I don’t watch “The View,” but given what happened today between Rosie O’Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck, I might just have to start.

Again, I missed the actual exchange, so in fairness to both women, I have no real context here. That said, though, and judging from the clips I’ve seen on several network news shows, the estrogen-ridden coffee clatch has turned into some new ultimate fighter show. Hasselbeck is married to an NFL quarterback, so she’s certainly used to being around competitive people. And knowing that she appeared at the last Republican National Convention, I think I can safely assume her politics are, well, on the conservative side.

Then there’s O’Donnell. They don’t come much more liberal than that, and as of late, she’s developed a real paranoid streak that isn’t even a little bit attractive. I mean, c’mon, even Donald Trump comes off looking good in a Rosie fight. How scary is THAT?!

The problem, it seems to me, is not with either host’s politics; you know the old adage about talking religion and-or politics, so disagreement is to be expected. No, it’s the whole ugly personal attacks that made this cat fight so vicious — and, as it turns out, newsworthy. I’ve come to expect outrageous remarks from Rosie, and I know she’s passionately against the Iraq war. But did she call our troops “terrorists”? God, I hope not! That would be way out there, even for her!

O’Donnell is leaving the show in another three weeks, and if nothing else, the set should be quite a bit calmer after her departure. She’s saying now that she’ll not become involved in any more “debates” with Hasselbeck in the time she has left. I don’t think she’ll be able to restrain herself. I might just tune in now to see, and isn’t that, after all, what ABC wanted when they hired Rosie in the first place?