Think back. What was Oprah Winfrey's stand on getting into the Iraq war? Bill Moyers knows.

[Beausoir]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqVtRJeXxXM

I am happy that Obama is getting huge turnouts. It bodes well for a good turnout in the general election.

But this woman does NOT speak for me. She is simplistic, pro-war and ridiculously out of touch with real life.

And I do NOT need her telling me to "think" about politics.

I can already think for myself and I find her arrogance infuriating.

[sandnsea]

1. Oprah is not responsible for reading the NIE's

and writing legislation that lead to war. This is ridiculous.

Is Susan Sarandon arrogant? Infuriating? Is Sean Penn, when he campaigns for Dennis? Or Tim Robbins when he campaigns for Edwards?

This Oprah hate is beyond comprehension.

[ruggerson]

3. "Oprah hate"?

Ah, the delusions of some DU'ers.

[Beausoir]

5. I don't hate Oprah. The fact remains..she DID push for the war in Iraq.

[sandnsea]

8. One fucking interview???

This place is a sewer today.

[Beausoir]

11. The fact remains. Oprah Winfrey peddled the war. You can hurl all the invectives you want.

I understand that you like her. Millions of people do.

But I remember WAY back then. I remember she had a chance and she chose to coddle the warmongers.

I can't forgive that.

[sandnsea]

14. I don't like her, that's the hysterical part

I just know the difference between ONE interview, peddling a war - and a bunch of people who are whining because NOBODY IS PAYING ATTENTION TO THEM. That is the ultimate problem here. Obama isn't kissing the left's ass.

[Beausoir]

15. I'm not sure what your point is. "Obama isn't kissing the left's ass."

What does that mean?

My point is simple. I reject Oprah Winfrey trying to tell me how to think. Whether it's what I read, what I watch, what I buy or how I vote.

She was pro-war at a time when every single one of us here KNEW it would be a disaster.

[eridani]

61. No he kisses insurance industry and investment banker ass instead n/t

[sjdnb]

46. She also said she voted for as many Reps as Dems

YESTERDAY - in Iowa. How can anyone do that? In 35 years (her voting years). I'm almost as old as she is and can't think of one Republican I could have, in good conscience, voted for in my voting years.

So, if what she said is true, the only conclusions I can come to is that a) she is susceptible to spin/BS; b) she hasn't quite grasped what her principles are, yet; or c) she votes --- like the Security & Investments industry donates --- backing any and all front runners, almost equally, so as to stay in the 'winners' good graces.

SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS donations as of 12/9/2007 OpenSecrets.org
Clinton (D) $4,735,730
Giuliani (R) $4,506,026
Obama (D) $4,505,199
Romney (R) $3,561,387

[Hoof Hearted]

39. Oprah worship? Oprah apologists? Oprah groupies?

All of these defy comprehension.

[progressivebydesign]

54. Sorry, she's a polarizing figure. She's not as well loved as you think.

She annoys the shit out of everyone I know.

[Olney Blue]

2. Oprah knows alot of things... try one of her other specialties.

[laststeamtrain]

18. "9 ways to heal the world by... shopping."

Pathetic.

[NYCGirl]

32. Perhaps it's about buying green. Did you ever consider that?

[laststeamtrain]

50. Somehow the cover pic on the magazine didn't make me think green.

I don't really associate the three R's (reduce,reuse,recycle) with Oprah or glossy trash magazines, or day-time TV or...

[NYCGirl]

52. She's had lots of environmental shows. I know Al Gore has been on, and

DiCaprio, etc., too.

http://www2.oprah.com/tows/slide/200510/20051027/slide_20051027_350_101.jhtml

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/12/treehugger_on_t_1.php

http://environment.about.com/b/2006/10/23/oprah-urges-viewers-to-see-al-gores-an-inconvenient-truth.htm

[spanone]

4. she sure sounded anit-war in her introductory speech yesterday.

[Beausoir]

6. Day late. Dollar short.

Is there ANYONE...ANYONE here who was FOR going to war with Iraq?

So why the sudden rush to praise Oprah Winfrey? She had a chance to make a big difference and she peddled war.

[spanone]

9. people change....if it's true, she's changed for the best.

[Deja Q]

7. She hawks music players with celebrity musicians and blames kids for wanting to have them

One way or another, she is very much out of touch with real life.

[sandnsea]

13. That I agree with

but it has nothing to do with her campaigning for a couple of days and drawing people's attention to this election. This whole thing is nothing but a bunch of sour graper whiners. It's nauseating.

[hedgehog]

10. And you think she's supporting Obama because she thinks he's

a pro-war candidate? People do change their minds. Enough people voted for Bush in 2004 to allow him to steal the election while he is setting record low approval ratings today.

[Beausoir]

12. No. I think she is stupid. She supported an insupportable war when every single one of us here

knew it would be the disaster it has turned out to be.

Stupid stupid decision.

[Bumblebee]

16. It's an old grudge but I still cannot forgive her her warmth for Bush in 2000

when he appeared on her show. She basically signaled to her audiences that he was okay.

[billbuckhead]

21. I heard in NPR that Bush went up 10 points after Oprahs 2000 interview

[Bumblebee]

24. I guess it sort of contradicts my statement below that she is not all

that influential :) But I do think it was different. Back then people were deciding on who was more "likable." Experience almost did not matter because it was all pre 9-11 and pre this incompetent administration. Now simple likability won't cut it. Back then she signaled to her audience that Bush was likable (another terrible lapse in her judgment), and this was quite enough. So it was not about politics -- it was about the "human" aspect where she is trusted.

[mitchtv]

44. My grudge is the Gropenator's show

She is dead to me now

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. None of that matters

Oprah is much loved, in spite of her politics or stance on the war. If she tells the American people to vote for Obama, they will vote for Obama.

[Bumblebee]

19. That's way too simplistic.

Chances are that there will be more of a backlash than a gain for Obama as a result of all this. All this hype about how omnipotent Oprah is is just that, hype.

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. And that is precisely my point; Americans prefer simplistic

You need to go beyond DU and think of the average American. The one who watches Oprah. And searches online for Britney. Then goes to the mall.

[ikojo]

29. I seriously doubt that a lot of suburban white

women will march lockstep with the Oprah machine and vote for Obama. Many were at his speech in Iowa because their hero, Oprah was there. They may read the books she suggests and buy the makeup and clothes she suggests but I don't think her audience will vote for Obama only because the Queen of American Talk Shows tells them he's a good guy.

I doubt the power celebrity, even that on the scale of Oprah Winfrey, has on people selecting a candidate. I support Dennis Kucinich because he supports many, but not all, things I support, not because Sean Penn supports him.

[proud2BlibKansan]

30. I support Kucinich too; but we aren't average Americans

I don't know about you but I have never seen one episode of American Idol :)

[KoKo]

36. I think we are what "used to be" Average Americans....not Lobbyists, Fundies, Entertainers or

Mega Rich or Entitled looking for our Government Handout.

Sadly a small Kucinich who speaks truth to power is not what America is about anymore. So we are no longer "Average Americans." We are the marginalized...:-(

[KoKo]

38. In the Grocery "Check Out" tonight there were three Mags with Oprah's photo

as the whole front cover. Most time I check out she's there...and it's just not on her own Magazine.

I feel sad that a candidate has to use a Magazine Cover and someone with a Talk Show to get folks in to seem him. I would feel the same if any "Entertainer" who is on the cover of Grocery Store Magazines got wall to wall coverage on cable for three days..because they were hawking a Candidate.

[progressivebydesign]

56. Well loved? Hmmm.. not as much as you think.

She's loved by soccer moms who watch her show. But most thinking people have tired of her ego and seeing her photo plastered on her magazine every month, and her acting like faux royalty. I don't know one person that really likes her.

[Cha]

20. Sounds like Oprah was

fooled by the bushits Big TIME. It also sounds like she didn't know enough about them to make any informed decisions about whether she should support the fucking war or not.

I remember some article I read..way back in the early part of the 21st century where she was going to some country to be some sort of emissary for the bushites and I was disgusted. It would be very interesting to learn just when she got her epiphany regarding bushit?

Maybe she's trying to make up for all her ignorance concerning the worst president(sic)ever to knuckle drag the Earth.

[Disturbed]

22. She also pumped up the Gropenator on her show.

She is all over the map politically.

I still maintain that neither Senators Clinton or Obama can win in the General.
Sen. Edwards can do so.

[Cha]

27. I know..I fucking hated

that she did that.

My prob isn't that whichever Dem will lose in General but that a particular one will win..and I want John Edwards more than anyone running.

[sendero]

23. She wasn;'t talking to "you"..

.... she's talking to her fans. And most of them could stand to bone up a little.

[frazzled]

25. Well, she wasn't nearly as pro-war as John Edwards

Are some people allowed to "see the light" and others not?
This is a ridiculous argument.

[Beausoir]

28. Is Oprah Winfrey anti-war now? Has she said that? Link?

It would be a welcome departure.

[in_cog_ni_to]

31. Yes. Oprah IS anti-war. Why are you bad-mouthing Oprah? That woman has given more of herself to the

less fortunate than most mega rich people we know AND she's a Democrat. WTF? Why the hell are you doing this? Because she supports Obama and not your candidate? That really isn't a good enough reason when we have the likes of Rudy, Willard, Huckabee, McCain and their ILK walking this earth. Why not spend your time digging up garbage on THEM instead of someone like Oprah, who's just trying to help the DEMOCRATIC PARTY? Sheesh. Freakin' ridiculous.



<snip>
What Does The World Think Of Us?

One of the first installments in Winfrey’s anti-war series was a show called “What Does The World Think Of Us?”<4> which aired in early November 2002. The show challenged Americans to be skeptical about their government’s foreign policy. For this, Winfrey was praised by anti-war activist Michael Moore for being the only mainstream media at the time to show footage of Donald Rumsfeld shaking Saddam Hussein’s hand in the 1980s. Moore wrote:
“ When she showed Rumsfeld all lovey with Saddam, there was an audible gasp in the studio audience. Everyday, average Americans were shocked to see that the devil was actually our devil. Thank you, Oprah.”<5> ”

Moore argued that the footage was especially important for Americans to see because the rest of the mainstream media was only showing much older footage of Jacques Chirac shaking Saddam Hussein’s hand in the 1970s, seemingly to imply France opposed a war with Iraq because they were friendly with Hussein.<6>

The World Speaks Out On Iraq

“The World Speaks Out On Iraq” was considered to be the most significant installment of Winfrey’s anti-war series for being a two-day special. It was also considered significant because it aired February 6, 2003, the day after Colin Powell’s speech to the United Nations which was credited with shifting public opinion in favor of the war. Winfrey told her audience that it was the most important time to speak out against the war, and wanted to hear not just from her studio audience but from people around the world. Winfrey showed clips from citizens of Britain, France, South Africa, Iraq, and Pakistan - all urging America not to go to war. She also showed clips of Nelson Mandela and Pope John Paul II speaking out against war and interviewed a spokesman for Patriots for Peace.<7> Also appearing on the show was anti-war activist Jessica Mathews and columnist Thomas Friedman who debated whether America should go to war. Mathews pointed out that Saddam Hussein had no connections to al-Qaeda and while Friedman supported war only if America could get international support, he conceded that Hussein was not a security threat to America. At the end of the two day show Winfrey sided with Mathews agreeing that the case for war was not convincing enough considering the consequences.

During part one of the two-part show, a press conference held by George W. Bush and Colin Powell interrupted the show in many markets. An article in Buzzflash.com claimed the press conference was a deliberate attempt to silence debate:
“ Bush pre-empted Oprah for no reason other than to stop her broadcast regarding Iraq and insert his own propaganda!…In the middle of the show a "Special News Report" notice came up, then Peter Jennings announced Bush would be making a MAJOR announcement on Iraq. Then Bush and Powell came in and Bush summarized what Powell had said yesterday at the UN. He spent about 20 minutes in all…The Administration would have known the content and timing of today’s show because it is broadcast live and/or in the morning in many markets such as Oprah’s home base in Chicago. This was in such bad form I couldn't believe it! I called Harpo Studios in Chicago to let them know and they said they had received a lot of phone calls. I said Oprah should tell her audience what happened and that I thought Bush was purposely interfering with her show. They commented they didn't know what the reason was and in any case there was no way to prove anything.<8> ”

An article from Academics for Justice drew the same conclusion:
“ Today, Oprah Winfrey started a two-part series focusing on the impending U.S. war on Iraq. About halfway through the show the broadcast was pre-empted by coverage of Pres. George Bush, with Colin Powell at his side, reading a prepared statement on Iraq. The coincidental timing of this pre-emptive press statement raised immediate questions about the motives of the White House war strategists. Students of the Civil Rights Movement will recall an incident in 1964 when activist Fannie Lou Hamer sat before a live television audience and gave a riveting account of the oppression she and other Blacks faced in the South. President Lyndon Johnson was so convinced of the power of her appeal to undermine his own political/racial agenda, that he hastily called a press conference to pull cameras away from Hamer’s impassioned revelations…The pre-emption of Winfrey’s show today should be seen in the same light. Oprah’s audience is a vast and powerful—but largely apolitical—force of middle-class white women. It is likely that most did not watch Colin Powell’s live testimony at the U.N. yesterday. In fact, it is likely that this huge audience was being oriented to the issues of the Iraq war for the first time…The first 30 minutes of the show was decidedly anti-war and highlighted not only worldwide unanimity in opposition to the war but presented many of the heretofore unheard voices of ordinary people speaking forcefully against Bush’s motives.<9>


What You Should Know About Iraq

On March 6, 2003 Winfrey did a show called “What You Should Know About Iraq,” in which Middle East expert Fawaz Gerges described the suffering of the Iraqi people since Operation Desert Storm. Gerges argued that the desire of the Bush administration to overthrow Saddam Hussein would have a devastating effect on the Iraqi people. Dan Rather also talked about his interview with Saddam Hussein, in which Hussein was apparently curious about George W. Bush and the will of the American people to attack Iraq. The guests on the show explained that the United States had worked with several dictators in the past and actively aided Hussein during the administration of Ronald Reagan to keep the Islamic fundamentalist movement in Iran from spreading. On Oprah: After The Show (aired on Winfrey's cable network Oxygen, Gerges urged Winfrey's audience not to believe reports linking Saddam Hussein to the September 11th attacks, reports which Oprah Winfrey condemned as "propaganda."<snip>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah's_Anti-war_series

[Beausoir]

33. You assume much. I have not decided who my candidate is. This is about corporate America shoving

candidates down our throats.

Oprah Winfrey is CORPORATE America.

Enough is enough.

[in_cog_ni_to]

37. Bullshit. Oprah grew up a poor girl in the South, worked her way to where she is and shares her

wealth in a way very FEW do. She helps the less fortunate. When was the last time you saw a RW millionaire build a school for poor African children and pay for their education? When was the last time you saw a RW millionaire buy a home for homeless people? Or pay for someone's house so they could afford to live? She has done all those things and MORE. SHE is NOT your enemy. The RW wacko freaks are.

So now Obama is Corporate America (by association)? I thought that was Hillary? I suggest you aim your anger toward the people who deserve it most....the freakin' REPUKES.

[KoKo]

42. We don't know what other folks have done with their wealth...but Oprah talks about it all the time..

and makes sure it's part of her persona ....almost bragging about it. It sets her up for criticism because she's an entertainer who brags. The Bill Moyers snips are why I couldn't watch her. I feel she panders to her audience.

She wasn't always like this...but this stuff and money would go to anyone's head. Maybe she's against the Iraw Invasion these days...but as Bill Moyers points out...she gave a voice to the most heinous NeoCons and that wasn't something she needed to do having her own audience. WHY did she do this? And, how has she changed her support for war and why did she change. I would have liked to have heard that.

[in_cog_ni_to]

47. Well, she is supporting a Democratic candidate who was against the war from day one. That's

important. I have to admit that her "bragging" about things she has done with her money is a turn-off. I prefer anonymous giving, but hey...it's her money and if bragging about giving it is what makes her feel good/important, then so be it. I think the good she has done is worthy of praise. If she had neo-cons on her show, then shame on her and I'm glad she has finally seen the light. She now knows they are all liars. I bet she never does THAT again.

I remember how pissed off I was when she had Arnold on her show and her excuse was she did it for her friend Maria. I have yet to forgive her for that one.:(

Did you read the wiki link I posted? Oprah had a anti-war series she ran in 2002-2003...here's another snip>>>>>>>>>>


It ran from early November 2002 until March 18, 2003. The series was supposed to begin in the Fall of 2001 but was delayed when the pilot episode inspired an enormous backlash. Winfrey was quoted as saying:
“ I once did a show titled Is War the Only Answer? In the history of my career, I've never received more hate mail — like 'Go back to Africa' hate mail. I was accused of being un-American for even raising the question."<1> ”

In a September 2002 interview with Phil Donahue Winfrey asked for advice on how one could do such shows without looking unpatriotic: “After we did a show called ‘Is War the Only Answer?’ I thought, Can’t you even ask the question without people attacking you”. Donahue replied by saying that dissent would become easier as time passed from September 11. Winfrey praised Donahue for plans to do anti-war shows on MSNBC saying “the bottom line is we need you, Phil, because we need to be challenged by the voice of dissent”<2>, but was not yet ready to rejoin the anti-war movement herself. In the coming months, her position on joining the movement changed. Professor Daphne Read noted that in the aftermath of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Oprah show, like all mainstream media, "was very closely tied to the Bush administration's response and the media rhetoric of America Under Attack,…however, the content of Winfrey's forum began to diverge from the purely consensual, giving voice to a much wider range of views.”<3><snip>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah's_Anti-war_series

[Beausoir]

53. She was Pro War. How can you defend that?

Most of us here KNEW that the war was a farce.

How can you defend that?

[KoKo]

34. Why did she involve herself politically giving time to NeoCons and Judy MIller on her

show then. This video from Bill Moyers is devastating. Oprah involving herself in politics with Neocon Shills. :shrug:

[in_cog_ni_to]

41. I don't know. You'd have to ask her. I didn't watch it. Was the Judy Miller interview

during the days she was Americas sweetheart or AFTER we found out she was a shill for the WH? That matters. She had everyone snookered. Which neocons were on her show and when? Before or after everyone figured out they were ALL lying? People have to remember that the Majority of people in this country fell for the lies...hook, line and sinker. Maybe Oprah was one of 'em.

Not everyone is as smart as we are when it comes to politics because they don't follow it as closely as we do. DUers are a rare breed.

[Beausoir]

55. Yes. Judith Miller and Oprah.

Oprah must be a very VERY stupid person to involve herself with Judith Miller.

[Gloria]

35. She gushed over Bush when he was on her show....

And she pretty much gave us Dr. Phil...

I've never been able to watch her for more than 2 minutes...

[iburl]

40. She tries to do the right thing, but...

like everyone, we all make mistakes. I find her fascinating on an anthropological level, but she is extremely self-important.

However, "making" Dr. Phil is unforgivable. As David Letterman has said many times, "that guy's a lump."

[progressivebydesign]

57. and for Dr. Phil.. I will never forgive her. yuckk! n/t

[davsand]

43. Ok, so does ANY of that mean she is not entitled to participate in the process?

Oh--wait--if ANY of that stuff means jack shit in terms of being allowed ot participate in the electoral process than I must not be anyplace resembling the US.

Last time I heard anything about Oprah she was a US citizen. I think that still gets you the right to an opinion in most places. Hell, in most conscious circles it might even be encouraged that somebody take a freaking interest in politics.

:wtf:


Laura

[mitchtv]

45. you are right

as much as I can't stand her

[EFerrari]

48. Wtf is right. This whole flap is just disgusting. n/t

[Beausoir]

49. She has the same rights as the rest of us.

[robbedvoter]

51. I don't like her - but she's an entertainer. She's perfectly entitled to help/endorse

whomever she wants - I am glad it was a Democrat, one who opposed the war (when she supported it). I am not required to vote for Oprah - therefore her changing positions are irrelevant. I personally wouldn't pick my candidate because a public figure tells me so (even someone I respect, like Clark). But I don't see anything wrong with the rally - in fact I loved seeing those photos.

[progressivebydesign]

58. Did she go out and campaign for any other prez candidate in the past???

It's just so odd that she's suddenly so political. I remeber her pro-war blathering and her kissing up to Bush.

[davsand]

62. SO??? How is it germaine?

I honestly have no idea if any of this stuff is true. Hell--for all I know Oprah has Hoffa's body buried in her backyard and she eats little fuzzy kitties for breakfast. Even if THAT stuff is completely true it still has no bearing at all on her ability to participate in the electoral process just like the rest of us.

I don't watch her show, I don't know her, I am not gonna make my voting decisions based on her say-so. I am, however, gonna continue to point out that it is a complete waste of time and bandwidth for DU to keep on bitching because of her endorsement.


Laura

[Imagevision]

59. There are some out there that need to be reminded to "think" about politics.

Those who dislike Oprah or who find her to be arrogant? surely must love Hillary...

[OneBlueSky]

60. anyone remember Shawn Hornbeck? . . .

he was one of the two Missouri teens who was rescued from some maniac who had kidnapped them, held them captive, and repeatedly abused them . . . Shawn was the one who had been held for several years . . .

after their rescue some months ago, for some reason Shawn's parents agreed to appear on Oprah's show, and bring him along . . . they established certain ground rules ahead of time, one of which was that Oprah NOT ask the kid anything about his captivity or why he didn't leave . . .

didn't take her long to break the rules . . . despite Shawn telling her on the air "I don't want to talk about it," she persisted in asking him why he didn't leave his captor . . . claimed her viewers wanted to know . . .

that's when I lost whatever respect I had for Ms. Winfrey -- and it wasn't much to begin with . . . if she's supporting Obama, I'm not . . . she can try to tell America what soap to use or what book to read, but I'm damned if I'm going to let her tell me who to vote for . . .

[IsItJustMe]

63. Why all the Oprah hate in the last week or so around here. She has a right to support whoever she

wants. Just as you or anybody else does. I could personally care less, who supports who. It has nothing to do with my perspective.

If there are weak minded people out there that would be influenced by this, so-be-it. I chaulk it up as part of the human experience.

[coffeenap]

64. I have no opinion about her, however, she can and will get

mainstream, middle-class, makeup-wearing, suburban-living, mall-shopping formerly-republican-voting women to vote for a Democrat. And that means something to the future of our country.

[ecstatic]

65. all of our senators voted yes. Do you hold Oprah to a higher standard

than them?