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Friday, May 25, 2007
Lorie Byrd :: Townhall.com Columnist
Republicans should follow Elisabeth Hasselbeck's example
by Lorie Byrd
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With unemployment at 10.2%, what will happen by the end of Obama's first term?



Earlier this week on the The View, token conservative Elisabeth Hasselbeck spoke up so forcefully that Rosie O’Donnell resorted to playing the “big, fat lesbian” victim card. There are more than a few Republicans who should take a lesson from Hasselbeck.

I have been critical of Elisabeth Hasselbeck in the past for not making a strong enough case for conservatives on the daytime chat show. She signed onto a show that was not overly political in nature and it is understandable that she resisted for some time fully stepping into the role of speaking for conservatives. Well, that is certainly no longer the case. Hasselbeck has recently emerged as a strong conservative voice with not only what appears to be newfound passion, but she now appears to have spent some time educating herself about the issues, using that information to rebut some of the ridiculous claims made by O’Donnell. It wouldn’t kill Republicans to emulate her behavior.

On the Wednesday episode of The View the gloves finally came off and Hasselbeck stood up to O’Donnell for the following statement she made in the form of a rhetorical question on the show last week (transcript by Newsbusters.org:

O’DONNELL: I haven't -- I just want to say something. 655,000 Iraqi civilians are dead. Who are the terrorists?

HASSELBECK: Who are the terrorists?

O’DONNELL: 655,000 Iraqis -- I'm saying you have to look, we invaded --

HASSELBECK: Wait, who are you calling terrorists now? Americans?

O’DONNELL: I'm saying if you were in Iraq, and the other country, the United States, the richest in the world, invaded your country and killed 655,000 of your citizens, what would you call us?

This week the topic of O’Donnell’s insinuation that Americans are the terrorists came up again, but turned personal with O’Donnell stating her words had been twisted by those in the media. "Here's how it gets spun in the media. Rosie, big, fat lesbian, loud Rosie attacks innocent, pure Christian Elisabeth. And I'm not going to do it." She did continue the discussion with Hasselbeck, though, trying to change the subject to the personal. Hasselbeck did not let up in pressing O’Donnell to clarify what she meant by the original statement. The exchange became quite heated, continued through what should have been a commercial break, and the video of the exchange was replayed all over television and the internet for the following 24 hours. Continued...
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About The Author

Lorie Byrd is a Townhall.com columnist and blogs at Wizbang and at LorieByrd.com.

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Reply # 1
Date: Jun 1, 2007 - 9:22 PM EST
malize
Thanks for the info! I stand corrected.

You may already have seen this but here it is anyway; Thomas Nast neatly dissected the 1864 Dem platform to expose what was wrong with it:

http://www.sonofthesouth.net/democratic-party-platform.htm

McClellan seems to have been an odd critter; how he made Captain, let alone General, is curious. He was the American military observer in the Crimean War (a Captain at the time) and the lesson he brought back from the real-life Light Brigade fiasco was one of extreme caution. When he was promoted to General he avoided contact with the enemy repeatedly until Lincoln removed him from command.


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Reply # 2
Date: May 31, 2007 - 11:52 PM EST
finally...
I’m continually amazed at how many people are siding with Rosie and Alicia in the face of such a class act as Elisabeth. If any of you are willing to sit day after day and be at best ostracized or at worst be verbally attacked by at least 3 other women, then by all means, go for it. It is so difficult in these times to stand up for what you believe when you go against the grain. We DO exist, we ARE NOT going to go gently into that good night without at least speaking up for what we believe in. To do less would be cowardly.

In case I need to explain “class act,” here are a few examples of what a class act does:
1 - After a friend says something irresponsible, she graciously offers up a platform to defend or explain herself. (even though she disagrees with her politics)
2 - After a guest snubs her publicly, she then resolves to “kill her with kindness.” (even though she disagrees with her politics)
3 - She shows up for work the next day with her head held high because she knows she was speaking up for her beliefs. (even though she disagrees with apparently most of the US)
4 - She does all of the above in front of the entire nation and is called stupid by most and she is vilified by many. (even though she knows that she is not in the majority)

I would not only call that classy, I would also call that courageous.
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