Tuesday, May 29, 2007

On a clear day you can see for miles

CLICK to enlarge the madness

Lordy. I’m sure you are all well aware of Rosie’s very public deViewing this weekend. And for those of you who still haven’t heard yet, is there enough room for me too under that big rock you apparently call home? A quick recap for the cave dwellers. Wednesday: An epic blowout between Rosie and Elisabeth is captured finger-wag by finger-wag through the magic of spilt screen and ratings-mad producers. Thursday: Rosie takes the day off to celebrate her partner Kelli’s birthday as media outlet across the country pee themselves with delight replaying the fight ad nauseum. Friday: ABC announces that Rosie has asked to be released from the final three weeks of her contract and is now no longer enjoying any View. Monday: A pre-taped episode airs where the gals celebrate Elisabeth’s birthday, complete with Rosie warmly offering her a week’s vacation at her Miami house. And so ends the Rosie era on “The View” -- with a bang, then a whimper and finally the definition of irony.

This whole crazy affair has made one point abundantly clear: Politics is personal. We as a nation have lost the ability to rationally, emotionlessly, sanely discuss our political views without things becoming uncomfortably personal. There is no discourse, only discord. We are so polarized that instead of building bridges, we fill the gaping chasm between our ideologies with sound and fury. And, well, we all know what that signifies. I shouldn’t be surprised. After all, if our president refuses to listen to opposing viewpoints, how can one we expect more from an electorate which put him in office twice? (Well, once, but that’s an old drum and I’ve grown tired of beating it.)

Despite my past grumbles, I will miss Rosie. We need more outspoken women with strong opinions on television. And say what you will about her conspiracy theories and celebrity smackdowns, but she has been a consistent and passionate voice for her beliefs. And unlike the calculated talking heads and role-playing pundits, I believe Rosie spoke from the heart. We can’t really ask for more from our public figures than that. Plus, love her or hate her, she made that show infinitely more interesting to watch. Well, we’ll always have the blog. I mean, really, celebrities don’t get much more unvarnished than this.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the Rosie link.....uh, i've been living in/onder a cave/rock for most of my life so i wasnt aware of her(Rosie) as a passionate common senser ala Michael Moore. Its great to see more American's viewing their country as most of the world actualy does. Politics personal!
Thats funny.
I like your blog Ms Starker.

Mike said...

totally agree with you that rational discourse and disagreement no longer seems possible. our political arena is an AM talk radio show...

love your blog...

was looking up missy peryg....however you spell it... and stumbled across your site

Anonymous said...

Oh, do we have to come back from the weekend crush?

Rosie took it all personally from the get-go. That's not a bad thing, but she's never going to have dispassionate conversation about politics because it affects her too deeply.

I hope she'll be back with her own show.

Amanda said...

I just stumbled on your blog the other day, and I love it- you do a great job. Quick question though- I wanted to view your page with an RSS Reader and I'm having some trouble with the link at the bottom of the page. Anyone else having trouble, or is this just me?

Mike said...

link seemed to work for me...

Anonymous said...

As usual Dorothy makes it clear - I wish Rosie could have stayed less personal but I probably couldn't if I was her. Hope she rises again the link was great.