She’s a far cry from Meredith Viera, but she sure makes the show interesting. The addition of comedian-actor Rosie O’Donnell to “The View” was genius in some ways, as it gave life to a show that was heading south when Viera (who was fabulous) announced her departure and Star Jones left in a huff.
But getting used to a Rosie-brand of “The View” is also a challenge at times. She lacks Viera’s skill to rein in the other anchors, and her humor is hit or miss as well, as her joke about Chinese people talking about Danny Devito’s drunken appearance on the show went totally sour: “The fact is that it’s news all over the world. That you know, you can imagine in China, it’s like ‘Ching chong, ching chong. Danny DeVito, ching chong, chong, chong, chong. Drunk. ‘The View.’ Ching chong,'” O’Donnell said on the Dec. 5th episode. (Suffice to say, this joke did not go over well with many Asian-Americans.)
And now comes her comment on Tuesday’s show, in which Rosie and the other anchors were discussing the Seattle airport controversy, in which airport officials decided to take down Christmas trees instead of putting up a giant menorah and other religious symbols. (They said they didn’t have time to research the symbols of all religions that would want representation at the airport). Rosie said she would like to have a variety of holiday symbols on the set of “The View,” including a “Kwanzaa bush” and “something for Ramadan.”
News flash, Rosie: Ramadan was over in October. Ramadan hasn’t coincided with the winter holiday season in nearly four years. You might be thinking of Eid-ul-Adha, the Muslim holiday that commences at the end of the annual Hajj pilgrimage. And the typical symbol for a Muslim holiday? A star and crescent moon would be a safe bet. Really, Rosie, your sentiment is appreciated. But would it hurt for you to do a teeny bit of research?