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Local News Anchor Responds On-Air to Viewer’s Email Saying She’s Too Fat to Be ‘Example’ for Community
During Tuesday morning’s live broadcast, a news anchor for La Crosse, Wisc. CBS affiliate WKBT confronted a bully who attacked her for being overweight in an email to the station.
The author of the email claimed that because of her “physical condition,” Jennifer Livingston is not a “suitable example” for the community’s young people.
Here is part of the viewer’s letter:
“I was surprised to witness that your physical condition hasn’t improved for many years. Surely you don’t consider yourself a suitable example for this community’s young people, girls in particular. Obesity is one of the worst choices a person can make and one of the most dangerous habits to maintain.”
“I leave you this note hoping that you’ll reconsider your responsibility as a local public personality to present and promote a healthy lifestyle.”
Livingston’s husband, Mike Thompson, one of the station’s news anchors, posted the ugly letter on his Facebook page last week, saying it made him “sick to his stomach” and “infuriated.”
“While I tried my best to laugh off the very hurtful attack on my appearance, my colleagues could not do the same,” Livingston said on Tuesday.
But something amazing resulted from the disgusting personal attack, she explained. She said hundreds of people have taken time out of their day to life her spirits and spoke out against bullies who attack others.
“The truth is, I am overweight,” Livingston began. “You can call me fat — and yes, even obese on a doctor’s chart. But to the person who wrote me that letter, do you think I don’t know that? That your cruel words are pointing out something that I don’t see?”
She continued: “You don’t know me. You are not a friend of mine. You are not a part of my family, and you have admitted you don’t watch this show. You know nothing about me but what you see on the outside, and I am much more than a number on a scale.”
Livingston went on to prove her attacker completely wrong and used the incident to reach out to bullied children, pointing out that October is anti-bullying month.
“We need to teach our children how to be kind, not critical,” she said. “We need to do that by example.”
“To all of the children out there who feel lost, who are struggling with your weight, with the color of your skin, your sexual preference, your disability, even the acne on your face, listen to me right now. Do not let your self-worth be defined by bullies. Learn from my experience — that the cruel words of one are nothing compared to the shouts of many,” she added.
For what it’s worth, it is clear that Livingston is more than a “suitable example” for any community.
Watch Livingston call out her bully on the air via WKBT:
(H/T: Gawker)
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Comments (171)
QuincySmith
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:43pmHere is part of the viewer’s letter:
“I was surprised to witness that your physical condition hasn’t improved for many years. Surely you don‘t consider yourself a suitable example for this community’s young people, girls in particular. Obesity is one of the worst choices a person can make and one of the most dangerous habits to maintain.”
“I leave you this note hoping that you’ll reconsider your responsibility as a local public personality to present and promote a healthy lifestyle.” Signed Moochele.
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muffythetuffy
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:27pmShe looks fine to me. If she were black and as big as a refrigerator everything would be OK. This reverse racism must be stopped.
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MonkeyBeagle
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:45pmSo is she advocating for restricting speech on the internet because someone called her fat.. or is she trying to convince kids not to take it to heart.. I just hope she isnt hinting that we need to stop bullying on the internet by restricting free speech on the internet. I couldnt really tell where she was going. . . .
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blackyb
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:48pmYou need to mind your own effing business. That girl’s body build is NONE of your shallow business.
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macpappy
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:49pmIt is not “reverse racism”, it is simply “racisim”. The term reverse racisim indicates that only white people can be racist, for anyone else it is reverse racisim. Just saying.
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LogCabinRepublican
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:54pmHere’s the “bullies” response – Kenneth Krause an attorney here in La Crosse, WI
http://www.news8000.com/news/VIDEO-Kenneth-W-Krause-responds/-/326/16832838/-/8kc77oz/-/index.html?fb_comment_id=fbc_124184774397009_154544_124190597729760#feef8d0f4
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drs1969
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 10:03pmThe term racism implies only white christians can be racists. The federal government has made sure of this.
The term reverse racism implies that if a white, christian is lucky enough to win a case of racism before a federal court, it will be ‘Reversed’ on appeal.
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dealer@678
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 10:45pmI like that girl. Pretty and smart
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grimmster
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 10:56pm@Quincysmith
Dammit, you beat me too it;p
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LB
Posted on October 3, 2012 at 1:26amyou forgot….Oh and you are white and that just won’t do anymore.
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black9897
Posted on October 3, 2012 at 2:43pm@MUFFY
It wouldn’t be “fine” but there is something you must understand. Black women actually gain weight more easily than white women, thus struggle with it more.
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Pat Alexander
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:36pmOld joke:
1st Woman: You are too fat!
2nd woman: Yes, but you are ugly and I can diet…
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tj1961
Posted on October 3, 2012 at 10:28amThe origin of that joke came from an exchange between Winston Churchill and Lady Aster. Lady Aster: “you are drunk!” Churchill: “And You are UGLY, But tomorow I will be sober.”
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DogTags
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:29pmNo, the jackass probably hates corporations and subscribes to Michelle Obama’s totalitarian society where everybody’s business is everybody’s business. Little tyrants like the emailer enable big tyrants like Barack and Michelle Obama.
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kiwi1
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:23pmThis is exactly the kind of Crap you are going to get from an Obama World. His Wife “Moochell” goes around preaching to everyone about their diet and exercise. Her “Lets Move” propaganda indoctrinating our children…. Pretty soon it will be exactly what this “bully” wrote in to this woman. You do not “Set a good example” for the community. Therefore you cannot be seen on the Government Propaganda Network. Of course they will relabel this as “good for the collective” and demonize anyone who does not conform to their idea of a “perfect” person or idea. After all “think of the Health care costs that Overweight people cost the collective”. Believe me this is only one example of what we have coming our way if this agenda is not stopped NOW.
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freedomnetworker
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:29pmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z5Wt1LYDAA&feature=share&list=UL9z5Wt1LYDAA
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blackyb
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:54pmThey are so empty inside and so flawed that they can only throw off on people’s appearance in order to make themselves feel important. They are nothing. It is not like they have any reason to dis these people or even to say things out of aner, which is not excuse either, but they do this to give others their ‘standard’ of perfection. They are shallow, mindless people who needs to mind their own flawed business.
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StCharles777
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:22pmIt wasn’t an attack at all. I’m balding. People point that out. I dont get mad. I was a drunk. People pointed that out. I got sober, saved my life.
She is obese and the letter was truth and obesity is a HUGE problem. Obese parents typically raise obese kids, thats a problem. Obesity raises insurance premiums. Obesity cause NUMEROUS health issues.
why is the writer a villain for Caring enough to point out a serious health issue, serious parenting issue, serious social issue??
Some call it showing care for others. Some keep quiet and we call it ENABLERS! Watch ‘Biggest Losers’. Do the fitness trainers coddle those people? NO. They state the truth frequently…….and it works!
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Exrepublisheep
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:37pmObese parents raise obese kids because of, yes, wrong food but also because of genetics. They have to be more careful.
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Hugh Williams
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:47pmSo you really think this guy sent her the e-mail because he only cared about a total stranger. His intentions were only noble and not intended to belittle and hurt her? You are tripping dude.
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lel2007
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:53pmSo you didn’t know you were a drunk until “people” pointed that out to you?
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PutMoreOnMyPlate
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:20pmSo lets put them in camps and mandate that they better themselves and the human race by losing weight and that they don’t waste our natural resources because they need more to eat. Heaven forbid that obesity is genetic and passing it down to our kids is a crime. By the way I have a hint. The Law of Acquired Traits is long ago descredited and truly “junk” science- You dye your **** blonde, your kid is not going to have blonde ****, you lose weight, your kid is not going to be born skinny. If you’re fat, it’s not up to any douche stranger to tell you that it’s not genetic. So please shut the hell up and leave this woman alone.
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Centurian
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:26pm@STCHARLES,
First off, I have been obese for my entire life, so this is personal to me. It amazes me that you, and others, believe that losing weight is a simple thing to do- that all one needs to do is just stop eating and get a little exercise.
Well, to you and others, it is not that simple. Ask an alcoholic how easy it is to walk away from the bottle. Ask a drug user how easy it is to walk away from the drugs. It is not easy. If it were, people like me would be thin. And please don’t give me any advice. I have heard it all before, usually from people who have never been fat a day in their life, who believe people who are fat are stupid and lazy.
To those who believe that, I say “go to H*ll!”
If you have never been obese, don’t give me your insipid ramblings.
But it is true, that it is getting worse. I blame Michelle Obama the rest of the lefty loonies. They are always needing an enemy to vilify. There were the drunk drivers, then the smokers, and not the fat.
You, and others like you, are the most intolerant, hateful people I have ever met. I am married with two very thin kids. I make sure that they don’t end up like me, and sometimes over-obsess. Yes, its probably not right, but I have taken tons of abuse from “people” such as you and never want to see my kids go through it.
I have an idea: Next time, be helpful and little compassionate for once. The left claims they are, but I have yet to see it…
g0rthaur
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 10:02pm@Centurian
I was fat as a teenager, got thin (maybe too thin) in my mid-late 20s. Here is one suggestion you may not have considered, but it worked for me:
Become a vegetarian (or vegan). Be strict about it. It’s not a cure-all. And you can be a fat vegetarian. But here’s why I think it worked for me:
It made me think about what I was eating in a new way. Old comfort foods (hamburgers/mashed potatoes and gravy, etc) no longer work. So it totally shook up the way I thought about food. 7 years later, I would never go back.
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guntotinsquaw
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 10:09pm@STCHARLES…Some of us have a weight problem, not because of food. Most of you mouth pieces would starve to death on what I eat in a day. For me, a calorie is not a calorie. I am completely healthy, thank you. I don’t get sick, my yearly check-ups are perfect. I haven’t needed a doctor since the birth of my 3rd child and yes, I am obese. Do I see a doctor more often, yes every 3 months for blood work and a script refill for my thyroid. In order to stay my ideal weight, I get to consume a whopping 800 calories a day. I choose to no longer count every calorie. None of my children nor my husband are obese. My food is grown here, on my land by my hand, the meat I cook is harvested on this land, the milk and cheese (I can’t touch) is milk from our goats. I am willing to bet I am healthier than you. If we don’t grow it, harvest it or hunt it..it is not in my house. My children haven’t been sick in years, not a flu bug, a cold…nothing. So who is really costing whom money? Blessings to those that walk a mile in my moccasins.
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adeleeeee
Posted on October 3, 2012 at 4:47amYou don’t see that that is the reason NO Ohbumper CARE. Everyone make their own decision and take the consequence of their decision.
So why don’t you mind your own business? STCHARLES777? You probably won’t die by obes but you will die by the consequence of your very own decision.
Point figure at others by not setting a good example is a sign of collective salvation. No, there is no collective salvation! You have to make your own decision to be saved!!!!!!!!
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DimmuBorgir
Posted on October 3, 2012 at 9:32am@ CENT
ha ha ha, you’re fat and don’t want to do any hard work to lose it
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GideonX
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:15pmShe’s a cutee. I’m a Choctaw, and I have always been short and thickset, as have many other red folks I know. She may just have chubby genetics.. Healthy women with curves, isn’t that what dudes want? I bet some emaciated broad with skin like sandpaper sent her that email. Sheesh, some people really need to get a life!
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rawmilker
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 9:24pmCould be someone wanting her job.
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Rickfromillinois
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:06pmThe important question is “Does she do a good job”? If the answer is yes, then good for her. If the answer is no, then fire her. I want someone who can give the news and who has a decent mind. Being good looking, thin, or young is of now importance to me.
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Exrepublisheep
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:39pmPrograms exist to sell ad space. If a hotter woman could do the same quality report out goes the heavy girl.
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kickagrandma
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:43pmWhoops… “now” should have been “no”, right? I had to laugh because I often right such “important stuff” only to see it posted with some significant word or thought incorrectly spelled or written. See what I mean? “right” should have been “write”. I let it stand as case in point.
GOD BLESS! : 0
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U-R-Busted
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:01pmA truly BEAUTIFUL woman, not so much for just her appearance, but her understanding and first hand knowledge of how some can be so vicious, inconsiderate and hurtful! I salute you for sticking up for many young ones that must endure your pain and their own personal insults for years. Unfortunately, too many of these choose suicide as the only way out!
SHAME, SHAME, SHAME on any that would judge others that have not walked in your shoes!
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JL320
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 6:52pmI would have junked the email after reading the first few lines. But for this lady to try and say being obese and being gay etc is all alright. Sorry, but it’s not. Your fat, and everyone around you is thinking about what a fatty you are, we unlike the emailer are polite and do not say anything about it. Just like the gay guy that has a fake lisp tries to tell us he was born that way, no he wasn’t, hes just a perverted idiot, but we don’t say anything publicly about it. Or the black guy wearing a bandana out of his **** with his colors, we don’t call him another thug nword, but we all know he is. It’s not ok to try and justify it. Just ignore it, or change your ways if it’s bothering you that much.
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Rijjka
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:04pmYou know, this really was a situation to just ignore it and not let it bother YOU.
See the thing is, what ever personal problems anyone suffers from it’s still just that, a personal problem. Your comment, while clearly your opinion, and I must respect that, does nothing to help her. The best method of teaching is to lead by example. So what example do you show with your comment?
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lobster
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:06pmJL320, is that your weight? There has been a huge EMPHASIS on weight the last 30 years. We should celebrate being able to have enough food to put on extra pounds. I’m heavier than the weather girl, I want to lose weight, but the whole country is in freefall and you have to write something as stupid as the things you wrote. Like the Coast Guard General said to the reporters in New Orleans after Katrina. What part of stupid don’t you understand. When the concentration camps are instituted some of us will have more to fall back on. I’ve seen so many people that were “slender and fit looking” die prematurely from strokes or what have you. GROW UP…..
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CHEFJK26
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:21pmIts clear that you only judge people by their appearance. Yes that is your right but when you do that you really do miss out on getting to know some very good people. But you must realize that their are lots of people out their just like you judging by appearance…and judging you to be just an ugly person of no value and little relavance. Because after all thats what your appearance says and its their right to judge you by it the same as you judge others. Remeber life is a two way street, and you are not the biggest and best car driving around no of us aree we all have faults but some of us would rather get to know someone before we judge them as unfit just because they are over weight or dont fit into the little box of what you think is normal.
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JL320
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:29pm@lobster, It’s my initials and my bday. Sorry for my common sense upsetting you so much. If you weigh more than her, then trust me, people are looking at you and thinking a lot of bad things about you. That’s how society is, and it’s perfectly normal. When you see people that are different than what is normal, it is human nature to think negatively about them. Being obese, gay, a thug etc, is not normal, and all leads to bad things. Don’t worry about the concentration camps, they will shoot you for being to slow before you even make it there. If you are happy being obese then awesome man. But if your getting **** hurt over the truth, then get a treadmill and start watching what you eat. You tell me to grow up, I tell you to grow down!
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4GODUSAANDISRAEL
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:18pmJl320, hate much?
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PutMoreOnMyPlate
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:23pmI think that’s the most selfish comment I’ve read. So tell me how this story really affects you?
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JL320
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 9:44pm@4godusaandisrael, Common, don’t use lazy leftist attacks, come at me! @putmoreforyourself, I gave an opinion based on common since. If you become a slave to gluttony you become obese, if you become a slave to perversion you may become gay, if you become a slave of laziness you may become a slave to thuggery. I do not care if you want to eat 4 whoppers at a sitting, or care if your a man who wants to try and have sex with another dude, or even care if you want to scam people out of their money. Keep it away from me and my loved ones, and I do not care. As far as condoning it. No, It’s wrong, and you are idiots to believe otherwise.
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chips1
Posted on October 3, 2012 at 1:51pmJL320:
If people use your way of thinking, then it can be applied to the Jacksons, Farrakhans and Wrights of the world. If your bitter and ashamed of being black, then do what Michael Jackson did. Change yourself. It’s not as easy as you think.
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phillipwgirard
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 6:51pmI think she’s cute, to he11 with the bully,,,
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JimboX
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 6:45pmShe’s HOT!!!
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Smokey_Bojangles
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 6:54pmThat is what I said.
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fairsunshine
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 6:39pmI love your show!!! I was so happy to see a REAL WOMAN doing the news instead of a Barbie Doll. It strengthened my faith that America is not totally shallow and has lost ALL of its values. I thought to myself when I first saw you that “she is really pretty too.” Then to hear about this bully! Good for you to speak out for ALL OF US WOMEN and others who are bullied too!!! I love you even more. Mz Obama doesn’t help the bullying with her constant attack on people’s weight. Your job is not to be an example, tho you are a lovely one, but you are to tell us the news. Are people so brain washed by the Fox news Barbie Dolls that they don’t recognize the value of a precious human being from the REAL WORLD? Frankly it was refreshing to see a news woman without a Spanx on! YOU ARE the good example!!! Do we want our daughters to grow up to think they must be in a Spanx, short dress and high heels to be accepted by society??? Good grief! Thank you for speaking out about this. You are beautiful inside AND out, and don’t you forget it! (A friend from North Ireland recently asked me, “Why do the women on Fox news look like movie stars?” He thought it was so strange. He had never heard of tossing Barbie Dolls out there for news ratings.) May God bless you richly and your success!
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lobster
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:28pmHey, fairsunshine, Fox isn’t the only one with chicky wumbas on it. The others try to emulate Fox, but can’t. Maybe Candy Crowley is trying to level the playing field.
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TEXASGRANNY73
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 6:36pmAmen for her words.
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progressiveslayer
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 6:35pmProgressives like the puke who wrote the letter are vile indeed,pustules on humanity who’s remarks aren’t worth hearing.
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loriann12
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:19pmReminds me of my brother in law, a flaming liberal, who told me to cure my own cancer by going all raw and vegan, because he is and doesn’t have cancer. Some things you have no control over, even when you eat well.
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Exrepublisheep
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:42pmPROGRESSIVESLAYER. By your post I suspect the bully writer is you.
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progressiveslayer
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:06pmEX By your post I suspect you’re a fool.
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DEMOCRATS.ARE.EVIL
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 6:28pmAnd some people want liberals like this man running our healthcare system? Josef Mengele’s with a “D” after their names?
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19RANDY59
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 6:52pmHow do you know it was a man, maannnn???
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horsehockey
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:16pmThat reads/sounds like a cat fight to me.
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JshCrrSprstr
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 6:25pmAwesome speech, “Yeah I’m Fat, What of It”. Reminds me of the old Charles Barkley role model commercials.
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freebits
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 6:24pmI bet that the person who commented…..(let me go out on a limb here) ..is not super model
material him or her self, just a wild guess
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PutMoreOnMyPlate
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 6:22pmOh you poor misled people. Michelle probably wrote the letter and I wouldn’t be surprised. This administration is a poison.
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19RANDY59
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 6:49pmWell said, just another liberal media loon manufacturing a story. Besides, if there is an actual bully, they may have inspired her to correct her problem, and improve her health. Which may save her from the death panels someday. Now I’m gonna eat my double cheese burger, fries, and drink my 32 oz. soda.ROTFLMAO
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Verceofreason
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:02pmCan we still call Rush EL Blimpo?
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PutMoreOnMyPlate
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:28pmIf there are death panels it will be because we asked for them.
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cbrugh
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 6:21pmGood for her standing up for herself. Too often people hide behind anonymous emails criticizing others while hidden under a pseudo name. If this person had to say this face to face, they probably wouldn’t have said it at all.
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Smokey_Bojangles
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 6:20pmI Wouldn’t mind seeing her naked one bit.
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JimboX
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 6:46pmMore chunk more funk
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freebits
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 6:20pmAdd your comments
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godhatesacoward
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 9:00pmI love a woman with some meat on her bones!
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Rob
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 6:18pmShe still should lose weight…. but good for her.
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PutMoreOnMyPlate
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 6:27pmSo awesome for you Rob to try to tell others how to live their life. Makes you feel better thinking that you know what’s best for a person’s health. So ya go for it Rob.
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Smokey_Bojangles
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 6:54pmRob loves some Michelle Obama.
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RightUnite
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:20pmYou Michelle Obama’s new FAT CZAR?? WTF is wrong with you people. Sheesh!
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65Mustang
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 6:18pmShe appears to be a lovely young lady that I would rather spend time with than an ultra thin, ultra snotty, (probably a liberal) man or woman who sent this hateful email.
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The Him
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:20pmYes she does. And I’m damn glad that they actually chose a well spoken, articulate woman with a brain to be a newscaster on that channel and didn’t give a crap about her weight.
Speaks volume for that particular local affiliate.
P.S. ’67 owner myself. Like the lines better.
grind,
weld,
grind
etc
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Psychosis
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 6:15pmbetcha the person calling her fat was a nosy manipulative pos liberal
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MrButcher
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 6:14pmSnotty azz hateful liberals make me sick.
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