JAMIE-LYNN SIGLER: I think people who have a public voice just need to be conscious then of what they’re saying and the effect that it can have and understand that there’s going to be consequences if they say things like that.
O’DONNELL: Right, you just worry if the consequences, you know --
BEHAR: Because you could be next.
O’DONNELL: -impede upon- which is all right. If that happens, it happens. But the point of the story is, if it impedes on free speech in America, democracy is at stake. Because democracy is based on freedom of speech and freedom of the press. So we really have to worry about that in this country.
[Applause]
HASSELBECK: And we should be concerned and responsible with our freedom too.
O’DONNELL: Right, but it’s not a freedom if you outlaw certain words or thoughts, because then the thought police come and then before you know it, everyone’s in Guantanamo Bay without representation.
HASSELBECK: That would be impossible to enforce.
BEHAR: What a jump!
Earlier in the segment, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and surprisingly, Joy Behar commented on the lack of moral authority Imus’ harshest critics, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton possess.
JOY BEHAR: There’s also something about casting the stone, when you-- everybody else is so innocent? You know
ELISABETH HASSELBECK: Yeah look at Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. I mean they, they’ve been quoted-
BEHAR: Jesse Jackson, don't you remember his "hymietown" remarks?
HASSELBECK: Yes
ROSIE O’DONNELL: Yeah
BEHAR: That, you know, he’s not innocent either on this topic. So, you know, let’s not be so hypocritical about all this.
HASSELBECK: And where does that stop? Where do you draw the line?
BEHAR: It was an obnoxious, racist remark, true, but it's all over the place.
