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Rosie O'Donnell and Donald Trump have jumped onto the latest celebrity bandwagon and with both barrels blazing- Hatfield and McCoy style. O'Donnell, who's comments have made headlines since she joined The View, blasted Trump in Wednesday's show. Claiming his press conference with Miss USA Tara Conner had annoyed her on "a multitude of levels," O'Donnell compared Trump to a snake oil salesman and claimed his longstanding financial woes and multitude of divorces called his moral character into question.

Trump fired back that afternoon, resorting to grade school name calling and suggesting he'd have O'Donnell's girlfriend kidnapped. Never one to take the high road, Trump insinuated O'Donnell was attracted to Miss USA, proclaimed her very unattractive and offered to sue her for the fun of it.
The scenario resembles a bad episode of the Jerry Springer show except that every word being uttered is making national news. Trump and O'Donnell are just the latest celebrities to find themselves duking it out in headlines. The world watched for two years while the feud between Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie played out in the tabloids. Brooke Shields and Tom Cruise used morning talk shows to sling insults, and Elton John has used any media form available to insult an ever growing list of celebrities.
The public, accustomed to celebrities guarding their privacy and image, have been enthralled with this newest trend. Watching your favorite celebrity tarnish their image is better than the non-stop parade of reality TV shows hitting the air. People know their names, their love lives and their successes, so they feel they have a vested interest in watching their failures as well.
But, is this trend, like reality TV, just another indicator of the moral decline of American society. A growing number of teen icons have admitted to varying forms of bulimia and anorexia, they brag brazenly to the press about their drug use, and jump from one another's beds at will. Sports stars have been plagued with rape charges, the music world faces a growing domination by gangster-rap and now celebrities from all walks of life have resorted to name calling and mud-slinging.
Charles Barkley shocked sports fans when in 1993 he publicly announced he had no intention of being a role model to America's youth, but his message was a slap in the face that parents desperately needed. We've relied for too long on celebrities to guide us and we feed the media frenzy by patronizing the tabloid style reporting that predominates the news world.
It's become essential that as Americans we take back the moral barometer, and let the media know we won't tolerate this kind of sensationalized reporting. But more importantly, a clear message needs to be sent to celebrities. While they don't serve as role models, they do have a responsibility to maintain a moderate level of decorum. If they aren't capable of conducting themselves in a professional manner while in the spotlight, take them out of the spotlight.

Learn more about this author, Mary Blevins.
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