By Debbie Schlussel
The ubiquity of HRHSBotU (Her Royal Highness Supreme Being of the Universe), Queen Oprah, is getting really annoying.
It’s bad enough that America is afflicted by her vapid daily talk show and monthly magazine. Then, came her multi-media self-promotion of the Oprah school in South Africa, then announcements of her Oprah reality shows developed for ABC, then an announcement about an ABC special on the Oprah school.
And now, tonight on PBS a/k/a “Palestinian Broadcasting System,” I kid you not, “Oprah’s Roots: An African American Lives Special.” As USA Today TV critic Robert Bianco wrote:

Me, Me, Me: Learn the HOprah Chant
(Oprah Mag Artwork Courtesy of the Talented David Lunde)

Winfrey is extraordinarily popular, and PBS has to do whatever it can to reach a broader audience [DS: by that he means expand the PBS audience beyond the two 68-year-old former-hippies-cum-cat-ladies normally watching the irrelevant channel]. Still we already know about Winfrey. It would have been nice to hear about someone else.

Is there any limit to Oprah’s self-absorption and self-promotion? Doubtful. It’s all about Oprah. Me, me, me.
Yet Another Reason Why Oprah Sucks.

By Debbie Schlussel
You know Brad Pitt?
He’s the actor who is Mr. Angie Voight, who is constantly telling us how America doesn’t give enough to the poor, how Americans aren’t generous (even though they’re the most generous on earth), the guy who had a PBS show how Americans’ homes waste energy and aren’t “green” enough (while he lives in an energy wasting 11,000 square foot mansion and flies in private jets), how Americans are this and Americans are that.
Well, Mr. Proud High School Graduate, Father of Out-of-wedlock Kids, and purveyor of other important, fine moral lessons of America, tells us all, via Newsweek, where he learned these gems he’s imparted to America:
from strippers who “changed my life.”

I had a job driving strippers around … . Yeah, my job was to drive them to bachelor parties and things. I’d pick them up, and at the gig I’d collect the money, play the bad Prince tapes and catch the girls’ clothes. It was not a wholesome atmosphere, and it got very depressing. [DS: Ya think?!] After two months I went in to quit, and the guy said, ‘Listen, I’ve got this one last gig tonight.’ So I did it, and this girl — I’d never met her before — was in an acting class taught by a man named Roy London [a famous acting coach]. I went and checked it out, and it really set me on the path to where I am now . . . . Strippers changed my life.

Yup, this is America’s self-anointed moral authority–the man whose life was changed by strippers. And I had the gall to call his sleazy girlfriend, “Skankelina,” when this guy is the Mayor of Skanksville (she’s the First Lady).
As I’ve written before, Brad Pitt rhymes with hypocrite.
Memo to the unwise: Don’t get your morals from the sleazebags of Hollywood. (The wise already knew that.)

By Debbie Schlussel
The title of this post is kind of misleading. O.J. Jury Syndrome isn’t actually a new thing to Israel. It’s an old thing.
The Israeli “justice” system frequently bends over backward (and forward) for Islamic terrorists. It’s a great example of how Israel’s worst enemies are often not the Islamic terrorists who blow up pizza shops, but the Israeli judges who deliberately go out of their way to help them. On this site I often write about that not so exclusive club, “Stupid Judges and the Terrorists Who Love Them.” In fact, the Israeli chapter of this club rivals the American one in the size of membership rolls.
The latest example is the Israeli military judge who ruled that there is “insufficient evidence” to continue holding Islamic Jihad terrorist Fawaz Abu Damra. After all, the guy only helped finance IJ bus bombings that killed many Israeli civilians (and some Americans, too, including New Jersey college student Alisa Flatow). But no biggie. “Insufficient evidence to continue holding him.”

Desperate But Not Serious
Israeli Version of Judge Ito Frees Islamic Terrorist Fawaz Abu Damra
After all, the guy was only on videotape raising the money for those bombings. But no biggie. “Insufficient evidence to continue holding him.”
After all, the guy is only an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. But no biggie. “Insufficient evidence to continue holding him.”
After all, the guy only was the imam and founder of the Al-Farooq Mosque/Al-Kifah Refugee Center in Brooklyn, right before Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman (the blind cleric, convicted in the ’93 WTC bombing) took over from him. But no biggie. “Insufficient evidence to continue holding him.”
And that’s way Israel is losing–and will continue to lose–the war on terror.
Once again, the old Adam Ant song title is correct. “Desperate But Not Serious” (video below).

By Debbie Schlussel
**** SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATE ****
Last year, I wrote about courageous Hamtramckstan, Michigan Judge Paul Paruk, who refused to allow Ginnah Muhammad to wear her niqab (a full face veil) in court.
He stated that he could not gauge truthfulness of Muhammad’s testimony if she wore the niqab while testifying. Since she refused to remove it, Judge Paruk dismissed her small claims lawsuit against a rental car company.
Unfortunately, Muhammad is getting a second bite at the apple. She’s been granted another hearing, according to the Detroit Free Press, after she appealed. Free Press reporter Zachary Gorchow didn’t do his job adequately, and his story is unclear as to why Muhammad got the new hearing. Did Paruk grant it to her on his own volition because she appealed? Or did the appellate court order Paruk to do so (the more likely scenario)? Or was Muhammad’s appeal successful on other grounds?

Ginnah Muhammad
We don’t know why, because, again, reporter Gorchow ain’t a good reporter.
Will Muhammad be allowed to wear her niqab on February 21st or will Paruk continue to be courageous and do the right thing–requiring Muhammad to remove her face-veil if she wishes to testify and pursue her case?
As I wrote last October:

Judge Paruk’s courage is immense with this move because he made it in the most unlikely place in America to do so and survive politically. He’s probably written his career death sentence with his policy toward the niqab. He is a judge in Hamtramckstan, which is fast becoming a combination of Little Sana’a (Yemen’s capital), Little Pristina (Kosovo’s capital), and Little Bangladesh.
What was once a Polish Catholic-dominated town encompassed by the City of Detroit is fast becoming a tiny caliphate. Press accounts have documented the mysterious burning down of a Hindu temple, violent Islamic attacks on non-Muslim, Black males at Hamtramck Public Schools, the first legally sanctioned Muslim call to prayer in the nation, etc., etc., ad nauseam.

Will Judge Paruk stand tough and stick to his guns. We should hope so.
Stay tuned.
**** UPDATE, 01/26/07: Well, just as I wrote, Detroit Free Press reporter Zachary Gorchow got it all wrong. Ginnah Muhammad will NOT get a re-hearing on her lawsuit in which she was lost the case because she refused to testify without wearing her niqab. This new hearing is actually with regard to a new lawsuit, in which she is the defendant. There has been no backtracking by Judge Paruk or any appellate court on the face-veil issue. Glad to hear it. Here’s the e-mail clarifying this, which I received from the clerk of that court:

Ms. Schlussel,
I recently posted this response in your weblog. I also wanted to send it to you directly. Thank you for taking the time to read it.
In response to the most recent newspaper articles which contained many inaccuracies, I thought it important for everyone to know the status of these matters.
Here are the facts:
The original case where Ms. Muhammad was the plaintiff and refused to remove her veil was dismissed. She did not appeal that case. That case is now closed.
The following statements in the newspaper articles, “Ms. Muhammad appealed,” “Woman who refused to remove veil granted new hearing,” “Hearing will reconsider Paruk’s order,” and “She’ll keep veil in new hearing,” are incorrect.
Judge Paruk’s original decision of not allowing a veiled person to testify in court still stands.
There is a new lawsuit involving Ms. Muhammad pending in the 31st District Court but in this lawsuit Ms. Muhammad is the defendant, not the plaintiff. No pre-trial issues have been raised and this matter is scheduled for trial in February.
I hope this sets the record straight.
Alice Kopecky
Court Administrator
31st District Court

By Debbie Schlussel
Yaaaawn. The Sundance Film Festival is back. And Bobby Redford and friends bring you their annual host of anti-American cinematic crap.
This year there are three–THREE!–anti-U.S.-in-Iraq films. Based on the Salt Lake Tribune’s description, it’s fair to say they defame our troops, too.
Especially, “Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, ” by Rory Kennedy, the niece of Club Ted (Kennedy) and the daughter of RFK. She’s the one whose wedding her cousin JFK, Jr. and wife were flying when they went kerplunk. Listen to the essence of her “documentary”:

Rory Kennedy, John Cusack:
Sundance Brings You America’s New National Psycho-Analysts

Kennedy said her first interest was “exploring the topic of why ordinary people commit extraordinary acts of evil,” particularly in acts of genocide. But seeing the horrific images of prisoners abused at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison got her asking, “How could Americans do this? Who were the people who did this? And why would they have done it?”
When Kennedy interviewed the people on the ground, those who either took part in or witnessed the abuse, she got the same answer. “Each one said pretty much the same thing, which was, ‘I did it because I was told to do it,'” Kennedy said.
That answer moved Kennedy from making a psychological profile to a dive into investigative journalism, connecting the existing evidence of who ordered what from the G.I.s in Abu Ghraib up the chain of command, ultimately to the policies of President Bush and then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
That kind of introspection is what Kennedy hopes will come from her documentary.
“To me, the film’s not just about Abu Ghraib. The film is about who we are as Americans,” said Kennedy, sounding a bit like her relatives.

What?! Who we are as Americans? We’re torturers because a few people were in a hooded pyramid? Puh-leeze.

“There have been decisions made in the last few years, particularly in the face of 9/11 and the threat of terrorism. And I think there are real implications to those decisions that have very real material effect that we have to come to terms with – and I think Abu Ghraib is part of that. . . .”

Does the pyschobabble in America ever end? Her family has a few bucks and she was born with the famous last-name–and suddenly she’s the country’s psycho-analyst laureate?!
Just one question. Which Islamic terrorist group gave the Kennedy chick the financing for this absurdity?
Memo to Rory: Abu Ghraib happened several years ago. Some people wore hoods It is over. Move on.
And when is your documentary about Nicholas Berg, Matt Maupin, etc. being produced? Just curious. Oh, yeah–you didn’t care enough to make one.
The other two movies sound just as bad:

Images of Bush and Rumsfeld pop up occasionally in “Grace Is Gone,” like an early scene in which [John] Cusack’s character walks in on his 12-year-old daughter, Heidi (Shelan O’Keefe), surreptitiously watching the evening news.
Cusack said he had been looking to make a movie about the Iraq war, and Strouse came to him with the “Grace Is Gone” script at just the right time. Cusack said he was intrigued by playing Stanley, a political conservative who loses his wife to the war he supported.
“We pour so much concrete into our belief systems, and we absolutely bet everything that has to be the way it is,” Cusack said. “And I think the universe has a way of shocking us into opening our hearts again.”

What?! Americans’ hearts are not open? Give me a break. Their hearts are very open, as evidenced by the fact that this idiot still has a high-paid acting career.

While Cusack called the film “a bit of a Rorschach test” of people’s views about the war [he stressed that the] movie is a drama, not a political speech.

Ri-i-i-i-i-ght.
The other anti-Iraq movie in the trio is

Charles Ferguson’s documentary “No End in Sight,” is described in the festival’s film guide as a “surgical analysis” of Bush administration failures in conducting the Iraq war and occupation.

It’s narrated by actor Campbell Scott. Sounds like a real exciting moviegoing experience. Not.

By Debbie Schlussel
**** SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATE ****
Every week, I’m contacted by BBC to be on their radio program, “World Have Your Say.” And every week, it’s dominated by leftists. Last week was an exception with Richard Perle and Milblogger Bill Roggio on the show.
Usually, I get a sentence or two in, and then it’s time for them to get to others. Today, however, I finally got some adequate time to say my piece. The topic was about America’s image in the world and whether we should be concerned with the world disliking us. My view is that we should stop trying to appease the world–which generally means kowtow to Muslims who wish us dead.

Instead, we should concentrate on getting those who hate us to also fear and respect us. And you can’t do that by being meek, constantly sending delegations over there telling them, “please, please like us; we allow your extremists to have the run of America, so why won’t you like us?” You gain respect by being tough, by being ruthless, by showing those who cheered the 19 hijackers a little taste of what they will get if they try it again.
I frankly don’t care why they hate us. I care why we don’t hate them more, or even enough. I await the day when we will stop acting like the jilted lover who keeps begging to be taken back, despite years of abuse.
But BBC’ers don’t like that kind of talk. They like to hate Americans who hate America–which they get plenty of. And me being on, I interrupted their daily fix. It was like being sent to rehab, cold turkey, for them. And they have zero tolerance.
So, while I was on the air, BBC read a host of hate-mailers begging for my microphone to be shut off and that I never be allowed on the BBC airwaves. They were mad that I actually dared disagree with some Brits and Americans who say that the world should hate America more, that we (and Israel–gotta get that anti-Semitic stuff in there) are responsible for all the evil in the world. That we, America, are the evil of all evils. Blah, blah, blah.
They were mad at America for Global Warming. When I asked why they don’t hate China and India (who contribute to global warming more) and pointed out that they really don’t care about global warming–any excuse to hate America and attack it will do–the lumpen BEEBetariat got even angrier that the Beeb would dare have me on their airwaves.
Joe Noory at No Pasaran! has an excellent description of what happened to me, today, on BBC.
He sums it up by calling the show, “World (Don’t) Have Your Say” and saying this:

Euro-peevishness on parade… Useful, truly.

Amen, Joe. Read the comments of the angry Beebetariat directed at me. They hate me. AND I LOVE IT!
Getting on their nerves is a blast.
**** UPDATE: Well, the Beebetariat is even more outraged over me than even I perceived. Here’s more from the Beeb’s producer who booked me for the show:

I booked our main guest today, Debbie Schlussel. The question was ‘Does America’s image matter?’ – as in do Americans care what the world thinks of them? I knew Debbie would cause some controversy but I wasn’t prepared for the angry, angry people down the phone, on the text, emails, comments on the blog. When you’re fully interactive it does open multitudinous channels of abuse…
I felt a little guilty that Debbie didn’t really have an ally and the callers were so vehemently against her (and cross with the BBC for giving her airtime). Occasionally it did feel like a public hanging. However, there was a late show of support from her in email form. I suppose your average right-winger doesn’t really listen to the BBC. Also one caller called Des justified it best when he said that, although he completely disagreed with her, America’s global image is often that of right-wingers like Debbie so it was relevant and even necessary to have her on.
I did regret that, because of the large response.

I can take it. Too bad they can’t take me. They very badly need to take the medicine for their disease. It’s even worse than I’d earlier diagnosed.
Reader Jack writes:

Subject: bbc
Nice to see you can speak your mind . . . . screw the rest of the world . . . . they weren’t attacked . . . . we were . . . . read your column daily . . . . like a breath
Of fresh air . . . go get em’ debbie
jack

Thanks, Jack. Their subway was attacked, on a much smaller scale. But, shhhh . . . don’t tell them. They might notice. And they don’t actually want to.

By Debbie Schlussel
It used to be that there was just one guy at the Department of Homeland Security, Daniel Sutherland, whose full-time job was to be a professional brown-noser to whining extremist Muslims.
But, now, your tax dollars will pay for a new bureaucracy just for those who complain about airport security checkpoints.
Buried in today’s Wall Street Journal “Travel Watch” column was this gem:

Security Sound-Off
Travelers repeatedly delayed or detained at security checkpoints soon will be able to report their concerns to a new service at the Department of Homeland Security. Complaints on issues such as screening problems at immigration entry points or repeated selection for additional screening can be registered with the new Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (TRIP), a new central processing point. Details on how to file a claim will be available when the program launches, on Feb. 20.

It’s clear this was developed to service our friends from the “Religion of Peace” who are on the no-fly list or require extra scrutiny at security checkpoints.
What’s not clear is how much we’re paying to fund this boondoggle sop to them.

By Debbie Schlussel
Read the coverage at my favorite Lebanese news source, Ya Libnan, which does a great job of exposing Hezbollah, including this latest attempt to overthrow the Lebanese government and replace it with Hezbos:

At least 48 people were hurt in scuffles, especially in Beirut and Christian areas, security sources said.
Black smoke billowed over Beirut as [Hezbollah] demonstrators shut main roads, including those to the port and international airport. Black-masked Hezbollah organizers prowled the streets on motorcycles, walkie-talkies clamped to their mouths.
Lebanese soldiers fired into the air to keep stone-throwing crowds apart in Beirut and on a highway to the north. Daily life was paralyzed in the capital and many other areas of Lebanon.

Hezbollah Terrorist Riots in Lebanon, Today

“This government only understands force and today is only a small lesson,” protester Jamil Wahb told Reuters in the Shi’ite southern suburbs. “We will stay here until they give in.”
Six pro-government loyalists were wounded, one of them critically, by shooting during an opposition protest in the northern Christian village of Halba, security sources said.
In other violence, a gunman fired on protesters in the ancient Christian town of Byblos, wounding three people before soldiers arrested him. . . .
The strike dramatically escalates a campaign by Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, and its allies to replace the government and hold early parliamentary elections. . . .
One Christian leader said Tuesday’s protests were tantamount to a coup attempt against the Western-backed government. . . .
Demonstrators blocked roads to Beirut airport with burning tires and earth barricades. Several Arab and international airlines suspended flights, though the national flag carrier Middle East Airlines made no announcement on its plans.

Hezbollah Terrorist Rioters in Lebanon, Today
The airport remained operational, but few workers or passengers showed up, airport sources said.
Most main roads in Beirut were shut, as were highways to the north and south, and to the Syrian capital Damascus.
Many shops, schools and businesses were closed in Beirut but it was hard to tell whether this was in support of the strike or because people could not get to work past blazing barricades.
Pro-government figures condemned the protests.
“What is happening is a revolution and a coup attempt,” Christian leader Samir Geagea told al-Jazeera television. “This is direct terrorism to paralyze the country.” . . .
Hezbollah followers chanted slogans as they lit tires in downtown Beirut, close to the prime minister’s office.
“Siniora out, down with the government.”

So much for President Bush’s democracy plan for Lebanon.

By Debbie Schlussel
**** SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATES ****
Sorry, but their “Superbowl Shuffle” does not stand the test of time. Looking back on it, it looks like a bad Chippendales routine. Ironically, the only guy that still looks cool is William “The Refrigerator” Perry.
As for the other guys, with lines like these, who needs . . . . Oh, forget it:
“I’m as smooth as a chocolate swirl.” ?!
Jim McMahon: “I’m a punky QB.” Or is that, “funky”? Either way, it’s definitely cheesy. Oh, and #45 (Kerry something)[correction: it’s Gary Fencik–see update, below], get out of the rap biz. Please:

**** UPDATE: An interesting response to my comments is that of Jay Marhoefer, lawyer for Islamic Terrorist Ibrahim Parlak, whom Homeland Security is trying to deport. Marhoefer believes that because I don’t know the name of a cheesy Chicago Bear from 1985 (when I was in 11th grade), my football knowledge is in doubt. I could have looked #45 up, but didn’t care enough to do so. And, hey, I don’t claim to be a football expert (I care about issues in sports, not players’ names). That’s Mel Kiper’s job:

— Jay.Marhoefer@lw.com wrote:
Subject: #45 on “Da Bears”…
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 12:27:06 -0600
From: Jay.Marhoefer@lw.com
To: dschlussel@yahoo.com
. . . was Gary Fencik, six-time All-Pro safety. Yale grad–an Ivy Leaguer who made it in the NFL. Not much of a dancer, but man, could he hit.
As you purport to be knowledgeable of pro football, I thought you’d like to know.
John J. Marhoefer
LATHAM & WATKINS LLP
Sears Tower, Suite 5800
233 South Wacker Drive Chicago, IL 60606
Direct Dial: (312) 876-7602
Fax: (312) 993-9767
Email: jay.marhoefer@lw.com

He looks kind of puny for a safety. In 2007, I doubt he’d make the NFL.
**** UPDATE #2: Uh-Oh. Reader Ari says it looks like the ’86 Mets ripped off the ’85 Bears’ “musical masterpiece” and made their own awful rap, “Get Metzmerized” using what sounds like the same tracks. Writes he:

You pan the Superbowl Shuffle, and rightly so.
After reading “The Bad Boys Won” about the ’86 Mets, I learned that the Mets recorded their own Super Bowl Shuffle (On the second day of the season when they were 1-0. No, not the famous “Let’s Go Mets” from the end of the season, I mean “Get Metsmerized.”
If you think the Chicago Bears couldn’t rap, wait till you hear Get Metsmerized:
http://www.hiphopmusic.com/archives/002040.html
Trust me, the Bears were true artists compared to the Mets.
The background singers were a bunch of teenagers hired off the producer’s neighborhood. It’s comical.
Enjoy.

**** UPDATE #3: Can you believe these guys scored a gold record and platinum video award for the “Superbowl Shuffle”?! No lie.

By Debbie Schlussel
Earlier this month, USA Today published a list of the major books and novels coming out for the first third of 2007. I wrote about it and made my comments about several of the books, based on USA Today’s summary of what they were about. Admittedly, I had read none of these books at the time (they weren’t out yet).
I’ve since heard from those behind two of the books.
One of those people is ABC News correspondent Martha Raddatz, whose book–“The Long Road Home“–was among those I ripped. Based on the title and USA Today’s description, it sounded like the book was yet another anti-war tome on Iraq.

Martha wrote me to say that USA Today got it wrong and that her book is very supportive of the troops. After reading Martha’s e-mails (which she has allowed me to post), I think that I was wrong in my commentary on her upcoming book, and I’ve told Martha I look forward to reviewing her book. I’m glad to hear, based on her e-mails, that her book is not yet another “down-on-us-being-in-Iraq” book. If that’s the case, it’s refreshing, and I owe her an apology. We’ll see when I review it, but it sounds like it will be a great book:

— “Raddatz, Martha J” wrote:
Subject: Book lists…
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2007 18:43:28 -0500
From: “Raddatz, Martha J”
To: dschlussel@yahoo.com
Hi Debbie,
I saw your web entry about USA Today’s “notable” books for 2007.

“The Long Road Home,” by Martha Raddatz (Putnam). ABC News correspondent’s experiences covering the war in Iraq. [DS: USA Today’s description]
Could she come up with a more trite title?! Yet another anti-War “expose” that’ll put you to sleep . . . by yet another Mainstream Media “news” “correspondent.” YAAAAAWN. Next! [DS: My commentary]

Despite what USA Today wrote, I wanted you to know that the book is not about me! (or it probably would be a yawn!)‚Ķ.nor is it an anti-war expose. It is about a battalion of incredibly brave US soldiers, and the families who support them stateside. I could certainly take the heat if you had criticism for me—but these soldiers and their families are true heroes.
Best,
Martha

In a later e-mail, Martha Raddatz added this:

These soldiers are just incredible and I am so proud to tell their story. PS—i never stay in the green zone when I am in iraq! I am always with the troops.

Background on Martha Raddatz from the Media Research Center.
The other book person I heard from was the publicist for Richard North Patterson’s “Exile: A Novel.” He felt I was unfair, and says that the book is not unfair to Israel, but rather, it is balanced–that the book engages in “fairness” a/k/a moral equivalency of Palestinian terrorists. As if that makes it so much better.
Still, the publicist asked me to review the book, and based on what I’ve read thus far, I’m not impressed. If anything, the book is worse than I surmised. It’s dedicated in part to the Arab American Institute’s anti-Semitic, anti-American Jim Zogby, whom Patterson credits with giving him the idea and encouragement to write it. How comforting.
Will let you know when I’m done with this way-too-long book exactly what I think of it.