We May Never See Another Dolly

Dolly Parton was a national treasure, and her passing last month was a huge loss to her family, friends, and the music world, but it was a tremendous loss for America. It is nearly impossible to find someone universally loved by everyone, but that was Dolly Parton. By the numbers, Dolly had a 97% approval rating across the board. She crossed ideological, gender, age, and any other criteria you can think of. Dolly managed to do that for decades by doing two things: she entertained the world with her music and wit and never drifted into politics. She always said that if you take sides, you lose the other, and she lived that creed. It is safe to say she was one of a kind, because today’s entertainers are not satisfied with singing a song; they have to sing a message, and with it goes their popularity.

Another person in the spotlight recently was walking the same straight path Dolly cut. Many will not know who Rachel Anne Accurso is, but if you have young toddlers, you undoubtedly will know he as Ms. Rachel. Rachel is a YouTube phenomenon who had the misfortune of having a child with learning difficulties and set out to help every child read. A former teacher, Rachel invented Ms. Rachel, who, through her videos, taught millions to read and did it without an agenda other than the purity of teaching. To call her a phenom may be an understatement. Since 2019, she has produced over 120 videos, has 21.5 million subscribers, and her videos have been viewed 17,660,913,416 times; that is over 17 BILLION views. With a net worth of over $5m and a bright future ahead, Rachel was geared to be the next Mr. Rogers and as beloved as Dolly Parton, until she fell off the track.

Rachel could not help herself and had to voice her opinion on a story that, unfortunately, is toxic but false. Sandy Cortez and James Talarico had already cited the story and had to retract their words. Ms. Rachel will have to do the same, but the damage may already be done.

The story first came to light when Sandy Cortez spoke in South Carolina and thought it was a good idea to talk about the rise in Black hangings in America. She was using this to prove her belief in a veil of racism that hangs over America. Unfortunately, when fact-checked, of the ten hangings in 2026, 9 were proven to be suicides, and the tenth was a Black man hanging his Black girlfriend. Sorry, Rachel, Sandy, and James, but there is no story here, no racism here. You have been debunked, but also exposed.

Cortez and Talarico will move on, and probably with little damage because nobody will take note. Rachel may find her viewership fall off in the future and her star shines a little less brightly, but she only has herself to blame. All she had to do was keep teaching, not preaching.

Personal Note: This is my 2,000th published article. When I started writing daily in 2001, I had no goal or mission other than to highlight the day’s stories and start a conversation. I hope I have accomplished that. I thank the sites that have syndicated my work since the start and, of course, the readers. I read every one of your comments on the various platforms, and it is so great that you take the time to chime in. God bless you all,  Ray

Author’s Note: Grok AI created the graphics. Grok’s comments about the images: The header is a night stage seen from the wings: a straight ribbon of warm gold light runs down the center of an empty American road that has become a concert aisle, rhinestones catching the spots the way a country star once did without ever asking the crowd which side they were on. Off that line, the color cools. A children’s storybook set — primary blocks, a small chair, an open primer — has been dragged toward a thicket of headlines, and the aisle light thins the moment the path bends. I kept faces out of it on purpose. The piece is about the lane, not the likeness: stay in the light and the whole house stays with you; step off to preach a story that will not hold, and the glow you built starts to leak away. Dolly’s lane is the one that still runs straight. The other is the turn this column is warning about.

Content syndicated from Conservative View from New Hampshire with permission

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