October 5, 2009 | Comments
Sheesh, I take a week off to re-tool my site in honor of a new name – Grizzly Mom – and, as is so common these days, the world changes at light speed:
- Led by the President of the United States, world leaders and diplomats gather in New York City at the U.N. to sing the praises of said President and to trash the U.S. and Israel. The U.S. President, reveling in the adulation, makes speeches that would once have seen the American delegation leaving the room. Only Israel’s leader and the Canadian delegation behave with dignity and courage.
- After trashing Sarah Palin, the war in Iraq (and, by extension, the men and women in our military), and, deservedly so, every politician who has engaged in adulterous affairs, David Letterman confesses to a giggling, rapturous audience that he has engaged in sexual liaisons with female underlings. But as poor David tells it, again to mass applause, he is the true victim here – the victim of extortion attempts. His mom must be so proud.
- While our troops are dying each day, Mr. and Mrs. Obama, spurred on by hometown cronies and a slobbering NBC, CNN, CBS, ABC and company, fly to Copenhagen to beg the Olympic Committee to award the 2016 Olympics to Chicago. Despite his heartfelt stories of how Chicago celebrated his coronation, and her stories of dad’s MS, the IOC dismisses Chicago in the first round, ultimately naming Rio the winner. Shocked media groupies weep, the IOC is obviously racist, and it’s all George Bush’s fault.
- In the wake of his Olympic defeat, the President, doing his best Commander-in-Chief impersonation, swallows his pride and meets with General McChrystal, our commander in Afghanistan, on a London tarmac (in response, no doubt, to critics’ claims that the President is foresaking our troops and ignoring the General’s request for an increase). For only his second meeting with the General, Obama’s customary metrosexual skinny suit stands in stark, wimpy contrast to the General’s desert fatigues (especially love the boots!). Though the President offers the General only minutes of his time, the General’s attire sends a clear message to those of us in his and his warriors’ camp.
- After decades of luxurious exile in Europe, film director Roman Polanksi is arrested in Switzerland. Years ago he escaped punishment in the U.S. for drugging, raping and sodomizing a 13-year-old girl, 30 years his junior. The morally upstanding community that is Hollywood jumps to his defense, led by the likes of Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, and Toys R Us spokeswoman Whoopi Goldberg. Apparently winning an Oscar trumps child protection.
- In a related story, we discover – by the man’s own documented admissions — that the President’s safe school czar (whatever that is) at least once ignored his mandate to report a child in danger, counseling a 15-year-old boy who was hooking up with older men at bus stations to enjoy and be safe. We hear more is coming.
- The U.S. dollar begins a global decline. Members of Congress and media hacks berate General McChrystal, demanding he just “shut up and salute.” The U.S. Congress continues to drive their un-read nationalized health-care plan that will decimate small business, extend coverage to illegals, ration care, punish doctors, limit care offered to seniors who have outlived their usefulness to the collective, tax us into oblivion, provide….
That’s enough. I can’t stand anymore. Too much rage percolating in this Grizzly Mom’s gut. But it’s a good rage. A rage for country, liberty and what we know is right. A rage that stems from the sick feeling in the stomach when all is not right in our country and the despicable efforts of those in power, when our Constitution is being shredded, our children’s futures destroyed. But it’s also a rage that can make things right again. For now, we’ll just have to call it a week and look for signs of light in this beleaguered country of ours, perhaps in the week to come (though I won’t be holding my breath for that one).
Betsy Siino | Comments
Balloon Boy Saga
October 20, 2009 | Comments (0)October 20, 2009 | Comments
I am no fan of reality TV. Wait. Strike that. I do watch the Food Network’s cooking competitions and I admit to following Dancing with the Stars with my daughter. But I steer clear of anything that follows subjects into bathrooms, promotes vicious mind games, or records intimate and embarrassing moments, all designed not only to titillate a voyeuristic public, but also to dangle the possibility that a participant’s bathroom performance will lead to superstardom.
Despite my attempts at isolation, I remember the night I first spotted a commercial for one of those “traditional” bathroom-wallowing-type reality shows, that indicated children were now being trotted out in front of the cameras to cry, eat bugs and entrails, and/or have tantrums for the entertainment of the entire population of the United States.
Thus was born my rant that has since become all too familiar to those who know me: My hope is that someday when these kids come of age, they will sue the daylights out of their parents, the networks and the production companies that exploited them on television without their consent.
Well, last Friday, reality TV collided with publicity stunt collided with child exploitation, when a hysterical media reported that a 6-year-old was thought to be flying thousands of feet above Colorado in an experimental helium balloon. Emergency personnel rose to full alert, the military was called in, Denver Airport suspended full operation, and America watched and waited.
Hours later, the balloon floated back to earth, empty. Hours after that, the boy was found hiding in his home, allegedly terrified of punishment for setting the balloon free. Hours after that, the boy stated on national television that it was all done “for the show.” Minutes later, law enforcement kicked in. Hours after that, we learned that mom and dad, veterans of reality TV, were seeking a new gig. And, well, now with such words as “hoax” and “child protective services” flying about, things aren’t looking all that rosy for mom and dad.
Those who spent that afternoon worrying about this boy have since learned that the child apparently cut his teeth on reality TV. He was paraded repeatedly by media-hungry parents before the cameras of “Wife Swap,” YouTube, and now virtually every media outlet in the country, all “for the show,” all for an alleged parental stab at a reality show. In an odd karmic twist — and much to dad’s shock, I’m sure – the boy has now emerged the poster child for reality-TV child exploitation.
And I say, let the lawsuits begin.
Betsy Siino | Comments