WHATVER
HAPPENED
TO
the
Rosie
O’Donnell
everyone
knew
and
loved?
The
“Queen
of
Nice”
Rosie
who
once
graced
the
cover
of
Newsweek,
shot
Koosh
balls
into
her
TV
studio
audience
every
day
and
rivaled
Oprah
Winfrey
in
charisma?
As
much
as
I
hate
to
admit,
it
seems
that
Rosie’s
public
persona
has
taken
a
turn
for
the
worse
ever
since
she
declared
herself
a
lesbian.
In
2002,
O’Donnell
came
out
of
the
closet
in
an
interview
with
Barbara
Walters.
Immediately,
she
was
a
boon
to
the
gay
community:
a
popular
and
funny
public
figure
to
whom
ordinary
housewives
in
the
Midwest
could
relate.
She
and
her
partner
showed
that
gay
parents
can
provide
loving
homes
for
children
and
her
For
All
Kids
Foundation
has
awarded
millions
of
dollars
to
children’s
charities.
Immediately
after
the
9-11
terrorist
attacks,
Rosie
ponied
up
$1
million
to
help
relief
efforts
and
encouraged
her
fellow
celebrities
to
help
out.
She
was
a
model
public
figure.
But
it
appears
that,
empowered
by
her
new
profile
as
a
world-famous
lesbian,
Rosie
has
gone
from
being
the
“Queen
of
Nice”
to
the
“Countess
of
Crazy.”
In
2003,
O’Donnell
and
the
publisher
of
her
once-eponymous
magazine
sued
each
other
for
breach
of
contract.
What
emerged
in
court
documents
showed
a
Rosie
yet
unknown
to
the
public:
a
prima
donna
who
was
cruel
and
demeaning
to
subordinates.
A
former
employee
of
the
magazine,
a
breast
cancer
survivor,
claimed
O’Donnell
told
her
that,
“You
know
what
happens
to
people
who
lie?
They
get
sick
and
they
get
cancer.
If
they
keep
lying,
they
get
it
again.”
But
it
was
not
until
she
became
a
host
on
“The
View,”
the
ABC
morning
show
featuring
a
level
of
political
discussion
rivaling
that
of
a
small
town
beauty
parlor,
that
Rosie
descended
into
full-fledged
wackiness.
IN
HER
SHORT,
eight-month
stint
on
the
show,
she
has
likened
U.S.
troops
in
Iraq
to
terrorists,
repeatedly
aired
conspiracy
theories
implying
that
World
Trade
Center
tower
7
was
destroyed
in
a
controlled
explosion
(and
links
to
conspiracy
web
sites
claiming
as
much
on
her
site),
and
inferred
that
President
Bush
knew
about
9-11
before
it
happened.
More
recently,
she
claimed
that
last
month’s
capture
of
15
British
sailors
in
international
waters
by
the
Iranian
government
was
orchestrated
by
the
U.S.
and
British
governments
to
provoke
a
war
with
Iran.
Can
we
trade
the
new
Rosie
in
for
the
old
one?
Not
the
closeted
Rosie,
but
the
(seemingly)
sane
one?
Rosie
O’Donnell
is
one
of
the
most
prominent
gay
people
in
the
country.
And
by
no
means
ought
the
actions
of
a
single
gay
person
reflect
upon
all
gay
people,
just
as
the
actions
of
a
single
black
or
Hispanic
person
ought
not
reflect
on
all
blacks
and
Hispanics.
But
when
a
celebrity
member
of
a
minority
community
stakes
out
a
position
for
themselves
related
to
that
community
(as
Rosie
has
done,
admirably,
on
the
issue
of
gay
parenting),
she
bears
a
special
responsibility
to
the
community
of
which
they
are
a
part.
Whether
Rosie
likes
it
or
not,
her
actions
have
an
effect
on
popular
perceptions
of
gays
and
lesbians.
Just
as
her
promotion
of
gay
parenting
humanized
the
issue
for
Americans
unfamiliar
with
gay
fathers
and
mothers,
so
does
her
promotion
of
crackpot
conspiracy
theories
about
9-11
reflect
poorly
on
the
population
and
causes
—
gays
and
their
rights
—
she
is
trying
to
serve
and
represent.
LIFE
IN
THE
closet
can
be
hellish.
It
contorts
one’s
true
self.
Some
go
so
far
as
to
blame
being
the
closet
for
ethical
misbehavior
(see
Jim
McGreevey,
who
likewise
did
a
grave
disservice
to
gays
by
conflating
his
criminality
with
his
homosexuality),
and
there
is
no
question
that
living
in
the
closet
is
a
psychologically
unhealthy
lifestyle.
But
what
are
the
many
housewives,
(who
know
few
— if
any
—
gay
people
in
their
personal
lives),
watching
“The
View”
supposed
to
think
when
they
see
the
famous
lesbian
Rosie
O’Donnell
claim
that
9-11
was
an
inside
job?
What
are
they
to
think
of
the
Rosie
who,
before
she
came
out
of
the
closet,
was
a
rational
human
being?
There
is
nothing
to
indicate
that
O’Donnell’s
coming
out
has
led
her
to
spout
such
crazy
views.
But
as
a
prominent
gay
person,
she
is
deserving
of
our
criticism
nonetheless.
