I know I know I know I know

I know I said I was done....but you can blame Meredith (not Viera) and Elenor (thanks!) for tipping me off to this video of Meredith Viera, the little tart, on The Daily Show.

First joke: "I wake up at 3 in the morning....have my first drink by 3:15...."

Oh you little weasel Meredith Viera.

Is the reason Meredith is so hesitant to say mothers can function as responsible parents after one or two drinks because she has a drinking problem?

(Disclaimer: I am joking. Unless Meredith Viera wasn't joking and actually does have a 'refresher' to get up in the morning. In which case she is possibly a bad mother and also a raging alcoholic. Otherwise my speculation should be ignored. Oh Meredith, you and I are going to BFF by the time I'm done with this topic.)

Yesterday Isabel from AlphaMom emailed me this link to the Huffington Post. Debra Condren, PhD and author of amBITCHous, relays her experience with an evening news program splicing her long interview into something which did not encompass her book's message or her personal beliefs at all.

My mouth gaped open and I once again praised the lord above that I was not pretaped for that segment because my mouth goes and goes and goes and could easily be spliced together to make it appear that I am in fact advocating motherly drunken orgies.

Which I am clearly advocating, but I didn't want to say that on national television.

There were some striking similarities, right down the follow up email from the producer of the segment.

Condren's post though, points out an even more global issue I tried to get to but ended up frothing at the mouth about my specific issue.

This part really jumped out at me. But maybe that was because I'm drunk!

"Instead, we saw yet another socially sanctioned misogynistic cultural split: nice, lovely, successful woman vs. mean, bitchy, unattractive women. One or the other, with no continuum, no spectrum, nothing in between. Not unlike the Madonna/whore split, or pitting working moms against stay-at-home moms. How very stereotypical--but that's sensationalistic, dumbed down t.v., designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Are we viewers really incapable of intelligent, critical thinking? Is it too much to ask for serious, sophisticated programming that educates rather than sends us slumming?"

Apparently, it is. We have to make it easy for America to know what is good or bad in their eyes by simplifying every issue into a black and a white. And then, they can hurl their anger/judgment/blame at the opposite side, because that is incredibly useful.

I promise this is the last time. Unless someone else sends me a video of Meredith wearing a baby in a Baby Bjorn, cigarette in hand while doing a beer bong. Better yet? Dr. Janet Taylor in a similar situation. If someone sends me that I won't just write about it, I'll come and make out with you.

Comments

[DenverDad]

Blog about it all ou want. No, really. It's a bigger issue than the actual issue and it bears repeating how screwed up it all is.

Did that make any sense?

[erigby]

I also really liked how at the end of the DS clip Meredith was all "look at me, I'm sexy and having dreams about Diane Sawyer" but just came off as very strange in my opinion...

Funnily enough I almost swore sending you that email was a dream, as I'm exhausted. Sexy, sexy emailing dreams.

[JP]

I feel like a broken record...er, I mean CD. Each time you post about this issue (in whatever form...and please, keep 'em coming) I keep having the same thought: Why do women have to be so horrible to eachother?

I can't figure out if it stems more from jealousy or competition...or maybe just plain 'ol insecurity. When we were in school, the grown-ups used to tell us that the mean kids were "putting others down so that they could build themselves up"...but who knew that this would continue to when we were the grown-ups. It's the same story years later.

It's just really sad.

[A Mommy Story]

I saw her on the Daily Show last night, and nearly sent you the video as well, but figured that someone else was sure to see it, too.

When we heard she was going to be on the show, I asked my husband if he thought she'd talk about drinking. He said, "After all that mess on the Today Show? No way."

So when the first joke came out (along with a few others about drinking), we were laughing our asses off. At her, not with her, of course.

[unexception]

I read this article and thought of you and this whole play date drinking business.

www.themorningnews.org/archives/the_nonexpert/the_mommy_wars.php

From the last paragraph...
"There's never been a play date that a glass of wine wouldn't have improved."

[Erin]

Delurking to say that your last paragraph had me rolling. I think you should write about it as much as you like. There are obviously big issues here and I applaud you for confronting them head on.

[MamaKBear]

You go on and blog about it all you want! Doesn't bother me in the least.

I, for one, salute you! :)

[Suzanne]

I am chugging my glass of wine for you. Cheers!
JT I used to read your blog over at tblog (eons ago) but somehow lost your link. I am so glad I found you again, your posts are THE BEST!

[Suzanne]

Sorry, I'm an idiot. that last comment to JT was meant to be for JT who commented on your last post. Sorry ;)

[mrsjcatalano]

Very unrelated, but worth mentioning:

This white monkey is definitely a relative of Choppable.

[The Bims]

Make out with me? Well, that would make you gay and a drunk! ;-) Oh my stars, what will the neighbors and suburban Moms across America think? Keep it up and you'll have your own talk show, screw Meredith!

[sozzled]

dang, if that is all it takes to get you to come here and make out with me I'm opening up photoshop and getting to work!

[Lisa V]

I was watching a "Girls Next Door" marathon yesterday (don't judge, I'm sick and have been sitting on the couch for 48 hours. there is only so much HGTV I can watch.) Anyway the show is about the three girlfriends that live with Hugh Hefner in the Playboy mansion. So Hugh and the girls go to New York to promote their latest issue of Playboy with them on the cover. One of their media stops is with The View- this is 2 years old so it was back when Viera was on. They told the producer in the pre-interview they weren't going to answer questions about their sex lives. That was personal and they would ask say Katie Holmes about sleeping with Tom Cruise. So the producers were pissed. When the girls get on the set they have them sit in one oversized chair together. They don't offer them seperate chairs. Then the women of the View conduct a very hostile interview and one of the things they say is "you're together all the time, you operate like one girl, you're even sitting in the same chair." The girls leave the show shell shocked and talk about how Howard Stern treated them with more respect than these other women.

It's starting to sound like it's just standing operating procedure for women to attack other women in the media.

[Lisa V]

I was watching a "Girls Next Door" marathon yesterday (don't judge, I'm sick and have been sitting on the couch for 48 hours. there is only so much HGTV I can watch.) Anyway the show is about the three girlfriends that live with Hugh Hefner in the Playboy mansion. So Hugh and the girls go to New York to promote their latest issue of Playboy with them on the cover. One of their media stops is with The View- this is 2 years old so it was back when Viera was on. They told the producer in the pre-interview they weren't going to answer questions about their sex lives. That was personal and they would ask say Katie Holmes about sleeping with Tom Cruise. So the producers were pissed. When the girls get on the set they have them sit in one oversized chair together. They don't offer them seperate chairs. Then the women of the View conduct a very hostile interview and one of the things they say is "you're together all the time, you operate like one girl, you're even sitting in the same chair." The girls leave the show shell shocked and talk about how Howard Stern treated them with more respect than these other women.

It's starting to sound like it's just standing operating procedure for women to attack other women in the media.

[Kelly M.]

Umm, I am not a mom so I guess my oppinion might not matter, BUT I would like to say that I love you.

If I were a Mom I would would want to be one just like you. I love your humor and I know behind it there is a person who loves and cares and lives freely (fun, carefree) for her children.

I heart you.

And coming from a person, 29 years old, who was raised by an alcoholic mother I can say that I DO know what your talking about. And there IS a differance.

--Kelly

[Kevin]

On a serious note, I think stuff like this will always be part of conversation because parents don't like other parents judging them, be it a mom or a dad.
On a lighter note, should I go stalk Dr. Taylor? What if I find her with baby, cigarette, and strap of thong instead of beer bong? You + me = making out? Ha!
"...I am about to tell you that someone who was on that stage with me had pants which were cut so low her thong rose above the waistband by about 4 inches. Professional! Talking about setting examples for our kids. Tsk tsk..."
~SuburbanBliss 1.29.2007

[creativechaos]

Ok....let me put down my appletini and type with two hands here as I am still so worked up about this as you are. I'm glad your still going on about it because I wanted to comment weeks ago when you first were going on your rant.....but couldn't due to sick children. Troublemakers.....anyway, here I am......For the love of all wine sipping, longing for adult conversation and humor mothers everywhere.....Ridiculous. Just ridiculous.

When I watched the clip, I was honestly waiting for the theme music to "Intervention" to ominously start playing......Candy Finnigan to come out from backstage and Janet to whip out a lined piece of paper and start reciting "Melissa you know how much we all love you....." while wiping an eye.

Oh my gosh I have so much more to say but I have to tend to my child. I'll be back. But I do want to say....Love your blog. Love your humor. Love your take on things. And, I'm also originally from michigan so I totally get that.