Monday, January 08, 2018

Oprah for President Says the Media

First of all, let me say, the media ought to be ashamed of itself!  Every news program I turned to this morning was talking about the possibility of Oprah running for President in 2020.  This came as the result of her powerful and I do mean POWERFUL acceptance speech upon receiving the Cecil B. DeMille award at the Golden Globes awards show Sunday night.

Personally, I have never seen Oprah give a speech when she wasn't powerful and inspiring with something extremely relevant and thought-provoking to say.  She's a journalist by profession so she knows how to use words and use them effectively.  That's what we do.  The major difference between Oprah and the rest of us is she went on to create a media dynasty that opened doors for many in the process.  Folks like Tyler Perry, Ava Duvernay, her gal-pal, Gayle King, former President Barack Obama and a host of  authors, along with one of my hometown friends Delores Pressley, all owe some debt of gratitude to the former Queen of the Daytime Talk Shows .

But here we are now, thanks to the media, thinking about the possibility of Oprah becoming the next President of the United States.  Sources close to Oprah allegedly told a CNN correspondent that she was "actively thinking" about it.  We all actively think about a lot of things so what does that actually mean?  Every morning when I get out of bed I "actively" think about going to the gym. I don't always "actively" get there though.  Every day I "actively" think about what I might make for dinner and most times end up changing my mind to something else or not to make anything at all. I also "actively" think about my next vacation to St. Lucia but my bank account says otherwise.

Here's my point:  Most of the news programs have become nothing more than sensationalized entertainment shows designed to boost their ratings.  We all know how well they did with making Donald Trump our latest President.  They went out of their way to give him more air time and credibility than he ever deserved and now spend their days and nights pulling their hair out over how he could've possibly won.  These days every story they run is to tear down the same man down they spent a whole campaign building up, all for the sake of some "good soundbites."  Now they've got their sights on Oprah Winfrey.

One thing we all know about Oprah is she is very media savvy so she knows what she'll be up against during a knock down drag-out campaign.  But we also know the media too.  We know you can be their darling one minute and they'll be out to destroy you in the next.  As a matter of fact, right after her rousing speech at the Golden Globes, some old, cozy photos of her and alleged sexual assault perp Harvey Weinstein showed up on social media. 

Should Oprah run for President?  I personally don't think so because she can continue doing good work from the current position she's in as a media mogul.  Unlike Donald Trump, Oprah doesn't have to run to make better deals with the rest of the world---which I personally believe is what Trump is doing.  Sadly, he has thrown the American people under the bus while doing so.

Here's another perspective on Oprah for President by the LA Times:  OPRAH

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