RIP Barbara Walters

In the busyness of life, we tend to forget those who have paved the way to create a better world. It is only upon their passing that we take stock of their legacy.

The legendary newswoman Barbara Walters passed away on Friday. She was 93.

The granddaughter of Jewish immigrants, Walters started in television news in the early 1960s. At that time, those at the top of the television hierarchy (and everything else) were white men. In 1961, she became the “Today Girl” on the Today Show, handling stories that were “appropriate” for a female. Eventually, she rose up through the ranks to become a news anchor in her own right.

In the late 1990s, she created and co-starred on The View, an all-women-led talk daytime show that continues to be influential.

And like many icons, she was given the SNL treatment. Gilda Radner played her in the 1970s and Cheri Oteri played her in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

RIP Barbara. May your memory be a blessing Z”L.

P.S. Walters interviewed you know who back in 1990. The statements coming out of his mouth are too familiar. If only other journalists had the same balls that she did. It start at 3:01.

Advertisement

Kanye West’s Anti-Semitic Comment Should Disturb All of Us

The Holocaust did not start with concentration camps, gas chambers, ghettos, and mass killings. It started with words, lies, and false accusations.

Kanye West is one of the most respected rappers/musicians in the industry. I’m not a fan, but he is considered by many to be a genius wordsmith.

He is also an anti-semite. A few days ago, West stated that he would go on “Death Con 3” on Jews. His excuse was the following:

 “The funny thing is that I actually can’t be antisemitic because black people are actually Jew[s]”

He also wore a shirt to a fashion event that said “White Lives Matter”.

And as expected, the cherry on top is the usual response from the right.

I don’t know if this is due to his mental health issues or if this is his way of grabbing the spotlight. If it is due to mental illness, then he should seek out help if he has not already done so. If he just wants attention, this is not the way to go about it.

The holiest day in Judaism was last week. Words matter. A threat to Jewish people ended once in a genocide. Your words hurt and incite violence. You are a father. Please stop. pic.twitter.com/8iFuKwwspw

— Jamie Lee Curtis (@jamieleecurtis) October 9, 2022

Stop telling Jewish people to get over what Kanye said and that he’s mentally ill and not serious. Stop telling Black people his t-shirt was a joke. Antisemitism is real. Anti-Blackness is real. Words matter. Words are what start unwarranted hate towards people.

— Malynda Hale (@MalyndaHale) October 9, 2022

While promoting her new film, Halloween Ends, actress Jamie Lee Curtis (whose father is the late Jewish actor Tony Curtis), responded to West’s comments on The Today Show.

The fact is that words matter. They can hurt and they can kill. Perhaps West should consider that before opening his mouth.

P.S. If West thinks that pretending to be a right-wing nut will save him from the racists, he has another thing coming.

I Appreciate Sha’Carri Richardson’s Maturity

The mark of an adult, in my opinion, is the ability to admit when one has made a mistake and accept the consequences.

On Friday, Olympic hopeful Sha’Carri Richardson spoke to The Today Show, She apologized for drug use that led to her one month suspension from competing in the trials for this month’s Olympics.

I admire Ms. Richardson for accepting her punishment with grace and maturity. While I understand that she was grieving for her mother, what she did was wrong. Instead of taking a tantrum (unlike a certain former President) in public, she put on her big girl pants, and let the chips fall where they may.

It is a lesson we can all learn, regardless of how old or young we are.

Throwback Thursday: Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist (2016-Present)

The news does not stop when the traditional work week ends.

Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist premiered back in 2016 and has since become a regular part of the NBC schedule. A weekend offshoot of the long running talk show The Today Show, host Willie Geist walks the viewer through headlines of the day.

It is a pleasure to wake up to this show on Sunday morning. Geist has an every person quality to him, making it seem as if he is having a one on one conversation with the audience instead talking into a camera beaming into millions of televisions across the country.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

Perhaps We Jumped A Little Too Fast To Judge

A viral video is defined as the following:

A video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.

The latest viral video to catch the nation’s attention was a group of high school boys who appeared to mock Vietnam veteran and Native American elder Nathan Phillips as he chanted a traditional Native American song last Friday in Washington D.C.. The young man who is standing inches from Mr. Phillips and appears to be wearing a smirk on his face has been identified as Nick Sandmann.

Over the last day or so, more details have emerged about what really happened last Friday. Five men who are part of the Black Hebrew Israelite community taunted the boys. Mr. Phillips said that he stepped into de-escalate the situation before words turned into regrettable actions.

The Today Show aired the full interview with Nick Sandmann earlier today.

Right now, I don’t know what to think or believe. Regardless of whose side one is on, we all jumped a little to fast to make a judgement call without knowing all of the facts.

The problem with this quick judgement is that it reveals how divided this country is. It is those divisions that scare me and makes we wonder what we will say to future generations when they ask us about this era in American history.

Add Another One To The List Part V: Matt Lauer

This morning, the list of prominent men accused of sexual harassment and/or abuse of their female staff grew to added one more name: Matt Lauer.

After hosting NBC’s The Today Show for twenty years and becoming one of the faces of morning news television for a generation, he lost his job and his reputation this morning.

At this point, I have no sympathy for these men. They got caught and in the process, were exposed for the predators that they are.  While I feel for Lauer’s family and I admire his victims for stepping forward, I am still shocked and reeling from the news.

We, as a culture, need to change. We need to change how we treat women. We need to teach our sons to respect the women around them and we need to teach our daughters that they are valuable and important beyond traditional female roles. Most of all, we need to put men who acted as Lauer did in his place and remind them that just because they have female subordinates does mean that these women are there to be his sexual playthings.

I just hope, that when this is done, that real change is enacted. If not, then all of this was for nothing.

P.S. Does anyone else see this as karma, especially considering how Lauer treated Ann Curry when she was fired in 2012?

P.P.S It is ironic and a sad telltale sign that while Lauer and others who have done such heinous acts have lost their jobs and reputation, a certain man in Washington D.C. who has been accused of similar acts is still in office. Why?