April 17th
April 17th, 2008, a Thursday
Guess how many times I heard someone start a sentence with "look" on tv last night? Announcers on cable (mostly talking about the Democratic debate) did it 7 times while I was watching. And then Barack did it 5 times in the debate. That is not good news for him. He only uses "look" when he is getting frustrated which means things aren't going that well. Sometimes I wonder if he will just wake up one day and say that being a politician in this country is hopeless but he is the candidate of hope so I guess that wouldn't work. It is hard to be a believer sometimes, isn't it, Mr. O? They are saying that Hillary's only chance to win since she is behind is to "go negative" and hope people will start to hate Barack but the problem is people are starting to hate her instead. If those were my choices, I would find another way to spend my time.
Lately I have been taken with a radio announcer on Air America even though I don't listen to the radio. I know her as a political analyst on MSNBC and a favorite guest of Keith Olbermann's on Countdown. Her name is Rachel Maddow. She is young, smart, funny, upbeat and has really pretty skin. And we share the same politics. (Last night in post-debate coverage, she looked heartbroken because of how unfair the moderators were in their questions to Barack.) One night a while ago she actually hosted Countdown while Keith had the night off. So it seems her star is rising.
I started thinking about her and wondering about her. Why isn't it enough to appreciate Rachel for what she does so well on tv? Why do we have to know everything about her? Maybe the same reason that kids put everything about themselves on My Space. (I considered getting a page on My Space for my blog but when I went on the site to look around, I couldn't believe some of the personal things the girls were saying! And I knew that wasn't the place for a little pink bear who sees the world with a tinge of rose color.) So I did what everyone seems to do. I googled Rachel. Did I do this because I really wanted to know more about her or because I was researching for my blog? I don't know.
Anyway, she is 33, a Rhodes Scholar with a PhD in Political Science (I told you she was smart), an activist, the host of The Rachel Maddow Show on Air America, and a lesbian. Well, at least it said she lives with her partner who is an artist and there is a link to the website where she sells her artwork. She has her own personal website, her show has a website, and some fans put up an official fan site for her with lots of photos. There are shots of her and the artist, her at HIV AIDS support events, and some of her just posing for the camera. In these photos, with her very short hair and her rolled up jeans and tennies, she looks like a boy or at the very least a tomboy. If you didn't know her, you would think she was a boy. On the air she wears suits and looks like a girl.
So now I know a lot about Rachel. The question is, what influence will that have when I watch her talk about politics? Will I be listening to her analysis or thinking about all these things I know about her personal life now? I looked around the internet to see if other political analysts had their own sites and talked about their boyfriends, girlfriends, wives or husbands. George Stephanapoulos didn't have a website, nor did Keith Olbermann, or Dianne Sawyer. Arianna Huffington, author and host of huffingtonpost.com, had a bio page but it talked about her professional accomplishments and the books she has written and where she went to school. At the end it said she lives with her two teenage daughters but nothing about her love life, you know.
So I am thinking that Rachel puts this stuff out there because she is gay and successful and appealing and maybe she is standing up for the gay community as a role model by publicly exhibiting her gayness. But I am also thinking that the better choice may be just to be great at her job (which she is), very professional (which she is) and let that be enough. Maybe the statement really is that a young, gay woman can do so well in such a public job and it doesn't really matter who she lives with or sleeps with. I am sure the gay community is very proud of her (and I hope her parents are, too, but there I go again thinking too much about her personal life) but for some of us all we really want from her is to share her amazing insight and intuition about politics. I don't care one thing about Rachel's gayness. Gosh, it is very possible that my boyfriend, Nikki, the former monk, is a homosexual. And one of my closest, most fabulous girlfriends is gay. And I may even have a little crush on her. But I would rather have waited until 60 Minutes did a profile on Rachel to find out about her personal life. Maybe I shouldn't have googled her after all.
Anyway, I am a Rachel Maddow fan but I won't be visiting her fan site again or anything. I would like to issue a personal invitation for her to subscribe to my blog. I think we are a lot alike and maybe we could be friends.
Remember when the news was delivered by Huntley and Brinkley? Or Walter Cronkite? In those days, the personal stuff was saved for movie stars. See, I told you I was a boomer. Just longing for the good ole days. But you can't have it both ways. If you want to be a bear with a blog and a radio show, you better get with the program. Ask me anything.
GR
Guess how many times I heard someone start a sentence with "look" on tv last night? Announcers on cable (mostly talking about the Democratic debate) did it 7 times while I was watching. And then Barack did it 5 times in the debate. That is not good news for him. He only uses "look" when he is getting frustrated which means things aren't going that well. Sometimes I wonder if he will just wake up one day and say that being a politician in this country is hopeless but he is the candidate of hope so I guess that wouldn't work. It is hard to be a believer sometimes, isn't it, Mr. O? They are saying that Hillary's only chance to win since she is behind is to "go negative" and hope people will start to hate Barack but the problem is people are starting to hate her instead. If those were my choices, I would find another way to spend my time.
Lately I have been taken with a radio announcer on Air America even though I don't listen to the radio. I know her as a political analyst on MSNBC and a favorite guest of Keith Olbermann's on Countdown. Her name is Rachel Maddow. She is young, smart, funny, upbeat and has really pretty skin. And we share the same politics. (Last night in post-debate coverage, she looked heartbroken because of how unfair the moderators were in their questions to Barack.) One night a while ago she actually hosted Countdown while Keith had the night off. So it seems her star is rising.
I started thinking about her and wondering about her. Why isn't it enough to appreciate Rachel for what she does so well on tv? Why do we have to know everything about her? Maybe the same reason that kids put everything about themselves on My Space. (I considered getting a page on My Space for my blog but when I went on the site to look around, I couldn't believe some of the personal things the girls were saying! And I knew that wasn't the place for a little pink bear who sees the world with a tinge of rose color.) So I did what everyone seems to do. I googled Rachel. Did I do this because I really wanted to know more about her or because I was researching for my blog? I don't know.
Anyway, she is 33, a Rhodes Scholar with a PhD in Political Science (I told you she was smart), an activist, the host of The Rachel Maddow Show on Air America, and a lesbian. Well, at least it said she lives with her partner who is an artist and there is a link to the website where she sells her artwork. She has her own personal website, her show has a website, and some fans put up an official fan site for her with lots of photos. There are shots of her and the artist, her at HIV AIDS support events, and some of her just posing for the camera. In these photos, with her very short hair and her rolled up jeans and tennies, she looks like a boy or at the very least a tomboy. If you didn't know her, you would think she was a boy. On the air she wears suits and looks like a girl.
So now I know a lot about Rachel. The question is, what influence will that have when I watch her talk about politics? Will I be listening to her analysis or thinking about all these things I know about her personal life now? I looked around the internet to see if other political analysts had their own sites and talked about their boyfriends, girlfriends, wives or husbands. George Stephanapoulos didn't have a website, nor did Keith Olbermann, or Dianne Sawyer. Arianna Huffington, author and host of huffingtonpost.com, had a bio page but it talked about her professional accomplishments and the books she has written and where she went to school. At the end it said she lives with her two teenage daughters but nothing about her love life, you know.
So I am thinking that Rachel puts this stuff out there because she is gay and successful and appealing and maybe she is standing up for the gay community as a role model by publicly exhibiting her gayness. But I am also thinking that the better choice may be just to be great at her job (which she is), very professional (which she is) and let that be enough. Maybe the statement really is that a young, gay woman can do so well in such a public job and it doesn't really matter who she lives with or sleeps with. I am sure the gay community is very proud of her (and I hope her parents are, too, but there I go again thinking too much about her personal life) but for some of us all we really want from her is to share her amazing insight and intuition about politics. I don't care one thing about Rachel's gayness. Gosh, it is very possible that my boyfriend, Nikki, the former monk, is a homosexual. And one of my closest, most fabulous girlfriends is gay. And I may even have a little crush on her. But I would rather have waited until 60 Minutes did a profile on Rachel to find out about her personal life. Maybe I shouldn't have googled her after all.
Anyway, I am a Rachel Maddow fan but I won't be visiting her fan site again or anything. I would like to issue a personal invitation for her to subscribe to my blog. I think we are a lot alike and maybe we could be friends.
Remember when the news was delivered by Huntley and Brinkley? Or Walter Cronkite? In those days, the personal stuff was saved for movie stars. See, I told you I was a boomer. Just longing for the good ole days. But you can't have it both ways. If you want to be a bear with a blog and a radio show, you better get with the program. Ask me anything.
GR
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