Posted by
KenUSA on Friday, May 09, 2008 5:54:44 PM
Barbara Walters revealed an affair with a married United States Senator in the 1970s in her memoirs. On an interview tour to publicize the book she has stated many times that if the public became aware of the affair with Senator Edward Brooke, who is black, their respective careers would have been ruined.
Here is the problem with her analysis. What she means is that if the great unwashed, racist, horde found out she had sex with a black man their careers would be ruined. I am sure that a percentage of whites would have been enraged and responded angrily. I am equally sure that a percentage of blacks would have been equally enraged and responded equally angrily. What percentage? That's anyone's guess, but let's say 50% for arguments sake.
What she fails to acknowledge is that a far greater percentage of said unwashed horde, white and black, would have been horrified that a "lady" would have sex with a married man. What percentage? I'd say, maybe 90%, but that's a guess.
Further, I think that a large number of people would be angry that a United States Senator would risk so much, putting national security, respect for the office, and jeopardizing the aspirations of subsequent black politicians. Pressed for a percentage and bearing in mind that we're talking about the early 1970s, I'm guessing a fairly high 60% in each of these categories.
The network she worked for might have had reason to feel aggrieved for being recklessly exposed to charges of professional misconduct. At the time they had credibility to consider.
Miss Walters says that she has never been good at marriage. I'm not surprised, considering the lack of respect she showed for the Senator's marriage. I am quite certain that she knows absolutely nothing on the topic. Releasing this detail of her life, in an attempt to show the world how "progressive" she has been for all these years, is proof that she knows nothing about wives either.
The new Mrs. Brooke might have been ok marrying a guy that slept with someone before she met the Senator. She may have a much different view of the character of a man that slept around on his first wife.
Some might see the elitism in blaming "the ignorant public" for racism, while ignoring completely the moral, ethical and potentially legal ramifications the public has every right to be indignant about. My mom would have seen it and would not have kept quiet about it either. Words like tramp, whore and worse were certainly part of the lexicon at the time, but mom would have just called her a "drip".
Makes me wonder if the co-anchors she ravages in the book knew something we didn't.