Oprah… Uma… Obama… Uma… Oprah
Apparently, in Oprah’s view, instructing the general public on what books to buy, what diets to try, what movies to watch, and what cars to drive, pales in comparison to telling people what candidate to vote for; namely, Mr. Obama.
Over the past 20 years, Oprah’s morphed from everyone’s favorite sister – with the self deprecating wit and the boyfriend who won’t commit – to everyone’s overbearing mother – complete with an endless list of your current shortcomings, and dopey advice for your love life. I guess being the self-elected spokeswoman for all women – and a billionaire – just isn’t as fulfilling as one would think. Having the Queen of All Media explain why I should vote for ‘any’ candidate is like having the Queen of England give me housecleaning tips; it’s unwanted and unappreciated advice from the uninformed.
Only in America, could someone like Oprah reach the apex of financial success and cultural clout – where her very name becomes a brand – without being born into royalty, never-mind poverty. It’s more than a little disingenuous to suggest that Oprah’s the victim -or victor- of anything other than a lazy public, who like affable women with weight issues and boyfriends who refuse to pop the question. She’s like Barbara Streisand in her Jon Peters phase.
If Oprah reminds everyone of their favorite girlfriend, then Hillary reminds you of your worst lover. She was impossible to ignore when you first met her -and impossible to get rid of once you did. She’s like my morning martini: strong, chilled and bitter. If Streisand can rework the lyrics of “Happy Days are Here Again” to something that includes free health care, higher taxes and Bill Clinton in the Lincoln bedroom – it just might get some air play on NPR.
As wacky as these endorsements are, Vera’s still reeling over Sean Penn endorsing Mr. Kucinich. As if once being married to Madonna isn’t enough material for a lifetime of jokes and snickering, Mr. Penn now has a fetish for dwarfs and dictators. Apparently leaky boats and lazy thinking have turned Mr. Penn from acting foolish into a foolish actor. I was actually betting he was going to endorse Hugo Chavez, but I think Danny Glover beat him to it.
Personally, I’m waiting to see who Liza Minelli endorses – only because I’m curious what the prescription drug benefit would consist of….
Cheers, darlings!!
-Vera Charles (slowly sipping a Peach Margarita)
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I totally agree with this one. Oprah is the epitome of American success; born poor, into a dysfunctional family, in the South and later in an inner-city ghetto, the wrong skin color, everything you could think of — and she succeeded beyond belief.
And here she is stumping for the candidate of victimhood and learned helplessness.
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — December 26, 2007 @ 12:21 pm - December 26, 2007
A lot of conservative men dislike Oprah, but I suspect it’s because they’ve never listened to her for any extended period. She stands up for nearly every form of common sense — many of which are conservative principles — that we long for in today’s society, and she has done so for twenty years. People respect Oprah because she is smart and genuine. They like her because she is a celebrity who actually DOES read books. They like her because she doesn’t allow her audience or guests to call each other names, which is standard operating procedure for most talk shows. I remember ten years ago when she said a prayer on television and asked the audience to pray with her — something totally taboo back then, but something most people respected. She is truly the only celebrity who has ANY clout with the thinking public. Quite frankly, her shows about positive thinking and optimism helped me when I was a young man — and helped turn me into a conservative. I truly believe she has used her gifts to help the world, and her celebrity came as people observed her genuineness. Therefore, her endorsement of a candidate is a tremendous boost to that candidate. I will NOT be voting for Obama, but her endorsement DOES encourage me to listen to the man respectfully. I have no problem with Oprah endorsing a candidate becasuse she, like me, like you, is a thoughtful person with opinions. It just seems natural. She’s just saying to her friends, “Take a minute to listen to Obama.” Same as I say to my friends about Giuliani — of course, Oprah has 200,000,000 “friends” and I have about 20. Still, no harm, no foul.
Comment by MikeInSedona — December 26, 2007 @ 1:49 pm - December 26, 2007
Between producing Denzel Washington films and beating African children, one wonders where she finds the time.
I heard that Oprah’s va-jay-jay is supporting Hillary though.
Comment by ThatGayConservative — December 26, 2007 @ 2:48 pm - December 26, 2007
As Vera said:
People change. The silly candidate-endorsing Oprah of today, is not the gutsy common-sense Oprah of 20 years ago.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — December 26, 2007 @ 3:33 pm - December 26, 2007
3: What an undeserved, nasty, vicious comment. Here is a self-made woman, a true american success story. Not only has she been a success, she has gone out of her way to help other people all over the world and give people the tools and push to gain self-confidence to succeed.
Comment by Kevin — December 26, 2007 @ 9:44 pm - December 26, 2007
She’s a whore.
Comment by Vince P — December 26, 2007 @ 9:54 pm - December 26, 2007
I’d second some of MikeinSedona’s thoughts about Oprah. Years ago I used to watch her show with some regularity, as it was better than the other options available in that time slot on the few local stations I received at the time. And I took many good things away from that experience. While I have known for some time that I didn’t share Oprah’s political convictions, she has never descended to the level of severe, reactionary leftism one encounters in such tv personalities as former talk show host Rosie O’Donnell, or for that matter, news anchor Katie Couric.
Frankly, I don’t care if Oprah supports Obama. And if she can help him to defeat Hillary! in the primaries, I think we might all owe her a debt of gratitude. I can just imagine the unhinged harpy that Hillary! might become in the future if she fails to receive a nomination that she regards as her birthright. Now that transformation might be entertaining to witness.
Comment by Kurt — December 26, 2007 @ 11:58 pm - December 26, 2007
I appreciate the occasional potshot at fools like Sean Penn as much as anyone, but calling Denis Kucinich a dwarf is an insult to dwarves, isn’t it?
More seriously, Vera, as a man who is shorter than the average of 5’9″ I really don’t appreciate your making fun of short men in order to take a jab at Penn and his prefered candidate.
I really think such behavior should be beneath this site. It is no better to denigrate someone for his height than it is to denigrate him for his sexual orientation.
Comment by David — December 27, 2007 @ 1:03 am - December 27, 2007
Oh my god.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — December 27, 2007 @ 4:44 am - December 27, 2007
The exact type of person liberals like you hate, fear and scorn (especially if they’re black). Unless, of course, they stay on the plantation with their cash and votes.
Comment by ThatGayConservative — December 27, 2007 @ 5:32 am - December 27, 2007
@10
The only “hate” for Oprah to be seen seems to be here, lodged in the vagina and whore comments. “Conservative”, heal thyself!
Comment by torrentprime — December 27, 2007 @ 11:04 am - December 27, 2007
Soooo….if one doesn’t munch on that va-jay-jay like you, that clearly means that one “hates” Oprama? Thanks for proving that liberals believe that disagreeing with them is “hate”.
You, TP, clearly wouldn’t know hate if it stomped on your ass.
Cheers
Comment by ThatGayConservative — December 27, 2007 @ 12:37 pm - December 27, 2007
It’s called humor. I know you’re an angry leftist, but you should try it
Comment by Vince P — December 27, 2007 @ 1:08 pm - December 27, 2007
What an undeserved, nasty, vicious comment. Here is a self-made woman, a true american success story. Not only has she been a success, she has gone out of her way to help other people all over the world and give people the tools and push to gain self-confidence to succeed.
And yet, this is coming from one of the same people and a member of the same party who says that and worse about Condi Rice.
Maybe this is an act of self-defense on Oprah’s part. She knows what happens to black women who don’t pay due respect to their Democrat massas.
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — December 27, 2007 @ 2:07 pm - December 27, 2007
Disagree with a black or a liberal and you’re a hateful, racist bigot.
Comment by ThatGayConservative — December 27, 2007 @ 11:26 pm - December 27, 2007
On newshounds.us I disagree with the stalinists.. and for that they call me a racist, islamophobe, stupid, a child molester, and more.
Comment by Vince P — December 27, 2007 @ 11:41 pm - December 27, 2007
Very funny–great site!
Comment by Tony Iovino — December 27, 2007 @ 11:43 pm - December 27, 2007
6: oh my.
10: Huh? How did you glean the exact opposite of what I said in my statement?
14: funny, I commented on the good Oprah has done in her life. Methinks you gleaned a wee bit too much out of that one…
Seems to me that you 2 are the ones making generalizations about people. oy.
Comment by Kevin — December 28, 2007 @ 10:48 pm - December 28, 2007
Because you don’t mean what you say. You just threw that out there as a defense of Oprama expecting us to cower away. Didn’t work.
You’d be a lousy liberal if you did.
Comment by ThatGayConservative — December 29, 2007 @ 11:01 pm - December 29, 2007
You poor woman!
Comment by Jeremayakovka — December 30, 2007 @ 8:21 am - December 30, 2007
Having the Queen of All Media explain why I should vote for ‘any’ candidate is like having the Queen of England give me housecleaning tips; it’s unwanted and unappreciated advice from the uninformed.
In fairness, while I don’t think the Queen of England does any housecleaning, I believe Oprah does vote.
Comment by Phil — January 2, 2008 @ 3:25 am - January 2, 2008