Victimization Lives

This morning brings another example of stupid celebrity tricks. Barry Manilow, not exactly on the top of the mountain of his career these days, was booked to be on The View. He demanded at the last minute that the one conservative on the show not be on stage with him. He said he didn't agree with her opinions and that she was dangerous and destructive. Yeah, ok. Poor Barry is so delicate that he can't be on stage with someone finally willing to stand up to his friend, the bully Rosie, and still remain a decent human being. Another example why I haven't watched the show in years. At least Barbara Walters had the decency to back her host and cancel Barry. Guess he's not as important as he thought he was after all. I'm sure the sheeple in her audience would not think Barry was doing anything wrong by refusing to even be on the same stage with the conservative host. Those progressives, they are so open minded and accepting, aren't they?

Speaking of encouraging the culture of victimization, a recent article in the Houston Chronicle told the story of an humor columnist living in New Orleans and his story of an appearance on the Oprah show. He put together a book of his newspaper columns with his recollections of life after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. His columns, by the way, are attributed with helping the Times-Picayune win a Pulitzer Prize. He was in Houston recently promoting his book, signing copies in a local bookstore. Many of those still living here in Houston, calling Houston home after leaving New Orleans, consider Chris Rose a lifeline. His book is "1 Dead in Attic" and he says, "I truly believe the more hands this book gets into, the more people understand."

"Although the stories were very personal, there is no question...I was telling a universal story. I'm not an extraordinary man. I'm not even an extraordinary writer. I just happen to be living in extraordinary times and have a job that allows me to tell that story on an everyday basis." "This book is not meteorological. It's not technical. It's not political. It doesn't apportion blame. All it is, is the story of why we live here, how we live here."

Rose suffered from depression and sought treatment for it. He wrote about the journey in his columns. His marriage broke up. He was treated for dependence on painkillers. He's off all medications now and feeling good. He came through.

He is seeking revenge on Oprah. He jokes about it, anyway. He gladly accepted an invitation to appear on her show and hoped to plug his book. He hoped to get the big bounce in sales that other books from Oprah's show experience. No deal, the staff of Oprah's show told Rose. They only wanted to talk about his depression. His book wasn't mentioned at all on the show, as it turns out. He said, instead, "they made me look like one pathetic, sorrowful, broken human being."

He refused to sign a waiver, so he is free to write about his experience with the mighty Oprah. He wrote about it in a column the day after his appearance and by nightfall it was all over the Internet. His book sales climbed from the exposure his story brought.

This is why I don't watch Oprah anymore. I haven't watched in years. She, who professes to help so many better themselves, is still a hostage to the tv ratings that keep her on the air. Drama and victimization. Why wouldn't she promote his book and his ability to turn his story into a story of hope? I guess the sheeple in the audience prefer the standard, same old, same old. Their loss.

And, for a political tie-in to the victimization angle: Lincoln Chaffee said yesterday that he has left the Republican party. Officially, anyway. He left a long time ago, if you ask me. He lost his last re-election and now is a nobody. His way of trying to remain relevant was to make a formal announcement to the press. Good riddance. Any Republican who proudly boasted that he didn't vote for the re-election of Bush in 2004 is of no use to the party anyway while in elected office. Wonder why he wasn't re-elected? The national party continued to pour money into his campaign, even with his consistent record of not voting with the party policies in recent years, even with his slap at the president.

It's too bad. His father, John Chaffee, was a fine man. He was an honest, old style Republican. He was a civil, hard working man and a man loyal to his party. He remembered he worked for the voters. His son, however, forgot. Son Lincoln said his party left him. He's riding that defeatist wave. Instead of staying and fighting to make the party into the party of the true republican agenda, the one from the days of his father's time in office, he quits.

What a loser.