reed writes

Dear Sherry-

Now that I look at what I wrote, it seems a bit short and curt. I didn’t mean it that way, though. I just feel that the hypocrisy surrounding this famous book is so thick, you could cut it with a knife.

Even the most cursory investigation by Winfrey’s producers would have revealed there was very strong evidence that parts of the memoir had been fabricated. She chose to promote his book anyway. Then, later on, she called Larry King’s programme and defended the book and the author, thus adding more scores of thousands to his sales…and generating more hype and p.r. for herself.

Now Maureen Dowd (I am so disappointed in her), lionizes Winfrey and praises her willingness to set the record straight.

It was a huge relief, after our long national slide into untruth and no consequences, into Swift boating and swift bucks, into W.’s delusion and denial, to see the Empress of Empathy icily hold someone accountable for lying and conning — and embarrassing her.

In a society obsessed with sin and redemption, this was the superfecta: Oprah admitting her flawed judgment and rescuing her reputation, while carving up James Frey for sinning in his book about sin and redemption.

http://select.nytimes.com/2006/01/28/opinion/28dowd.html

My educated guess is that Winfrey would have met with her people and pursued the strategy that would place her and her show in the best light. It wasn’t until after she defended the author in the period following her interview with him, (she certainly knew full well about the fabrications by then), that she decided that she could no longer defend him and so she moved onto the side of the angels.

It was a whole tissue of cynical behaviour by her…and Dowd is more than disingenous when she attempts (even though she does it half-heartedly), to defend Winfrey.

The entire thing is disgusting…I agree.

But it’s not as if this is the first time fact and fiction have been played with fast and loose. A famous biographer Joseph McGinniss has boasted about his book “The Rise and Fall of Ted Kennedy”, which is full of quotes from Kennedy. McGinniss promoted his book by saying that all the “quotes” were made up, based on his “intuition” about what Kennedy might have said if he had been interviewed. The book sold hundreds of thousands of copies.

It’s all about making money….greed and fame…and all the players are tainted.

As my father used to say, don’t believe anything you hear or read and only half of what you see.

That’s my rant on this subject. I hope you don’t hate me for it.

Jim.

Well, I’ve recovered (more or less from the election).Actually, it turned out pretty much the way Canadians wanted- voters served notice to the Liberals that they must clean house, but also served notice to Mr. Harper and the Conservatives that they will be on a short leash for the duration of their stay in power.

It’s hard not to notice that Alberta is solid blue, but even harder not to notice that Harper owes his minority win not to Alberta, but to an eastern province, namely Quebec. It all serves to show that it’s not the rest of the country that is out of step with Ralph Klein, but rather Ralph who is out of step with the rest of the country.

Many people are struggling with what to do in this election, but for me…I’ve never felt more confident about an election decision. And it’s not Martin’s shipping company or anything of that nature. He’s done nothing on the scale of Cheney and the other Americans who have been corrupt business people. It’s unpleasant and perhaps unpatriotic, but it’s not corrupt. I don’t believe Martin is corrupt in the least.

My problem with Martin is that he is willing to sacrifice certain federal powers such as the “notwithstanding” clause, in order to appease certain provincial groups, particularly in Quebec. That alone is enough to reject him this time around.

Rejecting Harper is a no-brainer. He’s unreliable and shallow. He does not have a feeling for the fundamental values of this country and he is way too naive when it comes to dealing with the Americans, who have proved themselves duplicitous and dishonest. Softwood lumber is the glaring case in point, but there are many others.

Progressive Conservatives like Joe Clark and William Davis the former Premier of Ontario cannot abide Harper’s hunger for power at whatever coast…not to mention his willingness to sell out our healthcare system, rather than improve it and fund it properly.

ISSUE OF LAYTON VISITING THE SHOULDICE CLINIC

The Shouldice Clinic north of Toronto was established by a visionary doctor decades ago, well before medicare was introduced. It was set up as a non-profit clinic to treat hernia patients. No one has ever had a problem with “grandfathering” that clinic, because it signed on to the concept of universal care and has always operated as a non-profit clinic, open to all- rich or poor and no one can jump the queue there. Once a patient is referred, he/she must wait in line and gets treatment on the basis of medical need. So those who criticize Layton for having his hernia operation there, are out to lunch.

I don’t like Layton personally, but I do believe he is true to his political principles and to Canadian values.

So there you have it. If I thought my Green Party candidate had a chance of being elected, I would vote Green…but I believe the NDP candidate here does have a chance and so I’ve made my decision.

I had to make my decision on the big issue of whether we are determined to keep Canadian values alive and the only choice for that, I’ve concluded, is the NDP.

They may not win, but they may get a high enough percentage of the popular vote to make an impression. And if it’s a minority government as I believe it will be, then we need the balance of power in the hands of people who can be trusted.