When I first started in TV, 7 years ago at the age of, um, 15 :), Judith Regan's show was one of the first I did. I remember sparring with her and being impressed with her fast wit. I later appeared with her many times during the Gary Condit years. (Do ya'll remember that?) There were few women back then who were not anchors but those who could proffer their opinion - Eleanor Clift, Geraldine Ferraro - the point is I was happy to see another.
Let me give you this opinion pure and simple: What she has done with this book and show is truly disgusting and I don't want to waste my time this morning writing any more about it so I hope our editorial of the other day in the Philadelphia Daily News will suffice.
THE BIG 'IF'
IF WE WERE writing this, we would say we'd like to move to another place - say, somewhere in the early 20th century, before the culture of cheap celebrity worship swept in and allowed a broken-down ex-football star to possibly get away with murder and then get a lucrative book contract to tease us about his involvement in the crime.
But we're not.
If we were writing this, we would say that it's time to rethink the double-jeopardy law.
But, of course, we're not.
If we were writing this, we would say that we wonder what it will take to change a culture that continues to shrug off domestic violence as a serious problem, even after another high-profile sports celebrity charged with hitting his wife got away with it with barely a slap on his wrist. (When is Brett Myers' book coming out, anyway? We hear it's called "If I Hit Her.")
But we're not.
If we were writing this, we'd wonder how appetizing the O.J. Simpson case would be for book publishers, television networks and other profiteers of pain if the victim in the case had been a child?
But we're not. Though maybe we should.
I am going to follow the advice of the families who lost their loved ones and boycott the whole thing. Simply gross.
The worst part for me is that somewhere they must have done research that folks would go for this. Please let me be right that no person reading this site would do such a thing.