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Manilow Refuses to Defend His Views


09/18/07
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(antiMusic) Another example why music and politics do not mix especially if you can't stand up for your beliefs. You would think that someone with extreme leftwing views would feel right at home on ABC's "The View" but not Barry Manilow. The crooner was pulled from the show after he refused to debate his views with the show's token conservative, former Survivor contestant Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Ann Coulter we can understand but being afraid to debate Elisabeth?

Manilow wears his unwillingness or inability to defend his politics as a badge of honor. "I had made a request that I be interviewed by Joy, Barbara or Whoopi, but not Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Unfortunately, the show was not willing to accommodate this simple request so I bowed out," he writes on his Web site. "It's really too bad because I've always been a big supporter of the show, but I cannot compromise my beliefs."

Those co-hosts have never backed down from defending their views, which are similar to Manilow's, but somehow Barry seems to think arguing for his beliefs is somehow a compromise when he's really doing a disservice to those beliefs. So much for standing up for what you believe in, which is a real problem with American politics in the current age where people at the extremes of both political parties are quick to spout their views but refuse to honestly debate or defend them.

A source close to "The View" told Reuters "we canceled him," because producers refused to comply with Manilow's "completely disrespectful" demands. Apparently this wasn't a big issue for Barry when he appeared on the show twice in the past year alongside the fearsome Elisabeth. - You can read more about this here

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