Trump said something to the effect that people deserve second chances. This sent Rosie into a fury for some reason that I'm at a loss to comprehend. Trump, being Trump, picked up that flung shit and commenced to throwing it right back, and Baba Wawa may have gotten involved on one of both sides when Trump announced that she supported him in email.

Miss USA Agrees to Rehab to Preserve Reign: [link]

He characterized her choices as “very, very bad.” But in the end Donald J. Trump magnanimously announced today that he would give a second chance to Miss USA, Tara Conner, the beauty pageant winner who has been the subject of numerous published reports of alcohol and drug use and wild partying.

...

Ms. Conner and Mr. Trump refused to answer any questions from reporters about reports alleging drug use or drug testing. Mr. Trump said that he went into a meeting with Ms. Conner this morning expecting to terminate her reign as Miss USA. But he said the meeting showed him someone with “a good heart” who had “left a small town in Kentucky,” only to be caught up in a “whirlwind” in New York.

“It’s a story that has happened many times before, to many women and to many men that came to the Big Apple,” Mr. Trump said.

The president of the Miss Universe Organization, Paula M. Shugart, responding to recent reports about Ms. Conner’s behavior, said in a statement last week that the organization and Mr. Trump were evaluating her “behavior and personal issues” to see what they could do to work with her.

Mr. Trump noted today that in 2002, he deposed Oxana Federova as Miss Universe and replaced her with a runner-up after Ms. Federova did what he called a “terrible” job.

“In the case of Tara, she made some very, very bad choices, some foolish choices,” said Mr. Trump.

But he said that Ms. Conner, who was crowned Miss USA in April, had admitted to her mistakes. He said that many of the reports circulating about her public behavior were false, although he did not say which ones.

“I’ve always been a believer in second chances,” Mr. Trump told reporters, adding that he thought Ms. Conner could serve as an example for young people.

“She has agreed to go into rehab; she knows that if she makes even the slightest mistake from here on, she will be immediately replaced,” he said.

I think O'Donnell's problem was that Trump basically set himself up as a moral authority, or she believed he did, when his own personal life doesn't really bear any kind of scrutiny.

And then the name-calling started.

I just can't believe adults can act so much like fifth graders. Well, wait, I can ... but.

Miss USA Agrees to Rehab to Preserve Reign

Calling Amy Winehouse, anyone?

I just can't believe adults can act so much like fifth graders. Well, wait, I can ... but.

Well, we've got a president who doesn't talk or act like he made it past the fifth grade so...

I think O'Donnell's problem was that Trump basically set himself up as a moral authority, or she believed he did, when his own personal life doesn't really bear any kind of scrutiny.

I would understand this better if he had kicked her to the curb. I can't at all see how saying people need second chances fits that. Or that Paris Hiltoning your way around town doesn't constitute "bad choices." Those both seem pretty unassailable.

Kat, I think you can download the podcast.

The Rosie/Trump thing makes me laugh and laugh.

I guess I just so don't see the big deal. And at what point does Barbra Walter weigh in on this?

Thanks, DJ! I'm listening to it now. Verra interesting.

Every time I hear anything about Tara Connor I expect a Terminator joke.