But I agree with the rest of your post

After a while it is kinda irrelevant how much you have and it is all about what you do with it.

Judith Miller, Kenneth Pollack, and Chalabi's buddy never actually lied on her show, so how could she do a James Frey on them? Miller was a reporter for the New York Times, and Pollack was a CIA analyst for the Clinton administration. As for Chalabi's buddy, I don't believe in guilt by association. In the 4 years since Oprah did do a show with Frank Rich and transformed Barack Obama into a best-selling author and the most successful grassroots fundraiser ever-but what she's done in the 4 years since is not relevant since there are no good solutions at this point. The time to speak out was BEFORE the war began, ESPECIALLY in the immediate aftermath of Powell's speech which is when public opinion went from being against the war to for the war. Oprah devoted a two day special to speaking-out the day after Powell's speech, had Jessica Mathews educate her audience about the fact that there were no links between Saddam and Al Quaeda and had anti-war Fawaz Gerges on her show twice in March 2003 inlcuding 40 hours before the war began. But you're right, she didn't speak out to the point of jeopardizing her career, though one show did get knocked off the air in some markets according to the links I provided. But why are you dogging on Oprah when she did more to prevent the war than anyone else with a mjor media forum?

to blog spam for a billionaire? I smell third rate astroturf.
sorry. now if you were Gayle, I mught cut you some slack, but you're obviously a paid shill for someone, if not Oprah. ...Obama, maybe?
btw, political blogistan is pretty tight-knit, left & right; you may wanna just stick to one user name to establish net cred

and listened as Oprah stammered "b-b-b-but the president said" as a rebuttal to Gerges. she stopped listening to what her guests say ages ago anyways. it shows in the questions she asks.

fix your links
wading thru townhall is worse than rodding the sewer.

it is definitely maddening when you're trying to find out if something is bs or not:-)

Seems like this diary entry's caught you in a mixed mood.....?

_{"George Washington did not cross the Delaware for Capitalism," Shmuley Boteach}

didn't intend to mess up the civilty of the site and all.
again, my apologies agonistas
to you too, diarist

I actually didn't mind your comments. I didn't find you uncivil. In fact I think it's healthy for people to be extremely skeptical of those they encounter on the web. And thanks for letting me know that some of my links didn't work.

_{"George Washington did not cross the Delaware for Capitalism," Shmuley Boteach}

I also provided an alternative one to the same article that might be more stable. I also added a lot more links to just regular people who posted reactions to her shows at the time they aired.

Hope they work now

At the time that show aired there was a major article in major Canadian newspapers called “An extraordinary act of intelligence by Oprah”. The Canadian press was blown away that 40 hours before the war, when the rest of the media was supporting the president, Oprah had on Fawaz Gerges and devoted an entire segment to Michael Moore. The show was praised for its amazing perspective.

She did the same thing shortly after September 11th. When anti-Arab and anti-muslim prejudice was at an all time high, Oprah was open-minded enough to do a show promoting peace between America and Islam. Of course she took a lot of heat for that show:

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-dreher100801.shtml

I feel the need to blog spam for a billionaire (as you call it) because so many African-American heroes have let me down in recent years and Oprah is one of the few who was brilliant enough to achieve both stratospheric wealth and stratospheric power while maintaining outstanding integrity and progressive values, and I feel compelled to document that fact.

Why do you feel the need to discredit me and Oprah? Is it because you are anti-Obama? Is it because the very notion of a self-made black woman billionaire who climbed out of poverty is a threat to the anti-capatist rhetoric of a lot of progressives like yourself?

just my lowly opinion on the matter as a former fan. I live about 2 mi west of Harpo studios, and it's just so night and day. I saw the show the other day when she was talking to her senior producers, who are all white, middle class women. Seemed weird for a woman who's all about empowering African girls. just my opinion.
and yeah, the Moyer's piece looks bad considering she's coming out for Obama who has a major selling point as being against the war from the beginning. I could fully understand the PR folks wanting to get ahead of something like that. and you seem to be working in tandem from the same talking points with another poster on Kos. and there's your appearance on myDD, and youtube, and I bet if I google it there's more. it just looks like PR and I think thee doth protest too much.
but don't worry, I'm just a nobody. you needn't start accusing me of denying a poor black woman's right to make the big bucks.
"caller, you say what?"

I'm not at all surprised you think I'm Oprah's PR team. I'm a huge Oprah fan-have been for years. People on-line have been accussing me of working for Oprah for years. I've been posting pro-Oprah stuff all over the web for about 10 years now. I google her at least once a week, and defend her against virtually any smear. Any time you see someone gushing over Oprah on the web, chances are it's me.

If you want to campaign for Oprah go for it but its gonna a long election for you if you plan on using Newsmax quotes to support Oprah. Why do you post Oprah stuff all over the dem/progressives sites and then wonder why people wouldn't notice it? Why have different names for each site? Personally I can't stand Oprah and can't imagine ever voting for her, and quoting Dr Phil makes it even less likely to happen.

that's another site I'd rather not wade into.

But you can find an overview here:

http://w3.newsmax.com/a/may07/

It was an interesting article except that it perpetuates the myth that Gore's failure to kiss Oprah when Bush did is what cost Gore the election. Oprah herself seems to encourage people to say that because it makes her look all-powerful and I used to believe it myself, until I checked the polling archives at CNN which showed that Gore's lead actually increased the day after Bush kissed Oprah and really increased 2 days after Bush kissed Oprah. It wasn't until 5 days after Bush kissed Oprah that Bush took the lead.

The fact that Oprah would be attacked at all for an act of charity certainly makes me think there's an organized attempt to smear her because she supports Obama.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oprah%27s_Anti-war_series&action=history

first entered July 15, 2007
somethin's fishy, and it's obviously tied to her fundraiser for Obama.
and you know who else supports Obama's foreign policy? the neocons. ...and I thought I liked Samantha Power.

I ain't picking on her, I was just googling and came across that article which mirrored my exact feelings on the subject. The Pritzkers should have a talk w/ her about giving back to the hood from which you take.

I feel it's extremely important to document the fact that a major person of African ancestry spoke out against the war when other prominent African Americans (i.e. Powell) have been forced to take the fall for it. As for Obama-I only like him because Oprah likes him, but I'm not emotionally invested.

African ancestry? who talks like that?
josh? that's a mighty white twenty-something name.
and you only like Obama because Oprah likes him? dude, stay away from the voting polls, reasoning like that is how we got into this mess.

(interns... good free help is hard to find these days)

campaign would like to know of your efforts on behalf of a major contributor. I'll let 'em know for ya.

A suggestion: if you are going to support Oprah and post on her you will need to learn handle that not everyone will agree with you or your position. A person is not hostile just because they disagree. A person not interested in Oprah as a candidate does not mean they are anti-woman, anti-black or anti-Obama. I would also suggest that when posting on non republican sites to refrain from using such sites as Town Hall and Newsmax as sources, they carry very little credibility and the use of their sites will hurt your cause.

Also you will need a good defense against this:

In the 4 years since Oprah did do a show with Frank Rich and transformed Barack Obama into a best-selling author and the most successful grassroots fundraiser ever-but what she's done in the 4 years since is not relevant since there are no good solutions at this point.

It is even more relevant what she has done in the last four precisely because of badly it has gone in Iraq. This is what I meant about caving, where was she? In hibernation over Iraq while she decided Obama would be a great president? She could have been using her show everyday to announce how many soldiers have lost their lives for Bush and Cheney's folly. With her following she could urged voters to write their representatives, papers editors...... Good Luck with your campaigning.

She's been doing a lot of shows about Katrina, and helping transform Obama into a fundraising star for the Dems.

But as for the war she hasn't done anything major, unless you count giving her anti-war spiritual guru Marianne Williamson her own radio show on which she promotes the likes of Dennis Kucinich:

http://www2.oprah.com/xm/mwilliamson/200610/mwilliamson_20061031.jhtml

She also did a major article on Cyndy Sheehan in her magazine, though I'm dissapointed she's never had her on her show.

But I don't think it's so much that Oprah's caved as that she's genuinely agnostic about what should be done about the war.

You seem pretty certain that America should just pull all the troops out, others argue hundreds of thousands of troops are needed to transform the mission into a success-which would require a draft.

It's a very complex issue, and to just pull the troops out impulsively could leave the Iraqi people in worse shape than before the invasion. One of the reasons Oprah opposed the war was because she didn't think America was ready to commit to such a long-term project and in her opinion, America didn't have a great track record on follow through.

You seem pretty certain that America should just pull all the troops out,

I do? I don't recall discussing Iraq strategy with you. I think if Oprah wants to run she should speak for herself.

It's not logical to like Obama just because Oprah does. However I also like him because as far as I know, he's the most progressive of the leading candidates. I'd probably like Dennis Kucinich even better but I'm not convinced he can win.

that's the healthy response. Think for yourself and especially don't depend on celebrities who live in an environment removed from the common people to influence decisions you make about whom gets 'your' mark on the ballot. We each have only one ballot and must maximize how it is used. Stay informed and get your information from a wide variety of sources and try very hard not to be unduly swayed by government and media propaganda. Just vote for the candidate you believe best mirrors your values.

Ophra, from what I've seen of her, strikes me as a very intelligent woman, but with her wealth, not connected with issues my family and I confront. I don't weigh candidates on the basis of their ability to win or lose...just is he/she conversant and able to represent positions on issues I would take which requires prioritizing which concerns are the most important and relevant to the time in which my ballot is cast.