Posted on 06/30/2006 6:30:52 AM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest
by Mark Finkelstein
June 30, 2006
Should we look for Matt Lauer to close his next interview of Condi Rice by clasping her hands? Perhaps a verklempt Dick Cheney thanking Campbell Brown for being with him "every step of the way"? Could be, judging by Al Roker's interview of Star Jones this morning.
OK. Star isn't Secretary of State. She's someone who got bounced as co-host of a televised coffee klatsch. Even so, some of the journalistic values on display were eye-brow raising. For openers, what does it say about Today's news values that the interview, stretching across two half-hours and three segments, was the longest this veteran Today watcher can remember?
And then there was the personal relationship between Al and Star. The flag first went up when Star thanked Al for having phoned her with information: "I actually remember a phone call when you saw something in the paper that I had not even seen that was pretty nasty."
Later, in discussing Star's reluctance to publicly acknowledge that her dramatic weight loss was the result of bariatric surgery, Jones made clear just how friendly she and Al are:
"You've been holding my hand, recommending my doctors, standing by me throughout every single health crisis that I've had."
And speaking of holding hands, as you'll see, that's just how the interview ended.
In fairness, Al did ask a number of probing questions on a range of issues. And again, this is more soap opera than shooting war. Even so, as the story involves the reputations and careers of a variety of individuals, and the corporate interests of some major players, should we expect the same journalistic standards to be observed that we would demand - if not always receive - in the treatment of 'hard' news?
Yeah and I personally am counting the minutes until RosieOFat gets on the show too...(sarc/off)
She is a whore to power. She tramples people, and she can't give up her power at what age?? The chick should have something else to live for, but obviously she take her last breath on the air.
I see nothing wrong with him reaching out to her while she contemplated that surgery for herself.
Walter's ugly way of dealing with this situation is disgusting. She deserves all the bad publicity she gets, and then some.
Star Jones, while clearly liberal, was a respected assistant prosecutor in her earlier career. For Baba to suggest she made her a star is beyond egotistical. That show turned Star into a brainless twit, rather than the bright articulate person she is. I wish her the best.
Baba wanted to be praised for saying that they were going to allow Star to lie about her departure from the show. UGH
True. But I think it goes farther than that. It exposes both these liberals for the harpies they are. Where's the love? Where is the "tolerance". Their "mean-spiritedness" that they accuse everyone who isn't on the hate-the-military, embrace-abortion, global warming freight train is on display for all to see. And I'm pretty sure Baba Waltehs has been dead for several years. They put strings on her and move her around like a puppet. If SHE were a tree, it would be a dead one.
****
Well said.
I suspect that the usual forces will join to keep Star from getting another job. Remember how they bashed Letterman for daring to think about accepting a job offer that would replace one of their liberal heroes...Koppel.
Yes ...... it's a club.
And it's time to call a spade a spade and a club a club.
Thank you! I just saw her on ET in a clip from the LKL show she did. Wow, all fakey humble and soft-spoken and acting pitiful, it was incredible in comparison to her over-talking, interrupting, bragging, nasty persona on The View.
She was trying to say she was taking the high road and wouldn't trash Baba and wouldn't get into a catfight. She was the one who started it!
At least now she's saying her Bridezilla performance was a little over-the-top and maybe a mistake. She says she wouldn't do it the same way agin, using her celebrity to get all those freebies. Oh, sorry, now she's denying there were freebies - only "plugs." Yeah, right.
The whole problem with this Roker interview, which I missed, thank goodness, is that Al told people how he lost his weight - Star didn't. Not only did Star not tell - and I support her right NOT to tell - but she said things to make it *seem* as if she did it all through hard work and sweat, which she didn't.
So, even with this interview and implying that Al held her hand in other ways, she *still* won't admit she had the operation, only that Al did! She used him, as she does *all* the celebrities in her orbit - ask some of the "girlfriends."
As for Baba, she didn't tell Star *to* lie - she told Star she could say whatever she wanted about the departure, to save face. Baba is old school in that respect, old, old school - she was trying to save face for her show, but also being nice to Star. Star doesn't know *nice.*
I don't care what Starzilla does next. She did something so despicable a few years ago, that I wrote the only complaint email I've ever written to a TV show. Everything is about her incredible ego, not about her weight or her race.
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