"I am not telling you how to vote. I am just asking you to think." Oprah Winfrey.

[Beausoir]

From CBS coverage of the Oprahalooza last night.

[donheld]

1. Sounds ok to me n/t

[Hoof Hearted]

2. Um, note to Oprah - I don't need you to do either of those things. Thanks anyway. n/t

[dbackjon]

3. This image just popped into my head...

[patrice]

11. ?

Your point is . . . ?

[dbackjon]

28. Clearly, you are not a Blues Brothers/Aretha fan

That is Aretha singing "Think" in the movie.

[patrice]

31. Right.

My cultural ignorance is showing.

:embarassed:

Ask me something about poetry . . . .

[sandnsea]

4. "...seriously about this man."

Just thought I'd finish the quote since DU is oh so interested in the truth and all.

[Beausoir]

5. Nope. That's not what she said.

[sandnsea]

10. Yeah, it is

First of all, I heard her.

Second of all, here's the entire quote.

"I am not here to tell you what to think. I am here to ask you to think seriously about this man."
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article3239382.ece

Third of all, your hatred is way too intense for somebody who has absolutely no power to do anything to anybody.

[Beausoir]

13. She used her star status to push the Iraq war. How can you defend that?

Seriously.

[patrice]

16. Link? nt

[Beausoir]

21. From Bill Moyers. Just one example of her pushing for the war.

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

I remember it well. She was a cheerleader and an ignorant fearmonger.

[patrice]

25. Oh shit! That does it.

I really have been trying; I don't like mean remarks and mean pictures. I really can't abide mean-ness.

But to not have voted in a primary in 20 years AND publicly supported the Invasion of Iraq and, hence, the KILLING of hundreds of thousands of innocent people . . . that's just too much.

[sandnsea]

22. What do you think you're accomplishing?

Seriously. Why are you doing this. Every word you've written has been proven wrong - and yet you just don't stop. Do you think people won't notice you're repeating stuff that has already been debunked?

[Beausoir]

27. Debunked? Bill Moyers journal has been debunked? Show me.

[sandnsea]

29. An interview is NOT support for the war n/t

[Beausoir]

32. OK. Let's make this easy. Did Oprah Winfrey support the Iraq war?

When ALL of us here at DU knew it was going to be a disaster?

Did Oprah Winfrey support the war?

This should be an easy question for you.

Just answer yes or no and we can get on with our evening.

[sandnsea]

33. You don't know. I don't know. And it Doesn't Matter

She's a friggin' TALK SHOW HOST who did a TV interview.

Thats IT.

[Beausoir]

34. Cop out.

I will never give a pass to anyone who thought this war was worthy.

You are talking out of both sides of your mouth. Either you support Obama/Winfrey or you don't.

[sandnsea]

35. I don't support you lying about her

There are two things on this planet that I cannot abide - willful ignorance and liars. Unfortunately, DU is run amok with the both of them. I don't have to "support" anybody in order to identify lies.

One interview does not prove support for the war and you have absolutely no business saying it does. It's unethical.

[slowry]

36. Im sorry... did you just change the subject? ie. your inaccurate quote... n/t

[HughMoran]

6. How many 100's of people in the media etc do the same thing

Why is Oprah being targeted here? Are people afraid her word really does have weight?

[Beausoir]

7. Targeted? She was a Pro-War cheerleader at a time when we needed all the voices we could muster.

I refuse to give her a pass just because she is supporting Obama now.

[HughMoran]

12. So you are afraid of her helping Obama

I thought so.

[Beausoir]

14. I don't care who she is "helping". She pushed the war...with Judith Miller.

Corprate America at its finest.

[HughMoran]

17. Her statements about "trusting" Bush because Colin could not be lying was utterly moronic

...and implies that she is somewhat of a "homer" when it comes to other blacks. Colin DID lie - what was Oprah thinking?

[sandnsea]

26. What about the career politicians who believed him?

The ones who actually had access to the classified NIE? People who support the ones who had access to that report and didn't bother to read it - are bashing a friggin' talk show host. They're out of their frickin' minds.

[HughMoran]

30. In that context, this does all seem quite trivial

I was just a bit shocked when I Googled to find out what the poster was talking about (why would I know or care what Oprah thought back then). Her position was a bit daft. Then again, as you pointed out, the position of people who were in a position to stop this murderous insanity (and who were fully informed) was just as daft. Your point is well taken. I allowed myself to be pulled into the distraction - -10 political points for me! :D

[patrice]

15. I'm known to state my resistence to those 100s too, not just Oprah.

actually MORE so, because I encounter them more often than I do her.

[napi21]

8. Sorry, I'm just not an Oprah fan. She's OK, but I never watch her show.

I'm not really a "Star fan" of any kind. I listen to what each candidate says, and watch how they respond to all the different circumstances they're presented with, then make my decision on who to vote for based on who I believe will do the best job for the Country.

I've already written off all the Pub candidates because my biggest issue is keeping at least some evenness on the SCOTUS!

As far as the Dem candidates go, I'm leaning strongly to Biden.

I happen to think people who are influenced by celebrity endorsements simply can't think for themselves!

[patrice]

20. Or they don't want to do the work of studying and comparing

the candidates on the issues.

[patrice]

9. Think about . . . ?

Issues?

Policy alternatives?

The work that needs to be done, no matter who wins?

[KingFlorez]

18. Thinking is the key

If more people were thinking about the issues before the elections in the years past, we might not have the mess that we have now in Washington.

[sjdnb]

19. Anyone who could have voted for as many Reps as Dems

(quote from Iowa 12/8/2007) is, in my book, either a) extremely gullible/naive/stupid; b) doesn't know what they believe in/has no convictions; and/or c) is so ambitious they'll toss aside what they believe in for political/personal/economic expediency/gain.

In any event, I went from no opinion on Oprah (never knew much about her) to what the F could she have been thinking? And, how shallow/ambitious does Obama have to be to want her championing his candidacy?

[Beausoir]

24. At some point, he will have to stop hiding behind the bigoted Donnie McClurkins of the world and the

Oprah Winfreys of the world and stand on his own two feet.

He has a LOT of explaining to do regarding his southern anti-gay tour.

And now that he has signed-on Oprah Winfrey, a notable pro-war cheerleader, I am having a VERY hard time supporting him.

[seriousstan]

23. In the words of Regis Philbin ...... " the view from the back of a limousine is not clearer".

[tabasco]

40. Why are you pushing right-wing memes again, Stan?

And who gives a fuck what republican Regis Philbin thinks?

[seriousstan]

43. The point is. I don't give a fuck what celebrities say. Talk about limousine liberals.

WTF do they know about common people's daily lives?

[Imagevision]

37. Hey! if Oprah picks up 10% of woman and the black vote, kuddo's to "O"

Oprah has a viewing audience of 47+ million per week (or day) anyway, it's all in the numbers and sometimes you really got to ask people to bloody... "think"

[MilesColtrane]

38. I'm thinking, "Why is it that a person who has had such an enormous influence...

...for twenty years hasn't actually endorsed a candidate until now?"

The first 52 years of her life were all about nothing more than creating an empire?
She seems just as incurious as George to me.

[SoCalDem]

39. I cannot totally forgive her for not making voting rights/fair elections an issue

She had a bully pulpit for decades, and after the 2K debacle, I really expected her to step up..but she did not. her show would have been an ideal format to tackle (even ONCE a month) a show that delved into the issues of electronic voting, list purges, mile-long lines in poor communities, etc...

but she chose to do make-overs, give-aways, celeb-gabfests & author-elevation..

Had she stepped in right after the 2k debacle, perhaps many of the states who immediately started buying Diebold, ES&S & Sequoia vapor vote machines, would have held off and would now not be faced with having wasted millions of dollars..and still having a substandard voting system..

[Imagevision]

41. making voting rights/fair elections an issue?!? we aleady saw what happened to the Dixie chicks

and they had to go into semi-retirement for 15 months.

[SoCalDem]

42. Oprah had the ability to do it with a bi-partisan flair

since her audience is more diverse..and the republicans claimed to be "worried" about the issue too..remember?

Oprah's smart.. by choosing her guests carefully, she could have done it..

[WinkyDink]

44. Well, isn't that magnanimous of her! Not "TELLING" US how to vote! WTH???

[Disturbed]

45. She recommended Donnie McClurkin to Sen Obama.

She is not very astute politically.

I found the link.

McClurkin said during the concert that he had been introduced to Obama by Oprah Winfrey.

http://www.americablog.com/2007/10/obama-supporter-blas...