The Political Whore

As if there weren’t enough reasons already to hate reality television shows, let’s consider the case of Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Shot to (what passes today for) stardom on Survivor: Australian Outback in 2001, she obviously was thrust into the public realm long before the important parts of her brain had a chance to fully develop (she does, nonetheless, have a degree from Boston College).

It was a short hop, skip and a jump from there to fame as one of the four yentas on The View, the sacrificial winger for Joy Behar, Rosie O’Donnell and others to use as a human punching bag. It was sort of cute and harmless entertainment.

But on Sunday, Hasselbeck took her shilling for the right-wing of the Republican Party to the next level, showing up in Tampa to introduce Sarah Palin to a crowd of like-minded wingbots:

Clearly cuing up the next phase of her evolution, errr God-directed intelligent design, Hasselbeck is riding the flag pin thing to the next level — it’s all linked in to sexism! — as shown in this transcript from her View co-host Barbara Walters’ radio show on Sirius satellite, a chat that included NY Post gossipeuse Cindy Adams:

BARBARA WALTERS:  Listen Elizabeth, my affection for you has no bounds, but to wave the American flag because Sarah Palin was wearing a flag pin and to bring in our service men and women in from overseas is little bit [sings dramatic music] – don’t you think so?

ELISABETH HASSELBECK: You think so? You see I don’t.  I think it is completely fair, I think if they were – they being mainstream media – are going to continually just go after what she was wearing and pick it down to the price tag, the item, where it was found, where it was bought, her shoes, what color they were, her earrings.  I thought that it was interesting that they didn’t focus on the value of the pin that she wears.

BARBARA WALTERS: -Yeah, but you brought it up.

ELISABETH HASSELBECK: I brought it up – prior to the clip that you ran… I said in between that I believe the focus on her wardrobe has been deliberately sexist.  I said, following that, so let me speak in terms that they – meaning those who have been criticizing her – might understand and then I followed with those examples.  And I just wanted to parallel the tone that I thought and had been set by the media and use that right back at them.

CINDY ADAMS:  …I am part of the media and I happen to be partial to Sarah Palin so you don’t have to worry that you’ve got somebody else on the other side.  But the fact is that when Nixon was running they were worrying about his make-up.  I remember very well when Mrs. Reagan was being chastised for her clothes and for her china.  This isn’t necessarily sexist.

BARBARA WALTERS:  And John Edwards’ hair cut.

CINDY ADAMS: … We’ve done this for everybody, the media is an equal opportunity abuser – we kill everyone.

ELISABETH HASSELBECK:  I would normally maybe believe that.  I don’t think anyone can look at the amount of articles that were written, the amount of news stories that were done on Sarah Palin’s wardrobe and say that she had a fair shake in terms of what was being reported on.  There are so many things that can be discussed in this campaign and even liberals are admitting that there is a huge slant in terms of the amount of articles that are out, that are positive about her…Look, they’re smart, they’re trying to take the focus off of John McCain because Senator McCain is incredibly qualified and deserving to be president of the United States.  They are trying to nit-pick at things about Sarah Palin, hoping to distract the American people.  I, on the other hand, think the American people are smarter than that.

BARBARA WALTERS:  That may be.  And certainly the whole business of the wardrobe is interesting because she comes off as, and I think rightly so, as a woman who is a hockey mom and who doesn’t care about her looks and so forth.  And then we read about the money spent on make-up, and the money spent on her hair and the money spent on her clothes.  I said this morning on The View, that I blame the Republican Party.  They could have bought her a very nice wardrobe that didn’t cost $150,000.

CINDY ADAMS:  She’s not spending all of that.  There was a party about two weeks ago that Rupert Murdoch’s wife Wendy Murdoch, Queen Rania whom you [Barbara] know of Jordan and Sarah Brown, who is the wife of the prime minister of Britain gave.  It was all some of the top ladies in New York.  And she came in, Sarah Palin and I walked over to her.  She looked stunning … [she was wearing a] black jacket that was just wonderful… and I walked over to her and I meant in all niceness who’s jacket is it.  And she actually did not know… she was very warm and friendly, she showed me the back of the label. She pulled the label back and I started to clutch at it and then Queen of Jordan looked at me as though ‘saying I don’t think we should undress the candidate here’.

The conversation then turned to Barack Obama’s primetime 30-minute ad set for tonight:

ELISABETH HASSELBECK:  Obviously both sides are trying to run and create image.  So if we use this as, so they both have funds and are creating an image, making sure their candidates are where they need to be seen, as they need to be.  I find it completely then repulsive to then – if we want to look at spending – see how Barack Obama now is going to spend what $3 million on two thirty minute ads that are going to run this week.

BARBARA WALTERS:  He’s got the money and he wants to win.

ELISABETH HASSELBECK:  That to me is, in terms of the economy is – that is repulsive.

CINDY ADAMS:  Elizabeth – will you marry me?

[LAUGH]

ELISABETH HASSELBECK:  Yes, Cindy I will.  We must go to San Francisco though.

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