To cleanse the palate, only the oldest of old-school Hot Air readers know how much this means to a site that used to rely on her for insane 9/11 Truth clips damn near every day. When she left the show in 2007, I promised myself I wouldn’t quit HA until two things happened: Rosie was back where she belonged, and America had an atheist president. Today, the first of those two conditions is fulfilled.

Whereas the second was fulfilled five years ago.

It’s been real, guys.

Rosie O’Donnell has made her deal with “The View” … sources connected with the negotiations tell TMZ…

TMZ broke the story … the negotiations fired up a few days ago and the deal was almost completed by end of business day Monday.

The deal is now complete. Rosie will join Whoopi Goldberg on the show. As we reported, producers are also looking for a Latina and a conservative. Two conservative candidates who are being scoped are Abby Huntsman and Margaret Hoover.

Abby Huntsman co-hosts a show on MSNBC and has been known to grumble that one of the Romney boys should primary Mike Lee in Utah, so yeah, she’s a natural choice for ABC’s resident “conservative.”

To celebrate the occasion, take my arm and stroll with me down memory lane, back to Rosie’s finest hour. Watch the whole clip if you can — she mentions impeachment around halfway through, a topic not unknown to would-be “View” panelists — but if you can’t take the full seven minutes, at least skip to 5:50 and watch from there. The line about how fire’s never melted steel before always makes me wistful for the show’s heyday. Sigh. Exit question: Given that Jenny McCarthy’s brand of kookery actually contributes to children dying, Rosie’s Trutherism should probably be considered an upgrade, no? Good work, ABC.