What Could Go Wrong?

“Rosie O’Donnell, 9/11 Truther and Hater of ‘Radical Christianity, Returns to ‘The View,'” Scott Whitlock writes at Newsbusters:

Former View co-host Rosie O’Donnell will return to the ABC program she angrily left in 2007. According to Variety, the 9/11 truther and denouncer of “radical Christianity” will appear as a guest on the February 7 program. Apparently, supposedly serious journalist Barbara Walters has no problem welcoming back the woman who in 2007 denounced her own country: “I just want to say something. 655,000 Iraqi civilians are dead. Who are the terrorists?” [See below for some of O’Donnell’s worst quotes.]

On September 12, 2006, after token conservative Elisabeth Hasselbeck raised the threat of “radical Islam,” O’Donnell spat back: “Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America where we have a separation of church and state.” On March 29, 2007, the talk show host promoted 9/11 conspiracy theories on the show: “I do believe it is the first time in history that fire has ever melted steel. I do believe that it defies physics for the World Trade Center Tower Seven, building seven, which collapsed in on itself.”

In a statement, Walters hyped the return of O’Donnell: “I have great affection for Rosie and we have remained in contact throughout the years. I am happy to welcome her back to the program. She is always a lively and engaging guest and a part of the show’s successful history.”

Walters will receive plenty of hype and accolades when she retires this summer for being a pioneering woman in television journalism. But beyond the goofy “If you were a tree, what kind would you be?” questions and Gilda Radner’s classic impersonation, all those looking back on her career will ultimately remember are two bookends. Enjoying canapes and tea with the Black Panthers in Lenny and Felicia’s Park Avenue duplex during the infamous 1970 night documented in Tom Wolfe’s brilliant “Radical Chic,” and providing a platform for Rosie’s trutherisms and other rantings during the last years of Walter’s career. (Beyond Rosie’s 9/11 trutherisms, Whoopi’s a moon landing truther, and Jenny’s an anti-vaccine truther. Heckofajob, Babs; you too, ABC.)

Presumably, Walters believed the salon she created for such antics would lead to “the next messiah,” as a chastened Walters described her initial impressions of Mr. Obama last month; alas, the eschaton proved rather stillborn. When asked by critic Jay Sherman how he can sleep at night, legendary cartoon action star Rainier Wolfcastle replied, “On top of a pile of money.” I’m sure that will be a sufficient comfort to Walters as well.

In the meantime, here’s a sneak preview of what Rosie might be uttering next month.