Anyone watch The View yesterday? Yeah, didn’t think so. Luckily, I came across this gem of a clip over at Frugal Cafe and felt compelled to share it with you folks. Comedian Bill Maher made an appearance on the Barbara Walters suckfest of a program and let’s just say he and Elisabeth Hasselbeck didn’t exactly “hit it off.” After briefly discussing the Penn State/Sandusky child sex abuse scandal and how fraternities, football teams, the Church, and any “organization of men” is destined to “go to Hell”, the two began sparring over a joke Maher made about Lara Logan – the female journalist who was attacked and brutally assaulted while covering the uprising in Egypt – in which he said “we” should trade Hasselbeck for Logan and her “intrepid hotness.” Hasselbeck said she was offended for all women and asked Maher to defend his comments. The following dust-up ensued.
Changed your life, right?
Yeah, didn’t think so.
My reason for sharing this video – other than simply capitalizing on any good reason for writing a post about how much The View sucks – is most certainly not to defend Elisabeth Hasselbeck. She can hold her own on that panel as the bar is set just above the reach of a barely speaking toddler. My reason for sharing this nonsensical “political” exchange is merely to once again point out how hypocritical, biased, and ridiculous that frigging show really is – and of course, to once again get to type the words - The View Sucks.
While it’s anything but a developing news story that Hasselbeck would find herself alone on an island cast off by her fellow View panelists, it was somewhat interesting to see how quickly they were willing to dismiss her beef with Maher. After all, the guy sitting on the couch next to them did joke that Hasselbeck should be sent to Egypt – to at least by implication – be sexually assaulted by a mob of angry Egyptians. One would think they’d be willing to give her at least a few uninterrupted minutes to get the matter off her chest.
But no. Barbara Walters was ready to move on. Whoopi attempted to change the subject. Behar defended Maher’s comments as falling within the divine protected class of comedian-speech. And the other one sat there probably wondering how she got the gig. Yes, the women that proudly defend the domain of womanhood from noon to one – or whenever the hell they’re on everyday – wanted to “hush” Hasselbeck and get on to asking Maher questions about the Republican field and Occupy Wall Street. Womankind – and their co-star – under attack… and they were ready to talk about Herman Cain’s latest gaffe and hippies defecating on sidewalks.
Anything but shocking. Probably expected. The joke happened “ages” ago. Time for “current events”, right?
Funny, though, the same panel wasn’t so quick to move on when the topic of the day was confronting, bashing, lambasting, or ridiculing any of these folks…
Remember this one?
Or any of these?
- Here Whoopi says Donald Trump’s a racist.
- Here they grill Joel Osteen about homosexuality.
- Here they hammer Bill O’Reilly on the subject of the Ground Zero Mosque.
- And in the inaugural The View Sucks post, here they go at Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Laura Ingraham, Bill O’Reilly (again), Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck for everything up to and including their very existence as human beings.
One of my greatest accomplishments as a blogger is that among the top search results on Google for “The View Sucks” is this not-so-clever little rant from yours truly. I’ve despised that program and everything it represents from the first time I saw it. That said, I respect the fact that “someone” must be watching it; and that is after all how the Free Market’s supposed to work. If those folks would simply change the channel, we could all put Behar, Walters, and Whoopi behind us and be better off for the effort. But until that day comes, we will be stuck with the inevitable ”View Moments” that do nothing to move the conversation forward, but still somehow manage to steal a lion’s share of the headlines. Until then…
I know some out there will be quick to say “Bill Maher’s a comedian” and explain away his behavior/comments accordingly. Like I said above, this isn’t even about that. I grew up watching Bill Maher’s first major venture – Politically Incorrect. I happen to think he’s somewhat funny from time-to-time. This wasn’t one of those times, but that’s neither here nor there. And as you probably know if this isn’t your first time here, I love the occasional comedian ribbing Republicans when they put their foot in their mouths or do/say something ridiculous. Jon Stewart’s Daily Show clips are as regular a feature here as anything. If we can’t laugh at some of this, I’m pretty sure we’ll all go crazy from the ridiculousness of it all.
My problem with this segment – and The View in a general sense – is this. These women sit there five days a week and act like they have been elected, appointed, or somehow chosen to speak for all of humanity by virtue of their ridiculous show managing to somehow not get cancelled. Behar and Whoopi get to decide what’s “funny” and Walters gets to decide what’s actually “news.” Hasselbeck’s the token conservative punching bag and the other woman’s there to get really really really fired up on occasion to let the rest of us know it’s an issue worth sitting up in our chairs for. I get it. That’s their niche. What I don’t get is how these women even remotely believe they’ve collectively got a sense of what’s “right and wrong” in the universe. They don’t represent a cross-section of American culture, and they’re anything but representative of the common man they so proudly think they’re standing up for. They’re snooty old rich women who think the views of their elitist Hollywood friends represent Mainstream America and they begrudge anyone who happens to think differently.
Just think about it. If Rush made Maher’s joke, two things would happen. 1. The word “joke” would be removed from the conversation. 2. Half the panel would call him a sexist pig and the other half would say he was advocating violence toward women. You see, these women have no standard upon which to measure such things; and if there is a standard, it’s Left and Right – not right and wrong. They so hate and despise everything that there is to wish harm upon about “The Right” that they will sit idly by while a comedian makes light of a joke he made about their fellow Right-Wing panelist getting raped by a mob.
I can’t speak to why others are waste the time watching this pathetic excuse for a program, but I can tell you that this is precisely the reason I do not. If you need anymore evidence that this show is garbage, I’m fairly certain you’re not worth the time. Maybe find another site, because this one’s most definitely not for you.
The View Sucks and will continue sucking until you folks get wise and change the channel.
So well said as allways! as I have heard many times many of these liberal womens organizations or even liberal women are for liberals only. Conservatives need not apply. I wonder if they truely understand that or themselves in general. My wife occasionally watches the show and showed me this exchange. she is a liberal and I was just amazed that her only reaction to it was that “this is the terrible conservative representitive they have on the show. She couldnt hold her own.” I agree with what you saw the pathetic treatment she recieved by her cohosts and immediately thought that liberals are hypocrites. Very sad, she should get out of there. The view sucks!
I think that is the reaction most View viewers have. Hasselbeck is seen as the antagonist and the overly political/partisan one. Why she continues to do it? Probably the big ole pay check; but also probably because she thinks she’s serving “the cause.” The show makes me wanna punch things so I try not to watch it, but I do get a sick little kick out of watching these videos when that group of intellectual misfits weigh in on political matters.
Definitely a double standard, blatant hypocrisy, but people still watch it. Why is most definitely lost on me.
Glad to hear from you Brad.