A Blog Entry I Don't Want To Write

Imagine my writing this while heaving a deep, heartfelt sigh. Or perhaps some other kind of heaving entirely.

I didn't want to write about the so-called "feud" between Rosie O'Donnell and Donald Trump. Seriously, I really really didn't. But it's gone on for long enough that it's gotten to the point where some comments are in order.

Some context for the six or seven shut-ins who haven't heard of this story: Tara Conner, the current Miss USA, was on the verge of losing her crown over her partying and underage drinking when Donald Trump, who owns the pageant, held a press conference to announce that she would attend rehab and on that condition would be able to retain her title.

Conner was effusive in her watery thanks to Trump while the cameras clicked.

This admittedly tacky spectacle rubbed O'Donnell the wrong way and she ridiculed Trump during the "Hot Topics" segment of her ABC show "The View," where she pointed out, among other things, that a man who cheated on two of his three wives (that we know about) has no business appointing himself a moral arbiter concerning the behavior of American girls.

She also made fun of his admittedly ludicrous combover, which, while being a cheap shot, was also pretty funny.

Trump did not respond in kind. He did not try to be funny (not that's he's capable of it -- the combover notwithstanding). He responded with a barrage of crude insults that have not stopped. Every time he steps in front of a camera he's trying to think of some new insult for Rosie O'Donnell -- one of the more egregious being "degenerate."

Hmmmmmm. I wonder what he means by that?

Exactly what makes Rosie O'Donnell a "degenerate," Mr. Trump?

Rosie O'Donnell is a successful talk show host in a committed relationship and the mother of several small children. So what exactly is there about Rosie O'Donnell that makes her a degenerate?

Could it be because of the fact that she's a-- GASP! -- lesbian?

You don't really mean to imply that lesbians are degenerates, do you, Mr. Trump?

And if you didn't meant to imply that, exactly what did you mean by using that word in that context?

And why in a post-Michael Richards environment isn't the media holding Trump accountable for what is by any standard a viciously homophobic remark?

Tom Moran