“I know a con when I see it,” says POTUS’s second-biggest media fan at the top of the clip, eliciting actual laughter from the audience.

To cleanse the palate, here’s Whoopi explaining that she resented Pirro falsely accusing her of being hysterical, which is why she felt obliged to … cut off her mic and end the segment in a huff. A left-winger asked me not long ago on Twitter why righties care at all about “The View,” which I thought was a decent question. It does get more than its fair share of attention among newsy programs. I think part of it is that the format is a bit closer to real life than the standard cable-news fare is. The hosts are all friendly-ish, they discuss more than just the day’s headlines, their opinions are a *little* less predictable than the usual left-right rock-em-sock-em-robots dynamic on Fox, CNN, MSNBC, etc. Watching a simulacrum of dinner-table conversation is more interesting than the familiar war o’ the talking points, especially when the hosts are prone to clash. It’s a bad family Thanksgiving, nearly every day.

But partly it’s tradition too. Rosie’s been gone from the show for years but for a few magical moments in the previous decade, this was the only show on mainstream American TV in which one of the hosts questioned the “official story” of 9/11. It’s never fully lost that luster of insanity to me, even though none of the current panelists are anywhere near as kooky as O’Donnell. Catch Behar on the right day, though, and who knows?

Anyway. In a separate clip, Pirro was asked if she’d accept an appointment as attorney general and … didn’t say no. (You can watch that exchange here.) That won’t be happening in a 50/49 Senate. But in a 55/45 Senate, which may be the state of play next January? I’m dying to see how that confirmation vote would go.

Update: Per Pirro’s publicist, what you’re seeing in the clip is just a hint of what was to come off-camera.

Goldberg ended the interview by throwing the Judge off-air without letting her get a chance to defend herself or discuss the topics in her book.

After the tense exchange on camera, Goldberg began cursing at Pirro off camera after the Judge attempted to speak civilly with Whoopi. With tension growing off-air, Goldberg got into Pirro’s face, yelling “get the f*** out” and “f*** you” after The View host flew off the handles.

Update (Ed): Judge Pirro also told the story herself on my show just a little while ago. Be sure to check it out here; her segment starts around the 40-minute mark.