WHAT ABOUT WHOOPI AND JOY AND BARBARA (permalink): Finally, it’s official! If it weren’t for Maureen Dowd, Donald Trump would be the world’s dumbest known alleged human.
Trump staked his claim to the mythical title yesterday, on The View. You see, Donald Trump is concerned about Obama’s missing birth certificate. Prompted by Joy Behar, the thoughtful developer explained his concerns, then spoke with the rest of the cast:

BEHAR (3/23/11): You recently said about President Obama, and I'm going to quote you, "He grew up and nobody knew him. Nobody knows who he is until later in his life. The whole thing is strange." What are you driving at there? Are you a birther, Donald?
TRUMP: I was a really good student at the best school. I’m like a smart guy, OK? They make these birthers into the worst idiots. Why doesn't he show his birth certificate?
GOLDBERG: Why should he have to?
TRUMP: Because I have to and everybody else has to, Whoopi. Excuse me. I really believe there's a birth certificate. (Pointing to Elisabeth Hasselbeck) Look, she’s smiling! Why didn't he show his birth certificate? And you know what? I wish he would, because I think it’s a terrible pale [sic] that's hanging over him. He should show his birth certificate.
The other thing—if you go to my first grade, my kindergarten, people remember me. Nobody from those early years remembers him.
BEHAR: That's not true. There’s pictures of him! What are you talking about?
TRUMP: Show me a picture.

The foolishness wound on and on as Trump went after the title. Before long, applause could be heard:

TRUMP: But more importantly, why doesn't he— And you know what? I think he probably was. But the word "probably”—
WALTERS: Why should he have to defend himself against an accusation?
TRUMP: Because if you are going to be the president of the United States, it says very profoundly that you have to be born in this country.
(Audience applause)

A bit later:

TRUMP: I want him to show his birth certificate. I want him to show his birth certificate.
(Audience applause)
BEHAR: Why?
TRUMP: There is something on the birth certificate that he doesn't like.
BEHAR: Oh, my god.
WALTERS: That’s a terrible thing to say.

Trump may be the world’s dumbest person; at the very least, he was trying to give that impression. But what about Behar, Walters and Goldberg? All three clucked, complained and kvetched about the very bad things Trump had said. But none of them noted the obvious fact: Obama has “shown his birth certificate!” This has been vouched for by Hawaii’s Republican governor. But none of them noted that either.
For one of Politifact’s many accounts of this matter, go ahead—just click here.
Trump went on and on and on, establishing himself as the world’s dumbest person. But how dumb were Walters, Behar and Goldberg? It was Behar who introduced the topic; this means she had plenty of time to prepare for Trump’s response. But Behar was too dead-dog stupid—too unprepared—to challenge Trump’s ridiculous claims. Walters and Goldberg were totally clueless as well.
Across America, millions of viewers watched these irresponsible people as they floundered, thrashed, cross-talked and failed. As a result, a new bunch of people probably think that Obama has, for some strange reason, refused to show his certificate. This is how this garbage gets spread—with the help of deeply irresponsible people like these horrible upper-end losers.
Then too, there’s Greta van Susteren.
What is Greta’s role in this mess? Last night, she played extensive tape of this exchange among these overpaid, irresponsible people. But uh-oh! Like her colleagues, she too failed to mention the basic fact—Obama has shown his certificate! Greta’s viewers watched Trump declaim—and they watched the Three Stooges flail. And then, Greta signed off like this, offering nothing more:

VAN SUSTEREN (3/23/11): Barbara Walters tried to change the subject. As you saw, it didn't quite work.
And coming up, your last call, one more quick round before we turn down the lights! Jimmy Fallon has a new theory about President Obama. Stick around.

“We live in fictitious times,” Michael Moore said in 2003. Those fictitious times are being created by a wide range of irresponsible players, only some of whom work for Fox. Yesterday, we saw Diane Ravitch go to great lengths to disinform you about our public schools. A few hours later, Walters, Behar and Goldberg enabled the world’s dumbest known alleged man.
What explains such disgraceful conduct? Walters should go on the air and explain why she and her gang of stooges refused to prepare their very small minds for this session with Trump. But truly, you live in a fictitious world. Moore’s “fictitions” come at us from many sides, only one of which is Fox.