So, Katie Couric is going to CBS to anchor the CBS Nightly News, Meredith Viera's going to replace Couric on the Today show, and now we find out who's going to replace Veira on The View.Rosie O'Donnell.
Wow. If The View was squirmy to watch before, what with the awkward mini-feuds between Starr Jones and the redhaired "funny" one, and the chick from Survivor occasionally inserting right-wing talking points into her "banter", having O'Donnell sitting in Veira's MC seat is going to make The View absolutely unwatchable.
I was A-OK with O'Donnell back when her own talk show started. I even thought some of her stand-up was funny back on VH-1's Standup Spotlight (anyone else remember that?). But as she continued on with her talk show, she seemed to get a little pricklier, her general lack of interest in her non-Tom Cruise, non-Barbara Streisand guests got more noticeable, and then after she ambushed Tom Selleck about his views on gun control when he was just there to plug some crap movie or another, I think she officially became kind of unappealing. After she quit her show, she went a little crazy, going off on some obscenity-laced tirade against Hillary Clinton for staying with Bill after the truth came out about Lewinsky. I guess what this really means is that this is the beginning of the end for The View -- maybe this story has a happy ending after all.
Also, in completely unrelated news, this item. I haven't read this book, but I have read The Fountainhead, and it freaked me out for a few days. Has anyone read Atlas Shrugged? Will it freak me out? Is it worth a read? Is it adaptable into a big Hollywood studio epic like Pitt and Jolie think it is? I know Rand was a super-crazy uber-Capitalist, but I really liked The Fountainhead and wonder if Atlas is worth slogging through it's 1,000-plus pages.
All right. I'm out. More tomorrow.
11 comments:
Inane.
That's gotta be Fedak. He's so darn hard to impress! Sheesh!
I had not heard the news about Rosie, but it definitely sounds like a train wreck (into a horse) waiting to happen. I almost want to watch it just to see it go down like Poseidon. At the very least, it should allow Horatio Sans to get in on the inevitable SNL skit...
Never read Rand, so I'll wait for the book report from you. George Saunders has a new book of short stories though that everyone here would probably like. So read that instead.
Also, according to Amazon, Michael Chabon's new one has been pushed back until Jan. 2007. Sucks.
Can't say I was ever a big fan of Rosie O'Donnell, but she seemed like a force for good for a while. I remember a couple sick days I had where her show was the only that could keep me entertained.
But then one day... one day she decided that people didn't need to see Fight Club because she didn't agree with its politics, so she took it upon herself to reveal the twist of the movie and tell everyone in her considerable audience not to go see it.
It's hard to take a lot of self-righteous bullshit from someone who lied to the public for years to build her career. I'm not saying it's wrong to hide your sexuality if you want to, but you can't also pose as the bastion of honesty and integrity later on.
Meh.
wadn't me baby hands.
Yes, I am sort of a psuedo-expert on her. At one time, I was the head of the Libertarian society at Campbell University before I was awakened by the evils of capitalism.
Rand's family was a part of the former Russian aristocracy that was usurped by the Bolsheviks. Because of this - she detested the Soviets and their cultural collectivism.
She coined the phrase "Objectivism" based on reason (1+1 = 2) and a complete renunciation of relativism and subjectivism with a love of Classical Greek philosophy, etc.. Sounds kinds of like the Neo-Cons of today, hmm?
Her books were studies of her philosophy, with characters as her chess pieces.
She believed in the virtue of selfishness, was an atheist and believed in complete private ownership of everything (including the government). She had an axiom -"never sacrifice yourself for others or ask them to sacrifice themselves for you."
She was a proponent of a kind of accelerated darwinistic anarcho-capitalism where the strongest leaders of industry should and coud be venerated and adored as the highest value of the human spirit. She was completely anti-regulation and would probably think that Ken Lay and his boys at Enron were complete victims of an evil socialist agenda.
Even if these people committed crimes or polluted the environment, the true enemy was an ignorant mass of people or government which subverts the greatness of human reason.
Basically, her character in the Fountainhead embody this non-conformist, cowboy spirit.
Atlas Shrugged is a 1000 page rant that goes on and on about how 6 men rule the world and how if governments meddle in their affairs they will one day choose to dissapear, thus placing the world into perpetual darkness. The mysterious character John Galt is the ringleader of this group - of these captains of industry.
She praised and preached about the benefits of the elite running the show, regardless of the damage they inflict on society.
Out of her teachings came people like Alan Greenspan (former head of Federal Reserve, Murray Rothbard, Milton Friedman - along with the emergence of think tanks promoting free enterprise like the CATO Institute and other leaders who espouse her bankrupt philosophy of winner take all no matter the costs.
Not to mention, Rand's female characters usually like being raped by these powerful men in her books and her level of sadomasochism and borderline crypto-fascism is revealing. The only thing she has going for her is her love of individuality, non-conformity, hatred of religion and patriotic nationalism...Well, she would have been patriotic to the idea of America...But, that's another debate.
But, nonetheless, she is everything I am against.
-- PAPA
"Yes, I am sort of a psuedo-expert on her."
Anybody else totally think Paul was talking about Rosie O'Donnell???
Yeah, I did, and I was prepared to have my entire opinion of Paul change completely -- for the better of course. But Ayn Rand makes more sense. Atlas Shrugged sounds terrible, Paul. Thanks for the info.
Also, sucks that Chabon's Alaska novel won't be here till next year. In other Chabon news, read what Chabon says about Stephen King's new novel, Lisey's Story:
"In Lisey's Story, Stephen King makes bold, brilliant use of his satanic storytelling gift, his angelic ear for language, and above all his incomparable ability to find the epic in the ordinary, to present us with the bloody and fabulous tale of an ordinary marriage. In his hands the long, passionate union of Scott and Lisey Landon--of any long-lived marriage, by implication--becomes a fantastic kingdom, with its own geography and language, its dark and stirring chronicle of heroes and monsters, its tragedies, griefs and glories. King has been getting me to look at the world with terror and wonder since I was fifteen years old, and I have never been more persuaded than by this book of his greatness."
Is King legit now or what? Getting cred from guys like this will only spur him along his road towards abandoning horror forever. Like I've said before, this is maybe a good thing.
Also, I did not know that Rosie O'Donnell had done that with Fight Club. That makes me think even less of her than before, which I'd thought was impossible. Thanks, Craig.
Don't be so hard on Rosie, she is very passionate about things and it is very hard being a famous gay woman in a straight Jesus freaky world.
Ma
new post please. she is ugly! Tired of looking at her.
Hmm I love the idea behind this website, very unique.
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I say briefly: Best! Useful information. Good job guys.
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