Graceless

We have come to the conclusion that Nancy Grace deserves a special spot in at least the seventh circle of Hell. We realize we are not alone in that judgment, but before today we had never watched her show and had given very little thought to the woman one way or another.

Here's what happened:

We were sitting in a pharmacy, waiting for a prescription to be filled. Nancy Grace's show was playing on the TV above the shelves of over-the-counter stomach remedies and condoms. We were listening to an iPod, so we couldn't hear what we can only assume is La Grace's banshee-like screech, but the closed captioning was on. Grace was reporting on the imminent release from jail of Casey Anthony, the woman recently acquitted of killing her two-year-old daughter Caylee. Every time she mentioned Casey Anthony, though, Grace did not call her 'Ms. Anthony' or 'Anthony' or even 'Casey.' She used an altogether different appellation.

Tot Mom.

Tot Mom?!? Seventh circle!

This offends on a couple of levels. First, grammatically, there's the suggestion that Casey Anthony is somehow a "tot" who is also a "mom," a la, "teen mom" or "single mom." We will accept, though, that the phrasing is an acceptable way to describe the mom OF a tot, as "Octomom" describes the mother of an octopus and "soccer mom" describes the mother of a soccer ball.

So let's move on to the more egregious sins against all manner of propriety. Casey Anthony is no "Tot Mom." Angelina Jolie is a "Tot Mom." Our FFB Emi Ha is a "Tot Mom." Our former roommate is a "Tot Mom." To be a "Tot Mom," one needs actually to BE the mother of a, y'know, TOT! Casey Anthony, to say the least, has forfeited the right to such a name. And to use any sort of appellation that connotes humanity upon this woman who--acquitted or not--showed a blatant disregard for anything like maternal feeling is an offense against good taste.

But Nancy Grace took tastelessness to a whole new level when, not satisfied to use the term once, she kept on saying it!!! As in, "We are counting down the minutes until the Tot Mom is released from jail. . . " "We're speaking live with the former roommate of Tot Mom. . . ." "So what's Tot Mom's next move going to be. . . ." What this tells us is that Nancy Grace actually thought she was being clever! Like "Tot Mom" could, in fact, become the new "Octomom," and maybe Grace would get a cut of all the t-shirt sales.

Ah, screw it, eighth circle.

Image from issues.cc