I never would have imagined myself rooting for Rosie O’Donnell, but then, that was before she got into a pissing match with Donald Trump. Now, it wouldn’t surprise me if Rosie has more hair on her chest, and of a finer quality, than The Donald has on his head. That’s one of the reasons I’d make her the favorite in a Greco-Roman wrestling match against Trump. As a talk show host, though, Rosie was never one of my favorites, perhaps because she reminds me so much of Vincent Gardenia, an actor whose face could serve as a Wikipedia illustration for the word “sourpuss”. But if Rosie’s sneer makes us merely uncomfortable, Trump’s all-too-public immaturity is enough to make us cringe with embarrassment. Isn't it time someone told this guy he’s walking through life with his fly open?

There was the time ice skater Katarina Witt blew him off at a party. Supposedly, Trump had walked up to her and told her she was the only woman to whom he’d ever given his private phone number who didn’t call him back. “Well, somebody has to start a trend,” she reportedly quipped. A gentleman would have let the remark pass, and a wit might have come back at her with a memorable zinger. But Trump, being neither witty nor a gentleman, could only tell reporters that the athletically built Witt had a back like a refrigerator and bad complexion.

Let the Match Continue!

In taking on Rosie, Trump seems finally to be wrestling in his own weight class. In an early round, she delivered a knee to the groin with a reference to Trump’s many well-publicized business failures. It is of course a matter of record that Trump ran an Atlantic City casino into the ground. And it is no mystery why he has never sought a presence in Las Vegas, since it would pit him against his former Atlantic City nemesis Steve Wynn. As Nevada’s pre-eminent casino operator, Wynn could eat Trump for breakfast. But like the schoolyard bully he is, Trump would rather mouth off about his business prowess than take on a real scrapper like Wynn. And the New York tabloids would suck up every word of his blather, since they are more impressed and intimidated by celebrity, even, than their readers.

Now, if Trump cannot see that the spectacle of a self-professed billionaire mud-wrestling on the entertainment channel is making him a laughing stock, then by all means, let the match continue!

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London Seminar Firming

A Hidden Pivot seminar in London appears likely, judging from the strong response I’ve received so far.  If you’d be interested in attending a two-day class there, probably sometime in the spring of 2007, please let me know via e-mail, including your contact information. The cost would be $1,500 USD.