Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe HOLLYWOOD, July 24 (UPI) -- Bring me the head of Martha Stewart! Or so it would seem the outraged women of America seem to be howling. Stewart, like Kathie Lee Gifford before her, has become the whipping girl of American women. Her crime? Advertisement Too much success, a superfluity of wealth, power, publicity and charm. Excessive attention by the media. Extravagant wealth. She has become a habitual cultural presence. Women apparently can put up with a Nicole Kidman or even a Madonna so long as they keep their place -- which definitely isn't in the home, garden, boutique or kitchen. Females don't seem to mind how women in the public eye behave in the bedroom. But they'll be damned if they'll countenance a ubiquitous woman telling them how to cook, mend, furnish their homes, please their husbands and how to dress. Advertisement Poor Martha, a national heroine of sorts in the 20th century has become a target of malevolent vengeance by millions of her sisters. It's not right. It's not fair. But it's a fact. There's an invidious, malicious tendency in an open democracy for vox populi to bring down the high and mighty, to humble prominent icons. Witness Jacqueline Kennedy's fall from grace when she had the temerity to marry Ari Onassis for his wealth, something thousands of women do every year in this country. This tendency is universal no matter whether the target is a president, movie star, billionaire or merely a rock 'n' roll freak. Take the brilliant Bill Gates who opened the floodgates of the Internet information highway that changed the face of the Earth, an idea more far-reaching than anything since Sir Isaac Newton. Rival factions are trying to destroy him in the courts as less successful moguls revile his accomplishments while seeking to enlarge their coffers. Martha Stewart would seem to be innocent of any wrongdoing. But she is clearly guilty of something far worse: outrageous success in all her considerable undertakings. So interesting has Martha become, NBC is planning a Martha Stewart biographical movie in primetime for next season. Advertisement Marie Antoinette-- who cried, "Let 'em eat cake!" to the raucous mobs of France -- was vilified in the tumbrel on her way to the guillotine. Marie was not accorded a trial by jury. Apparently neither will Martha participate in the teleplay in which she will be depicted. There is no Hillary Clinton Whitewater scandal in Martha's past, no accusations of sexual antics with Bill Clinton a la Monica Lewinski, whose purses are selling. Indeed, Martha appears to be guilty of nothing save unmitigated success in the field of home economics and domestic achievements such as flower arrangements, lip-smacking menus, living room decor and party giving. Wherein lies Martha's breaches of the peace? How has she offended the sensibilities of other women? Clearly, she is no Imelda Marcos, Lorena Bobbit, Tonia Harding or Leona Helmsley, let alone Zsa Zsa Gabor. It would appear Martha's greatest gaffe was her advisory: "Let 'em BAKE cake!" or something equally innocuous. Nor has Martha anywhere to turn now that she has been proclaimed persona non grata by unknown millions of women who vilify her in uncounted conversations the length and breadth of the country. Advertisement Poor Martha has become a pariah on the Internet where all kinds of unflattering Web sites have been established. Kathie Lee Gifford never had it so bad. It was reported Kathie's line of clothes were manufactured in a third world sweatshop, a circumstance of which she said she had no knowledge. All the same, Kathie was strung up by her well-manicured thumbs by the media and declared a public nuisance, putting a dreadful dent in her ego and reputation. There have been unsubstantiated accusations that Martha might be involved in some sort of insider trading in securities. So? If there is any truth to that charge why should Martha be singled out. If such shenanigans were punished in the courts, most of the Congress, Senate, White House and captains of industry would be incarcerated. Why pick on Martha? There's a virulent Web site titled the "Ultimate Martha Stewart Collection" in which she is referred to as MrsMegaByte. It invites "Stewies" to interact with Martha, visit her private museum: The Odditorium. Or do lunch with Martha Stewart and Bill Clinton. Visitors are invited to attend a wild party with Martha and witness her hula and uke solo, employing her motto: "It's a good thing." Advertisement Another site addresses "Martha Stewart Disease," giving early warning signs: "You have glass jars filled with dried rose petals everywhere;" "You float candles in punch bowls at parties;" "Your hedges have been pruned to resemble chess pieces." Worse. The Internet reveals Martha's birth date -- 1941 -- and birth name: Martha Helen Kostyra. Now that's hitting below the garter belt!
