Mittens Is Back!

Is Mitt Romney thinking about running for president again? Really? Would Mitt, Ann, the boys, and yes, Rafalca, really saddle up for the third time and take to the campaign trail? Apparently some Republican operatives and money men are intrigued with the possibility of Mitt 2016, or at least not thrilled with the current GOP contenders, but cooler heads are speaking out too. If you type "Romney 2016" into Google News you'll get a pretty good sample of what's currently being written, pro and con; for my money Buzzfeed has the bottom line on why it probably won't (and shouldn't) happen.

“Here’s the problem with the theory of the Romney candidacy, as much as I love the guy and as much as I think he’d be a good president,” [a] former [Romney] aide began. “The problem with the way these [Romney donors and friends] are treating a potential Romney candidacy is that they act as though Romney, if he were to get into the race, picks up where he gets off. As though, because he was the last Republican nominee, he’s still the Republican nominee unless he decides to bequeath it to someone else.”

“The field is not going to be nearly as weak as it was last time and nobody in the field, including the potential establishment candidates — Jeb or Chris Christie or Scott Walker — believe they should step aside for Mitt Romney,” the former aide predicted. “So Romney gets into the race and he’s suddenly competing with heavy-duty candidates who have as much claim on the mainstream donor base as he does, and suddenly he’s in a messy primary where these people will be going at him in a very nasty way.”

Learning New Things

My new post is up at Blog To Work; read it here.

Here's The Dress

No time for a Guessing Game post this week, People's out with their new cover on Tuesday morning. No surprise that the wedding is the big story, but it turns out rumors that Vogue had exclusive rights to the wedding pictures were wrong. (Vogue does have an "exclusive" pic from a gown fitting in July, at the salon of Oscar de la Renta, not Alexander McQueen. Picture below.)



The wedding was on my draft guessing game list, of course, along with Chelsea's baby. Other possibilities included Missing White Girl Hannah Graham, Missing (and unfortunately now dead; her body was found overnight) Blonde Woman Beverly Carter, Derek Jeter, Amanda Bynes and Prince Harry, who either is or is not back with Cressy.

George Gets Married

No, this isn't Amal's wedding dress, this picture was taken Friday night. As I type this on Saturday the wedding ceremony in Venice is either underway or just finished. How do I know that? I watched, via live-streaming Italian television, as gorgeous George and his friends arrived by water taxi.

I'm writing about this wedding mostly because I wanted to post this picture of the bride, which is spectacular. We should see wedding pictures soon, because Anna Wintour is in attendance and word on the street is that Vogue has the exclusive rights to the pictures. Even so, unless something really interesting happens between now and Tuesday night, this will probably be the main People cover story this week. Stay tuned for more.

Does Kim Kardashian Have A Brain?

Maybe. Her recent fashion choices, however, send a different message, clearly stating that other body parts are the most important thing about Mrs. West. The style mavens at people.com have no words:

Dear Kim,

You win. We’ve actually run out of things to say about your outfits. This one in particular leaves us speechless. Rather than attempt, we’ll just let this photo fill in the 1,000 words itself and thank you sincerely for never boring us.

Love,

The PEOPLE.com style team



Not to be outdone or upstaged, Kanye was showing some cleavage too:



Wouldn't you love to know what Anna Wintour thinks about all this?

Things I Don't Care About

Derek Jeter's retirement.

Botching The Salute

Hi Barney.

Joan Lunden

Wow, I didn't see that coming, and good for Joan for having the guts to be photographed bald. Apparently she will be appearing on The Today Show in October as part of Breast Cancer Awareness month.

I also didn't realize it was time for another Kate cover and I can't imagine that People has any important "new details." Still, thank you, People, for not calling her Kate Middleton. "Princess" Kate isn't technically correct but it's better than using her maiden name. I considered putting Jessa Duggar on my guessing game list, but as I said five weeks ago when her sister was the main cover story, I didn't think she was that important. I really don't get the whole Duggar thing.

The Guessing Game

What will be on this week's issue of People magazine? My guesses:

Miss America: A hazing scandal, she was kicked out of her sorority
Charlo Greene: The TV anchor quits on the air, uses the F word
Kris Jenner: Filed for divorce from Bruce
Various stars and starlets: Nude pictures hacked
George Clooney: Getting married
Leo DiCaprio: What's with that beard?
Bruce Springsteen: 65th birthday
Mark Harmon: The success of NCIS
1994: 20th anniversary of My So-Called Life, Friends and ER

Truth Or Consequences

My new post is up at Blog To Work; you can read it here.

The Big Bang Theory

This is a cover story I didn't see coming, although I guess it makes sense as the new TV season kicks off. Apparently this show is a great big hit and the stars certainly get great big paychecks - $1 million per episode, each - but I've never watched it, and I'm not even sure what it's about. Of all my guesses, only 1, the NFL scandal, gets a tiny little tease.

I didn't have any "amazing celeb weddings" on my list and off the top of my head I'm not sure whose weddings they're referring to. I could google around to find out, I suppose, but this is one of those things I don't care about.

The Guessing Game

What will be on the cover of People magazine this week? Guesses: 

Prince Harry: His 30th birthday
Oscar Pistorious: Not guilty of murder; gets a lesser charge
The View: New hosts Rosie Perez and Nicole Wallace
Michael Che and Pete Davidson: New Saturday Night Live cast members
The Palins: A drunken brawl at a Saturday night birthday party (details: #palinbrawl)
Men Behaving Badly: Violence in the NFL
Kanye West: Obnoxious as usual, this time to a couple of disabled fans in Australia
Mark Sanford: South Carolina Luv Guv splits with Argentinian fiancée
Miss America: A three-peat for New York; she sang with a red cup
Greg Norman: A grisly accident with a chain saw
Princess Charlene: Bitchy gossip in Monaco
The 9/11 Wedding Picture: 13 years later it's returned to its owner

Disabled?

My new post is up at Blog To Work; read it here.

Prince Harry Turns 30

Happy Birthday to Prince Harry, who turns 30 tomorrow (the 15th.) The People cover above isn't current, of course, it's from 30 years ago when Harry made his grand entrance into the world. At that point Diana had done her primary job, producing the heir and the spare and as we now know, things pretty much went downhill from there for Charles and Di.

30 years later, however, we've still got Harry and he's by far the cutest and most entertaining royal. William and Kate are serious and dutiful, plus they're about to produce a "spare" of their own, which means there's pretty much no chance Harry will ever actually have to be King. He gets to be the fun one, cool Uncle Harry, hunky and charming!  Happy Birthday Harry!

Classy As Always, Sarah

Our old friend Sarah Palin's back in the news this week, along with Todd, Track, Tripp and Tron... Well, actually, there's no one named Tron. I made that part up. (Sarah's youngest son's name is Trig, and apparently he wasn't at the party.) Anyway, Sarah and the fam were at a birthday party Saturday night and things got a little out of hand. Here's the original post from Alaska Political blogger Amanda Coyne:

There’s some sort of unofficial birthday/Iron Dog-type/snowmachine party in Anchorage. A nice, mellow party, until the Palin’s [sic] show up. There’s beer, of course, and maybe other things. Which is all fine, but just about the time when some people might have had one too many, a Track Palin stumbles out of a stretch Hummer, and immediately spots an ex-boyfriend of Willow’s. Track isn’t happy with this guy, the story goes. There’s words, and more. The owner of the house gets involved, and he probably wished he hadn’t. At this point, he’s up against nearly the whole Palin tribe: Palin women screaming. Palin men thumping their chests. Word is that Bristol has a particularly strong right hook, which she employed repeatedly, and it’s something to hear when Sarah screams, “Don’t you know who I am!” And it was particularly wonderful when someone in the crowd screamed back, “This isn’t some damned Hillbilly reality show!” No, it’s what happens when the former First Family of Alaska comes knocking. As people were leaving in a cab, Track was seen on the street, shirtless, flipping people off, with Sarah right behind him, and Todd somewhere in the foreground, tending to his bloody nose.

And here's her follow-up: 

What I have heard since, without much trying, and what I knew then, is that the cops were called after the brawl. It’s confirmed that the Palins, all of them, were in some way involved in a fight at a house in Anchorage where a party was going it. Bristol’s son, Tripp was at the party. I have confirmed from multiple sources that Bristol punched someone repeatedly, and that charges might be filed. I spoke to a source yesterday who witnessed part of it. She said that some in the crowd were trying to restrain Sarah, who was clawing to get involved in the fight, which had moved to the cul-de-sac outside of the house. She was also screaming loudly. She wore platform high-tops with the American flag on them, and Bristol wore big, round shades. As I reported, Track was at some point in the night, shirtless.

The whole family arrived in a stretch Hummer limo, and had to be told to leave the house.

Sarah's scheduled to be on Hannity tonight so there should be lots of good stuff to talk about in the morning. 

I Hope...

... that Ray Rice's punch to his fiancée's head really was a one-time thing, as they both claim. I hope he really is a good man who did one bad thing, as Ravens management claimed up until Monday morning.

I hope neither Ray or Janay has a problem with alcohol. They've apparently said they had had too much to drink on the night in question; I hope that was just a little over-celebrating on Valentine's Day and not their usual pattern.

I hope they have better communication and conflict resolution skills than they demonstrated on the video. Spitting, swatting and face-punching are not acceptable ways to resolve whatever their problem was that night.

I hope they've been exercising good money management, and that one or both of them have marketable skills not related to football, because Mr. Rice is now unemployed.

I hope Mr. Rice is indeed standing strong for his family, as he claimed yesterday.

Why do I hope all these things? Because I don't want Janay Palmer Rice to end up dead.

This has been a difficult week for them, to put it mildly. If Ray Rice is a serial abuser, if one or both of them regularly drinks too much, if their usual way of fighting and solving problems is to get physical, the events of this week could send them over the edge, with consequences far more serious than public embarrassment.

I don't want Janay to end up dead.

Can We Talk?

People goes with Joan, with Kate (on top) as a sidebar story and NPH's wedding as a topline tease. I'm curious to see if there's anything about the Ray Rice story inside. As of this morning there's nothing about it on people.com, which, given yesterday's nonstop coverage, is surprising.

And speaking of the Rice story, last night it was reported that Rice has hired a publicist and "will have more to say soon." I was also interested to hear NFL Commissioner Goodell say that what's shown on the second video doesn't match what the Rices told him had happened in the elevator. At least in the short term, this story isn't going away.

The Guessing Game

What will be on the cover of People this week? Possibilities:

William and Kate: Baby #2 is on the way. Prince Harry's another possibility - he turns 30 on Monday.
Joan Rivers: Dead Celebrity. Before the royal baby was announced I figured Rivers would get the cover but now she may get bumped to a sidebar.
Celebrity Weddings: Neil Patrick Harris, Ashlee Simpson and Fran Drescher all got married. As I write this on Tuesday afternoon, people.com has a "Breaking News" banner announcing that Ashley Tisdale got married too. Honestly, I don't even know who that is.
Ray and Janay Rice: If People does do a story I'd hope to see it tied to the issue of domestic violence in general and how women can protect themselves.
Bachelor In Paradise: The Bachelor franchise's summer stepchild came to a glorious end last night; if you care about such things, Marcus and Lacy are engaged.

Show Me The Money

The Ray Rice story is still big news this morning, with much commentary, moralizing and pontificating from both inside and outside the sports world; Ray Rice is currently at the top of the Top Stories list on Google News and the Trends list on Twitter.

You could spend the rest of the day clicking through all the stories out there. For now, my favorite is the Baltimore Sun's editorial titled titled "Reckless and Callous." Here's the heart of the matter:

For all Mr. Harbaugh’s talk of character and family, the Ravens are a business. They supported Mr. Rice when they thought he still added value to the team. Now, no amount of on-field talent can make up for the revulsion Ravens fans will feel when they remember the sight of his left fist smashing into Ms. Palmer’s face. If team officials really hadn’t seen the video until Monday, their unwavering support for Mr. Rice was reckless, in that they had to assume that it would have come out eventually, and callous, in that they knew all the pertinent facts about what happened in the elevator without having seen it. Evidently the Ravens can stomach having a player who would knock a woman down and then treat her with all the care he would give to a sack of flour — just so long as the public doesn’t see it.

So once again, it's the video that did it, or as "Frannie" put it in a tweet I re-tweeted last night: 
Ray Rice was not cut from the Ravens and suspended from the NFL indefinitely bc they saw that video. He was cut bc you saw that video.
So will Ray Rice ever play pro football again? The NFL suspended him "indefinitely" which isn't the same thing as "from now until the day you die." Although most observers appear to believe his football career is over, I'm intrigued by Jeffrey Toobin's comments on CNN last night. Toobin insists that Rice will eventually be reinstated, after some kind of therapy and a "teary press conference," because in a league where winning is the only thing and billions of dollars are at stake, Rice's value as a player will eventually trump his shortcomings as a man and a human being.  

Media feeding frenzies have a pretty short shelf life and something else will no doubt bubble to the surface and knock Ray Rice out of the spotlight soon. (And of course, these days he and his wife can't just "go on Oprah" to tell their side of the story, although I'd bet bookers from GMA, Today and Dr. Phil are on overdrive trying to get the "get" with Mr. and Mrs. Rice.) For now, at least, I'm curious to see how things turn out for Rice, and more specifically for his wife. I'm going to try to follow the story, unless and until something juicier comes along.   

Things I Don't Care About

NYFW, also known as New York Fashion Week.

The Knock-Out Punch

Monday afternoon update: After seeing the new video, the Ravens cut Ray Rice from the team; shortly thereafter the NFL suspended him indefinitely. Based on what I'm reading it appears Rice's career in the NFL is over.

Original Post:
Have you been following the saga of Baltimore Ravens player Ray Rice? Here's the short version: in an incident at the Revel Hotel in Atlantic City on February 15, Rice punched his then-fiancée Janay Palmer in the head, hard enough to knock her unconscious. Video emerged showing him dragging her, still unconscious, out of the elevator. The NFL evaluated the situation and (lightly) punished Rice with a two-game suspension. Outrage ensued, not least because of the comparison with another player who was suspended 16 games for smoking pot.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell reconsidered, acknowledged that "he got it wrong" and implemented a new policy for players who beat women: A six-game suspension for the first offense, followed by indefinite suspension for a second offense. (Note that I've seen the new policy for a 2nd offense described as everything from indefinite to full season to at least one year to a lifetime ban. So it's not completely clear.)

Done deal, right? No. Now TMZ.com has video of the actual moment inside the elevator when Rice punches Palmer, and it's graphic and disturbing. The s--t is hitting the fan all over again.

I like Mike Lupica's column in today's New York Daily News; read it here.

I also agree with what Steve Almond wrote in The Daily Beast in July (before the inside-the-elevator video came out): this is what the NFL is. It's misogynistic, violent and all business. Money quote:

After all, as a nation we worship football players specifically because they embody an ideal of hyper-masculinity that is inherently violent and impulsive. Football is a world where the basic role of the female is ornamental, at best.

It’s the fans who create and sustain this ideal. We’re the ones who spend billions of dollars and hours watching the game.

And we’re the reason why, from a young age, boys with the required talent and drive are segregated from the rest of the population and granted the privileges of an effective warrior class. We’re the reason so many players come to feel they are above the law: because as a culture we make them feel as if they are.

It is foolish to think that the mindset of brutality and entitlement that has governed their identity for years simply clicks off when they shed their uniform.

Full article here. 

By-the-way, in the first paragraph I referred to Ms. Palmer as Rice's "then-fiancée." If you think that means that after getting punched into unconsciousness she told him he's toast and walked away, think again. She's now his wife. Why, why, why??? 

Still Famous?

Last October I posted this picture in a post titled "This Is Why She's Famous." I pointed out that it isn't Kim's intellect that's got Kanye enthralled. Looking at the picture again, I'm struck by the contrasts. In some ways Kim appears to be going for an "innocence" vibe, with a pure white lace dress, knees locked together and hands folded demurely in her lap. Her head is tilted down and her expression is slightly less provocative than usual. Then there's the cleavage. Kim's breasts are so minimally contained and burstingly overripe it looks like they're about to pop out of the dress altogether; Kanye looks like he's about to start slobbering.

I was reminded of this when I saw the newest pictures of Mrs. West, taken in London as she received British GQ's Woman of the Year award Tuesday night.



No innocence here. The girls are still front and center, this time propped up by black leather; the rest of the "dress" is see-through, putting Kim's best assets out there for all the world to see. In spite of the slight dominatrix vibe I'd be willing to bet this look is Kanye's vision, not Kim's. I assume the Woman of the Year award is tied to the fact that Kim posed for naked pictures featured in the October issue of British GQ, about which Mother-from-Hell Kris Jenner proudly tweeted out a message:  'Congratulations @kimkardashian on receiving @GQ's Woman of the Year Award and on your @BritishGQ cover!! So proud of you! #TomMunro photography #stunning.'

As I was pondering the cultural significance of all this, I was struck by a thought I never thought I'd have: I feel sorry for Kim. It can't be easy to be caught between Kris and Kanye, both of whom are determined to capitalize on and profit from Kim's public persona and "talent," whatever you perceive that to be. Yes, Kim is strutting, half-clothed and very famous, all the way to the bank, but still. I wonder if, deep inside, in her soul, she's tired of it all. Does she even know who she is anymore? Does she ever wonder if she has any value when she's not parading around half-naked? Does she ever just want to scream, "Leave me alone!"?

We may never know. At some point the whole Kardashian drama will get old, ratings for their TV show will drop and another "reality" family will come along and catch America's attention. Kim turns 34 in October, the years will go by, she'll be 40, 45, 50, etc. At some point her famous body won't be so attractive and the spotlight will move on. What will she do then?

Does The World Need Another Talk Show?

Two years ago, when Katie's Couric's hugely hyped new talk show was ready to make its debut, I wondered if the world really needed another television talk-fest. It turns out we didn't: "Katie" flamed out after two years. (Or, if you prefer, Ms. Couric chose to pursue new opportunities at Yahoo...)

Now Meredith Vieira is ready to step into the arena, apparently for $5 million per year and an equity stake. From promos I've seen she's trying not to be same old, same old, with a set that looks like her real-life living room, an all-woman on-set band, and audience contests. Will it work? The odds aren't good. The list of failed talk show hosts, as listed by Lloyd Grove at The Daily Beast, includes Anderson Cooper, Megan Mullally, Jane Pauley, Tony Danza, Kris Jenner and Sharon Osborne, plus, of course, Katie Couric.

I like Meredith Vieira and I wish her well, but I have no real interest in watching her show. We'll know in a few weeks if anyone else does.

You can read Grove's article here.

No Surprise

There's no surprise about this week's cover; in fact People released it Monday night. The dress is less glamorous than I would have expected, and frankly, less flattering. (Interesting that she's not carrying a bouquet.) The kids' artwork on the back is charming, of course and certainly sends a message. Will that become a new bridal trend?

Here's the back of the dress:


Final "Brangelina gets married" thought, at least for now: I want to live at Chateau Miraval. Not with the Jolie-Pitts, I really don't care that much about them. I just want the castle. Gorgeous.