Kicked to the front. The few public figures who had the guts and brains to oppose the war before it happened deserve credit for it because at the time it truly did require bravery for a public figure. – Ian
I found this fascinating information on-line:
Oprah did more to try to prevent America from going to war than anyone else in mainstream media. As early as the Fall of 2001 she did a show called “Is War the Only Answer?” Unfortunately that shows sparked the worst and most vicious hate mail of her career. Then a few months later when she declined an invitation to go to Afghanistan with Bush, people were furious that she would defy a sitting president during a time of war. All of this made her extremely fearful to dissent and for a while her show was extremely careful not to be seen as unpatriotic and she even allowed pro-war voices to appear on her show. But in October 2002 a woman in her audience questioned the propaganda the media was feeding them. At first Oprah thought the woman was a bit nutty and dismissed her, but a few weeks later she decided the woman was right.
By November 2002, Oprah gathered enough courage to do a show challenging her audience to question their government’s foreign policy. The show was praised by anti-war activist Michael Moore and he was so impressed he begged Oprah to run for president. Then on February 6 & 7 2003, while the rest of the media was praising Collin Powell’s United Nation’s speech, Oprah told her audience that now more than ever was the time to speak out. It was a crucial time to speak out because public opinion had been against the war prior to Powell’s speech. Oprah showed clips from average people all over the world begging America not to go to war. She showed clips of Nelson Mandella & Pope John Paul II denouncing war. She interviewed the founder of Patriots for Peace. She hosted a debate between Thomas Friedman and anti-war activist Jessica Mathews who informed her audience that there were no links between Saddam and Al Quada & even Friedman conceded that Iraq was not a security threat to the U.S. And the end of the debate Oprah agreed with Mathews that the case for war had not been made. The show was so anti-war that it was allegedly taken off the air half way through in some markets.
Amazingly Oprah continued to air dissent right up until 2 days before the war began. On March 18, 2003 she invited anti-war Middle East professor Fawaz Gerges and spent an entire segment showing shocking antiwar clips from Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine followed by anti-war commentary from Moore.
Oprah did everything in her power short of career suicide to prevent a war. Donahue spoke out against war too, but he had a tiny audience on MSNBC. Oprah was the ONLY major media to join the anti-war movement and she deserves an enormous amount of credit for that. Not only is she a symbol of the American dream and the most philanthropic African-American of all time, but she was on the right side of history too.
More details in the links provided:
or
Express News
City Pages
Daily Kos
Viewer reactions to anti-war show she did on October 2001:
Viewer reactions to two-day anti-war show she did the day after Powell’s UN speech:
Viewer reaction to anti-war show she did in early March 2003:
Viewer reaction to anti-war show she did 40 hours before the war:
More than most multi-millionaires about suffering. And she has a staff that seeks out information. She would certainly make a better President than many who are running. If Obama wins the nomination he will owe it to Oprah.
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.
office. But I expect they won’t because they’re more concerned with fixing what’s wrong than blabbering about it as politicians are that often get funding from lobbyist groups. Besides, it’s almost impossible for a woman to break into the Old Boy’s Club. And one as strong as a political old boys club, is virtually impossible. Hillary has political connections because of her husband that are denied women that haven’t married into such an illustrious past. Are her beliefs more in line with Margaret Thatcher and will do nothing for common folk?
Women have had the vote since the turn of the century, but they’re still playing catch up in many areas. Martha Stewart paid a high price for attempting to join such an elitist group. Neither Oprah nor Martha had political connections. Both built their wealth themselves based on talent.
maybe you’re friends? if Oprah truly cared maybe she would commit career suicide, or at least do a “James Frey” on Judy Miller, Kenneth Pollack and Chalabi’s buddy. I watch the show, I just don’t see her leading the way or lending a hand. so she balanced that show, w/ another. what has she done in the 4 years since?
TV personality. What I do respect about both Oprah and Martha Stewart is they have talent and seemed to have the most of it. But, I don’t watch either of them.
So, if she sits on the fence, it wasn’t something I knew about. People get hung up about hollywood and TV-type personalities thinking they have some rare type of insight. They don’t! They just have access to microphones that ordinary people don’t, but some people hang on their every word as it they’re delivering the Sermon from the Mount.
Fad personalities come and go, based on the latest Neilson ratings, but ordinary people are usually just doing the best they can, eking out a living, raising their children and having to make do with whatever they have, and having to send their most loved members of their familites into wars not knowing if they’ll return. Normal people don’t get ’rounds of applause from audiences, medals or decorations, but in my mind, they are much more deserving of a groupie following.
I suppose the rationale is when your politicians, print and television newscasters lie, it’s natural to turn to anyone with credibility hoping they are telling the truth. And when that idol falls, another one is chosen. The search continues for the messiah that speaks the truth! Pastors and church officials don’t! But surely, someone must?
That’s what happens to the population when governments resort to propaganda and lies…they’ll believe a guy that wears a sign around his neck saying, “I am the way, follow me and I’ll deliver you.”
I did see an article at the BBC where the person posting was an American who trusted Russian newsmedia rather than his own. Sad!
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?
for the Dixie Chicks. While what Oprah did back then deserves respect she then caved. Is there a concentrated effort to cheerlead for Oprah or what.
I’ve been praising Oprah in a few blogs because so many prominent African Americans (i.e. Powell, Condi) were involved in the war that I feel it’s important for people to know that the richest African American of the 20th century was on the right side of history, and that she used her forum to broadcast dissent at the most important time of all and she did so before millions and millions and millions of Americans. I’m not sure why you think Oprah caved since then. Because she has not advocated pulling the troops out? Maybe she feels that now that the war has started, one shouldn’t just leave Iraq in chaos. As Dr. Phil often says, if you can’t make the right decision, at least make the decision right.
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
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?
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 Oprahâ€. 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
didn’t intend to mess up the civilty of the site and all.
again, my apologies agonistas
to you too, diarist
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 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.
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.
Why is that you’re so paranoid about me praising Oprah and why is that you’ve seen my comments on so many different forums? Newsmax magazine recently quoted someone saying that if Oprah supported Obama too pasionately, there’d be an effort to discredit Oprah. Are you part of that? Are you working for someone?
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.
It’s just that when you’ve spent as much energy as I have over the years cheerleading for Oprah you tend to get extremely emotionally invested. I’m not a fan of Newsmax but I did read their article on Oprah and the article quoted some expert predicting there would be an organized attempt to smear Oprah if she got too supportive of Obama. I’ve gotten to the point where I feel more anxiety over bad things happening to Oprah than I do over bad things happening in my own life. You should have seen me when she was sued by those Texas ranchers back in 1998 terrified that the law suits would multiply and she’d lose everything. I was so stressed that I was up all night googling how the trial was going. Pathetic I know. I think I need Dr. Phil
that’s another site I’d rather not wade into.
the miseducation of Oprah WInfrey
from http://blackwomenforobama.wordpress.com
“I became so frustrated with visiting inner-city schools that I just stopped going. The sense that you need to learn just isn’t there,†she says. “If you ask the kids what they want or need, they will say an iPod or some sneakers. In South Africa, they don’t ask for money or toys. They ask for uniforms so they can go to school.â€
Source: http://www.Racialicious.com, 01/03/07
you got more problems than the war thing. I always knew there was something wrong about the school being in Africa and not here, but geez louise she shouldn’t have said that, . this writer tears her a new one.
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.
You seem to really have a problem with me, all because I’ve been to numerous places on the web saying positive things about a celebrity who just happens to be supporter of a political candidate you dislike.
I don’t understand why I have upset you so much, but I’m sorry that I have done so.
Celebrity Worship Syndrome
Starstruck
Admire people as models, but the interest in them should not take over people’s lives. Where is Oprah’s expertise regarding American politics, history and policies to endorse the senator?
To also like Senator Obama because Oprah does is not rational. What other interests occupies your time additional to promoting Oprah’s career? If you don’t have any, for your well being, it’s perhaps time to acquire some. I confess to liking Elvis Presley as a teenager and into my adult life, but my fondness for him never developed into becoming a fawning groupie. He had a great voice, but absolutely no qualifications or credibility beyond his singing to endorse anyone, nor make recommendations about products to buy or books to read.
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:
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.
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.
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.
“George Washington did not cross the Delaware for Capitalism,” Shmuley Boteach
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.