‘Why are you being so weird about this?’

How can a (so-far) failed politician and author generate buzz for her book? Or, how can a talk-show host build credentials to help establish himself as a replacement for Larry King?

I don’t mean to suggest that either Christine O’Donnell or Piers Morgan went into their taped interview with premeditation, intending the confrontation that ended with her walking off his show. But I do mean to suggest that the aborted interview did no harm to either of them – that, in fact, many more people will be watching the interview on CNN than would have been if the interview had gone off smoothly.

(As Murray remarked to Ted on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “That’s right, Ted. It’s just a matter of giving the public what they want.”)

It’s depressing, but this is the way it goes these days. The incentives work in the wrong direction. At least Morgan had the grace – or maybe it was only comic timing – to follow her departure with, “Anyway, it’s a good book.”

Here’s the video.