SESSUMS: But Frank Rich in his Sunday New York Times column called you the modern-day Edward R. Murrow for calling John McCain out on his lies during the presidential campaign when more mainstream journalists wouldn’t.
BEHAR: I know. That was a good one. I got rewarded for my big mouth. I’ll never forgive John McCain for foisting Sarah Palin on us. I took on Rod Blagojevich. I have taken on politicians from time to time. I feel that politicians are fair game whereas regular people in the business really aren’t. I’m not out to get them or to criticize them in public to make them look bad. Politicians are different. They work for me. Other people don’t work for me.
The talk shifted from Sarah Palin to Ann Coulter and Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and Behar proclaimed she is quite tired of lowering herself to arguing with Elisabeth:
SESSUMS: You’re a left-winger who seems to get along with right-wingers. You like to book Ann Coulter, for example.
BEHAR: So you hate her, huh.
SESSUMS: Well, I question someone’s judgment whose criticism of John Edwards was once based on her calling him a “fag.” That was certainly insightful. I do find her schtick hateful. I think you like her because she looks like your partner Steve -- they each have a kind of gangly appeal. Though she’s probably got a better goose step.
BEHAR: A lot of my friends on the left hate her. I can’t say that I love her. I don’t hang out with her. But I like to have her on and spar with her and tease her and play around with it. I like to have her on the way Bill Maher likes to have her on his show, but she told me she doesn’t want to go on there anymore because she doesn’t like the audience and the way they behave. She feels that they’re always clapping and yelling and participating too much.
SESSUMS: Like A Tea Party crowd, huh.
BEHAR: Well, yeah. Look, I don’t want to be the kind of person who is closed to the right-wing. I do like having conversations with those on the right.
SESSUMS: On The View you’ve got Elizabeth Hasselbeck to contend with every day. But some days I sense you just rolling your eyes at what she says and don’t want to waste your energy any more with her.
BEHAR: I’m not arguing with her anymore. I don’t want to. You’re right. It’s exhausting. And I don’t feel like doing it any longer. I just don’t.
It would be nice to hear Hasselbeck's rebuttal: "As if you are a pleasant walk in the park, Joy."
