What a difference eight months makes. Back in September I was sure Barbara Walters had elected to commit ratings suicide when it was announced Star Jones was off The View and would be replaced by Rosie O'Donnell. I couldn't imagine that America's over-50 ladies would want to drink their morning tea with a butch lesbian talking about PETA and her "wife."

Let the scoreboard show I was wrong when I thought Cyndi Lauper would have a bigger career than Madonna, and I was wrong when I thought Rosie O'Donnell would be a boat anchor on the View.

I've since caught The View when I'm off during the week, and Rosie made a great co-host by doing everything wrong. Whereas Barbara Walters might tiptoe around celebrities and political figures thinking of getting guests for her next prime time special, and Joy Behar and Elizabeth Republican (whatsername?) weren't well-read enough to comment, Rosie set the TV set on fire.

I was watching the day she made her famous stab at Donald Trump. I think Donald Trump is an interesting character, but he's not the worthy idol the media makes him out to be. O'Donnell finally shined a spotlight on Trump and got a few facts out there the fawning Entertainment Tonight and Donny Deutsch crowd overlooked. Plus her impersonation was so dead on you would think she must've worked on it in the mirror for a couple of hours, but it appeared spontaneous.

Naturally I also enjoyed hearing her go after the Bush administration like no one else in the media has had the nuts to do (except Air America, but I'm not counting low-watt radio shows). If Rosie is as passionate about what's going on in our government as she says she is she should consider staying on because she had a pullpit like no one else with their eyes open had.

The irony is also striking in how everywhere now I hear TV pundits weeping over her exit. A commentator on CNN yesterday was saying, "It was that she made some people uncomfortable that made her so provocative and drew ratings. She wasn't a pollyanna." Contrast that with the comments David Paul gets from doing the same thing in Cartersville, Georgia. "Ya gotta let the old folks know when you're kidding!" "If you keep putting down women you're going to lose the soccer moms dropping their kids off at school!" "If you keep up the 'I love Bill and Hillary' stuff you're going to drive a wedge between yourself and the audience." Yes, listen to the media experts of Cartersville and succeed, and you'll have a show that's guaranteed to fail everywhere else.

Amazing Rosie was once called the "Queen of Nice." Let's hope she resurfaces somewhere else soon.

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