Oprah has Jumped the Shark
Oct 6, 2004 by Vic HoltremanNow don’t get me wrong, Oprah has done immense good with her show not only in the U.S. but all over the world, but somewhere recently she’s taken a sharp turn to the Left. Just last week she had this thinly veiled “get out the vote” show which had only Democratic supporters on it. We’re talking great thinkers like Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore.
You’ve probably heard the insinuation made by Diaz that a vote for President Bush was a vote for legalizing rape. She said this as she almost wept and Oprah and her audience solemnly nodded their heads in understanding.
Today she had a show that supposedly demonstrated what it was like for a 30 year old woman to live in countries around the world. She opened with a woman from Kuwait who was quite wealthy. The woman said that not everyone there was monetarily rich, but that since the government paid for school through university, all health care, and even gave couples $12,000 as a wedding gift, that people there are very well-off.
Other countries were highlighted, including Cuba where both doctors and lower level jobs command about $27/month in salary. Oprah had someone on the show who was familiar with life in Cuba, and Oprah’s last question was “and they have free health care, right?”
AAAAARRRGGGH! So living in poverty in a communist country is cool, as long as you have free health care?
I found it extremely ironic to have the woman from Kuwait, one of the only (if not the only, correct me if I’m wrong) democratic countries in the Middle East on the Oprah show talking about how great life is there (oh, except that women can’t vote) when just last week Oprah was pushing people to vote for John Kerry, who is against bringing democracy to Iraq and was against our joining the Gulf War in defense of Kuwait!
Here we are trying to bring democracy to Iraq, in the hope of bringing a future that will echo that of Kuwait for it’s people, yet only last week she had a propaganda show for the Left. In a further irony, she had a woman on tape (as well as a guest) that talked about how much worse things are in Iraq since the war started. Women are living in constant fear of being raped, assaulted, or killed.
Here’s a news flash: There’s a war going on, and it’s your countrymen that have you terrified because they are killing their own people… women and children included.
Of course things are awful, but the Kuwaiti constitution was put into effect 43 years ago, and we are only 18 months into the war. Hopefully, things will improve and one day the people of Iraq, with the country’s oil reserves, will be as prosperous as those of Kuwait.
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Wow. Well put.
One doesn’t want to minimize the great work she has done. But it would be foolish to swallow the show whole either. I get weary of the victim stories and I question the wisdom of public displays of “catharsis” as the best way to mental or societal health.
I don’t watch her very much. If there is some kind of neutral topic like health or some such thing, she pulls on some great resources.
I saw that clip of Diaz…. what incoherency!
One wonders what comments didn’t make it through the editing process….
It was a pretty BIG shark…. but I think you are right, it got jumped.
Why should anyone listen to Cameron Diaz or Drew Barrymore? Just because they’re celebs? Psssh! Oprah may be very wealthy and powerful, but why do people insist on jumping like Pavlov’s dogs every time she opens her mouth? People seem to think that being a celebrity somehow gives you this profound insight that the “little people” don’t have.
Hey Oprah, for your next show, try interviewing some women from Iran or Saudi Arabia and see how happy they are with their lives. There’s no such thing as “free” health care. Everything has its price.
Brian
One quick thought about your post,Vic… Who ever said that Kerry is against bringing democracy to Iraq? All he ever has said is that he thinks the war should have been handled differently than it was from the start. He voted to support the war at the beginning because he believed that Hussein was a real threat. He has never backed down from that statement. As much as everyone wants to call him a flip flopper on this issue – they really don’t know the whole story. It’s very sad. His issue all along has been that the war should have been handled differently. If you want to know what he has said about this. I will gladly tell you.
Michael
Michael,
Thanks for a thoughtful post. I guess I opened the door to politics with that post, but I have to disagree. Right now Kerry is saying that we should not have gone to war in Iraq, therefore Saddam would still be in power, and that was not a democratic regime.
What really bothers me about this situation is that people are saying we should not have gone to war based on information that is available NOW.
What kind of argument is that? (In the absence of a time travel machine, that is.)
Respectfully,
Vic
Vic,
I don’t like talking politics in places where they weren’t meant either, so I will keep this short. I aslo think it is great that you feel the way you do and way respect that. There are way too many people out there saying exactly what you said about Kerry, all the while trying to pin his past statements against him to get him to look like a flip flopper. It is not a fact that Kerry is saying we should not have gone to war in Iraq, it is a fact that he is saying it should have been done differently from the start. Look at the final debate and you will see. I personally don’t think Kerry has been that smart with his comments, nor do I agree with all of them pertaining to the situation in Iraq, but I really don’t like it when his statements are misused. Just because many of the republican legions like to misrepresent him through his own statements doesn’t make it accurate.
Michael
Well, today, we women in kuwait can finally vote AND participate in the government!!!