ChicagoCita

There is SO much to do after a death of a "regular person." Deciding what to donate, who gets what of their belongings, propping each other up emotionally, dealing with their estate .... it's exhausting and highly emotional. I can't imagine what it must be like to have the loose ends involved in the life of a lifelong public figure to deal with. Every family grieves differently. Meghan may very well be at the table next Tuesday. But the family isn't "done" after the funeral. There is a lot to take care of both emotionally and practically.

Meghan was unbearable. The introduction of Meghan Squared has lost me as a viewer. They had the best at the table all along, Ana Navarro.

I have scoffed at Meghan's claim that she is a "military brat," given that she was born many years after her father left the service. I still don't think she can make that claim; she wasn't raised in 10 different places due to a parent's deployment, as so many children of service members are. But, wow, she really is from a military family. Her grandfather and her great-grandfather were both Admirals, and her grandfather was commander of all U.S. forces in the Vietnam theater from 1968 to 1972 (thanks Wikipedia!). Her great-grandfather was a big deal during WWII in the South Pacific, serving as a contemporary of Admiral Halsey. I know it's her heritage, and nothing she herself has earned, but gotta give the McCain family their due. That is a military family on steroids. I did laugh at reading several descriptions of Meghan in articles this weekend as a "television personality" and "blogger." Not exactly "political commentator," which is her claim and aspiration.

Given that Meghan goes berserk around Ana and accuses her of not being a true Republican, and the tension between them, this came as a real surprise. (Mods, I don't know where to put something about Ana, and I'm really not trying to rule-break. It's more a reflection on my surprise at the tension between Meghan and Ana on the show.)

Remember when Meghan recently petulantly said she hates "Crooked Hillary"? Well, child, this is what class is, and this is what you should aspire to be.

Meghan released a lovely tribute to her father on Twitter:

The news about Sen. McCain's imminent passing makes me wonder if The View hired whatshername, the Meghan clone, as a backup in case Meghan is unable to return promptly. When my mom died nearly two years ago, I was devastated and literally stayed in bed for two months. Knowing how close Meghan is to her father, I wonder if she will be as shattered as I was.

Someone said that the flashbacks are all through her perspective. She probably saw herself as flawed. To others, who have said it to her, she was the golden girl.

I think this is all to show how she is (maybe not consciously) working hard at being the misfit, the one who doesn't meet expectations set for her, expectations she used to live up to. We've had several characters say how gorgeous she was, how she was the town star, how people still talk about the light she had in high school. And she is doing everything to not be that girl. That girl's star power got her raped. Camille is working hard to show that she is not that girl anymore.

I don't believe the pop culture excuse, because she always pretended to be overwhelmed and gushy when she met a star. She's great where she is now, but I think she was a bad fit on The View. She self-identified as a Republican, constantly (which makes me think this is coming from The View's powers that be, because three women in a row -- Nicolle, Jedidiah, Meghan -- cannot possibly share that wacky quirk).

I just had a thought. I'm not sure if it's a spoiler, but it's my theory on the killer:

I saw it with my best friend in the theater, and afterward he told me his HIV+ status had progressed to full-blown AIDS. Never gonna get a second viewing from me! (I asked him later if he chose that particular movie because he knew he was going to tell me that night, and he was appalled. It didn't even dawn on him that there was a connection. Still, for me, it's inextricably linked to that awful announcement and I can't ever watch it again.)

My family is from far Western Illinois, right across the Mississippi River from Missouri. The history in our part of the state (Illinois) is rife with Underground Railroad stuff, because if the slaves could get out of the slave state, Missouri, to the free state of Illinois, they could start being hidden and brought North. I can't imagine what life was like for free people of color, knowing that slavery was literally just across a river. If memory serves, Camille does tell her editor that Wind Gap is in the bootheel, which is pretty darn south. I don't know about that part of the state, but the parts near us (west of Hannibal) seem pretty darn Midwestern to me, flat with rows and rows of corn and soybeans, and Dollar Generals in every town.

If Joy goes, just bring in Steve Doocey and Laura Ingraham and make the transition to Fox News complete.

Finally got around to writing ABC's feedback site (https://abc.go.com/feedback): "I'm so very disappointed with your decision to hire Abby Huntsman. I don't watch Fox News because the lies and propaganda disgust me. I won't be watching The View with two Foxbots to spread alt-right deceit. Meghan was bad enough, but you doubled down. I will come back as a viewer when they are both gone. I hope "making sparks" and having shriekfests brings you new viewers, because you are losing many long-time viewers with this move. You could have had Ana, or Tara. I'm so disappointed."

Knowing that Huntsman said that there are good people on both sides of the Charlottesville disaster confirms that The View has lost me as a viewer. Can't watch her spread Trump's hatred and treason to a wider audience on ABC. Unconscionable. ABC made a huge mistake in hiring her.

She is, I am positive, a stress eater. And she's going through a lot of stress (and she is passing some along to me!) In those charts of stressful life events, change in health of family member, getting married, and starting a new job are all high stressors. I gained 70 lbs through the two years of caring for my mother and after her death (as well as the death of a much-loved pet). I am very sympathetic to people who cope in whatever way they can during extreme stress. Even (sigh) Meghan.

I wonder if Joy will stick around. I am not interested in watching yet another rich Fox castoff conservative who is only on TV because of her father. I'm out.

I don't see it over her on-air behavior, which I liked, but telling the old bat to fuck off backstage (using that term) might have rattled some of the brass. OTOH, "Judge" Pirro did call them cocksuckers right on stage and within earshot of the audience, so there's that....

Rachel's been on vacation. She tweeted she'd be back Tuesday.

Sherri was pretty good on To Tell The Truth. She managed to not mention Jeffrey and only made one side reference to picking the wrong kind of man. She looks like she's gained a lot of weight, which I am not saying to diss her, but it makes me wonder what's going on in her life. She's an admitted stress eater.

With Sara leaving, that leaves one position empty. Yet "the insider" is saying two new hires? Paula was on so rarely that she was a non-entity. I doubt Whoopi will go. Meghan was way too excited about being rehired for another year of torturing me. If Joy walks, so does half the viewership. What's up with adding two new hosts?! And, as far as the headline including ""Everyone Is Stressed Out" - DUH. When you have a shrill humorless shill sitting at the table, screeching at people who are far better and smarter than she is, that's gonna happen.

This is what Avanetti was referring to. Meghan was going to jump down anyone's throat who said anything except "I admire your father" yesterday -- she was insane.

Sherri will be on To Tell The Truth on Sunday evening. She's making the rounds of the ABC summer game show reboots.

I'm rewatching Friday's show just for the pure joy of seeing Meghan completely flummoxed and cranky. She's absolutely the Queen of Not Being In Synch. Everyone laughs; she scowls. Ana makes a friendly joke about them having sibling rivalry; Meghan glares at the video screen behind Ana. Avenetti jokes that Tucker Carlson doesn't believe in sex and he does; Meghan puts on an aggrieved face and testily mentions how many children Carlson has. Someone mentions a verifiable fact about Meghan's career; Meghan furiously turns it around and asks why her career path is being dissected (or "relitigated"); she later ends the segment by trying to clarify the difference between her jobs at two networks (long after everyone else had stopped talking about it). Joy is very open and honest about her fears and mood about the future of the country; Meghan huffs and rolls her eyes. Hey, ABC, this is not the definition of a "good fit."