Whether you’re watching on old, standard TV sets or flat panel televisions, one thing you won’t see on ABC’s The View tomorrow is scheduled musical guest Barry Manilow.

That’s because the whiny pop star has decided to strike out at conservative View co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck, declaring her presence of the show is the reason for welching on the appearance. Now, Manilow is free to believe whatever he believes and appear or not appear on whatever shows he pleases, but this, folks, is not a principled stand. It’s a publicity stunt, pure and simple.

Why would I make such a claim? Well, simple… because it’s true.

Let’s be honest here: Elisabeth Hasselbeck has been a regular on The View long before Rosie O’Donnell and is still around after she fled the set late last spring. Hasselbeck’s presence on the show is no mystery.

If he was offended by Elisabeth’s views so deeply, why even bother to schedule an appearance in the first place? There’s only one answer: the publicity his cancellation over her views would generate.

Make no mistake about it: the only reason Manilow scheduled an appearance was to cancel it at the last minute and “make a point” about Elisabeth’s presence on the show. Of course, if conservatism on The View is intolerable to Manilow, he needs someone to bring him up to date; Elisabeth is no longer the lone conservative on The View’s panel.

The show, which hired Holly-Lib Whoppi Goldberg to fill Rosie O’Donnell’s seat, just unveiled recently that the woman taking Star Jones’ place on the show is comic actress Sherri Shepherd, formerly of the sitcom Less Than Perfect. For those who don’t know, Shepherd is an outspoken Christian who does not believe in evolution.

Take a *gasp* pause now. Feeling better? Good.

Once he learns that conservatives are only outnumbered 3-2 on The View, look for Manilow to schedule at least a dozen more appearances over the next month – just so he can cancel all of them in protest.

Manilow said he refused to “share a stage” with the conservative Hasselbeck. I wonder if the aging popster realizes that if every Christian, Republican and general conservative who ever attended one of his concerts or bought one of his disc were to refuse to “share a casino auditorium with him,” just how deeply his own pocketbook would be hit.

Can Manilow have an opinion? Sure. But don’t be fooled that it’s about anything but publicity this time ’round. And don’t be surprised if some folks who are closer to Elisabeth Hasselbeck than to Manilow’s views suddenly decide they have better things to do with their money than buy his songs or attend his concerts.

Like Laura Ingraham said, and like this blog’s motto reminds all HollyLib idiots, “Shut up and sing!”