Now, let me preface the rest of this by saying that what should have been a story about her becoming a grandmother (as the teasers suggested) did not succeed in doing so. This was a case of media hoo-ha and the resulting interview really had nothing to do with her becoming a grandmother at all. To that end, I am sorry for Mary Kay and Vili. However, they are the ones that agreed to the interview and, if they truly believed that 'grandparenthood' would be what the majority of the questions posed to them would be about, then I suppose they're completely blissed out because that would have been a truly ignorant assumption.
Moving on, though, this interview was like a bad car accident. Unfolding in slow motion before my eyes as my mouth fell open wider and wider with every passing moment of horror. It's hard for me to imagine that this woman has a teaching degree and now works as a legal assistant. Maybe it was because she really thought that they would be asking about the grandma thing and thus felt blindsided, but this woman is one of the most inarticulate specimens I've seen. Vili is no better but, to his credit, he's 27 and has been a father since he was 14. He really hasn't had a normal upbringing by any stretch of the imagination, so it's hard to expect him to act like an intelligent grownup.
The thing, though, that really burns me is the response given by Mary Kay when Meredith Viera (God bless her, she remained amazingly neutral through this) inquired of her what her thoughts would be if their own daughters, 12 and 13, were to come home and announce that they were having a sexual relationship with one of their teachers. The following is the dialogue that followed. And, yes, these are direct quotes...
Mary Kay - There really is no comparison to a male in the situation compared to a female.
Meredith - What do you mean?
MK - I just don't believe...I don't believe...There's, uh, physiological issues with a female having...engaging in...umm...sexual activity. I would think I would be worried if she was with someone her own age 'cause just, ideally, particularly for females...(sigh) later, so...
So, MK, you're saying it's different if it's a 33 year old woman molesting a 12 year old boy than it is if it's a 33 year old man molesting a 12 year old girl??? I'm confused. Maybe that's because I didn't study physiology when I was in college. However, I also have never had the desire to have a relationship of that nature with a 12 year old boy so maybe that's where my brain has trouble wrapping itself around this comment. I do, though, have a hard time believing that you'll ever hear this argued in any intelligent forum.
Meredith goes on to ask, if the tables were turned then and it was a boy, are you saying that's OK? MK replies that, no, she didn't say that and that, "in an ideal world, you want your children to wait." Maybe just not other people's children, though, eh MK? 'Cause it worked out pretty well for you that Vili didn't wait.
And, when asked "What would you have done differently if you could do it over?" because, from her own courtroom words she admitted that what she had done she had no right to do morally or legally, MK's response is that she "(doesn't) really look at life that way." And, okay, the past is the past and we can't change that. I get that. But, really? REALLY? Her lack of real answer says, in a nutshell, 'I would have acted just as I did the first time'. She goes on to say that, instead of looking back and asking 'What would I have done differently?', she looks back and says "I was doing my best in every situation at the time." Doing your very best??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? You were acting as a pedophile!!! Yes, it's a harsh word, but it's true! If you were a man (which I know you think is different), people would be talking castration at the very least, and you say you were "doing your best"???
She does admit, though, that there were "tragic things" that resulted from her being a child molester. All she was able to come up with that was tragic, though, is that she was separated from her children. Umm...yeah, of course you were. As every other child molester with children is when they are caught and sent to prison. Somehow, I think there's far more that is tragic here and it goes well beyond children being separated from a parent that is a convicted and unapologetic (as evidenced by her actions) pedophile.
And, finally, the closing question of the interview was an expected one but with an answer that was on par with the rest of the interview. And, again, direct quotes here...
Meredith (to Vili) - For those that still look at the two of you and judge you and say that what you did was wrong, what do you say to them?
V - (awkward pause and weird sneer on his face) I mean, people are gonna believe what they wanna believe. (long awkward pause and looks at camera with... indignance? and smiles)
M - And, we'll leave it at that...
V - I've never had...I've never had that question, but yeah...
M - You've never had what?
V - (smiling and on the verge of laughing with MK) I've never had that asked...to me in public ever, but...
MK - (finishing his sentence) ...there it was
V - There it was. (and laughs to himself)
I find this soooo hard to believe. Never? NEVER?? To quote the Sicilian from The Princess Bride, "Inconceivable!"
So, yeah, weird and awkward. Hopefully, the media won't think we care, or even want, to hear about any "news" in their lives again. And, if, for whatever reason, you want to watch the interview, there's a link below. I warn you, it's Strange. Strange with a capital S.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/41310512#41310512
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