Just Don't Click on Sarah Palin

I will suggest to Americans to "Just Don't Click" on Sarah Palin. Don't watch the shows. Don't tune into her on the Internet. Don't buy her book. Don't keep feeding this media blitzkrieg.
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Why Why Why Is Oprah Supporting Sarah Palin By Having Her On Her Show?

I asked this question on Twitter, and these are the responses I got:

@stylemakertv doesn't she know -- ignore it, it goes away. RT @BethArnold Why why why is Oprah supporting Sarah Palin by having her on her show

@3samovar WHY INDEED? RT @BethArnold Why why why is Oprah supporting Sarah Palin by having her on her show?

@elissastein @BethArnold I think she lost track of her center and is now about sensationalism. Sad.

@joolzgirl @BethArnold heavens, I don't know!!! Its a very good question!

@olmanrvr @BethArnold Oprah's just like the rest; It's all about ratings..dat's all.

Yes, those ratings. We all knew that, but doesn't Oprah have enough money -- hundreds of millions of dollars -- that she doesn't really need more, and so those pesky ratings shouldn't matter in the "O" big picture? So the question ultimately was: why promote the ridiculous phenomenon that SP has become -- and help the Britney Spears of politics make millions of dollars herself?

Surely, Oprah isn't trying to be "fair" now, because she didn't have SP on her show during the absolutely absurd presidential campaign. I say absolutely absurd, because SP was a joke of a candidate.

If one has any thought of mentioning anything about feminism here, then bite one's tongue.

I met Oprah at a Spa 17 years ago and had a great time with her. I admired what she'd done enormously. Our group really bonded while we were there, and Oprah called me on the night of Bill Clinton's election to congratulate me. So thoughtful. But really, can't Oprah do or not do anything in the world that she does or does not want to do?

Sorry, if her viewer numbers are going down. But she's had a great run, right? She's not over and done, but what would happen to her if the Oprah machine rolled to a stop? Maybe she could take some time off and smell the flowers.

Is this pure American competition? I heard that David Letterman had asked SP to be on his show, too. Sorry to hear that. Of course, she turned him down. He might play comic "hard ball," and she might not be able to keep up with him.

Oh, and then there's SP on Barbara Walters. Barbara will say this is about journalism: this is about ratings. I admire Barbara as well, but she'll play softball for the soft-brained Sarah. Oh, will she make Sarah cry? Please...and so what?

I will suggest to Americans to "Just Don't Click" on Sarah Palin. Don't watch the shows. Don't tune into her on the Internet. Don't buy her book. Don't keep feeding this media blitzkrieg that reinforces itself and her, because we keep watching and we keep clicking on people that need to be out of our consciousness. I know I've written about her here, but that's to urge her away.

Just say no to Sarah Palin. We Americans need to get our minds out of the cultural gutter and raise our sights. Our media ought to have some standards, too. Everything can't be about money. Everything can't be about the numbers. That's part of what has gotten us into this economic and societal mess that we're in now.

Oprah, Barbara Walters, David Letterman, pay attention to what and who you're promoting. Leave the trash to Fox News.

Beth Arnold lives and writes in Paris. To see more of her work, go to www.betharnold.com.

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