House invite to all of “The View” co-hosts.

Joy Behar could not resist avoiding a swipe at the outgoing Bush administration wondering if Obama is “worried that Bush would cause more damage in the next 60 days” and felt “worried about that.”

Rosie O’Donnell always seems to concoct some wild conspiracy theory. Interviewing Rosie on her upcoming variety show on the November 24 edition of "Today," Meredith Vieira asked about what lead up to her departure from "The View." Rosie then brought up her famous fight with Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and suggested the fight was a setup because she did not think the director thinks fast enough on his feet to create a splitscreen.

On the subject of her upcoming show, Rosie O’Donnell promised it will be "just an hour of fun, no controversy, no politics." A cynical Meredith Vieira stated "I don’t believe that." Rosie did concede she has a "little valve that doesn’t let me edit sometimes," but insisted "I’m trying to engage that edit valve now."

Rosie O’Donnell can not seem to let go her bitterness over her brief and tumultuous tenure with "The View." According to "The Washington Post’s" November 20 "TV Column," Rosie, in promoting her upcoming variety show on NBC, diverted to "The View" stating "I’m not say we loathed each other, but there wasn’t a lot of off-camera camaraderie." Rosie also compared Barbara Walters to a grandmother trying to put a happy face on a severely dysfunctional family. Rosie also promised her show will be free of political discussion.

Later in the morning on "The View," Barbara Walters responded to her former subordinate’s comments, without mentioning her name. Perhaps in reference to Star Jones as well, Barbara demanded "ladies get on with your lives." As Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck claimed they do in fact get along off camera, Elisabeth, to some audience and panel chuckles, and in reference to her notorious fight with Rosie, claimed "we’ve had incredible years, maybe one more difficult in the past." Barbara Walters responded, to more audience laughter, "we will now move on."

"The View" co-host Joy Behar is well on her way to unhinged, if not already there.

Earlier today, NB's Justin McCarthy noted that Behar, in mentioning GOP Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin, said that "we all know that the woman is an airhead."

Michelle Malkin noted this evening that Behar also took an uncalled-for cheap shot at those who are involved in an important and growing alternative not only to the public schools, but also to traditional brick-and-mortar classroom education (video is at link):

Behar show(ed) .... her contempt for both homeschooled students and parents: “A lot of them are demented when they’re homeschooled.”