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Because no move at The View could possibly be official unless seconded (and thirded) by the two screeching ass-pains that used to chew the scenery there, Entertainment Tonight made sure not to let news of Whoopi's hiring pass without comment from Rosie O'Donnell and Star Jones. ET's web site reports the following staggeringly predictable show of support:

"Whoopi is fantastic in every way and perfect for the job," Rosie says. "She's amazing and one of my favorites."

In an exclusive statement, Star Jones tells ET she's pleased with the choice. "Whoopi is a smart woman with an opinion...and an excellent choice. She brings life experience outside of the entertainment business and diversity with intelligence...I wish her the best."

While the value in gold of that exclusive cannot be measured in terms we weak humans can comprehend, the more amusing score might have been Barbara's reaction to this reaction, which we imagine involved a few accidental guffaws before she composed herself and choked out, "Oh, it's so sweet that they think we care." Hopefully we'll round out this thing with more EXCLUSIVE statements from not-missed and long-forgotten View exes Debbie Matenopoulos and Lisa Ling; we imagine Meredith Vieira will be too busy counting her money and framing signed pictures of Matt Lauer to say anything but, "Oh, wow, that is SO not my problem any more. Champagne, anyone?"