Mr. Wow Blog
Mr Wow on Paula Deen…Edward Snowden..George Zimmerman and…Judy!
9:17 pm | June 24, 2013

Author: Mr. Wow | Category: Point of View | Comments: 80

 

 

Mr. Wow Opines:

 

 

I’m not particularly a fan of Paula Deen.  Although I love her buttery, fat-drenched food.  Which, by the way, she has never encouraged people to eat everyday.  I always thought she was  a bit much with her constant “you’ alls” and she is obviously a tough cookie under the cholesterol.   Well, she’s a woman who made herself a multi-millionaire.  Of course she’s tough.  As nails.  She has big hair, too.  Which is always a good thing, in Mr. W-land.  The higher the hair the closer to God, as the saying goes.

 

Now she’s out of her job on Food Network and other sponsors threaten to drop her, because she admitted that back in the day (1986, she says) she probably used the “N-word.”   This came out—via the National Enquirer—because she’s currently being sued by an ex-employee for all sorts of alleged harassment.

 

Again—not a fan.  But I am soooooooooooooooo tired of people being fired and censured; driven out of work because they exercise the right of free (if sometimes repugnant) speech.   Ms. Deen did not use any racial slurs publicly.   She admitted to having used the word a long time ago, and added that times have changed and her family doesn’t tolerate such talk and she has moderated her vocabulary.  She was perhaps too honest in her deposition.  After all those years, a simple  “I can’t quite recall” might have sufficed.

     I’m not worried about Deen financially. She has millions.  But I am increasingly worried that speaking one’s mind—even if it’s the worst thing in the world—is cause for loss of employment.

    Look,  make these bad-speaking people—or more likely their lawyers and PR staff—draft an apology and accept the fact that the apology is probably not sincere but the existence of it and the furor has raised some consciousness. In the privacy of their homes these bigots will rant as is their right.  But they won’t be careless in any place they might be “caught.”  Not a perfect solution but prejudice is not going away—I hate to burst anybody’s bubble on that one. 

     I certainly wouldn’t  want to judged on my words—and especially my actions—of almost 30 years ago.  (Or even yesterday, to be honest.  I had a very frank conversation with two friends regarding Europe, and the Mid-East and Muslims that would not stand up at any respectable—or hypocritical—liberal dinner table.)

 

I also find it hilarious, in a gallows humor way, that The Food Network, which is almost lily white, in terms of its hosts and chefs, got rid of Ms. Deen for her “racist” views.  How about a few more black people stirring the pots at  FN? 

 

By the way, if somebody called me a “faggot” I wouldn’t sue them or expect an apology.   I’d pray to the God I’m not sure at all exists to free hatred from people’s souls. 

 

 

The first time I watched all of fugitive Edward Snowden’s video interview to The Guardian—from Hong Kong– I thought, “What a smug, narcissistic little shit.”   Events since then have only hardened my opinion.   As I write this he is ensconced in Moscow, asking for asylum in Ecuador.  He claims to be a freedom fighter, raising awareness of the extreme security measures that have taken place and continue since 9/11.   Invasive and intrusive security measures, by his reckoning.  He worked for the NSA, stole info, and leaked it.  He signed a confidentiality agreement before he took his job.  Like when you have sex with a famous person—they make you sign something, to avert blabber-mouths.  (Well, the smart ones, do, anyway.) 

 

   Was I shocked and surprised that we’re “being monitored”   Of course not.  Look, all empires, dictatorships, democracies, monitor its subjects.  Whether it’s the guy in the silken stockings putting his ear to the wall of a bedroom at Versailles or our e-mails and phone calls on tap, it’s all the same thing.  Do I think my own e-mails and phone calls are up for investigation?  Nope.  Tho anyone who tracked my Internet history would get a fine lesson on Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, old movies, and gay porn.(Oy, the porn!)   I don’t expect privacy these days.   And why should anybody?   I’m not even a part of the social network.  Not on Facebook, not on Twitter.  But I’ve got this here.  And the real Mr. Wow could certainly be tracked down and confronted—“You were a whore and an alcoholic!”   Ooops.  Caught.

 

Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who broke Snowden’s story in The Guardian, thinks Snowden is a hero.  Really?  Tell that to Nelson Mandella (who might be dead by the time this appears.)   He went to prison for his beliefs.    Tell that to Daniel Ellsberg who broke The Pentagon Papers.  Tell it to the young men and women who fought (and were beaten and jailed)  outside The Stonewall bar, ushering in, in one night, gay liberation.  Tell it to the black men, women and children who were hosed and brutalized and lynched and bombed, who sat at lunch counters and were spat at. 

 

Snowden is an opportunist.  And if indeed he carries with him, laptops full of top secret information he is dangerous and needs to be stopped.  Even if he has no intention of sharing this vital info, what is to prevent any power unfriendly to the U.S. to wrest it from him?   (And please note, as of this post, he has only popped up in countries not in sync with U.S. policies.) 

 

It continues to be a perfect storm of controversy and “scandal” for President Obama, barely into the first year of his second term—Bengazi, the IRS, the NSA, the AP debacle.    I wonder—does he regret getting re-elected?  He’s grayer, that’s for sure.  But as timorous and careful as ever.  Too much for my taste.  I know—well, I think and hope—he’s on the right course, on the right side—but he can’t convey righteous indignation, real passion, a true sense of governing.  (As much as any president really “governs.)   He can’t “act.”  Obama is a man of reason in a job and an atmosphere that confounds all reason.  (Thomas Jefferson called the presidency—then in its infancy–“painful and thankless.”)  Obama will leave office in 2016 as one of the most relieved and justifiably embittered Chief Executives ever.

  

 

Snowden?  Brought back to face the music.  He did the crime…etc. 

 

Oh, and I loved Glenn Greenwald’s  huffy, sanctimonious response to “Meet The Press” David Gregory’s question—should Greenwald himself be charged with a crime, now that Snowden is wanted for espionage?  Did he aid and abet Snowden’s worldwide flight?   Instead of saying, “I didn’t aid and abet anything,” Greenwald attacked Gregory for even asking the question.  Ummmm…Glenn, if nobody asked a question, you and your friend Mr. Snowden wouldn’t be famous, and the nefarious doings of the NSA—at least as you see it—wouldn’t be out there. 

 

Take it like a man and answer like a man. 

 

P.S.  I am on board with the drones.  Yes, there are going to be civilian deaths.  Yes, those civilian deaths will harden the feelings against us.  But, let’s be real.  Nothing but the complete withdrawal of every American troop and American government entity will soften how the mid-east views us.  It is either drones to kill terrorists or troops on the ground.  And when there are troops on the ground, do you think atrocities and “collateral damage” still  doesn’t happen?   As far as I’m concerned, let the mid-east implode on itself, by itself.  We have no business there.  This world we want to democratize, America-style, will never be ready for it.   Bring our men and women home.  Let’s save Detroit.  Let’s rebuild our infrastructure. Let’s have a few billion extra dollars for the poor and needy and the youth of this country.  Leave the rest to Allah.

 

 

Let me take a great big leap here.  George Zimmerman will be acquitted of the murder of Skittle-armed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.  Or there will be a hung jury and another trial. (Although with only six jurors, the latter seems unlikely.) 

 

I think Trayvon would be alive if Mr. Zimmerman had done what the police asked and not followed the boy.  (“They always get away with it” Zimmerman muttered to the cops as he reported Trayvon’s movements—which was just getting back to his father’s house.) 

 

 But, Zimmerman is alive and Trayvon is dead.  Nobody saw the final confrontation.  Who threw the first punch, who first exchanged words?  Zimmerman will claim he didn’t know Trayvon was on his way home with Skittles.  But nobody can speak for the dead youth.  What did he think was going on with some guy following him at night?   Didn’t Trayvon have a right to “stand his ground?” as Florida law permits?  

 

The only trump card for the Martin family is Trayvon’s mother, who has been a model of dignity.  It was unfortunate that she allowed herself to be aligned with the disreputable MSNBC “anchor” Al Sharpton, but desperate times call for desperate measures.   She is a far more appealing and compelling figure than Zimmerman (who seems to be a dolt) or his brother, who seems to be a smart, arrogant prick. (They were not close until this crisis.)   Both Trayvon’s mother and Zimmerman’s brother I am sure will be called to testify.  Perhaps dignity will win out over arrogance, but the justice system is what it is. 

 

If Zimmerman is found not guilty, I hope he has cry-babied and begged enough cash from his supporters to leave the country.   Best for him.  And best for us.  I don’t want him on my neighborhood watch.   I often wear hoodies.

 

And now for the entertainment portion of the evening:

 

 

Watched “The Pirate” the other night on TCM.    Way  too extravagantly campy to have been a  success in 1948.   Gene Kelly was a big ham (as the role required) with  an impossible-to-ignore perfect ass in tight pants and killer thighs in short shorts.  Miss G. was not in Kansas anymore.  She was hot and funny and deliciously strident.  She wasn’t the girl next door.  She hadn’t been for many years.  Well, she was the girl next door who might invite you over for a drink—or ten—and some fucking.  But nobody knew that yet about MGM’s top moneymaker. 

     Cole Porter’s score for “The Pirate” is sub-par but Judy does her best with truly inferior material.    And she is so modern and madcap.  She has fainting scene that to this day, makes me laugh out loud. 

    It turned out like crap for Judy—she made a lot of her own crap, too, despite her iffy horror stories of abuse.  But she was a true genius, and we have so much left of that genius to appreciate.  

 

Comments:
  • maryburdt

    Hi Mr. Wow–Well it looks like you are back on track with these news stories.  This is what you do so well.  You tell it like it is—no apologies.  I agree wholeheartedly with your opinions on Snowden, Zimmerman, and Paula Dean.  You are back, and I am loving it.  Keep on writing to us because we love to hear what you have to say.  Stay well.  Hi to B.

    9:53 pm | June 24, 2013
  • Mr. Wow

    Dear Mary…

     

    No afternoon drinking.  I guess it’s working a bit.  Thanks!

    9:57 pm | June 24, 2013
  • Daniel Sugar

    Read your post and was outraged – you didn’t supply the porn site addresses!
    Outraged!

    10:34 pm | June 24, 2013
    • Mr. Wow

      DR,. Sugar!!!  I have  to cut these obscenities from your brain.  These babbling’s!

      11:04 pm | June 24, 2013
  • Deirdre Cerasa

    Right you are on all topics covered tonight! So happy you have caught up on the issues, I live your point if view, especially suce I feel pretty much the same.

    10:44 pm | June 24, 2013
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Deirdre–I’m never not caught up.  Just been slothful, depressed and a wee bit tipsy of late. 

       

      Of course those who don’t agree with me will say I’m still tipsy.

      11:07 pm | June 24, 2013
  • Daniel Sugar

    “Nurse, some spirits of ammonia.”
    “Yes, doctor.”

    11:52 pm | June 24, 2013
    • Mr. Wow

      “You’re looking at me funny…your eyes,  Your doing something with your eyes”

       


      :Oh.,Ive been so lonely!  Let me, Let me,”

      11:59 pm | June 24, 2013
  • Daniel Sugar

    “I think you’re trying to hypnotize me.”

    3:17 am | June 25, 2013
  • DanS

    I had a really long diatribe written about the geo-political situation in the Arab world and blah blah blah. It was putting me to sleep, so it seemed silly to inflict it upon anyone else.

    I’m just glad to see you back at it and functioning to some degree.

    9:11 am | June 25, 2013
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear DanS—oh, go ahead and diatribe.  I don’t expect everybody to agree w me.


      And thanks for the nice words of support.
      11:15 am | June 25, 2013
  • rick gould

    I have always found Paula Deen’s schtick phony and obnoxious. But for somebody to lose their job over something they said nearly 30 years ago is so absurd…  

    9:21 am | June 25, 2013
  • Rho

    I never watch the Food network.  I am not a cook.  As far as being watched, computers know everything we look at.  Nothing new.

    Mr. Wow, so good to see you posting.

    11:22 am | June 25, 2013
  • Haunted Lady

    From what I can gather, Paula Deen’s racism is the subject of a court case. She’s entitled to be a bigoted phony but she’s not entitled to indulge in racist practices in her businesses. And this was recent, not 30 years ago. I never watch her shows or buy her products or whatever because I find her nauseating. Her “apologies” are insulting. This woman is not sorry for anything she said or did but for getting caught and being shown for what she is. I hope she fades away into the woodwork soon.

    As for security monitoring, I think one has to be more than a bit disingenuous not to know  that this has been going on for many years. I worked for government contractors for about 30 years and we knew our calls and mail, later email, was monitored. No one’s communication is being monitored word for word 24/7. There are certain words that security picks up on and those are the ones that are checked more closely. Seriously, no one in the government cares about your latest shopping trip or what little Johnny has done this time. However, if you talk about wanting to blow up the White House or something along those lines, you’ll get plenty of attention. The idea that the government is so enthralled with the overwhelmingly petty doings of the majority of the populace is rather arrogant.

    And, yes, Snowden is a gross opportunist.

    As for the Middle East, we have to deal with them as long as we want their oil so we should grow the F up and deal with them like adults and stop trying to make them over in our image. They have a different perspective. Deal with it. Don’t get me started on the issue of religion. Suffice it to say, many people claim to be Christians but don’t act like Christians.

    Oh, well, the world is and has always been a mess. When I’m elected God, things will change. Though I don’t recommend holding your breath until that happens.

    12:18 pm | June 25, 2013
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Haunted One–I agree that much more is going to emerge from the current lawsuit.  Bad stuff.


      That said–I still don’t cotton to  people being fired got  for what they say.  

      xxxxmrw
      3:01 pm | June 25, 2013
      • Haunted Lady

        I understand your viewpoint and agree but the hard fact is, people are fired every day for what they say. Usually, the firing is couched in bland, ass-covering terms but not always. One of the most intelligent, dedicated and finest men I’ve ever known was fired because he became justifiably irked with the behavior of some employees and voiced his displeasure. One of the employees filed a complaint (hostile workplace) and the man was out. So, while I agree with you, the reality of the workplace, even Paula Deen’s workplace, doesn’t. She’ll have to suck it up like others have had to do.

        We’re all looking for fairness and common sense but those are rare commodities.

        6:09 pm | June 25, 2013
  • On the Trayvon Martin case, I would be most interested in what happened in the moments of the confrontation.  Zimmerman was an ass and set the situation up by following and confronting Martin especially after being told to wait for police; but one could argue that those actions, and his possession of the gun, were not actually illegal. 

    Unfortunately Trayvon is not here to tell his side of what happened when Zimmerman approached him so we are dependent on witnesses of a murky confrontation already in progress; 911 tapes of that confrontation already in progress; and forensics.  I would be very interested in the story told by such things as blood spatter, gunshot residue pattern, etc. 

    2:45 pm | June 25, 2013
  • Mr. Wow, I would also be curious as to your conversation about Europe and Muslims.  Having lived there for some years, I can tell you:  European “tolerance” is a pretty damned thin veneer, and all the old ways of thinking are bubbling just beneath the surface.  I could write at length of examples both in the news and in my own experience, but to sum up here:

    I suspect that one day in the not-so-distant future, there will come a new “Kristallnacht.”  Not necessarily in Germany, either; my money would be on France at this writing.  Europeans are becoming more impatient with, and more fearful of, what they see as an incursion… no, a veritable invasion… of diametrically opposed foreign ways and foreign beliefs threatening their own well-loved and well-established ways of life.

    Did I mention how thin that veneer is?

    2:52 pm | June 25, 2013
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Lila–

       

      France has run out patience,  Something really bad is going to happen there.  Sooner rather than later.

       

      I could not repeat my conversation.  It wasn’t nice at all.  And I didn’t feel very happy expressing my opinions.   Or that that they even are my options,

      1:13 am | June 26, 2013
  • rick gould

    Oh, I have a sneaky feeling most of the accusations against Paula Deen are probably true.
    I am only referring to the absurdity of Deen having to testify when the last time she said the “N” word. 

    7:03 pm | June 25, 2013
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Rick…I have no illusions about Ms. Deen.

       

      I’m just exhausted by all this phony political correctness.  As I said–there’s not a whiter network than The Food Chanel.

      11:05 pm | June 25, 2013
  • Daniel Sugar

    Supreme Court DOMA Decision Rules Federal Same-Sex Marriage Ban Unconstitutional

    11:07 am | June 26, 2013
    • Haunted Lady

      About time. Though I have no use for marriage personally, I firmly believe that those for whom marriage is important should have the opportunity to marry whomever they please.

      2:02 pm | June 26, 2013
    • I’ll have this on my blog tomorrow!  DOMA’s demise is a good thing but with the state laws the way they are, there is still a way to go for a lot of people.

      3:24 pm | June 26, 2013
  • Mr. Wow

    Well, as I’ve always insisted–I want the same rights as a heterosexual Death Row prisoner.  If they marry, why can’t I?  Not that I want to marry, especially.  But lets tamp down the joy.  The haters are hating vociferously.  I see ugly things coming. 

     

    6:14 pm | June 26, 2013
  • Daniel Sugar

    Don’t like what’s being done to Paula Deen: Let he who is without kidneys cast the first stone.

    2:48 pm | June 27, 2013
  • Mr. Wow

    Dear Dr.Sugar…cute! 

     

    I agree.  Enough already.  All these companies dropping her are such cowards.  And Matt Lauer’s attitude toward her during his inquisition was just that of a big diva who was irked because she wouldn’t see him on his time. 

    Oh–I loved Mike Huckabee’s reaction to DOMA’s demise–“Jesus wept.”  Really?  Why?  JC never said anything about homosexuals.   He was busy telling telling people to love thy neighbor as thyself–you know, all that truly good human being stuff.

    5:25 pm | June 27, 2013
    • KEMH

      “Jesus wept”…tears of joy because the SCOTUS found real application to His message of loving one another through the repeal of DOMA…
      🙂

      11:05 am | June 28, 2013
    • BabySnooks

      Actually he did Mr. Wow which few realize but then few actually read the Bible despite waving it around all the time.

       

      Matthew 19:12. About the “eunuchs.” And about the “kingdom.” And about some “born that way.” Must have slipped through when the Council of Nicea was editing it all….

      5:27 pm | June 29, 2013
      • Mr. Wow

        Dear Baby…he was responding to his disciples complaining about how difficult marriage was, and in reading that passage I don’t find any condemnation from Jesus…just that some were “born that way.”  (Who knew Lady Gaga lifts her lyrics from the Bible.)

        There was no talk from JC of abomination or stoning, etc.  Unless I am misremembering the Good Book–haven’t perused it in a while.

        10:41 am | June 30, 2013
  • Mr. Wow

    Dear…come on, give me a hint! 

    “Overly skilled?”  I haven’t heard that since my late 30s.   But thank you for looking in on me.  And check out the archives, if you like.

     

    MrW


     

    5:30 pm | June 27, 2013
    • Mr. Wow, it is a spam link.  The language is Farsi and it’s some kind of blather about composting and recycling waste.  The comment is just junk, although I have to compliment them on their English which is much better than the weird drivel from Chinese spammers.

      9:38 pm | June 27, 2013
      • Mr. Wow

        Dear Lila…

         

        Oh, I should have known only a can of spam could think me “overly skilled!”

        10:13 pm | June 27, 2013
  • Daniel Sugar

    “Elizabeth Taylor‘s first wedding dress was sold at auction for nearly $188,000.00 – more than three times what it was expected to be purchased for, according to Christie’s.”

    2:32 am | June 28, 2013
  • Susan

    Get over Paula Deen and report about something that matters.
    I stopped at the grocery store this mornng on my way to work to get yorurt. There was a girl in front of me with alll her possesions in a rollie suitcase…blanket rolled up, dressed very mismatched. She was digging in her change purse for money. She didn’t have enough so i handed her a $10. This girl wasn’t 25 years old. When she left the store the cashier told me she comes in all the time….sleeps in a park nearby. God, it just broke my heart.
    My point….WORRY about something other than Paula Deen.

    9:04 am | June 28, 2013
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Susan…we are all worried about something other than Paula Deen.  It just happens to be a very big story right now, and one of the things I chose to comment on.  (And who the hell am I  anyway?)  Believe me, I know all about homeless people, and giving money.  I prefer to give food, since I believe most people asking for handouts are not looking for a warm bed or a warm meal–rather, drug $.  This is a pity.  My offers of sandwiches, etc, have often been rejected.  Along with offers to pay for a night at some fleabag hotel.  (As long as I could accompany said desperate person to the hotel.)  


      It all breaks my heart, and makes me grateful for what I have.   My point.  Get over your broken heart and make sure this young woman has more than your ten$.   If indeed it preys on your mind so much.  Paula Deen is just a temporary media distraction at the moment, tho her story is quite important on a number of levels.  

      2:34 pm | June 28, 2013
  • Daniel Sugar

    The New Yorker cover for July 8 and 15.The New Yorker cover from July 21, 2008.The New Yorker cover from March 12, 2012.The New Yorker Cover from September 24, 2011.

    11:38 am | June 28, 2013
  • Mimi

    Very happy about the demise of DOMA. Was especially happy that I was in DC staying with a niece who happens to be gay when it was announced. I was there because I was undergoing testing at the NIH to see if I would qualify for a clinical trial for a cancer vaccine. I got the news that in fact I did qualify.  We also got the Supreme Court decisions while we were at the hospital and went to a lovely bar where we each had a drink called ‘summer love’. Just seemed appropriate.

    12:15 am | June 29, 2013
    • Mimi, congrats on qualifying for the vaccine and I am hoping it works for you!

      11:21 am | June 29, 2013
  • BabySnooks

    I love Paula Deen but I’m from the South and cannot believe I made it to 60 with all the fried this and that and all that marvelous whipped honey butter along the way.  She has a little racist attitude.She’s from the South. It takes time. Particularly in the South. But it’s everywhere. Have heard it everywhere. Some just like to create witches so they can burnt them at the stake. Paula Deen just the latest witch. Some created this with claiming she used the word ni**er” in 2007 with regard to that “plantation wedding.” Some who thought no one would ever read the actual deposition.  So, well, once a liar, always a liar. As for those demanding she burned at the stake, well, most likely most of them have said far worse and so are trying to divert attention from themselves. I bet they all covered their mirrors. As for those who gave in to the “burn the witch” call they are forever on my boycott list.  Some would like to shoot her. I’d like to shoot her attorney and then shoot whoever has been advising her on “public relations” and damage control. They seem to have done her no favors.

     

    Now we have Alec Baldwin and his “little queen” remark. Where’s the outrage? There is none. The only real outrage so far seems to have been expressed by Anderson Cooper. Who probably hired a bodyguard.  Don’t you know Kim Basinger has to overcome the overwhelming temptation to hit Twitter and type in “I told you so…”

    5:19 pm | June 29, 2013
  • BabySnooks

    And Mr. Neighborhood Vigilante Watch. He was told NOT to follow Trayvon Martin. But did. With a loaded gun. At that point under Florida law he was stalking Travon Martin. And is not only guilty but evil as far as I’m concerned.

    5:23 pm | June 29, 2013
    • Mr. Wow

      But Zimmerman will be acquitted.  I hope he has a terrible rest of his life.

      As for Baldwin–mentally unstable. Might have caused more of a stir if he’d used “faggot.”  But even then, so what?  He shouldn’t be fired from anything and neither should Paula Dean.  I’m not impressed by Anderson Cooper’s “outrage” however.   Until he decides what he wants to be–a silly celebrity or a real journalist/reporter–his opinions as far as I’m concerned, land on his own “Ridicul-List”

      10:49 am | June 30, 2013
  • Mimi

    I disconnected my cable so am not so ‘up to the minute’. It annoys me that those people who are blathering on and on about Paula Deen are driving up the sales of her cookbooks. She is my age and grew up in a time when the N word was tossed around. No she shouldn’t be tossing it around, but I occasionally use a Pennsylvania Dutch expression (not derogatory) that we used in my childhood home. The translation is ‘doesn’t matter’. Stupid of me and not nearly as hurtful, but still. The N word is one I’ve never used.
    The demise of DOMA made me very happy. If you and B ever decide to marry, please invite me so I can dance at your wedding. 

    5:14 pm | June 30, 2013
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Mimi…well, come on, she lost a five-book deal.  Let’s give her a break on the older ones going back on the bestseller list. 

      Okay–if we marry, you shall dance.  Fast or slow music? 

      6:28 pm | July 1, 2013
  • Haunted Lady

    I’m also Paula Deen’s age and grew up hearing racial epithets used every day, and I’m from the north. I also got a clue about 45 years ago that that was wrong no matter where or when or by whom those epithets were used. I’m assuming Ms. Deen was at least somewhat aware of the same changes that occurred in the 60s and 70s. What I think is the issue is not so much that she used the slur at some point but that she hasn’t handled the ramifications very well. I’ve never watched her show or bought anything with her name on it and probably never will but I do sincerely wish she would just own up to making a stupid mistake (as everyone does upon occasion), say she’s sorry and stop whining and making excuses about it.

    And Mr W, if you and B decide to get married, I would love to be at your wedding.

    11:32 am | July 1, 2013
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Haunted One…I think Paula Deen has owned up to it–with tears–and apologized–with tears.  What more is expected or wanted?  Proof that she–or anybody else forced to make a public apology–is sincere?   We will wait a very long time for that.  In fact, we’ll never know because how can we know what another person really feels? 

      I’ve just grown tired of this super-political correctness.  She didn’t say it on the air, in between slathering butter into a baking pan.   She didn’t Twitter it (that means you, Mr. Asshole Baldwin)    I have no idea whether she has used the word more recently than 26 years ago, but, again–it was not said in public.  We shall see what we shall see when the disgruntled ex-employee lawsuit progresses.   As much as we think we’d like it, minds and hearts and soulless souls cannot and should not be policed.  I want laws to project us, not another day at the Coliseum getting kicks watching famous people go under. 

      Except for Asshole Baldwin, who is a man and a liberal.  I am waiting for the day–I admit it, and I should blush or something–when his marriage to his much younger wife inevitably ends.  Her name is Hilaria.   Come on, think of the possibilities. 

      Thank you for wanting to come to our wedding.  I don’t think after 36 years we need that validation of our commitment.  But I do love a party.  Sooooo…..

      6:08 pm | July 1, 2013
  • Mr. Wow

    JULY 1–

    Edward Snowden has released a long “statement” attacking President Obama.  He has also reportedly asked for asylum in Russia.  (Which Putin says he’ll give him, if Snowden stops leaking info about his allies-the U.S.!)

    Can this guy really be 30 years old?  Does he think Obama or Bush just invented spying and keeping tabs on people?   Has he ever heard of the Cold War or J. Edgar Hoover or Nixon?  Has he ever read an Ian Fleming novel? 

    This guy is a tool.  Unfortunately, he has amplified the notion that Obama is a tool, too.  Lame and listless.   Maybe the president believes if he blithely dismisses Snowden as a “hacker” he’ll look cool and in control.   Just the opposite.   I voted for O twice, both times with reservations.  He was better than “the other guys” in terms of what he said he wanted to do.   In that way he still is better! (The GOP continues in its frightening descent into some sort of barbarous world where the poor are kicked to the gutter, women are controlled, and homosexual are—well, if they were honest, we’d be deported or in camps.)   But O is not a good president.  He doesn’t really know how to govern.  Or put on a good show, at least. (Because half of governing is putting on a show–acting!)

    But I’m not counting on Hillary to become president and fulfill my fantasies of a Chief Executive.   More on that later.

     

    6:59 pm | July 1, 2013
    • Delusional

      A carefully crafted dismissal of Obama as a black man, even though you admit he was a godsend.  A slim victory by the Supreme Court in your favor is still not enough to force your re-evaluation. He should be counted as your favorite, even while he might be dismissed by others. Bill Clinton, still beloved, on the other hand wasn’t adverse to sending your people off to camps so to speak.   

      11:54 am | July 2, 2013
      • DanS

        I’d like to carefully craft a dismissal of one William Jefferson Clinton who, as a white man, signed into law both The Defense of Marriage Act and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell during his presidency. See how easily one can use race as a red herring and as a non sequitur?

        President Obama has certainly has seen an unreasonable amount of resistance from people based solely on the fact that he’s a black man. After all, where was The Tea Party back in the days when President George W. Bush was spending way more money, as in $5.07 trillion compared to the $1.44 trillion that President Obama is projected to spend through 2017? But does it follow that all resistance to President Obama or any of his policies is racially motivated? Should the president’s race make him immune to criticism? It certainly should not when having an intellectual discussion with reasonable people, even ones with whom we disagree.

        Lately, the tagline of the Democratic party has been “At least we’re not the other guys!” And it’s effective because the “other guys” are Republicans; a political party with such a counter-productive system of primaries that the winners tend to be nutjobs whose social and fiscal views are so extreme that the general voting public can’t take them seriously. I’m curious about a work of fiction that’s been recently released that postulates an America where the McCain/Palin ticket won in 2008.

        But I see nothing wrong in suggesting that “At least we’re not the other guys!” is a necessary condition, but not a sufficient one. That doesn’t have to be a matter of race, or gender, or even orientation. I’m thrilled that this presidency has seen the end of DADT and DOMA and President Obama’s order to quit defending them played a part in the push to make that happen. But do we have to ignore all the foot-dragging involved that was ultimately pushed forward by the turning tide of public opinion? Do we have to look at the ends without examining (and possibly disagreeing with) the means?

        For me, it’s not enough to just say “Imagine what the other guys might have done in my place”. We can’t ever really know what the other guys would have done. But we can examine a presidency on its own merits and accomplishments… and on its failures and mis-steps. That being said, I’m glad the other guys weren’t voted into the presidency.

        9:10 am | July 3, 2013
        • Mr. Wow

          Dear DanS…

           

          Leave it my intelligent readers to express what I can only ramble. 

          3:23 pm | July 4, 2013
  • Mr. Wow

    Dear Delusional…”as a black man” ?!!”  Please, I have always said that the GOP loathing of him was at least partially race-based.   I voted for the man twice and would still rather have him than a Republican, but I’m a racist just because I don’t think he is a terribly good president?

     

    Look, nobody’s gonna be sent to camps–at least I hope not.  But Obama’s “evolution” to his current embrace of gay marriage took quite a long time.   And gay marriage is not high on my issues of concern–even my gay issues of concern.

    I believe he has become terribly disillusioned.  Despite his careful, lawerly ways, he is (or was) an idealist who thought his election meant that a change was not just coming, but had arrived.  He was disabused of that notion almost instantly.   And his re-election has been even more fraught with opposition and open hatred.  (Not to mention the recent shit-load of “scandals”  all being laid at his door.)  He cannot alter the basics of his personality to come across as more forceful, less hesitant. 

    Bill Clinton is not “beloved” by me.  Nor is Mrs. Clinton, for that matter. 

    1:43 pm | July 2, 2013
  • Haunted Lady

    A bit off topic here.

    I hope everyone has a safe and happy Fourth of July. Enjoy parades and picnics and a day at the beach or whatever you plan to do, and be grateful we have an Independence Day to celebrate.

    12:31 pm | July 3, 2013
    • Rho

      Same from me.  Enjoy the day.

      2:38 pm | July 3, 2013
      • Mr. Wow

        I took a bit of sun today.  Heavily protected, but still got a bit of a summer glow.

         

        Happy 4th to all.  Eat ravenously and without care to the scale.  Hug and kiss and your loved ones if its a family affair.   Don’t talk politics.  Or religion.  Just hug and kiss. 

        7:22 pm | July 3, 2013
  • Mimi

    I am very tired on Paula Deen showing up on my Facebook – from friends of both camps. I’ve made no comments and perpetuated nothing about this woman. 
    Zimmerman will be acquitted. Without a doubt. Saw the news coverage of the defense witness being torn apart on the stand. She is currently 19 which means that she was 17 when the phone conversation happened. In other words – a child. Should never have been called. 
    Have absolutely no idea what Alec Baldwin has done – have always thought he was an idiot.
    No one seems to be jumping forward to offer Snowden a place to live. I assume that in this day and age that I have no privacy and therefore have to deal with it. Pain though it is! Why anyone would think otherwise amazes me. 

    1:14 pm | July 3, 2013
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Mimi–happy 4th, first of all.  Second, thank you re the subject of “privacy.” Please.   We are almost back to medieval times in terms of privacy.  I am sure my e-mails and Internet searches could be easily found.  I know that I’m caught on camera often, especially when I’m in NYC.   I’m not saying I am totally sanguine but this is what  the technologies of the past 30 years has wrought.  Not all of it is bad, but sure, sometimes I muse on what would occur in a world that, say, jailed or “monitored” homosexuals.  I’d have to learn how to make an orange jumpsuit work for me.  And finally break down and get a few tattoos.

      But at my age, I don’t think I live to see that dystopian imagining.  But who is to say it won’t occur, as the American empire declines?  (The next president will be Republican, I predict.)   

      But in one way or another, spying and prying has been going on far longer than three decades.  I could almost feel bad for Mr. Snowden. Almost.  I don’t feel anything for his defender, the slimy Glenn Greenwald, a self-serving opportunist whom I doubt has any real concern for the personal jackpot that is Mr. Snowden.  GG is clearly loving his own rise in the media.   He gives gays such a bad name. 

      12:52 pm | July 4, 2013
  • Daniel Sugar

    Been invited to watch fireworks. How lucky am I?
    Happy holiday everyone!

    3:07 pm | July 3, 2013
  • Mr. Wow

      Dear DanS— How lucky can you…get? 

     

    As Miss Barbra Streisand wondered in “Lucky Lady.”

     

    Enjoy the fireworks.

    7:16 pm | July 3, 2013
  • Daniel Sugar

    Weekends in the country with the baron of course,and a wardrobe to shock Mrs.  Astor’s pet horse.Making merry music with the one that I love,we’re a perfect duet.Gee how lucky can you,wee how lucky can you,Mr. Wow, how lucky can you get?

    12:32 am | July 4, 2013
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Dr Sugar…wrap  it up and charge it that’s my favorite phrase, how lucky can you get/when I see the chauffeur think I’ll give him a raise, how lucky can you get?

      12:08 pm | July 4, 2013
  • Rho

    Happy 4th of July to all.

    9:01 am | July 4, 2013
  • Mr. Wow

    JULY 4th…

    A happy, relaxed holiday to all of you!

    I am ensconced in my little room, watching the news (I wonder how long it will be before the Egyptians oust their latest prez?)…reading “The Secret Conversations of Ava Gardner”…and happy with the results of a home haircut I gave myself.  The back is still a bit ragged and needs shaping, but otherwise, an admirable (and inexpensive) attempt.

    I also caught a TV add for The Wounded Warrior Project.  It took me an hour to finally stop weeping and mini-sobbing.  (I had a similar reaction some time back, watching a news segment on soldiers returned from war, coping with their horrific injuries–injuries that would have killed them years ago.  Sometimes I wonder about the miracles of medical technology.)

    This young man seemed to be blind, along with his other disabilities. I kept myself reasonably dry-eyed until his wife finally broke down.  Then I cried along with her. The commercial was asking that people donate $19 a month to help keep the project going, and contribute to the further costs of rehabilitation.  I don’t like war.  I especially don’t  like the current wars.  I don’t understand the mind-set of soldiers who volunteer, not understanding that they are being used in the most cynical way by men old and young who don’t give a damn for human life.  But, these soldiers carry on. So many return shattered in body and mind.  Do the politicians who crafted these wars really care?   (Yeah, the classic rhetorical question.) 

     $19 dollars a month  seems like a lot of money to me right now.  On the other hand, now that I have cut down my drinking…

    Certainly my margarita $ would be doing a good deed in a naughty world.  And I don’t often do good deeds.  We’ll see.

    By the way, drones don’t die, lose legs, arms, eyesight.  Drones don’t commit suicide, sometimes  taking their wives with them.   And I’d never have to consider my conscience over a drone, in terms of spending my own precious dollars.  (I suppose I should consider the “collateral damage” of a drone–that means the possibility of innocents dying along with the bad guys.  But my conscience has just so much elasticity.)

    Anyway–a safe and happy July 4th. 

    Love,

    MrW

    12:04 pm | July 4, 2013
    • BabySnooks

      One of the few books I’ve waited to read is the Ava Garner bio that she suddenly pulled. Rumor was that it was because the author had been sued by Sinatra who was still there for her. Rumor but may be partially the truth. I think she hesitated being so blunt. And from what I’ve heard, she was blunt.  So I will await your book review!

      6:34 pm | July 11, 2013
  • Daniel Sugar

    Mr. Wow,
    I give $19.00 a month to The Wounded Warrior Project. I’m so glad you mentioned it.
    Thanks!
    Danny

    12:56 pm | July 4, 2013
  • Mr. Wow

    Dear Danny…

    Okay.  You were so good to me at Lion’s View, and allowed me to wear my pretty dresses and an overload of liquid eye-liner…so, I’ll do it too.

     

    XXXMRW

    1:09 pm | July 4, 2013
    • Haunted Lady

      You have a good heart, Daniel and Mr. W. I wish nothing but good for you.

      5:31 pm | July 4, 2013
  • Mr. Wow

    Dear Haunted One…

    I’m sure Dr.Sugar has a better heart than I do.   But I try.

     

    Happy 4th.  Doing anything special?   (B. is making chili.  I said, “That’s not very 4th of July-ish.”  And he replied.  “Well, I’ll make it explosive.”   Oh, dear.

    Been invited by my Hoboken friend to watch the fireworks later.  I don’t know.  It is horribly hot and even more humid.  Also tomorrow is a workday for me.   We’ll see.

    6:02 pm | July 4, 2013
    • Haunted Lady

      Happy 4th to you. I’m not doing a thing today. My back is feeling the ill effects of major yard work. The neighbor kids are having a grand time setting off fireworks and I’m enjoying them while watching a marathon on the Revolutionary War. Have a bowl of chili for me. It sounds really good. Happy 4th, B.

      6:59 pm | July 4, 2013
  • Mr. Wow

    Oh, I’ve seen that Revolutionary War series.  Very good! 

    8:41 pm | July 4, 2013
  • Daniel Sugar

    Thanks, Haunted Lady. Happy holiday to you!

    9:47 pm | July 4, 2013
  • Daniel Sugar

    Well, Mr. Wow, I saw Sebastian lying on the stones, so what could i do? 

    9:53 pm | July 4, 2013
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Dr. Sugar.  Simple.  You hold your breath until your mammoth bosoms almost explode, and then you shriek as you did when you found out Debbie Reynolds  wasn’t going to roll over and play dead, putting those damn diaper pins on her blouse.

      Which was nothing compared to the reaction when Eddie Fisher actually asked for $ after his  career was ruined and he was tossed aside for the drunken Welshman. (“I never loved Eddie!” she would then insist, a gazillion photos to the contrary. Not to mention the adoption of Maria, who then became Richard’s child.)  
      “No” was not a word Miss T. often heard. (Even simple things  like: “No for Christ’s sake, you DON’T look good in mini-skirts up to your cooch  accented by unflattering low-heeled shoes.”)   Of course had she ever been well-behaved we could never have loved her nearly as much,

      1:15 am | July 5, 2013
  • Daniel Sugar

    Elizabeth was a trip.

    11:33 am | July 5, 2013
    • Mr. Wow

      Yes indeed–a trip to Bountiful.      

       

       

       

      7:25 pm | July 5, 2013
  • Mimi

    I celebrated the fourth by having a tire explode (literally) on my rental car. Spent the fifth and half of the sixth trying to trade cars. Tomorrow head back to NIH for the next batch of cancer vaccine. It’s not a chemo, and won’t benefit me, but maybe some day some kid won’t get cancer because I’ve agreed to be a lab rat. If I’m going to survive this – and I am – it may as well be useful. 

    9:15 pm | July 7, 2013
    • Haunted Lady

      I applaud your courage and thoughtfulness for others. Hope all goes well for you.

      11:19 am | July 8, 2013
  • lulu

    Mimi, thank you for doing what you are currently doing.  Your participation is well beyond useful!!!  Applause from me for your participation!!!

    A belated Happy 4th to All!!!! 

    10:18 am | July 8, 2013
  • Hmmmm, forensics.  I’m thinking George Zimmerman will be found not guilty.

    7:35 pm | July 10, 2013
  • Mimi

    Of course he will be found not guilty. It’s been a circus. Of course he will never have a normal life. Hopefully he will never get his hands on another gun. And hopefully he will never move into my neighborhood.

    9:52 pm | July 10, 2013
  • Jonny T

    So glad to see you back on the boards, Mr. Wow. Obviously by now we know what the verdict was with Zimmerman. While I personally believe he committed murder, unfortunately there simply wasn’t enough evidence or witnesses to prove that. But I was hoping the jury would at least see fit to charge with manslaughter. 

    8:53 pm | July 14, 2013
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