CNN must have known it was tempting fate by giving comic Kathy Griffin a live microphone during its New Year's Eve special.

This is the woman who exclaimed Jesus could "suck it" when she won an Emmy award. The woman who predicted Miley Cyrus would get a "down-there virus" when hosting Bravo's A-List awards. The woman who actually thought she would still film a guest star role on Cyrus' Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana after the first joke made worldwide headlines.

In other words, the kind of take-no-$#@& comedian who would see a party with lots of alcohol-fueled knuckleheads, bitter cold and the pressure of entertaining an international audience as a minefield of possibility.

So it's no surprise the redheaded wonder let a serious profanity slip while dressing down a heckler when she thought the show had cut to commercial.

Doesn't Griffin know that stuff like this always ends up on YouTube -- one way or another? (come to think about it, I bet she's counting on it!)

*