Scary Couples

Rabbi Fred Neulander is apparently dating Miss Vicki.

If you're wondering who are these people, here's a quick rundown of their claims to fame:

Rabbi Fred is now on trial for the second time, accused of paying a total lowlife to murder his wife. He is innocent until proven guilty, yes. Even if he didn't hire the guy, who just happened to kill the rabbi's wife right at the time the rabbi's lover was threatening to end their relationship if he didn't get a divorce, he's still scary. Under the guise of counseling a young, beautiful grief-stricken widow in his congregation, he seduced her within a week of her husband's death. Sleeping with a member of your congregation — especially someone you're counseling — is a breach of ethics for any clergymember; and it's particularly exploitive of a newly bereaved person.

Miss Vicki married Tiny Tim on the Tonight Show back in 1969. They had a daughter they named Tulip and got divorced a few years later.

OK, time to be serious. Yes, I think Fred Neulander is a dangerous man. I don't know about Miss Vicki. Imagine having that kind of idiotic adolescent decision follow you your whole life. Most of us screw up privately. She did it in the highest-rated talk show until that time. Whatever her reasons then for falling in love with a man old enough to be her father, the notoriety must have cast a shadow over her life. She may be a warm nurturing person, or she may be especially vulnerable to manipulation by men she perceives as powerful, or both.

But yes, a scary couple.