On the March 12 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, conservative radio host Laura Schlessinger said that wives of “most men who cheat” “haven't been respecting” their husbands. Schlessinger was responding to criticism of remarks she made on the March 11 edition of NBC's Today, during which she said, among other things: "[W]hen the wife does not focus in on the needs and the feelings, sexually, personally, to make him feel like a man, to make him feel like a success, to make him feel like her hero, he's very susceptible to the charm of some other woman making him feel what he needs. And these days, women don't spend a lot of time thinking about how they can give their men what they need." On Hannity & Colmes, Schlessinger noted that she had also said, "[I]f he's narcissistic, sociopathic, then all bets are off. ... Then he's a jerk." But when co-host Alan Colmes asked, “And aren't most men who cheat on their wives fall in that category?” Schlessinger responded, “No.” Colmes pressed, “They're narcissistic? ... Or ... they're not respecting their wives?” Schlessinger replied: “No, the wives haven't been respecting them.”

Schlessinger later said: “When the blogosphere and even The New York Times went crazy over [Today co-host] Meredith Vieira being aghast that I blamed, you know -- misrepresenting what I said. ... I was whining, because with me was this anthropologist who said, 'You know what? Men who have high foreheads and protruding brows have a lot of testosterone, and they're more likely to cheat.' ... Nobody commented about that, all right?” In fact, Media Matters for America noted that anthropologist Helen Fisher, who appeared on Today with Schlessinger, said of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) during the show: “Well, first of all, all you have to do is look at Eliot Spitzer and he's got very high cheekbones and a very heavy brow ridge, and those are signs of extremely high testosterone. So this is a very high-testosterone man. We know he's very aggressive, and he's also very sexual.”

From the March 12 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes:

COLMES: Back to -- now we are. Welcome back to Hannity & Colmes. Now, new tonight, The New York Times just reporting the identity of the escort allegedly hired by Governor Spitzer. The New York Times reporting, the woman, who goes by the name as Kirsten [sic], is 22-year-old Ashley Alexandra Dupre of New Jersey.

We're now joined by -- I'm sure this will come up, by the way -- Dr. Laura Schlessinger, author of the new book, Stop Whining, Start Living [Harper, March 2008], which we'll talk about in just a moment.

SCHLESSINGER: In the same paragraph with --

COLMES: What? What's that?

SCHLESSINGER: Never mind. Go ahead.

COLMES: All right. So you were on the -- some morning show today, right? The Today show --

SCHLESSINGER: Yesterday.

COLMES: Yesterday.

SCHLESSINGER: Yeah. Yesterday, I was Today.

COLMES: All right, and you talk about this whole incident. And you talk --

SCHLESSINGER: No, actually, I never did, and that was the point.

COLMES: Well, they asked you about it.

SCHLESSINGER: They asked me in general terms why men cheat.

COLMES: Well, let me get to that -- right. And you talked about -- let me just --

SCHLESSINGER: And I said, “I can't talk about the Spitzers” --

COLMES: Right.

SCHLESSINGER: -- “because I don't know anything about them.”

COLMES: OK. But you did talk about the whole issue of cheating --

SCHLESSINGER: Yes, yes.

COLMES: -- and you said that “the wife does not focus on the needs and the feelings, sexually, personally, to make him feel like a man, to make him feel like a success, to make him her hero” -- and those kinds of comments. You said: “The cheating was his decision to repair what's damaged and to feed himself where he is starving.”

It sounded like you were making excuses for men who cheat and blaming -- and you're not hearing this for the first time -- that you're blaming the woman when a man commits adultery.

SCHLESSINGER: OK. The first part of that, which they left out, of course, was that I said, “If a man is a narcissist, a sociopath, bipolar, a number of things, all bets are off. He's a jerk.” However --

COLMES: Yeah.

SCHLESSINGER: -- it is -- and you know, I was here for The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands book --

COLMES: Yes.

SCHLESSINGER: -- and we discussed this then. When women do not -- when women ignore, neglect, don't nurture, don't love, don't kiss up, don't do all those wonderful things --

COLMES: Right.

SCHLESSINGER: -- for their husbands, then we're susceptible. That doesn't mean they are not responsible for their action.

COLMES: Isn't it the jerk who treats on his wife -- doesn't the responsibility lie with that adulterer and that man who makes that decision?

SCHLESSINGER: His responsibility for cheating is his. The responsibility for mistreating her man is hers.

COLMES: And just because a man cheats does not mean he was mistreated. He could just be a horny guy who --

SEAN HANNITY (co-host): Oh, jeez!

SCHLESSINGER: As I said --

COLMES: You never heard that word before?

SCHLESSINGER: As I said, if he's narcissistic, sociopathic, then all bets are off.

COLMES: Right.

SCHLESSINGER: Then he's a jerk.

COLMES: And aren't most men who cheat on their wives fall in that category?

SCHLESSINGER: No.

COLMES: They're narcissistic?

SCHLESSINGER: No, no.

COLMES: Or they've got -- they're not respecting their wives?

SCHLESSINGER: No, the wives haven't been respecting them. And it's --

COLMES: Really?

SCHLESSINGER: -- interesting because in my book -- well, two things I want to tell you about call girls. In that book, The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands --

COLMES: You could tell me a lot more than I could tell you, probably.

SCHLESSINGER: I'm glad to hear that. But in the book, I got a letter from a call girl, an ex-call girl, who said that most of the guys are married who come to her, very rarely is it to have sex. Most of the time, it's to have some woman actually pay attention to them.

And today, they had a hooker on the Today show who was asked, “What would you suggest to a woman if she thinks her husband is seeing a hooker or having an affair?”

COLMES: Yeah.

SCHLESSINGER: And the call girl said --

COLMES: I saw that, yeah.

SCHLESSINGER: -- they should put extra effort into making their own relationship stronger and closer. So, when a hooker says that, it's OK. When I say it, I'm blaming the wife.

HANNITY: Well, sometimes the men are selfish in some cases.

SCHLESSINGER: I said that.

HANNITY: And you always say that.

SCHLESSINGER: I always add that disclaimer. A jerk is a jerk.

HANNITY: Why is it every time Dr. Laura is on this show, my face gets beet red? Every single --

SCHLESSINGER: I didn't talk about sex yet.

HANNITY: But you were about to.

SCHLESSINGER: Don't turn red.

HANNITY: You caused him to do it.

COLMES: So are you, you're here. What did I get caused to do?

HANNITY: Well, you and your -- whatever the word you used. Good grief.

COLMES: What word was that?

HANNITY: Whatever. I've got to move on to important matters with my friend, Dr. Laura. First of all, I love the book.

SCHLESSINGER: Thank you.

HANNITY: Because I think we whine too much.

SCHLESSINGER: Yes.

HANNITY: And when you whine, there is a point -- and you go through this in the book -- you can be sad; you can be miserable and upset. You give yourself, if I recall, what? Two days, and then it's time to get over it, and start living your life and don't wallow in problems, right?

SCHLESSINGER: Well, you notice the book is not entitled Don't Whine, because I think there's a certain amount of things to whine about.

HANNITY: Right.

SCHLESSINGER: When the blogosphere and even The New York Times went crazy over Meredith Vieira being aghast that I blamed, you know -- misrepresenting what I said.

HANNITY: Yeah.

SCHLESSINGER: I was whining, because with me was this anthropologist who said, “You know what? Men who have high foreheads and protruding brows have a lot of testosterone, and they're more likely to cheat.”

[crosstalk]

SCHLESSINGER: Nobody commented about that, all right? I said women gotta love up their husbands. So I spent the morning after that whining.

HANNITY: You see, but I --

SCHLESSINGER: Whining over something reasonable, vents -- it gets you some compassion from your friends, which helps you calm down. It gives you some advice and suggestions, and it gives you -- gives you the opportunity to pull yourself together and think about what you're gonna do.

HANNITY: You see, I want to say something.

SCHLESSINGER: So whining as an end in itself takes away the value of life.

HANNITY: I read your books. I listen to your radio show. I think you give great advice. I think it's common sense. You know, you go through in the brand-new book here, “Treat your spouse as if you loved him or her with your last breath, no matter how contrary that you might feel at any moment.”