Martha

Stephen Beals sent me this e-mail this morning and I thought it was worth sharing…

Like you, I don't get the animosity towards Martha Stewart. True, I'm not really into decorating and all that, so it's not like I've been paying attention, but I really don't understand where the flat-out hatred is coming from. The same goes for Kathie Lee. Like most public personalities, their behavior in their private lives really doesn't mean much to me. I suppose somebody can remind me of a mean boss I've had, or something, but I try and be objective.

I work in advertising and get a lot of daily newspapers here at my office. I'm just amazed at some of these articles. It's obvious that a lot of people who are angry at Martha, apparently just for being Martha, are now allowed to poke at her.

One Associated Press story interviewed previous inmates at the prison Martha will be going to and focuses on the drab concrete which she cannot decorate and the thread count of the blankets that she will have to use. The article goes on to say that her website directs customers to high thread count blankets, but she won't have that option. It points out that the (once again) drab concrete walls cannot be decorated and that she will have no choice about what to wear.

Couldn't this kind of anger be useful if it was applied to something more socially important? As a whole, I guess our country gets passionate about Martha Stewart and not about the boring things in life. Like Education.

Just had to get that off my chest. Thanks!

There are a lot of folks out there who are unhappy with their stations in life and this unhappiness manifests itself in schadenfreude, especially towards someone who seems snooty and above us. I can understand that, I guess. And I suppose I can also understand making the leap from "I don't like this person" to "she must be guilty," though I think that's also intellectually dishonest. I can even understand and agree with those who are happy because a blow was dealt to the premise — too often true in this country — that you can never be convicted of anything if you can afford a good-enough lawyer. Even on this one though, I wish I were more convinced that Ms. Stewart had committed a "real" crime instead of some technicality. The way the counts read, it's almost like they knew they couldn't nail her on a crime so they nailed her on conspiracy to commit that crime and lying to conceal that crime. It reminds me of my old complaint about accusing someone of "the appearance of impropriety" because you can't find a real impropriety to accuse them of.

Oh, well. If this is a warm-up to going after more of the Ken Lays of the world then, assuming Martha actually committed a crime, maybe it will make more sense. If it turns out to be a diversion, then I'll really think she got railroaded on a prosecution that served no purpose other than to "get" someone famous. Thanks for the comment, Stephen.