The Circle of Liberalism: O'Donnell is Vieira's Replacement on 'View'

I heard first on Olbermann's "Countdown" (without Olbermann) tonight, and AP confirms: ABC will name the formerly comedic lesbian activist/former daytime host Rosie O'Donnell as Meredith Vieira's replacement on The View:

O'Donnell's appointment was reported Thursday by the newsmagazine Extra. It was confirmed by a person close to the show who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because The View wanted to make the announcement on Friday's show.

The circle of liberalism is complete. Liberal Katie Couric, replaced by liberal Meredith Vieira, replaced by liberal (to put it mildly) Rosie O'Donnell. That's quite a jump from Vieira, a news anchor-type who was said to be "the glue."

Video/audio: Links below to video and/or audio of three O'Donnell outbursts.

[UPDATE: Friday's the The View, which may have been taped earlier in the week, made no mention of Rosie O'Donnell.]

From the glue to unglued. Here's some Rosie stunners over the years:

-- Last year on FNC's Geraldo Rivera showcase, in an outburst which earned her the "I'm Not a Political Genius But I Play One on TV Award" at the MRC's DisHonors Awards, Rosie proclaimed: "This President invaded a sovereign nation in defiance of the UN. He is basically a war criminal. Honestly. He should be tried at The Hague." (Go to her award category for video and audio.)

-- In case you thought that was just an off night for Rosie, guess again. Subbing in on The View for Star Jones Reynolds, O'Donnell repeated herself to Sean Hannity, who proclaimed: “Rosie, you guys, all you guys on the left, you demonize this President. You once called George Bush a war criminal.” O'Donnell shot back: “He is. He should be tried at the Hague!” (Check the June 9, 2005 MRC CyberAlert for MP3 audio)

-- In 2004, she told ABC's Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America that Bush was historically heinous for mildly suggested he opposed so-called gay marriage: "I think the actions of the President, which are, you know, in my opinion, the most vile and hateful words ever spoken by a sitting President, in my opinion."

-- In 2000, she insisted to National Review that the National Rifle Association didn't care about the children: "I would say, maybe their own kids, but not kids in general. The only life that is important to them is white, Republican life. Regardless of skin color, it offends me when someone is shot dead in America. [The NRA’s position] is based on financial gain, not patriotism or love of children."

-- In 1999, she stunned actor Tom Selleck by getting in his face about his support for gun rights: "There's no reason, in my opinion, to have [guns]," O'Donnell said as Selleck sipped his tea. "You want to have a hunting rifle, great! A hand gun, great!" Selleck retorted: "Do you really think the Second Amendment is in the Constitution to guarantee hunting and target shooting? Do you really think that?" O'Donnell, to applause from her studio audience, replied: "I think [the Second Amendment] is in the Constitution so we can have muskets when the British people come over in 1800 -- I don't think it's in the Constitution to have assault weapons in the year 2000." (Clicking on Real icon will do nothing. Go to go to the May 21, 1999 MRC CyberAlert where you'll be able to stream a five-minute long, very small and low-quality 45 kbps RealPlayer clip.)

-- Early in the Monica Lewinsky scandal, O'Donnell expressed her sympathy for Bill Clinton: he was "captivating... strikingly handsome... warm-hearted... He's a very good President and I would hate to have this tarnish his reputation or his place in history."