NYC Moms

Katie Couric on her interview with John and Roberta McCain

Hey, it's me again.  First, let me say to PunditMom that I'm so appreciative that you think I get it. Woo!! (Just don’t ask my kids the same question.)

I wanted to tell you about my interview with Sen. John McCain and his mother Roberta.  I must say, I've always thought that you can learn a lot about someone by talking to their mother, and that was definitely the case yesterday.  At 96, Roberta McCain is still as sharp as a tack. 

First, let me say the woman is beautiful.  She is really pretty and I hope I look that good at 56, let alone 96.

One thing that struck me, she is absolutely as straight-talking as her son.  It seems that "maverick" streak runs in the family.  As a college student, Roberta ran off to Tijuana to elope with Senator McCain's father.  She told me she took her school books with her on her honeymoon! It actually reminded me of my honeymoon. I took copies of Jane’s Defence Weekly (they spell it that way) with me because I was going to start reporting from the Pentagon when I returned. My husband told me he hoped that was not the kind of hardware I would focus on…but I digress.

(Click Here to see the YouTube video interview between Katie Couric, John McCain and Roberta McCain).

Roberta has clearly always had a lifelong quest for learning.  She loves museums, and told me that she particularly loves D.C. because the museums are open seven days a week and are completely free.  During 

Katie Couric on Mean Girls (And Boys) Online

The hullabaloo over Miley Cyrus has died down.  My mom said in her inimitable way that “Vanity Fair should be ashamed of itself.”   I think it’s a shame that the magazine, her parents and her managers didn’t handle it better, and there is  nothing  more  troubling and insidious  than  the premature sexualization of teen stars, and really the oversexualization of just about any woman on TV today.  But that’s for another time.

A lot of Moms I know have been thinking about the dark side of the Internet.  I’m not talking about porn sites and pedophile chat rooms, but the idea that the Internet has become a dumping ground, literally, for cruel comments, ostracization and just generally rude and uncivil behavior.  Are some of these sites playing to our basest instinct, the very worst of human nature?

I’ve always been slightly amazed at the vitriolic nature of some blog postings I’ve read, and the exchanges between those who are not “like minded” to say the least.  But now kids are heading to places where they not only unload on their friends and classmates, but unleash the most scurrilous and cruel critiques--all anonymously.

There’s an honesty box you can opt for on your Facebook page that can be a blank slate for anonymous insults from your “friends.”  Then there’s this Juicycampus.com--a website where college kids post completely anonymous gossip about classmates.  At last count it was available on about 60 campuses already, and there’s no telling how many people have been hurt by the nasty comments. You only have to think of the devastation this can have on fragile, developing psyches.  Malicious gossip and back stabbing are nothing new, but somehow when you see it up there in black and white, it’s really disturbing.

I read that a college junior from Baylor was called “the biggest slut on campus,” students at UC Irvine discussed the “most promiscuous sorority girls” at their school.  The Juicycampus website says it has guidelines about defamation, but do the unfortunate students who’ve seen their names there believe that?