Paula, Paula, Paula

As sponsors drop/suspend relations with Paula Deen like a steaming hot hush puppy, I wonder why she keeps making missteps.

My favorite recent Deen-ism summed it up when she spoke on the Today Show:  "I is what I is."  This 'regular folk' talk sure sells a ton of products but this time it just seems to add more cement to the coffin that is her vision of herself. 

Whoever Paula is, it is currently not working on her chosen medium - television. 

A mea culpa that does not address the possibility that she may hold/have held a smidge of racism in her heart is a butter-less dessert.  I would have liked to hear her express a newfound understanding  that her deposition answers were objectionable.  And that using offensive language, no matter how long ago, is still offensive. If she could have spoken only about how the backlash has raised her awareness, I would have listened more.

But she insisted on using the utensils that brought her success: the sassy, sweet, unprejudiced, "Ginnie" (her grandma name pronounced with a hard G) loved by all.  She thought by pouring more molasses over her explanation it would make her more beloved.  And why not?  This is the recipe she has used to formulate an impressive culinary empire. 

Paula the chef did not confer with Paula the business woman (as she did when she announced in 2012 she had type 2 diabetes and simultaneously became the spokesperson for a diabetes drug.)

I don't care about how she was raised, how she raised her kids, who her African American friends are or how she comforts them. I don't care what offensive language she has witnessed in her kitchens if she stayed silent until now.  Her silence showed tolerance.  It was the playground defense: "I said it but they said it too!"

I do care that she show up like an adult and simply say "I am sorry."  Period.

Pleading with a biblical reference to "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" makes no sense.  In trying to say she is just like everyone else, she separates herself from her apology.  The Southern celebrity thought sweet would trump sensible. 

Sensible isn't sexy but it is easier to swallow than a five pound bag of sugary words.