by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
I didn't hear Oprah's much-ballyhooed speech at this week's Golden Globe Awards, but I did read the transcript and waded through much of the press coverage of social media responses regarding her eloquent and uplifting remarks. Her speech appears to have captured a moment in the American experience, and it is not unprecedented for such stirring appeals for human decency to alter the arc of national politics. One has to only look back to Illinois State Senator Barack Obama's speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention to get a sense of the power that one well-crafted and flawlessly-delivered speech can ultimately accomplish.
Oprah gave a kick-butt speech that shined a light on the absolute awfulness of the Jim Crow era while, at the same time, served to inspire America's youth, and especially its female youth, on toward a more just tomorrow. She was more than a candle in the darkness of the times, she was a floodlight sweeping across the purple mountain majesties and the fruited plains of a better America.
Oprah was inspiring at a point in time when most of us had given up on the notion of ever being inspired again. She was defiant, courageous, and very, very hopeful. She showed a significant portion of America who they could hope and dare to become.
Oprah was so good, in fact, that Twitter, our collective national psyche, immediately began promoting the notion that not only could she be President, but that Oprah, in fact, should be President. That brief speech at the Golden Globes was her Barack Obama moment.
All of which led to a bit of national discourse on whether "celebrity" should be a desirable route for election to our nation's highest office. If we have entered an era where our leadership is determined by some malignant mutation of American Idol, or The Apprentice, or even Funniest Home Videos, Oprah would certainly be far better than most candidates which would likely be coughed up by the crap hole of reality television - and head-over-heels better than He-whose-name-I-will-only-mention-on-Thursdays! She is ferociously bright, well spoken, and comfortable navigating through every strata of American society. We could do, and have done, far worse.
But do we really want to morph into a nation where crafting policy becomes conflated with banging out tweets? A country where daily ratings supersede the long-term public interest? A place where our politicians and policymakers kowtow to people whose professional training and background was as entertainers?
Oprah would likely be a great President, and God knows she would be an immense improvement over what we are currently stuck with, but would electing another "celebrity" President really be in the best interest of the United States? Yes, she would be exceptional, no doubt about it, but what about a few years down the road when another wannabe decides that being on Duck Dynasty is qualification enough to lead the free world. It could happen - and it could happen here!
(And even Oprah is not without fault. She was, after all, the one who foisted Dr. Phil on the world. Imagine how many books he could sell as Secretary of State!)
I like Oprah, but I suspect the country would be wise to return the office of President to people who have had actual experience in legislating and crafting policy, people who have been tempered by the fires of political campaigns and having to face the people whose lives they have impacted through programs and laws that they helped to bring into effect. Oprah would very likely make a superb President, but electing her would be a signal to young Americans that the best path to the Oval Office comes out of Hollywood and not through government service.
Enough with the show horses!
We have other options, good ones like Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Chris Murphy, and Kirsten Gillibrand - and others - all of whom know how government works and what it means to actually represent voters. Our Democratic workhorses have a deep love and understanding of the Constitution - and they even know the words to The Star Spangled Banner!
Wouldn't that be a nice change of pace!
Citizen Journalist
I didn't hear Oprah's much-ballyhooed speech at this week's Golden Globe Awards, but I did read the transcript and waded through much of the press coverage of social media responses regarding her eloquent and uplifting remarks. Her speech appears to have captured a moment in the American experience, and it is not unprecedented for such stirring appeals for human decency to alter the arc of national politics. One has to only look back to Illinois State Senator Barack Obama's speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention to get a sense of the power that one well-crafted and flawlessly-delivered speech can ultimately accomplish.
Oprah gave a kick-butt speech that shined a light on the absolute awfulness of the Jim Crow era while, at the same time, served to inspire America's youth, and especially its female youth, on toward a more just tomorrow. She was more than a candle in the darkness of the times, she was a floodlight sweeping across the purple mountain majesties and the fruited plains of a better America.
Oprah was inspiring at a point in time when most of us had given up on the notion of ever being inspired again. She was defiant, courageous, and very, very hopeful. She showed a significant portion of America who they could hope and dare to become.
Oprah was so good, in fact, that Twitter, our collective national psyche, immediately began promoting the notion that not only could she be President, but that Oprah, in fact, should be President. That brief speech at the Golden Globes was her Barack Obama moment.
All of which led to a bit of national discourse on whether "celebrity" should be a desirable route for election to our nation's highest office. If we have entered an era where our leadership is determined by some malignant mutation of American Idol, or The Apprentice, or even Funniest Home Videos, Oprah would certainly be far better than most candidates which would likely be coughed up by the crap hole of reality television - and head-over-heels better than He-whose-name-I-will-only-mention-on-Thursdays! She is ferociously bright, well spoken, and comfortable navigating through every strata of American society. We could do, and have done, far worse.
But do we really want to morph into a nation where crafting policy becomes conflated with banging out tweets? A country where daily ratings supersede the long-term public interest? A place where our politicians and policymakers kowtow to people whose professional training and background was as entertainers?
Oprah would likely be a great President, and God knows she would be an immense improvement over what we are currently stuck with, but would electing another "celebrity" President really be in the best interest of the United States? Yes, she would be exceptional, no doubt about it, but what about a few years down the road when another wannabe decides that being on Duck Dynasty is qualification enough to lead the free world. It could happen - and it could happen here!
(And even Oprah is not without fault. She was, after all, the one who foisted Dr. Phil on the world. Imagine how many books he could sell as Secretary of State!)
I like Oprah, but I suspect the country would be wise to return the office of President to people who have had actual experience in legislating and crafting policy, people who have been tempered by the fires of political campaigns and having to face the people whose lives they have impacted through programs and laws that they helped to bring into effect. Oprah would very likely make a superb President, but electing her would be a signal to young Americans that the best path to the Oval Office comes out of Hollywood and not through government service.
Enough with the show horses!
We have other options, good ones like Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Chris Murphy, and Kirsten Gillibrand - and others - all of whom know how government works and what it means to actually represent voters. Our Democratic workhorses have a deep love and understanding of the Constitution - and they even know the words to The Star Spangled Banner!
Wouldn't that be a nice change of pace!
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