Rosie Strikes Again

The emcee of the annual luncheon of New York Women in Communications was non other than Rosie O'Donnell. She lived up to her reputation by delivering her special brand of off-color humor including the "F-word", and "Eat Me!", a reference to her feud with the Donald.

Some of the attendees professed to be offended by Rosie's remarks. Robert Zimmerman, a Democrat activist for progressive causes called her "vulgar and common." I agree she's vulgar but his remark that she is "common" says more about him than her. I believe those kind of remarks are anything but common, but that's beside the point.

Some thought it was fun to watch other people be offended. I don't need to say anything about that.

However, the NY Women in Communications' managing director, Beth Ellen Keyes, expressed the group's overall pleasure in having Rosie appear and do her thing. "She was just great."

O'Donnell's publicist, Cindi Berger, told the New York Post: "When you ask for Rosie, you know what you're getting. She's not a shrinking violet. She's a stand-up comedienne. She says things that are provocative." No kidding.

Let's play a little game. People who attend these functions, watch certain television shows, listen to certain radio broadcasts, do so of their own free will. If they don't want to subject themselves to Rosie's "humor", or see sex and violence on their TV sets, or hear entertainers' humorous remarks or political opinions, they don't have to. So, our game is to substitute the name "Imus" for "Rosie" in Ms Berger's statement above. "When you ask for Imus, you know what you're getting. (S)He's not a shrinking violet. He says things that are provocative."

Lest you think that the attendees were mostly telephone operators, the Women in Communications group included such celebrities as Barbara Walters, Joy Behar, Meredith Vieira, Joan Didion, Arianna Huffington, Nora Ephron, Martha Stewart and Hillary Clinton. Barbara and Joy must be used to Rosie's nasty mouth by now but the others may not have become so jaded. I wonder how many of them railed against Imus' recent provocative remarks. I wonder how many of them will publicly denounce Rosie? Can I count them on one hand? One finger?

UPDATE: 4/25/07; 3:38pm
Oh my! She's going to leave The View which I never watched anyway. It is impossible to live in the US without knowing way more that one wants to know about celebrities, as evidenced by my comments above. Do we really believe the story that it was just a problem negotiating a new contract? Did ABC get tired of her tirades and nastiness? Who cares.

Tragedies and Those who Line up to Grab the LImelight

I just listened to the press conference from Virginia Tech officials discussing what is known so far regarding the tragic shooting that occured there yesterday. The president of the university spoke, the various law enforcement bigwigs, the medical examiner, the governor's spokesperson, etc.,etc.

Everyone expresses their horror, sympathy, grief, all the other appropriate expressions and I'm sure that they are sincere. But the need that some people feel to rush in and publicly utter their feelings is suspect. I guess they are sensitive to the media's constant nose-counting of who shows up at these events and who doesn't. Their fear that they would be singled out as "insensitive" or "uncaring" compels them to pop up everywhere the cameras go.

Although not registering on the Richter scale of public tragedies, the recent Imus "scandal" was an example of the same phenomenon. When New Jersey governor Corzine found out that Imus was due to meet with the Rutgers' womens' basketball team to apologize for his nasty remarks directed at them, the governor jumped in his car to show up and gather some of the media attention. He was in no way connected with this unfortunate situation but was compelled by his lust for attention and need to appear appropriately disturbed by Imus' remarks. Too bad for him that he neglected to fasten his seat belt as is required by New Jersey law. He suffered serious injuries after his trooper driven SUV crashed on the way to the media circus.

President Bush and his wife will be appearing at a convocation at Virginia Tech later today to express their sadness and grief for the calamity that happened there. That's just what that community needs - a whirlwind of activity surrounding the appearance of the president and his entourage when the university is already in an uproar and the investigation is ongoing. I am sure his feelings are genuine but it smacks of political opportunism.

DUMB AND DUMBER

Thank goodness someone else feels the way I do. Linda Chavez has an article that describes my feelings about news coverage as practiced today. With all the important, and in some cases vitally important issues to debate in the media, the past several months, really years, have been filled with media blasted trivia.

The past two weeks have been non-stop Imus and his stupid comment, Anna-Nichole Smith (Imus should have called her something nasty-it would have been hard to refute) and her now motherless as well as previously fatherless child, and lastly, will Sanjaya get kicked off American Idol. I don't listen to Imus, but one can't help knowing more than one wants to about him, even before this lastest brouhaha. I don't watch Idol, Survivor, Dances with Stars, or much else that passes for entertainment on television, and, when I watch the news, listen to the radio, or read the newspaper, I resent having to wade through updates on what's happening on TV shows. We also have the unending celebrity stories, worth little other than to publicize the antics of actresses, models, rockstars and the like to further clutter our minds with worthless information.

That's NEWS? No wonder newspapers are declining in circulation. No wonder television news shows have declining viewerships. Fox News enjoys a healthy percent of the viewers, and it is one of the worst at celebrity drivel. No wonder people turn to the internet to find in depth information on a wide variety of subject with a wide variety of viewpoints.

The Imus situation is a perfect example. Instead of just letting his stupid comment die a natural death, maybe with the powers that be uttering a "tsk, tsk, shame, shame," the subject was bandied about at first, then hammered into everyone's consciousness by a rampant media. I suppose the MSM was intent on proving how non-racist, non-sexist it is by constantly appearing shocked, shocked as something the "shock jock" said.

They had to drag out that useful idiot Al Sharpton who leeches onto every news story where race appears to be an issue. Why anyone still gives him a podium is beyond me. I was astonished that he received taxpayer funds for his run for the White House a few years ago. It further served to "legitimize" his pontifications. His demand that Imus be fired was listened to and obeyed, as most people thought it would be. I don't care that Imus was fired. If CBS and MSNBC wanted to fire him, that's their and his business. They might have become tired of his antics, but I doubt it. His antics draw more attention to his show and increase listenership. If they fired him due to hypocritical rantings by Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and the like (I did not say "those people"), shame on them.

Sharpton says this is only the beginning. He will set his sights on any radio or TV personality who dares to utter anything remotely troubling to his ears. Look out, Limbaugh, Boortz, and the rest of "you people" in TV and radio land. More tempests in teapots on the horizon.

These media storms are another "opium for the masses", keeping the population occupied with the media's trivial pursuits instead of pondering the more important issues of the day. Perhaps if as much attention was paid to the dismal education system in government schools, or the increasingly high costs of higher education, American youth would grow to disdain such ridiculously over-hyped news stories and demand coverage of more important issues.

The media has decided to give scant attention to the Islamic threat to our way of life in lieu of beaucoup attention to trivial matters. Ironic, isn't it, that, should the Islamists have their way, the MSM, and probablty all media, will be under the thumb of radicals who will put up with no Anna-Nichole Smiths, no American Idols, and no Don Imuses, at all. No women's basketball either, for that matter. See? Problem solved.