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The wife of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Thursday said that her husband and sons had not joined the U.S. military but had found "different ways of serving" by going on religious missions as part of their obligation to the Mormon church.

During an interview on ABC's The View, co-host Whoopi Goldberg asked Ann Romney how she would explain to the families of fallen soldiers why her husband and sons had not served their country.

"When I read about your husband, what I had read -- and maybe you can correct this -- is that the reason he didn't serve in Vietnam was because it was against the religion," Goldberg said.

"That's not correct," Ann Romney insisted. "He was serving his mission, and my five sons have also served missions. None served in the military, but I do have one son that feels that he's giving back to his country in a significant way where he is now a doctor and he is taking care of veterans."

"So, you know, we find different ways of serving," she added. "And my husband and my five boys did serve missions, did not serve in the military."

The candidate's wife explained that Mormon missions were like military service in that "you're going outside of yourself, you're working and you're helping others. And it changes you. And are we so grateful in this country for those people -- men and women -- that are volunteering, they're sacrificing their life for us, and we cannot forget that or we have to acknowledge that always."

"So, when you're facing these mothers whose children have not come back, how will you explain to them that your sons haven't gone?" Goldberg pressed. "Will you talk about the missions they've gone on?"

"I would say it's probably the hardest thing that a president and a first lady probably do is to comfort those that have lost a love one and have gone in harm's way," Ann Romney replied, not directly answering the question. "It is an amazing country, we have the most extraordinary fighting men and women, and we have to be so grateful for them. Of course, it's hard, and I don't think that any of us can understand the sacrifice that are being made by families."

Mitt Romney announced earlier this week that he had canceled his Thursday appearance on The View due to "scheduling problems."

In a secretly-recorded video released by Mother Jones last month, the former Massachusetts governor told wealthy donors that going on The View was a “high-risk” proposition because the “sharp-tongued” co-hosts were not conservative enough.

“Apparently the idea of sitting next to Whoopi Goldberg was just a little too intimidating,” media critic Howard Kurtz told Daily Download founder Lauren Ashburn. “Doesn’t this make Romney look like he’s avoiding a confrontation with the ladies of The View? He said he would go.”

“It opens him up to the argument that, how is he going to negotiate with Vladimir Putin if he’s afraid of sitting down with Whoopi Goldberg?” Kurtz continued. “When he agreed to go on, he was down in the polls. And now: Bye, bye, Barbara.”

(h/t: Mediaite)

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In sticking with their running theme that President Obama doesn't spend enough time meeting with world leaders, Chris Wallace asked former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs why President Obama was going to have time to appear on The View, not making time to meet with leaders during the U.N. General Assembly next week. As Gibbs reminded him, they have these things called telephones these days where President Obama can talk to these leaders at any time without the need for some formal meeting with any of them.

Obviously Wallace didn't think much of the explanation since he was still making snarky remarks about it during the panel segment later in the show. And I think Gibbs is probably right. If President Obama were agreeing to appear with Wallace, I don't think we'd hear him say a word about it.

WALLACE: I want to go back to the U.N. though and New York this week. You say that he’s got schedules, that foreign leaders have schedules. But the President has blocked out time to appear on The View on Tuesday. So, he has time for Whoopi Goldberg but he doesn’t have time for world leaders?

GIBBS: No, Chris. Look, the President is going to be actively involved at the U.N. General Assembly.

WALLACE: He’s not meeting with any private leaders. He's giving a speech.

GIBBS: Chris, they have telephones in the White House. Last week he talked to the President of Egypt. He talked to the leader in Libya. We don't need a meeting in Washington just to confer with leaders. We’ve got a strong...

WALLACE: But he does need the time to be on The View?

GIBBS: ...we have a strong diplomatic... I’m sure if he was doing an interview with you on Fox News, you’d have no problem with that.

WALLACE: Well, he hasn't. But that’s not the point.

GIBBS: I’m sure that’s not the point. No look Chris, he’s got a strong schedule. He’s actively involved. You...

WALLACE: You don't have a problem with the fact that he’s not meeting with any world leaders, but he’s going to appear on The View?

GIBBS: I have no problem with that, because, Chris, you’re the President of the United States every minute of every day. That's why he talks to the leader in Turkey that's a hugely important leader in a country in that region of the world. That's why he picked up the phone and talked to the president of Egypt and tell them they have to have a strong reaction to this violence at our embassy.

They have to protect our consulates and our embassies and the people that work in them. Chris, this isn't just about one meeting on one particular day in New York. The President's actively involved and engaged in the most dangerous places in the world every single day of every week.

After years of carrying water for Bush on foreign policy, Fox is now doing their best to help the Romney campaign and painting President Obama as somehow weak on foreign policy and not doing enough to keep us safe from terrorism. As was pointed out on Rachel Maddow's show last week: New York Magazine's Frank Rich Tells Rachel Maddow: "Fox Really Is An Arm Of The Romney Campaign".

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A reminder that back in March Elizabeth Hasselbeck of The View took the unusual step of criticizing Sarah Palin for her crosshairs ad. Segment originally aired March 26, 2010.

via Huffington Post

Sarah Palin's gun sight-riddled campaign map is so militant that it's even lost her the support of "The View" co-host Elizabeth Hasselbeck, who called Palin's behavior "despicable."

After "View" co-host Joy Behar said the map, which features white and red gun sights drawn over districts whose Democratic representatives voted for health care, "looks like an al Qaeda Christmas card" Thursday, Hasselbeck -- who campaigned with Palin in 2008 -- spoke up in uncharacteristic agreement.

"This hasn't been a great week in terms of, I think, the Constitution and where it says that you're supposed to, you know, everybody is, has a mandate to have insurance. But I think the way some Republicans are handling this is nothing more than purely despicable," Hasselbeck said. "The names that are next to and being highlighted by those crosshairs -- I think it's an abuse of the Second Amendment. I also feel as though every single person on here is a mother, a father, a friend, a brother, a sister, and to take it to this level is -- it's disappointing to see this come from the Party, and I would hope that leaders like Sarah Palin would end this."

Joy Behar thanked her for it, shaking her hand. "Republicans are not speaking out against this and you may be the first one to do it, and I salute you, my girl." Whoopi Goldberg would say "Republicans, whatever comes from this it's on your heads."

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Bill O'Reilly's controversial appearance on The View Thursday gave MSNBC's Keith Olbermann just the excuse he needed to let loose on the conservative pundit.

O'Reilly may have become Thursday's most talked about story after his comments caused two hosts of ABC's popular daytime show to walk off the set.

The Associated Press detailed the walk off:

Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg walked off the stage of "The View" during an argument with Bill O'Reilly over the proposed Islamic center near the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The women objected to the Fox News Channel host saying that "Muslims killed us on 9/11."

Olbermann, who has a longstanding feud with O'Reilly, couldn't let the opportunity pass without using his "Worst Person in the World" segment to call out the Fox News host.

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