In Defense of Elisabeth Hasselbeck?

I never thought I would be writing in defense of this woman. She has very little appeal to me. I didn't watch Survivor. I have no particular admiration for football wives and pretty little blondes in tube top dresses never captured my imagination. I will  give her credit for one thing. Despite her diminutive  cup size I rarely if ever saw Elisabeth yanking at her tube top (See I can praise a Republican when they do something worthy of respect)
 
Elisabeth earned my grudging respect by quitting The View abruptly. Once her contract with Fox News was signed she dropped Barbara faster than Tim Tebow dismissing an NFL cheerleader demanding a little foreplay.
 
 I used to enjoy their Hot Topics segments. But that was until Barbara Walters started showing up at the table every morning. In the first few years of the show Barbara rarely appeared. At the time she was much to busy hosting 20/20 or interviewing the most important news makers of the day. Remember? She use to ask big stars penetrating questions like when she famously asked Katherine Hepburn what kind of tree she was. If Barbara were a plant she'd be an invasive weed.
 
The fewer big stories ABC news assigns to her the more Barbara intruded into the conversation on The View. Whoopi Goldberg is the supposed host of The View but not on days when Babs is there. Barbara interrupts, she chastises, she stops conversations cold. Surely The View holds production meetings. Barbara is the boss. Why doesn't she have the good sense to lay down the law to her subordinates backstage before she goes on? I have kitchen utensils less grating than this woman.
 

Whoopi disappoints me. I remember when Whoopi was hip, cutting edge. But I guess once you've gone down the Sister Act route you pretty much give up any street cred you might have. And Whoopi is a smart enough cookie not to go all Rosie O'Donnell on us. Still, just once I'd love to hear Whoopi cry, "I'm talking, bitch!" when Babs interrupts her.
 
Joy Behar had the good sense to quit too or who knows maybe she was fired. For the last two years she pretty much been relegated to sitting on the couch with her arms crossed. Her body language tells me she checked out a long time ago. And who could blame her? The cohosts' jobs have been reduced to fawning over Barbara.
 
One of these days I'll summon up enough energy to go somewhere deep in the bowels of my Direct TV remote and remove The View from my record "to do list" but for now the show still records although I rarely check in.

Barbara is retiring next spring and I'm sure I won't be able to stomach watching in her season on air. Let's just hope they've all had their hepatitis shots because I cannot imagine the amount of ass kissing the other women at the table are going to be expected to do in the next ten months.
 

I can't imagine why Whoopi stays around to put up with this abuse unless they have promised her that she'll finally really get to host once Babs leaves.  I can just hear the old Whoopi  I used to love wondering around backstage muttering, "I'm gonna cut da bitch....I'm gonna cut da bitch...."

I hope ABC is having to pay dearly for the privilege of keeping Whoopi muzzled for one more season. But then again any woman who would agree to doing Sister Act II will agree to anything.