The Queen of Banality: Still selling lies and the Horatio Alger myth, in black edition.
She and Trump share two attributes. They’re both billionaire entertainers, media celebrities. Forbes estimates her net worth at $2.8 billion, Trump’s at $3.1 billion – both a lot richer ahead from the GOP tax cut heist. They’re connected to America’s rich and powerful. They’re establishment figures, notably Trump by serving in the nation’s highest office – Oprah as a longtime media celebrity.
Ahead of the 2003 Iraq war, she disgracefully promoted it on air, including with video clips featuring “experts.” They included hawkish neocons Richard Perle, Douglas Feith and others, claiming America was “morally” obligated to remove Saddam.
She called his removal a humanitarian mission, omitting vital facts, selling naked aggression to millions of viewers based on bald-faced lies.
She lied for powerful interests she supports. It wasn’t the first or last time. She’s deplorable, one-dimensional, more infomercial than real.
She’s criticized for promoting self-help. Her dubious message to middle-aged women is “(y)ou’re special. You have some flaws, but it’s nothing some luxury lifestyle can’t fix.”
To her credit, she succeeded against long odds, yet uses her celebrity irresponsibly.
She campaigned for Obama, uninformed Amercans sold false promises. She lied saying “(l)ong before it was the popular thing to do, (Obama) stood with clarity and conviction against the war in Iraq.”
He supported it all along, in office terror-bombed seven countries in eight years, exceeding the worst of Bush/Cheney.
She’s concerned about money-making, getting more super-rich than already. On major world and national issues, she plays fast and loose with facts, banishing truth-telling on them from her airwaves.
She didn’t become a billionaire by speaking truth to power. Her skill is reaching and influencing vast audiences on behalf of her corporate sponsors.
She’s orchestrated to stay on script, a manipulator, a made-for-television communicator, delivering wrong messages to dumbed-down viewers, unable to distinguish between facts and fiction, brainwashed to accept rubbish fed them on air.
She’s well-connected, supports imperial wars and force-fed neoliberal harshness, uncaring about human and civil rights for the nation’s disadvantaged most harmed by failure to enforce them.
Reportedly she’s intrigued by the idea of running for president. Maybe she could win. Professor of Entertainment, Media and Society Martin Kaplan said “(t)he name of the game in elections is name recognition, and you get that from celebrity.”
Pollster Ann Selzer explained “(y)ou have to want to do it, because it’s an enormous challenge, an enormous trial, an enormous test of your soul.”
It’s a daily physical ordeal, demanding the willingness to sacrifice all aspects of privacy, only the most committed willing to accept the great sacrifices for a chance to grab the brass ring.
In 2016, Americans elected a billionaire entertainer to the nation’s top job. Would they want to dump Trump for another one in 2020 – getting more of the same with a gender difference?
STEPHEN LENDMAN was born in 1934 in Boston, MA. In 1956, he received a BA from Harvard University. Two years of US Army service followed, then an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1960. After working seven years as a marketing research analyst, he joined the Lendman Group family business in 1967. He remained there until retiring at year end 1999. Writing on major world and national issues began in summer 2005. In early 2007, radio hosting followed. Lendman now hosts the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network three times weekly. Distinguished guests are featured. Listen live or archived. Major world and national issues are discussed. Lendman is a 2008 Project Censored winner and 2011 Mexican Journalists Club international journalism award recipient. His new site is at http://stephenlendman.org
[premium_newsticker id=”154171″]
It is unfair to compare Oprah to Trump…. He is the son of wealth…. where he learned to bully, dominate and control others for profit…. Oprah is a self made woman. She was born into poverty, sexual abuse and disenfranchisement…. She has strong empathy for the suffering of others… and has done much to ease some of their pain. It is true she does not have the qualifications to be president…. She might have trouble bombing innocent women and children into oblivion… which definitely disqualifies her…. One can only hope that she has the intelligence to not run. Trump on… Read more »
“It is unfair to compare Oprah to Trump…. He is the son of wealth…. where he learned to bully, dominate and control others for profit…. Oprah is a self made woman. She was born into poverty, sexual abuse and disenfranchisement…. She has strong empathy for the suffering of others… and has done much to ease some of their pain”. But she supported the Emperialist aggression on innocents in Iraq and then you go on -“She might have trouble bombing innocent women and children into oblivion” Beg pardon, “might”? – so, what you are saying is that you are not sure,… Read more »
Phillip, Oprah has built schools in africa for poor young girls. She is aware of human suffering and helps many have endured it to find help. She is not essentially a political animals…. but seems to thrive on what comes from her heart…. which is to help and care for the victims of patriarchy, misigyny, racism…. all the ills of society. Yes, might… if she considering running at all, I hope that she will come to her senses and continue to do what she does best. Could you please provide a citation of Oprah weighing in on the war in… Read more »
“Could you please provide a citation of Oprah weighing in on the war in Iraq”? – gladly accomodate you there – see latest Jimmy dore show on Youtube by courtesy of The Guardian newspaper and Glenn Greenwald.
Glenn Greenwald is a shill for judeo christian values. He lives the high life in brazil from the millions he received from the edward snowden story…. I do not see him providing support to humane causes, either for humans or animals…. as he suns on the beach. In fact to the contrary… He declared the supreme court decision to keep crush videos legal as an expression of freedom of speech. For those not familiar with crush videos, they are a hideous, virulent sadism to a tiny kitten( originating in china…. slowly stomped to death by a stiletto heeled woman’s leg… Read more »
I recall that wonderful line from Frank Zappa; “In America politics is the entertainment arm of the military industrial complex.” By focusing on the entertainment value of individual personalities we can all ignore the real substance of politics. That is the dynamics of the collective power structure. The unchanging totalitarian dictatorship. By ignoring the real politics we are obedient to the real needs of the capitalist dictators; “Stay away from our sacred right to freely exercise domination of the world.” The real horror of Oprah Winfrey is that she becomes an acceptable face for the evil capitalists who seek to… Read more »
Oprah is not responsible for being viewed as a symbol for successful capitalism…. She comes from the most difficult of circumstances…. Poverty, racism and sexual abusepervaded her life as a child..
She is also a symbol of hope for what is possible when one has the spiritual strength to overcome all odds… and to do good , to help others to overcome. In this she certainly is not your typical politician in any government, be it capitalist, socialist, communist, etc.
Zio-nazi neo-cons. What are those ?
Bourgeois democrats is an oxymoron, a fundamental contradiction in terms. What is the contradiction?
Fair question Peter! Neo conservative zionists (mainly Jews) Such as William Kristol. George Bush asked his father “what is the difference between a conservative and a neo-conservative.” His father answered with one word; “Israel.” Bush senior called them “the crazies in the basement.” Right wing Jewish extremists who fit right into the American capitalist drive for power and domination. Jewish billionaires like Adelson who control through funding power the Democrats. The evil axis between Zionist Jews in Israel and the Clinton machine, who together created and funded the terrorist group ISIS. The hidden hand behind the attack on the world… Read more »
Graeme,
However others view or seek to use Oprah, SHE REMAINS HER OWN WOMAN… with a deep belief in compassion for victims from all the traditional sources: judeo.christian hegemony, patriarchy, misogyny & racism. It is unfair to condemn her for how she is viewed by others.
Ruth
Ruth; I accept your point and agree with you about Oprah’s many virtues and her desire to do good. Now can you please explain how that fits into her support for the illegal war of aggression against Iraq? Does that not make her party to the offense of a war crime. The greatest war crime is the crime of aggression. Is it not the case of her simply being a little too keen to go along with the money power? Obama provided a deceptive face of virtue while all along he was a front for the money power. The capitalist… Read more »
Graeme, Oprah is not a naive, vulnerable little woman, as you imply…. She has the strength to be true to her instincts which have severed her well. Some stereotype die hard. Still I hope that she does not run. There are too many forces that confront a president, any president, that make it difficult to stick to a moral compass. Oprah can do so much more good just being OPRAH. Peter Pavimentov, understands all too well that Oprah is being targeted because she is a woman: ‘As for the illustration at the top of this article, it is obviously meant… Read more »
Ruth; You and I are not as far apart as it may seem. I agree with you that she could probably do more good by not running. I am happy to accept that she is her own woman and capable of evolving her positions. And I can respect why so many would be very excited if she did run. The right wing are already piling on her and accusing her of being a flaming leftist. However I remember watching the show described below with sadness. ‘Oprah’ show on Iraq censured September 18, 2003|From Reuters Sweden’s broadcasting watchdog said Wednesday it… Read more »
On the other hand it is possible that Oprah would seek counsel from Malala Yousafzai, another strong woman in her own right and make a more informed decision before engaging in never ending warfare…. But then the right would declare Malala a Muslim terrorist and the left would call her capitalist shill, who took a bullet to the head for publicity….
And yes we do agree, perhaps for different reasons that it would be better if Oprah did not run for president.
The “good” that you credit Oprah with doing is illusory, Ruth. For reasons well explained in the serious articles thsi website has run. The bottom line is that she is no more a leftist (no matter what the crazy right thinks) than the Black congressional caucus, now a tool of the empire to beat Russia with, or the ever liberaloid opportunist Jesse Jackson, a poverty pimp if ever there was one. Truth hurts but there is no substitute for it. Oprah CAN be a self-made billionaire (which she is) and STILL be a misleading example of what US society is… Read more »
Phil Retton – Nicely said comrade. Although I learned from Ruth just how sensitive women in America feel about what they consider patriarchal disrespect. This merits sensitivity and understanding by male comrades does it not?
I see no good coming from the male dominated extreme right or left…. Both invalidate deeper concerns for meaningful compassion, both suffer from misogyny and when not bashing women condescendingly tell us the little ladies are sensitive, if we want their support we must feign concern. In reality, the right and the left in a judeo.christian nation are both rooted in patriarchy, misogyny, exclusivity (a source of racism), where the chosen are entitled to prosper and only the compliant, those who go along, will be allowed in heaven. The amount of disrespect and disregard for women in articles by David… Read more »
The thousands of young girls in Africa, now young women have been given a chance to live a life free from poverty, with the right to an education that has changed the direction of their lives. There is nothing illusory about real change for these young women.
For the thousands of young girls in Africa, now young women who have been given a chance to live a life free from poverty, with the right to an education that has changed the direction of their lives., there is nothing illusory about real change in their lives.
It is a rather bad path towards totalitarianism to call certain groups as being intrinsically evil and murderous. Schicklgruber was good at that and see what he wrought. In fact, (like women) Jews and blacks remain vulnerable at every level of capitalist society. And as the fate of wealthy industrialist and banker Jews in the 1930 in Germany demonstrates, it is at the root of oppression and obviates the class struggle. Moreover, their power is friable (look how Hillary Clinton was being treated, despite her venal power). Rather than seeking out sinners, the point of Marxist thought is how to… Read more »
As for the illustration at the top of this article, it is obviously meant to demonstrate her physicality with the focus on her forward thrusts breasts. There is no better demonstration of the contempt with which Winfrey is held in this article. She may be an opportunist but then she is hardly alone in this but she does not have the direct power to inflict harm like Clinton, Albright and Haley etc.