Keep an eye on your drinks, ladies, because in Whoopi’s world, the right dose of rohypnol will leave you just conscious enough to have deserved it.

(full post here)

Um, no, I don’t think Whoopi would agree with that statement. But in her inelegant attempts to clarify the legal issues, she did seem to be muddling the moral issues. Here’s the relevant clip:

Troubling, to say the least. Still, I think Tommy Christopher at Mediaite goes too far when he says "some of the View crew" think that what Polanski did was "OK." (Christopher also needed an editor to correct the "plead" that should be "pleaded" and the "poo-poo" that should be "pooh-pooh," but then Mediaite.com isn’t exactly known for stellar prose.)

I do agree that it’s upsetting that so many people seem to want to give Polanski a break. What he did was disgusting, wrong, and — above all — criminal. You did the crime, you do the time, right? I don’t think that saying usually ends with "unless you manage to skip the country and make a lot of movies." As usual, Jezebel says it best:

… none of the ladies [of The View] tried to justify Polanski’s actions with the "defense" that he’s a genius artist who made groundbreaking movies and should therefore be immune to punishment. Because make no mistake: those people are flat-out saying they would refuse to give up a few good movies to prevent the rape of a child. Whoopi may have been wrong today, but at least she wasn’t that wrong.

Right on.

But about that clip, on an entirely different note: did you notice that Melissa Gilbert was the guest host? Isn’t it amazing to see Half Pint so very grown up? It’s as if Laura Ingalls has somehow stumbled into the 21st century, and I just can’t make sense of it. Where are your pigtails, Half Pint?!

In conclusion, The View continues to befuddle and bemuse me. But I’m looking forward to the premiere of Joy Behar’s new show tonight.

Joy, by the way, is on my fantasy dinner party guest list. She’d be great at keeping the conversation going. The other guests at my fantasy dinner party include the Clintons (Mr., Mrs., and daughter), John Waters, and Mary Murphy, but the latter isn’t allowed to come out of the kitchen until dessert — because you just know she’s going to be loud and soused.

How did I get from Roman Polanski to my fantasy dinner party? Hmm. He’s definitely not invited. And now I’m not so sure about Whoopi, either.