Martha Stewart’s notoriety came home to roost yesterday, launching the shares of the company that still bears her name temporarily beyond the reach of gravity. What could we have been thinking when we passed up Martha Stewart Living (MSO) stock just a few months ago as it languished at less than a third of its current value, $37?  Didn’t we know that the media would fire-up its white-hot obsession with her around the time she was released from prison? Or that, once out of the can, Martha would be able to pull 30 million viewers opposite Oprah merely by showing us the way to make perfect brownies?

The so-called doyenne of domesticity reportedly has inked a deal with the creator of TV’s hottest reality shows, but it won’t take much imagination or marketing to make it fly. Remember, this is a woman who became a billionaire peddling mint julep recipes and doilies. Just imagine how much moolah she could make with a real gig. Money aside, Martha might decide to play king-maker, like Lonesome Rhodes in the classic Elia Kazan movie A Face in the Crowd. Or perhaps queen-maker. Stumping for the newly centrist Hillary, the two arguably would be unbeatable as feminism’s Third Act. Meanwhile, the stigma of Martha’s misdeed should fade quickly. Paris Hilton did far, far worse, but few seem to hold it against her. Notoriety is no longer a ticket to success; it is success -- often of the most spectacular kind.