If not Obama, why not Oprah?
Posted
October 16, 2006 at
11:43 pm by
Stacy
So Patrick Crowe, a Kansas City, Missouri math teacher, wants Oprah Winfrey to run for President in 2008 and he won’t stop talking about it. She’s told him to quit pestering her and she’s even tried to steer him toward promoting Illinois Senator Barack Obama. Obama says he’s not ready to run in ‘08 and Crowe won’t stop pushing Oprah. I confess, I’m a little bit on the fence about this one.
I know it won’t come as a shock to anyone here that I’ll be more than a little elated to see this miserable excuse for an administration’s reign come to an end. You know it’s bad when you start thinking wistfully about Richard Nixon– and I don’t mean the sanitized history book version that hindsight provides. I mean.. the administration I lived through. Yeah…it looks pretty good from here.
And, of course, you can’t swing a dead cat around in the periodicals section of the bookstore without hitting a magazine touting the most recent humanitarian efforts of “Miss O”. She feeds and educates African kids. She gets her viewers to send money for AIDS. She profiles deadbeat dads. rapists and pedophiles and her fans turn them in to the police. She shames authors on national tv and devotes entire shows to advice on how you’re wearing the wrong bra. She’s “all that” and a package of Pop-Tarts. You’d think I’d be thrilled to have Oprah and her Pashmina-giving staff lend a healing touch to this angry and violated nation. And you’d be right…sort of. But President Oprah? I dunno. The whole “Legends Ball” thing rubs me the wrong way and why she thinks we care about losers like Bobby Brown or Mike Tyson is a huge puzzle to me. Plus, she interrupts her guests all of the time while they’re talking so that she can sagely sum up for them the point they were just about to make. I admit it. She irritates me just a little. I’d totally let her buy me a car, but I’m not sure I want her to be the Leader of the Free World. Here are a few reasons why:
(1) Oprah’s Book Club. At least when Oprah claims to have read and be able to discuss the existentialist views of Jean-Paul Sartre, the chat will be televised and the whole country can see it in order to believe it. Oh, wait! My mistake. A President who reads stuff like books and the daily briefings and warnings about 9/11 is a good thing. Right?
(2) Gail King would have to be The First Lady because Steadman just isn’t around enough. At least with Gail there would be someone like a BFF around to tell Oprah to “step off” when she was getting a little bit ahead of herself. Someone whose advice she actually listens to and whose advice she would follow…instead of someone who stands by practicing the adoring Nancy Reagan expression that masks a lot of unexpressed hostility and a killer craving for a cigarette. Besides…I’ve heard that Oprah knows how to correctly pronounce “nuclear”. That’s gotta be worth something. That’s another point for Oprah.
3) Nate Berkus would be the official Presidential decorator hired to completely re-do the entire West Wing. What? Am I completely insane? Who wouldn’t want that? Get rid of the horrible flocked wallpaper that “43″ never saw because he was mostly on vacation in Crawford clearing brush… PLUS ditch the revolving bookcases with the fake Books of the Month that hide all the Presidential hooch. C’mon! You know it’s there! *sigh*. One more point for Oprah. Wow, I’m starting to lose my own argument.
(4)Want several million raised for Darfur? The fight against Female Genital mutilation in Third World Countries? More money for teachers in some impoverished backwater town…or any town? Illiteracy? Yeah…who thinks this Congress would vote to move on ANY of this stuff before giving itself another raise? I thought so. Maybe Oprah could fill Congress with her viewers who love and respect her enough to do her bidding…and then find a lovely Sheryl Crow cd and some Sephora gift certificates on their desks as a way of saying “thanks”. I’m sensing a pattern here…
(5)Her administration would have at least one voice of reason. A person who could quell the clashing of swords and the self-serving chest beating that power often brings to those in charge of making the law and yet somehow managing to live above it. Two words that might strike fear into the hearts of any one seeking to make Oprah a puppet figure for their own evil plans: “DR. PHIL”. Be afraid. Be very afraid, Dick Cheney. Someone inside the White House questioning the Prez and VP?? It’s called “Checks and Balances”. When was the last time we had that? When was the last time anyone listened when we had it? Why am I talking to myself? Score another for “O”.
(6)When Oprah made a pariah out of writer James Frey, she did it for one reason and one reason only: BECAUSE SHE DIDN’T COTTON TO LOOKING LIKE A TOTAL UNINFORMED BOOB IN FRONT OF HER NATIONAL AUDIENCE BY ENDORSING A NOVEL (A WRITTEN DOCUMENT CLAIMING SOMETHING HAPPENED , THOUGH IT DIDN’T HAPPEN EXACTLY THE WAY THE BOOK SAID) THAT WAS REALLY AN EMBELLISHED PIECE OF “FICTION”. At least Oprah knows when she looks bad and will go to great lengths not to let it happen again. I don’t recall her saying, “Heckuva book, Jamie boy!” after he was caught fabricating his life in print. And as for allowing her “Oprah’s Book Club” sticker to be pasted on something that makes her look as though she doesn’t have a clue about what’s going on? Nah! I doubt it. And what about declaring war for similar reasons? Nope. I’m not seeing it.
(7)Think Oprah would stand at a lectern and let any behind-the-scenes lackey feed someone else’s words/thoughts into her ear via an earpiece? Think again. The only grimaces and pauses you’ll see in her State of the Union Addresses will be the ones where she’s thinking about how to Fire Your Ass.
Oprah’s an only child. So…when she wins the election it won’t be because a sibling in Florida rigged the voting.
9) Photo Ops. Sure, there will be a lot of these. Miss “O” likes to have her picture taken. Rest assured, however, none will be taken atop a smoking and unexcavated pile of the World Trade Center or standing on an aircraft carrier wearing a fighter pilot costume.
And finally, Oprah knows when she wouldn’t be suited for a job. She’s never wanted to be commissioner of baseball and she’s built every one of her business ventures into empires…from the ground up. She doesn’t squander family start-up money because there is no family money. It’s all hers. Every dollar of it. Oprah isn’t running for President and that’s okay. But you’ve gotta give credit where credit is due. It’s a great thing to know you’re good at what you do, but Oprah gets my respect for turning down a job she thinks she’d do badly. Not everyone has that kind of guts or wisdom. Tough luck for us. She gets my vote anyway.
Tags: Barack-Obama, News & Politics, Oprah, Presidents |
1. Cristina said:
October 17, 2006 @ 12:23 am
At this point, I’d rather have Brangelina in the White House than another administration like this one. So, Oprah? Yeah, I’d totally vote for her.
2. Nils Ling said:
October 17, 2006 @ 10:04 am
I don’t want to see Oprah run for President because you just know some weaselly Republican scuzzball somewhere will invent a story about how she WASN’T raising money for such and such and she ISN’T a humanitarian, even though the evidence is irrefutable. They’ll drag up some douchebag who will claim to have been working with her to tell the “real truth” and Bill O’Reilly and his Fox co-conspirators will give him all the air time in the world to tell his implausible, easily-discredited story.
I am not particularly an Oprah fan - I agree with you about her interruptiviews - but I don’t want to see a decent person get hit by the monkey poo that Republicans fling around at election time.
3. Mom in WA said:
October 17, 2006 @ 12:51 pm
Stacy, you pretty much put everything I was thinking on this issue into this article (thank you for that, I can’t type that fast).
I used to think Clinton was the worst President to ever be elected. That was before Bush came along, though. Can’t we go back to the good old days of handsome Presidents who cheated on their wives but hell, got something done!
Bush and his administation make America look like a big joke! Put Oprah in office. How bad could she really be? After Bush, we can only go up from here….
4. Mignon said:
October 17, 2006 @ 3:53 pm
It’s sad that the only people we can realistically talk about being elected are tv/movie personalities. There are a hundred other politicians that would be better than #43, but only a few people have their faces consistently plastered across magazines in the Wal-Mart check-out line, and it feels like only these icons could ever get elected.
5. kim said:
October 17, 2006 @ 4:20 pm
My vote’s still with Obama, but the truth is I don’t believe in political fairy tales and I’m pretty sure no one who is good enough for the job would actually want the job.
The whole James Frey thing bothered me. First she said the book was still good inspite of it being fabricated and then she ambushed him on her show.
6. ortizzle said:
October 17, 2006 @ 7:24 pm
Stacy: Brilliant satire and so well-rounded. Agree with you on all points.
Oprah? —As you said, a great lady who does a lot of great things, but also knows the price she would pay for pitching her hat into the political arena. So… let’s just let her continue to do good deeds in her own way. Which is not a bad thing at all. (Personally, I would like to see Kinky Friedman step out of the governor’s race for Texas and make a pass at the White House. Even though I know he would never get beyond the sacred ballot boxes.
7. Spamboy said:
October 17, 2006 @ 8:15 pm
Don’t forget to vote…dear God, please don’t forget!
8. TB said:
October 18, 2006 @ 8:29 am
Please, the very idea that someone thinks it’s a good idea for Oprah to be president makes me ill and further highlights what is wrong in this country. Oprah doesn’t deserve your respect for not wanting to be president, as if she ever would be elected anyway. She doesn’t deserve your time and money in supporting her efforts to boost her pocketbook or her ego any larger than they already are, not that I think you do, Stacy. But there are plenty of folks out there who would worship at the Oprah alter if they could and more than likely would vote for her in a presidential election.
Gah, that woman gets on my nerves more than Tom Cruise gets on yours.
9. Debbie said:
October 18, 2006 @ 10:34 am
Nicely done, Stace. Now that’s good writing.
10. Ames Tiedeman said:
October 28, 2006 @ 2:58 pm
Because Obama can talk he should be President?
Ok..I get it now..We have watered the criteria down so much. Wow, we found a black male who is articulate…let him lead us all..
Bull Shit…
He will never be elected..EVER!
11. Ames Tiedeman said:
October 28, 2006 @ 3:02 pm
Opra is the Moral Authority of America?
Umm..What has she done to reduce black on black and black on white crime? Anything? Answer: NO, NOTHING!!
What moral authority does she have? Has she taken a vow of poverty to help her own people? NO. Does she live in a poor all black neighborhood to sinsprie the kids? NO…
She is no different than O.J. , she just hasn’t killed two innocent people…
12. wordgirl said:
October 28, 2006 @ 5:34 pm
Read carefully between the lines. I merely took a story out of the headlines and gave Ms. Winfrey props for knowing that she’d suck at being President…unlike the person holding the office at the present time. This essay had nothing to do with the color of anyone’s skin, yet that seems to be awfully important to you.
The humor of comparing two unfit people (one who is named and one who is merely implied) for public office was apparently lost on you. You’re right about one thing: We HAVE watered down the criteria for President and the proof of that isn’t an intelligent and articulate man like Obama…it’s the failed businessman who occupies the Oval Office as I write this.
13. wordgirl said:
October 28, 2006 @ 5:43 pm
14. Ames Tiedeman said:
November 4, 2006 @ 2:51 pm
I am no racist Wordgirl.
Go read Jefferson, Lincoln, Washington, and others and then tell me this is what America was supposed to become. As for your comment on Progressive Thinking: PT is nothing less than decline, decay, and ruin for America. Multi-culturalism is the end of any great nation. The Romans teach us this.
As for illegal aliens: Throw them all out.
Have a nice day….
15. wordgirl said:
November 4, 2006 @ 3:36 pm
16. Ames Tiedeman said:
November 4, 2006 @ 5:05 pm
Wordgirl:
What is a Racist? Is is someone who would drive all Ilegal Aliens from America?
To call the Founding Fathers uninformed is quite a leap. Go read Palto and Socrates and Aristotle or Mark Twain…They all said many of the same things the Founding Fathers said about what it means too sustain a nation. Do you know anything about what Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wolson or Harry Truman said on these topics?
Have you ever real the Linclon Douglas Debates. You are so ill-informed it is scary. A utopia nation in my view is one where no person is deemed above the law or supra equal, if you know what that phrase means. I a still laughing at you calling the Founding Fathers uninfomed…You really have no clue. That is hardly the correct wording to use. Anyway, have a great weekend and maybe we shouled marry!
17. Ames Tiedeman said:
November 4, 2006 @ 5:07 pm
Take care veryone! I have enjoyed reading everything you all say!
18. Ames Tiedeman said:
November 4, 2006 @ 5:08 pm
I hate it when I do not spell words right..I type too fast..
Sorry….
19. wordgirl said:
November 4, 2006 @ 6:10 pm
20. Ames Tiedeman said:
November 4, 2006 @ 6:30 pm
Wordgirl:
Will you Marry me?
21. Ames Tiedeman said:
November 4, 2006 @ 7:02 pm
Please vote REPUBLICAN..
Thanks,
Ames
22. Jessica Carlson said:
November 4, 2006 @ 7:07 pm
Ames, so which is it? Do you want illegal immigrants prosecuted and deported, or is it that you want all Mexican Americans, legal or otherwise thrown out?
Are you against Barak Obama because of your philosophical differences or because he is black? Or both?
At least declare yourself as you really are, so everyone knows who they’re dealing with.
23. wordgirl said:
November 4, 2006 @ 7:09 pm
24. wordgirl said:
November 4, 2006 @ 7:14 pm
25. Ames Tiedeman said:
November 5, 2006 @ 6:46 am
1. All illegal aliens should be deported. It does not matter if they came from Mexico, Russia, Ireleand, or Mars. They are driving wages down and hurting America in ways that we can hardly calculate as the impace has been so dramatic and enormous. We need a sound immigration policy not the mess we have now. Secure all of our borders without delay. If the La Raza and Mecha folks get their way and a new Mexican state is reached for in Califronia or the South West then I would say the integration failed and I would use the US military to drive all Mexican from the USA back to Mexico. This would be a civil war situation and if it happens at all it will not be before 2050. Once whites hit under 25% of the population of California which will happen around this time my premise of a Mexican led coup of sorts to take over part of the country is a real possibility. if this happens then yes, it is all out war agains any Mexican, naturallized or not. I am not the only American who sees this as a posibility. Major scholors from Stanford to Fresno State to Yale have suggested this is a possibility-A Mexican attempt to take back the south west….
2. On Obama: He appears likeable at first glance, but I have several questions I would ask him:
a. Where does he stand on reparations for slavery?
b. What are his views in the Welfare State?
c. What are his views on gun control?
d. What are his view in national defense?
The mdia is jumping up and down as if this guy is the great savior. Most of us do not need saving..thank you very much.
Black on white crime has exploded ever since the Civil Righs movement. If Obama were to take the White House would that
creat a psycologically driven inspiration to declare hunting season on whites? You can laugh, but my studies have concluded that there is a direct corrolation between what has happend with black on white crime and the civil right movement.
It us undeniable. We gave them more freedom and they gave us more raps, murders, beatings and roberies. Declaring equality has had strange affects. But the data is undeniable.
26. Ames Tiedeman said:
November 5, 2006 @ 6:50 am
I hope you all watched TEXAS beat Oklahoma State!
Have a nice Sunday…..
27. Ames Tiedeman said:
November 5, 2006 @ 9:10 am
I am still waiting Wordgirl: Will you Marry me?
28. Ames Tiedeman said:
November 5, 2006 @ 9:21 am
“â€If there is no battle and millions of Americans cowardly head for safer areas such as Montana or South Dakota, you will watch cities in the United States transform into poverty, misery, gangs, drugs, lawlessness and unending masses of Third World poor. Think Bombay, Calcutta and Mexico City within the United States.†~Frosty Wooldridge
29. Ames Tiedeman said:
November 5, 2006 @ 9:22 am
Hispanic Leaders Brag About
Anti-White Hate, Racism
4-13-6
“Go back to Boston! Go back to Plymouth Rock, Pilgrims! Get out! We are the future. You are old and tired. Go on. We have beaten you. Leave like beaten rats. You old white people. It is your duty to die. Through love of having children, we are going to take over.” — Augustin Cebada, Brown Berets
“They’re afraid we’re going to take over the governmental institutions and other institutions. They’re right. We will take them over. We are here to stay.” — Richard Alatorre, Los Angeles City Councilman
“We have an aging white America. They are not making babies. They are dying. The explosion is in our population . . . I love it. They are shitting in their pants with fear. I love it!” — Professor Jose Angel Gutierrez, University of Texas
“Remember 187–proposition to deny taxpayer funds for services to non-citizens–was the last gasp of white America in California.” — Art Torres, Chairman of the California Democratic Party
“We are politicizing every single one of these new citizens that are becoming citizens of this country . . . I gotta tell you that a lot of people are saying, ‘I’m going to go out there and vote because I want to pay them back.’” — Gloria Molina, Los Angeles County Supervisor
“California is going to be a Hispanic state. Anyone who doesn’t like it should leave.” — Mario Obledo, California Coalition of Hispanic Organizations and California State Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare under Governor Jerry Brown, also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton
“We are practicing ‘La Reconquista’ in California.” — Jose Pescador Osuna, Mexican Consul General
“We need to avoid a white backlash by using codes understood by Latinos.” — Professor Fernando Guerra, Loyola Marymount University
“The American Southwest seems to be slowly returning to the jurisdiction of Mexico without firing a single shot.” — Excelsior, the national newspaper of Mexico
Are these just the words of a few extremists? Consider that we could fill up many pages with such quotes. Also, consider that these are mainstream Mexican leaders. THE U.S. VS MEXICO
On February 15, 1998, the U.S. and Mexican soccer teams met at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The crowd was overwhelmingly pro-Mexican even though most lived in this country. They booed during the National Anthem and U.S. flags were held upside down. As the match progressed, supporters of the U.S. team were insulted, pelted with projectiles, punched and spat upon. Beer and trash were thrown at the U.S. players before and after the match. The coach of the U.S. team, Steve Sampson said, “This was the most painful experience I have ever had in this profession.”
Did you know that immigrants from Mexico and other non-European countries can come to this country and get preferences in jobs, education, and government contracts? It’s called affirmative action or racial privilege. The Emperor of Japan or the President of Mexico could migrate here and immediately be eligible for special rights unavailable for Americans of European descent. Recently, a vote was taken in the U.S. Congress to end this practice. It was defeated. Every single Democratic senator except Ernest Hollings voted to maintain special privileges for Hispanic, Asian and African immigrants. They were joined by thirteen Republicans. Bill Clinton and Al Gore have repeatedly stated that they believe that massive immigration from countries like Mexico is good. They have also backed special privileges for these immigrants.
Corporate America has signed on to the idea that minorities and third world immigrants should get special, privileged status. Some examples are Exxon, Texaco, Merrill Lynch, Boeing, Paine Weber, Starbucks and many more.
30. Ames Tiedeman said:
November 5, 2006 @ 10:07 am
Little Known Quotation by Mary Berry:
“Civil rights laws were not passed to protect the rights of white men and do not apply to them.” [ICS Press, 1991, p. 141.]
31. wordgirl said:
November 5, 2006 @ 11:32 am
“HEY, DUMBSHITS. HERE ARE THE FACTS. BLACKS ARE MORALLY BANKRUPT PERIOD. IF YOU DO NOT GET THIS, THEN YOU ARE SIMPLY STUPID.”
–Ames Tiedeman
This comments (among others you submitted) was found on a site where you were defending Bill Bennett’s (”Book of Virtues” author…also a raging gambling addict. Hmmm.) assertion that black babies should be aborted in order to lower crime. You defended him. I should also add that many of the other commenters on the site seemed to think you’re a racist freak. I sense a pattern.
And all of this because I made a joke about Oprah. I think you need a hobby, Ames. Something to focus on besides tangential rants that have nothing to do with the point of my post and which merely make you look like a bad commercial for the more competent conservatives out there.
32. Ames Tiedeman said:
November 5, 2006 @ 11:41 am
Wordgirl:
I notice that you have chosen not to address the previous post, #29. I would really like to hear what you have to say about that one. Will you defend those quotes just as you have defended the racist, Mary Berry?
Please advise. Oh, and cool it on the personal attacks against me, they really lower your IQ, you know..
33. Ames Tiedeman said:
November 5, 2006 @ 11:46 am
As for Black America being morally bankrupt, look at the data.
I am not the first to make this statement. Look at the facts and decide for yourself.
90% of all black babies are born into a fatherless home.
The list goes on, and on, and on. Do you think Africa is as morallly sound as modern Japan? Are we all equal?
How many whites live in a one bedroom apartment in L.A. with 8 kids and and no father? Is this what makes America great or is it a disaster? You tell me! you do not have a clue about what it takes to make a nation work. Your thinking is why America will be replaced by China as the great wold power in just decades.
34. Ames Tiedeman said:
November 5, 2006 @ 11:47 am
I am done..
Take care…
35. Ames Tiedeman said:
November 5, 2006 @ 11:50 am
Wordgirl:
One last thing: You state all of this because you made a joke about Opra….the answer is YES..some of us will waste hours defending the future of our nation and way of life. I would die for America tomorrow.
36. wordgirl said:
November 5, 2006 @ 11:52 am
37. Ames Tiedeman said:
November 5, 2006 @ 1:15 pm
Wordgirl:
I have some queston:
1. What do you know about the immigration policies of Korea and Japan?
2. Do you know that America takes in more immigrants than the entire world combined?
3. Is Japan racist to allow ZERO immigration, or are they simply smart enough to know that immigration will ruin their culture?
4. Did you know that America now has 100 million more people than in 1966? Do you want another 100 million people here? do you want our population to surpass China’ s by 2120?
5. Do you worry about the environmental impact on the USA by this type of rampant, un-checked immigration?
Please explain to me why I am a racist to insist tnat all illlegal immigrants leave America? Please explain to me why I should be happy that the Government of Mexico is sending all of their porblems for us, the American people to deal with? Please give me all of yoru wisdom, as I am sub-par according to you..