I happened to stumble onto some entertainment news program on CNN last night. I found Madonna under fire for adopting a second child from a very poor African country AND donating money to help fund a new school there. She is being criticized for adopting as a single mom, and using her money and fame to "fast track" the adoption, which is usually illegal primarily due to potential child abuse, slavery and sex traffic issues. When the press started to shout questions at her about bending the law and single parenting, she responded (correctly, IMHO) "it's none of your business." That's right....it's not business, it's called common sense and being a good global citizen. This news item was immediately followed by a bunch of emails, callers and letters from defenders of the Octamom. "Leave her alone. She deserves our support, not our criticism. Those babies are adorable." In this economy....this is about the only thing I found on YouTube that makes ANY sensible defense of the Octamom. (warning, may contain offensive material.)
So my kudos to Madonna for creatively sharing some of her hard-earned wealth and fame to make this world a better place for a poor African country and a few kids from an orphanage. And shame on the doctor who did not identify a serious problem and encourage the Octamom to get counseling before contributing 14 more children into a world that can no longer support them for her. But, then, maybe she will prove me wrong, and become rich and famous with her own TV show and books. (Do you think she has a contract to share the profits with the fertilization doctor? It IS a great promotion for his business.)
LATE BREAKING UPDATE: Apparently, the Video Blogger who suggested OctaMom had her sights set on making big money of off TV and Books was right on the money, literally and figuratively. This story about Octamom's "Reality TV Show" was on the front of my News Page today. Does this qualify as child labor?
Madonna, great job!
Posted by: Daniela Caride | October 15, 2009 at 07:21 PM