God bless the modern media. While not the cold blooded purveyors of fake news as some would have us believe, let's face it, they are prone to bouts of breathless speculation and mass hysteria.
The most current phantasm which has swept through the national press like a California wildfire is the democrats--presumably--have found a new and dynamic choice as a candidate for the 2020 presidential election.
That's right, as soon as she finished her speech at The Golden Globes awards ceremony, Oprah Winfrey became the next great hope of the increasingly frantic dump the Trump crowd. This is especially true of those women who have been cruelly victimized by sexual predators and routinely discriminated against in a vast array of work places across the land. Not to mention the pro Hillary legions who ardently believe their candidate was--pardon the crudeness--screwed out of the election by a cabal of treasonous assholes and Russians.
The notion that the former Empress of Day Time Television is a viable presidential candidate comes as the rising tsunami of sexual harassment revelations and accusations roars through the streets of places like Hollywood, Washington, and Alabama.
"We're not going to take it any more!" women have collectively said. And Ms. Winfrey, with her perfect oratory, seemed to crystallize all their frustration, anger, and hopes the other night on a Los Angeles stage.
Well, why not, Oprah? After all it only took a single speech at a democratic convention to propel Barack H. Obama into the national limelight. At the time, unlike Winfrey's is now, his name recognition was somewhere around zero outside of certain sections of Chicago.
Unfortunately his anonymity gave Obama an advantage then, Oprah Winfrey will never enjoy in 2020. Not only was his name unknown, but so was his nearly non-existent track record.
That blank slate drove his opponents utterly insane. The right wing media was forced to make increasingly bizarre accusations about his past because they had nothing else to work with. You know, he attends a church where the black pastor sometimes accuses white people of doing bad things. He has hobnobbed with a known socialist. He is a sub rosa Muslim. He wasn't even born here for God's sake!
No one will ever be able to say Ms. Winfrey wasn't born in the United States, but, as The Washington Post pointed out today they can say plenty of other things.
Her South African exercise in altruism, The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls was embroiled in it's own miasma of sex abuse allegations and law suits. While that ship might have been righted, at least for now, careers and reputations of school employees were destroyed and a number of students were expelled, or suspended.
She put her faith in Dr. Mehmet Oz, who she called, "America's Doctor." It turned out Oz has the disturbing tendency to recommend cures and treatments which have no scientific basis, or proof. The Post reports that after a group of doctors accused Oz of "quack treatments," two years ago, Winfrey fired him from her media network.
In the past, she has, on several occasions, plugged a self help program called, "The Secret." It assures people they can learn how to channel good thoughts in order to cure physical ailments plus solve emotional and financial problems--so long as they buy a set of DVDs .
She also went overboard praising James Frey's book about his drug and alcohol addiction, "A Million Little Pieces." Her book club promotion drove sales of the work into the millions. When it turned out much of the, "true story," was absolute fiction, Winfrey doggedly defended Frey. Then, after coming under fire, she condemned him on air while he sat there and took it. Five years later, she brought him back to the show and apologized for treating him badly. At the time he had a new book coming out.
Finally, The Post notes, right wing groups on air and online are grabbing up all manner of photos which show her happily hanging out with Harvey Weinstein. He is the Hollywood mogul and accused serial rapist whose fall has sent waves of recriminations and accusations throughout the film industry.
Yes, Oprah might appear exquisitely attractive to the democratic party faithful who are awash in mediocrity right now. However, if she runs, her campaign trail won't be without landmines strewn all over the place.
Indeed, if we know anything about the savages such as Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, not to mention evil fucks like Steve Bannon, and Don Trump it is all they need are the smallest kernels of truth to fuel the most vile lies and innuendos imaginable.
We also know they've all made successful careers out of doing it.
So don't get your hopes up America. Being smart, articulate compassionate, and even sweet won't get you far in politics these days. Hey, just look at who is in charge.
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I suppose, at this time, Oprah is as good as any other candidate. That's the problem, the "other" candidates need to start stepping up. Mid-terms are fast approaching and would-be 2020 candidates for POTUS need to support 2018 legislative candidates, and vice versa. The time to quit delaying is NOW!
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