Rosie O'Donnell In The News Again

Take a look at the following videos. This first one shows Rosie (and, incidentally, two others as well) talking about terrorism and the United States.



Videos like that one are what make pundits rich. Predictably, Rosie is condemned in the next clip:



This next video shows the repercussions of the constant punditry and name calling:



First, hurray that Elisabeth Hasselbeck finally fights back. I've seen a few clips of her encounters with Rosie and frankly she wilted every time. Good for her for sticking to her guns when literally everyone else held a differing opinion.

But that's not the real issue here. I think Rosie was close to tears. I think she was honestly stung by all of the criticisms and sniping that goes on in the world. She obviously reads and watches what is written and said of her and her views. Most of it is venomous. People like that Joe Scarborough are trying to get her fired and silenced. I don't agree with her views on most things. I think she can be belligerent and overbearing. I think she harms the war effort in a very meaningful way. But I respect the fact that she thinks, and is not afraid to share her opinions. She creates dialogue. She says what many "normal" people are thinking on some level, but are unable to express fully. I want more people like her out there. And I want more people to hear others' views and think critically about them, and form opinions of their own. Rosie O'Donnell facilitates that process.

Rosie O'Donnell Agrees With Mormons.....At Least One Of Them Anyway

Rosie O'Donnell is in the news lately for her statements on tv's The View regarding September 11 skepticism. Here's the video of what she said:



A major September 11 conspiracy theory group's co-founder is Steven E. Jones, who was a BYU physics professor. In November 2005, Salt Lake City Utah's Deseret News reported on a paper that Mr. Jones had posted on BYU's physics page that offered his research on the subject. The paper has since been removed and Mr. Jones was put on paid leave and subsequently retired from BYU last fall. However, the paper, titled "Why Indeed Did the World Trade Center Buildings Collapse?", was published in the book "9/11 and American Empire: Intellectuals Speak Out" and can be found at journalof911studies.com. The Deseret News provided the following quote:

"It is quite plausible that explosives were pre-planted in all three buildings and set off after the two plane crashes — which were actually a diversion tactic," he writes. "Muslims are (probably) not to blame for bringing down the WTC buildings after all,"

Professor Jones was also interviewed by a local Salt Lake City news program:



Mr. Jones has done numerous interviews and has spoken at many conferences explaining his findings and answering questions.

However, many organizations are skeptical of the skeptics, including the folks at Popular Mechanics. Their March 2005 cover story was devoted to debunking the debunkers. After Rosie's comments stirred the controversy again, Popular Mechanics revisited the issue. Here are some pertinent quotes:

debris from the 110-floor North Tower hit WTC7 with the force of a volcanic eruption. Nearly a quarter of the building was carved away over the bottom 10 stories on its south face, and significant damage was visible up to the 18th floor.

The North and South Towers of the World Trade Center weren’t knocked down by planes—they both stood for more than a half-hour after the impacts. But the crashes destroyed support columns and ignited infernos that ultimately weakened—not melted—the steel structures until the towers could no longer support their own weights. Ms. O’Donnell fundamentally misstates the case with her use of the word “melted”.

Popular Mechanic's website has many valuable photographs of the towers and the damage done to them by the two planes. They also reveal that WTC7

"housed the city’s emergency command center, so there were a number of fuel tanks located throughout the building—including two 6000-gal. tanks in the basement that fed some generators in the building by pressurized lines."

Popular Mechanics also refutes Mr. Jones's claim that the towers were felled by explosives by saying that wiring the buildings for a controlled demolition "would present insurmountable logistical challenges."

The 9/11 conspiracy groups are not satisfied with these explanations however. Nor, I suspect, will they ever be. Rosie O'Donnell says she would like to have physicists on the show to discuss the issue. Hopefully they will have physicists from both sides of the argument so a real discussion might be possible. Maybe she'll invite Mr. Jones. It might possibly be the only time she ever agrees with a Mormon.