Sherri Shepherd

The media might finally be tiring of the profane, misogynistic blogger Perez Hilton. On his Dec. 2 interview on "The View," the five female hosts of the show relentlessly fired at him from every angle, ranging from his exploitation of children to his infamous reputation of outing gays. This was especially surprising considering the way Hilton has been treated by the media elite in the past.

For years, broadcast and cable networks and even newspapers have presented Hilton's offensive blog - dubbed a "tastemaker" by the LA Times - as harmless and entertaining. In 2007, ABC's Jake Tapper called it "snarky, amusing, cool and fishy," and, in 2009, CBS correspondent Erica Hill called Hilton's commentary "a little tongue-in-cheek, maybe some snide remarks here about some perhaps not so flattering moments."

Yesterday, though, during his appearance on "The View," Hilton might have finally realized that his love affair with the media won't last forever.

Profits, not the killing of unborn children, are the "real immorality" of abortion, according to "View" panelist Joy Behar.

Behar expressed her unique view of morality during  the Nov. 3 "Hot Topics" discussion about Abby Johnson, a Texas Planned Parenthood director who resigned from her post last month after seeing an abortion on an ultrasound.

Johnson explained to the local Texas CBS affiliate that Planned Parenthood had been pressuring her to focus on abortion, not pregnancy prevention because abortions brought in more money than family planning services.

ABC's "View" host Barbara Walters brought up Johnson's story, calling it "controversial" and Behar quickly denounced Planned Parenthood for making money off abortions. She called it "gross" and "obnoxious" before she stated, "I don't see abortions as a profit-making industry. I think that that is the real immorality of it."

On Oct. 22, ABC's "The View" tsked at "the media" for presenting an alleged suspect as guilty. The focus of their discussion was Nicole Howell, a former high school teacher that was accused of having sex with a 16-year-old student but has since been acquitted of the charges.

"Is her teaching career over?" worried Whoopi Goldberg. "They accused her of it; it turned out she hadn't done it, and they made a big hoo ha. But now can she go back to teaching? What can she do?"

"I think it's wrecked in a certain way, unfortunately, this poor girl," said Joy Behar. "Any time somebody shouts fire, ya know, when there is none, is a problem. This is going to haunt her - unless she goes into the witness protection program."

On Oct. 13 "The View" hosts reacted to the news that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had ruled out a future run for the presidency. "Hillary Clinton told Anne Curry that she will not be making another run for president of the United States, saying she loves her job as Secretary of State and is looking forward to retirement at some point ... Ya know, that kind of made me sad," Whoopi Goldberg lamented.

Sherri Shepherd called Hillary "victorious" - "an inspiration to women" - and equated the news of her retirement with "being hit in the pit of your stomach" and "deflating a balloon."

"Because - not ever calling Hillary Clinton a quitter, but it's something - even when she pulled out, I felt sad," Shepherd said. "Because as a woman, you just look at Hillary as, ‘You don't quit. You always keep going' ... The fact that she's saying, ‘I think I'm going to stop and retire,' it's just like, no, Hillary!"

The ladies of ABC's "The View" on Thursday spoke out against Republicans who "have always felt that there was something a little off about ACORN," and said the embattled community organization needs to be given a second chance because "the Republicans aren't going to take care of [the poor]."

Sure...who cares that they're advising people how to set up child prostitution rings, cheat banks, and evade taxes if they're helping the poor?

Of course, nobody on the panel pointed out that the Democrats currently control both Chambers of Congress as well as the White House.

Alas, facts are never important to these folks when they get on a roll (video embedded below the fold with rough transcript, h/t our dear friend Ms Underestimated with assistance from Jeff Poor):

The ladies on ABC’s The View were unanimous on Thursday: the Republicans were rude to President Obama. Sitting in Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s chair was Meghan McCain, who said Rep. Joe Wilson’s shout "makes all Republicans look bad." Joy Behar said the Republicans were "pretty disgraceful," Sherri Shepherd boasted she "stayed up all night," pestering Wilson’s office for an apology, and Whoopi Goldberg said it was "incredibly disrespectful," just like opponents of the president’s "State of the Child address" to schools.

Barbara Walters was milder, decrying how Obama should be met across the aisle, a nonpartisan peacemaker pleading like a political version of Rodney King: "The president said, and I'm quoting here, ‘If you've got a better plan, I want to listen. This is not perfect. Please, can we get together?’"

Behar began the discussion of Obama’s speech: "Well, I enjoyed it. I thought he was back to his old charismatic self and he got in touch with his, his anger. I thought that the Republicans were pretty disgraceful in the way that they acted. That's my opinion."

This raises the obvious question: Which assertion is more impolite? Wilson saying Obama lied? Or Joy Behar suggesting Republicans conspired to give Sen. Tim Johnson a stroke?

There's no consensus yet about the wisdom of a Spanish toy company making a doll that simulates breastfeeding. If consensus does eventually solidify, hopefully it won't be around Joy Behar's take. For "The View" host, the doll is a direct attack on feminism.

The doll, Baby Gloton ("gluttonous baby"), is sold with a halter top for the owner to wear, embedded with computer chips where a woman's nipples would be. When held to the chest, the baby moves its lips and makes a sucking sound. When moved away, the baby cries or can be "burped" like a live baby would be after a feeding.

"You know, to me, it's like programming little girls for their future. You know, just in case you want to have a career, no," Behar stated in her opposition to the doll. She offered her own experience as proof of this "programming." "I always played with dolls so when I became a woman I wanted a baby. But I think that had to do with that," Behar explained.

A 72-year-old woman wants a baby and plans to have one via in vitro fertilization. The women on “The View” have conflicting feelings about it.

“72-year-old Jenny Brown has spent almost $50,000 on in vitro fertilization because she is determined to have a baby, saying her age doesn't matter because a mom can die at any age and she's fully prepared for the hard work of motherhood,” Whoopi Goldberg explained on July 15, the same day the Associated Press reported the World’s oldest mom died and left behind two-year-old twins.

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.
 

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?”

Elizabeth Edwards probably didn’t figure one of the toughest interviews on her publicity tour for her book Resilience was going to be an appearance on ABC’s The View on Tuesday.

First, Barbara Walters grilled her on why she wasn’t staying home with her children in the "golden days" she has left and asked if she was simply out for revenge. Several others pressed her on how she could continue to press ahead with her adulterous husband. Ironically, the only softball-thrower on the panel was Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

Edwards stammered through several challenges to her marital decisions. Sherri Shepherd asked how she could renew her vows after the adultery.

SHEPHERD: In talking about going through that healing and grieving,um your husband had asked if you guys could renew your wedding vows for your 30th anniversary, which was July 30, 2007 [ahem, hyped by ABC News.] Now that was seven months after you found out about the infidelity. How were you able to even do this when he asked you to do that?

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." 

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.

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):

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?"

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.

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.”

For a panel that airs their opinion nationally on regular basis, it is reasonable to expect them to understand basic political terms. Unfortunately, current “View” co-hosts do not. On the November 18 edition of “The View,” Whoopi Goldberg cited an “Advocate” cover headline reading “Gay is the New Black.” Reading the teleprompter, Whoopi stated “some people don’t agree with comparing this to black suffrage,” paused and, in a puzzled state, admitted “I don’t even understand what that word is, suffrage.” [audio available here]

For the record, and to offer Whoopi Goldberg some free elementary school education, the term suffrage according to “Merriam-Webster,” is defined as “the right of voting.”

Sherri Shepherd, who lacks basic information in geography and history, revealed her ignorance in civics and vocabulary. Sherri clumsily tried to define it as “I guess it’s when black people had to, you know, they didn’t want to die for being black.” The other two co-hosts in attendance, Joy Behar (who previously taught English) and Elisabeth Hasselbeck, did not speak up to offer a definition.

ABC is the most objective network. Just ask Barbara Walters. The November 6 edition of "The View" kicked off with a discussion on ABC correspondent Steve Osunsami’s emotional reaction to Obama’s victory. Barbara Walters defended Osunsami and called ABC the most "objective network." Barbara then assured the panel and her audience that it’s not because she is "a part of ABC News." This "objective" ABC network is the same outlet where Terry Moran implied Sarah Palin's rhetoric was endangering Barack Obama's life and David Wright accused McCain of engaging in "fear and loathing."

Later in the segment Barbara Walters offered praise, and the panel agreed (in Joy Behar’s absence), to President Bush’s graciousness in willing to offer a smooth transition for the new president-elect.

Later in the program, the ladies discussed rumors, allegedly leaked by McCain staffers, about Sarah Palin’s unruly behavior and lack of knowledge. Elisabeth Hasselbeck, the only co-host who met Governor Palin, assured that the Alaska governor is not a "diva." Barbara Walters was puzzled as to what was wrong that Palin allegedly hinted at 2012 presidential run. Sherri Shepherd chastised the McCain staffers for airing Palin’s dirty laundry after they vetted her. Whoopi Goldberg and Elisabeth Hasselbeck agreed: Leaking incriminating information without identifying one’s self is cowardly.

Three of "The View" co-hosts are comedians by profession, but they unintentionally provided some comedy to the November 5 edition of "The View." After two segments of basking over Barack Obama’s victory, and the historic nature of the first African-American president, Sherri Shepherd and Whoopi Goldberg hammered away the need for more affirmative action. [audio excerpt here]

The panel’s two rich black women, whose children do not need a head start over poor white children, expressed disappointment that Nebraska voters approved a ballot initiative banning affirmative action. Sherri Shepherd felt that "there are some people who just need a leg up." Whoopi Goldberg, who just moments before celebrated Obama’s historic victory, opined that "if we lived in the country that we always pray that we’re going to wake up in where everything works and everybody is equal, you wouldn’t need affirmative action."

Earlier in the segment, Joy Behar, giddy over Obama’s victory, proclaimed it as "a triumph over negative campaigning." Did Joy forget the Obama ad mocking McCain’s age and war wounds?

Whoopi Goldberg, in defending Reverend Wright, admitted to, at times "cuss[ing] out America." On the November 4 (Election Day) edition of "The View," a conversation about Sarah Palin’s clearance in the "Troopergate" probe quickly morphed into a fight (three on one) over Reverend Wright. In justifying Wright’s "God damn America" remark, Whoopi confessed "I have been guilty of cussing this country out because we have not always shown our best and put our best foot forward."

Aiding Whoopi’s tirade against Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Sherri Shepherd defended Obama’s decision to forego public financing "because they’re swift boating Barack Obama with this Jeremiah Wright stuff." Sherri and Whoopi also scolded Elisabeth for allegedly not understanding black issues and Reverend Wright’s bitterness towards his country.

Adding to the pile on, Joy Behar, for her part, claimed she did not want to sit in judgment as a white woman stating "I don’t really think that I have any business to discuss what goes on in a black church because I am not black." When Elisabeth called out Joy for defending Wright when "Obama hasn’t," Behar comically denied defending Wright. When Elisabeth questioned Obama for sitting in Wright’s church for 20 years, Behar made a bizarre comparison claiming "A lot of people sat- a lot of people sat for eight years while Bush committed his little atrocities. So let’s not cast stones."

Unlike the network morning news shows, the Sarah Palin hanging in effigy was covered by, surprisingly, "The View." On the October 28 edition, the panel, as they should be, was unanimous in condemning inflammatory Halloween decoration. The best remark came from, yet another surprise, Joy Behar. Hinting at media double standards Behar cried "if they had done it to Obama, it would cause a tremendous hoopla."

Behar, who normally attempts to play the equivocation game, offered no such attempt on this subject adding "as much as I disagree with her politics, it’s outrageous. It’s stupid." The others chimed in as well as Whoopi Goldberg asserted "you just don’t do that." Sherri Shepherd raised concerns about Sarah Palin’s children. Elisabeth Hasselbeck declared "it’s not even worth hearing what [the house owner] has to say."

Whoopi Goldberg’s solution to winning the War on Terror: talk to "Shum Jum Yum Yum," whoever that is. On the October 24 edition of "The View," the aforementioned co-host defended Barack Obama’s call for unconditional talks with rogue nations like Iran. Whoopi concluded that dictators such as "Ahmadinejacket" and "Shum Jum Yum Yum" (presumably she meant Kim Jong Il?) have become "less rational" because the Bush administration has allegedly not talked to these regimes.

Besides airing her opinion without getting key names correct, Whoopi should know that talking unconditionally to Adolf Hitler did not make him any less radical. This should come as no surprise to a woman, who, on more than one occasion, demonstrated her ignorance of basic history.

Just a few minutes after labeling Rush Limbaugh a "terrorist," Joy Behar scolded Bill O’Reilly for calling Obama a "communist." O’Reilly appeared on the October 22 edition of "The View" to promote his new book, but the segment began about the upcoming presidential election. When the Fox News host jokingly called Barack Obama a communist, Joy Behar preached "let’s stop name calling today" and "you know what a red flag that raises."

Throughout Bill O’Reilly’s two segments, Behar, "The View’s" most reliable leftist, sparred with O’Reilly. Behar said Keith Olbermann, whom O’Reilly never mentions by name, "hates" him. Bill simply brushed it off joking "they’re all jealous." Bill O’Reilly, accused Behar of drinking Obama’s "Kool-Aid." Behar retorted "you drank the Kool-Aid on George Bush for eight years." O’Reilly flatly denied it.

Surprisingly, the October 21 "View" mentioned Congressman John Murtha’s "my constituents are racist" comments. Though Joy Behar called it a "stupid thing to say," they were much gentler on Murtha than on Michele Bachmann, who stated that Obama has associated with anti-American individuals.

Joy Behar labeled Bachmann a "red baiter" and alluded to the McCarthy era. Whoopi Goldberg asked "it okay for someone to start attacking your beliefs in your country because you don’t agree with their views?" Sherri Shepherd, who has confused historic time lines, recalls growing up in the McCarthy era before other co-hosts reminded her she was not yet born. Even the token Republican, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, would not defend Congresswoman Bachmann.

Is this a case of labeling one anti-American for a simple disagreement? A transcript of a recent "Hardball" interview demonstrates that she clearly alluded to Obama’s associations, William Ayers and Reverend Wright, who are indeed anti-American.

Sherri Shepherd and Joy Behar agree: Whoopi Goldberg’s "do I have to worry about becoming a slave" question to John McCain was "good." Whoopi, for her part, does not think the question was "tough." On the October 20 edition of "The View," in calling for Sarah Palin and Barack Obama to appear, the discussion evolved into a recap of McCain’s recent appearance.

Whoopi Goldberg denied that they were tough on Senator McCain, but the rest of the panel disagreed. Sherri Shepherd praised Whoopi’s question of a return to slavery after McCain called for a stricter interpretation of the Constitution on behalf of his judicial appointments. Sherri Shepherd, who has demonstrated ignorance on history and geography, seemed to forget that the 13th Amendment to the Constitution forbids slavery, not a product of an activist court. Joy Behar agreed "it was good." [audio clip available here]

Earlier in the segment, upon discussing Sarah Palin’s recent"Saturday Night Live" appearance, Joy Behar blasted the Alaska governor for not appearing on "Meet the Press" or "The View." Behar suggested that Sarah Palin just reads the teleprompter and not appearing on "The View" where she would "actually have to put a sentence together." Joy Behar missed that Palin has been off script in interviews with Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. One may counter "that’s just a softball interview." Perhaps, but no softer than a Matt Lauer interview with Barack Obama.

Liberals like Joy Behar claim to have open minds not casting judgment on others, unless of course it involves someone of a different political persuasion. On the October 14 edition of "The View," discussing Sarah Palin’s daugther Bristol’s pregnancy, Behar wondered where Governor Palin’s "family values" are. "The View’s" most reliable leftist berated Palin for allowing her daughter Levi Johnston to date since Freshman year of high school (high schoolers shouldn’t date?) Then playing the race card, Joy railed "if this was a black teenager that was pregnant, Obama’s kids, God forbid, they would be all over it like a cheap suit and you know it."

Sherri Shepherd gave her approval exclaiming "say it baby!" Filling in for Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Fox News host E.D. Hill, allegedly the conservative voice for the day, conceded "there are double standards."

Sean Hannity is a "dangerous, dangerous force in America," says "View" co-host Joy Behar. This was sparked, on the October 13 edition, by a discussion of Andy Martin spreading rumors about Obama’s background and an interview on "Hannity’s America." Elisabeth Hasselbeck reported that she spoke with Sean Hannity, who says he condemns Mr. Martin’s actions, and has controversial figures of all political stripes including Reverend Wright.

When Sherri Shepherd proclaimed it is no different than Obama’s condemnation of William Ayers, Elisabeth reminded that panel that a television interview is different than sitting on a board. Whoopi Goldberg immediately pounced on the comment and told Elisabeth to go to FactCheck.com (perhaps she meant FactCheck.org?). In a pot and kettle moment, Joy Behar, who has a history of airing false information on "The View," chastised Elisabeth to "not say it unless you’re sure what you’re talking about."

Later in the program, Joy Behar went on a rant against Sarah Palin, noting alleged cronyism and in another pot and kettle moment, Behar opined that Palin "overuses her power and underuses her brain."

What may possibly be a peek into why the mainstream media has been less than enthusiastic in investigating Barack Obama’s background and associations, Barbara Walters, on the October 7 "View," called on all to "stop slinging mud around" with Obama’s ties and also John McCain’s past ties to Charles Keating. A noticeably distressed Elisabeth Hasselbeck, possibly out of exhaustion from taking on three or four opposing voices on her own every day, exclaimed that past judgment is important and raised concern that "he says he didn’t know these people."

When Elisabeth labeled Reverend Wright a "hatemonger," Whoopi scolded Elisabeth stating "you need to stop saying he’s a hatemonger." Following Whoopi’s line, Sherri Shepherd shouted to Elisabeth’s face about some of John McCain’s past infidelities.

At the end of the segment after Barbara Walters continually harped on the lack of focus on the economy, Elisabeth Hasselbeck placed the blame on much of the financial crisis on Democrats, notably Chris Dodd and Barney Frank. Joy Behar dismissed such a concern to "listening to Sean Hannity too much." Or maybe Elisabeth was listening to Alec Baldwin.

With the McCain campaign’s new offensive on Barack Obama and his ties with William Ayers, "View" co-host Whoopi Goldberg, on the October 6 edition, suggested McCain is playing this card out of desperation and using the same failed tactics of Hillary Clinton.

Discussing Ayers, Whoopi "assume[d] that he rehabilitated himself." When Elisabeth Hasselbeck, outnumbered three to one, reminded that panel that Ayers expressed regret in 2001 that he had not done more, Sherri Shepherd wagged her finger in Elisabeth’s face lecturing "no you don’t Elisabeth." Shepherd retorted that Ayers’ remarks were not about September 11, something already known, but do they make Ayers’ lack of remorse any more defensible?

Barbara Walters, for her part, called such campaign tactics "smears" even as Elisabeth asserted that they are not smears, but true. Walters, also added that attacks on McCain’s involvement in the Keating Five scandal was a smear as well and such attacks distract us for the many challenges the United States faces.