You Lie! Ellen on Idol, Crazy Joe Wilson

Color me confused at this random choice of Ellen Degeneres as the new fourth judge on American Idol. I mean...seriously? Don't get me wrong, I love Ellen. She's hilarious and her talk show is brilliant. She's also out and proud and we're simpatico socially and politically. But...seriously? 

There was a rumor floating around just after Paula Abdul left that Cyndi Lauper was being considered to take her place. Now that's a choice I could sign off on. Cyndi is funny, she's a fantastic musician and her critique would have been the most valuable of anyone sitting on the panel. 

Ellen says she wants to be the voice of the public with her critique. That's great, but her guest judge slot on So You Think You Can Dance was mainly comic relief with no substance. I have no doubt Ellen will have some very funny things to say, but there won't be that insane-yet-compelling interplay/flirting/browbeating like there was between Paula and Simon. You know Simon isn't going to mock Ellen, because she would dismantle him in one quip. 

Having openly gay Ellen on a Fox show is fantastic, and it will surely bring a new tone to Idol. I just wish she had the musical chops to go with her new position. Will I be recapping the show? I originally said no, but the addition of Ellen might make me change my mind.

I found out about Ellen last night during Obama's fantastic health care reform speech. You  know, the one where right wing, Christian crazy Republican Rep. Joe Wilson (South Carolina - natch)  screamed "You lie" at Obama? He later apologized after his website, email, Twitter account and phones were deluged with angry people from around the world. His opponent in the upcoming election, Democrat Rob Miller, received $100,000 in donations last night. Obama called out the Republicans for their scare tactics and fear-mongering over health care reform. The truth is, Obama can get reform passed without Republicans. It's time to stop mollifying them and get on with the business of helping American citizens. As I said before, most Republicans don't want reform – because it would cut off handouts from lobbyists and donations from drug companies – and the ones that do have no ideas. Let's move on.