On Tue, Jan 22, 2013 at 3:18 PM, Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote:
> Bill Burr raised a valid point on his podcast this week, but about > Oprah, not Lance. > > Armstrong was in a situation where everybody at the top of their game > in cycling was doing something many consider to be wrong. Rather than > come in last, he chose to go ahead and join the league of ordinary > people. Back in the start of her career, daytime talk shows only > thrived by exploiting the stupidest and freakiest of humanity, > shamelessly pandering to the lowest common denominator. Oprah rose to > fame by being among the most exploitative of them all. Only after > she'd achieved fame and success did she suddenly realize it was wrong > to take advantage of the weak, at which point she made a public > declaration that she would never again stoop so low. Then over the > years as her ratings wavered, she adjusted her ethics accordingly, > bringing on amoral clods like Phil McGraw to do the exploiting for her > or moronic jackasses like Suze Orman to degrade and insult others. > > It is, of course, two different things. Armstrong broke "the rules," > which is supposedly important in spite of the fact the rules mattered > to none of the top competitors. But what Oprah did was act unethically > and irresponsibly, exploiting people and doing whatever it took to be > number one in her profession. Ultimately, Armstrong hurt himself and a > sport. Ultimately, Oprah hurt other people. > > Just putting things into perspective. I don't think that adds much perspective frankly. I loath Oprah, in every one of her incarnations (and will never forgive her for her part in ruining the film version of one of the great novels of the 20th century). But her exploitative history has nothing to do with what Armstrong has done. And I don't buy for an instant that Armstrong's was some kind of victimless crime. I am not one to moralize about the actual use of PEDs, but nobody in cycling, and few in any other sport, lied as loudly and as boldly and as often as Armstrong - and he profited personally to the tune of millions of dollars from his lies. He also went out of his way to ruin anyone who has the nerve to try to challenge him on his lies and get the truth out. Moreover, given his outsized fame and influence, who knows how many thousands of young people, trying to be "like Lance", started doping and using PEDs that might have serious negative health consequences for them. -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
