Weighing In On Whitney

Like many people, I was actually a little saddened when I heard about the loss of Whitney Houston, not because I was a huge fan, but because I felt it was a shame that another talent (and she was talented regardless of whether you liked her music or not) had fallen to drug addiction. It really is a shame.

So I thought, okay, we'll get a day of nonstop Whitney coverage with speculation of what happened and how. And I tolerated Day Two of "Whitney Still Dead" news analysis. But I thought it was a little much when I came across "Breaking News" while channel surfing Monday night, with live helicopter coverage of the convoy of vehicles transporting Houston's body from Teterboro Airport to Newark, New Jersey.

And then Jabba the Governor decides to fly flags at half-staff in New Jersey in her honor. Seriously? Was Whitney Houston a former President of the US and I hadn't noticed? Is being known as the "Queen of Pop" considered official royalty in this country and worthy of that honor?

If someone had mentioned Whitney Houston the day before her death, you'd mostly likely think of her as a joke. They'd call her a crack addict, an alcoholic, someone who'd destroyed herself, someone who succumbed to her demons. Those woulds were self-inflicted, yet somehow it seems all of that was forgotten in lieu of some feel good, she-was-so-great story. Yes, what happened was sad and tragic. But can we keep things in perspective?

To Celebrity or Not To Celebrity, That is the Question, Also, Too - UPDATED

POSTED BY JHW22

I think Shannyn Moore rocks. She is a sensible, fair and calm journalist who may be one of the people who actually gets through to Americans who are enamored by Sarah Palin. This week, she shares a little diddy in the Huffington Post and at her blog about my new hero, Kathleen Gustafson. Kathleen had the cojones to show up where Sarah Palin was filming her TLC teevee show about Alaska and call her out on her poor governing. She had a chance to say, to Palin's face,

"You're not a leader, you're a climber!"

She also accused Palin of being a celebrity, to which both Sarah and her daughter took great mocking offense. Sarah Palin a celebirty? In what respect, Kathleen? Oh, yeah, the respect that she's FILMING A TV SHOW! And perhaps because she HAS A TV STUDIO IN HER HOUSE (the house that's next door to her regular, non-celebrity house).

But I guess my favorite part of the whole exchange is when Palin says she's helping America by helping to elect good people who understand the Constitution. See, I do that, also, too. And I don't need to be a celebrity to do it. She is lazy and opportunistic and pretends she is working for America as she rakes in the cash. Thanks to people like Shannyn Moore and Kathleen Gustafson, perhaps more people will start to see that.

Oh, and my least favorite part of the exchange was when she showed complete disdain for Ms. Gustafson when Ms. Gustafson said she was a teacher. Yes, we know Sarah hates learning. But to despise a teacher just for being a teacher? Really? That's just stupid.

UPDATE: Sarah has since posted a Facebook defense blaming the lamestream media for misinterpreting her reaction to the teacher as an eye roll. My husband posted a comment to her post telling her what he saw (disrespect) and it was deleted.