Oprah Wants a Little Respect for the President...

Oprah Winfrey appeared last Friday morning on the MSNBC show, "Morning Joe" to either [Pick One]:

a.  Talk about something important to her,

b.  Sell a book,

c.  Promote her TV network spin-off, or,

d.  All of the above

Seriously, who cares? 

I stopped caring about Oprah once she gained, and then subsequently lost, her FIRST 923 pounds.  Oprah is all about selling herself, and the issues 'critically important' to her friends.

What is critically important to Oprah, as of last Friday? 

R-E-S-P-E-C-T for President Obama...

From the MSNBC show:  "I feel that everybody has a learning curve, and I feel that the reason why I was willing to step out for him was because I believed in his integrity and I believed in his heart," the influential TV host said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” in Chicago.

Of the negative mood of the country, Oprah added, “I think everybody complaining ought to try it for once.”

She said the presidency is a position that “holds a sense of authority and governance over us all,” and that “even if you’re not in support of his policies, there needs to be a certain level of respect.”

Here's the clip from the segment:


For me, it comes down to this:  Did Oprah make the same 'plea' for respect when GW Bush was in the White House being vilified by every fringe and media group in the nation?  I can find no reference to it online - and I have looked.  There are many references to 'Emotional GW Bush defends record on Oprah', but no references to 'Oprah defends GW Bush record'. 

Interestingly enough, President Bush was on the Oprah show in November, 2010 when HE was out promoting HIS book. 



GW Bush and Oprah Winfrey (November, 2010)



The following quotes were taken directly from this appearance:

1. “The peaceful transfer of power makes America a special place.”
2. “I was honored to serve our country for eight years.”
3. “I view politics as a chapter of my life.  Not my life.”
4. “One of the sacrifices you make is loss of anonymity.”
5. “I want our President to succeed.  I love our country.”
6. “It was much harder to be the son of the President and watch my dad get criticized than to be President.”
7. “If I would have allowed the critics to affect me during the presidency, I would not have done my job as a leader.”
8. “Alcohol was crowding out my affections for my wife and my daughters.”
9. “Alcohol at times made me a fool.”
10. “My job was to protect the people.”
11. “During a crisis the leader must project calm.”
12. “I’m the Commander and Chief.  I want to be in Washington.”
13. “I would not give the enemy the satisfaction of seeing the President of the United States holed up in a bunker underground.”
14. “We had to find them and bring them to justice before they hurt us again.”
15. “Everybody thought Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.”
16. “Often times history judges you on the decisions you make but a lot times they don’t judge you on the decisions you don’t make.”
17. “My decision (to go to combat) would weigh more heavily on me if I cared more about my political standing than completing the mission.”
18. “I made a mistake.  I should have landed (in New Orleans).”
19. “Katrina is an interesting case study of emergency management.”
20. “I want to treat my successor the way I would want to have been treated.  There will be plenty of critics and he doesn’t need me criticizing him.  I don’t think it’s good for the presidency.”
21. “I saw a problem with the mortgage market.”
22. “If you make a bad decision in the marketplace you ought to fail.”
23. “Serving as President is the honor of a lifetime.”
24. “Don’t sell your soul for the sake of politics.  Have a set of principles.  Defend those principles no matter what it might cost you in the polls.”
25. “One of my proudest accomplishments is that I didn’t sell my principles for the sake of popularity.”
26. “If you chase popularity you’re chasing something for a fleeting moment.  Principles last forever.”

I wonder, when President Obama leaves the White House at the end of his first term, will his comments resonate as openly and honestly with you, as these did for me? 

No, I don't believe that President Obama has the humility to call himself out for his shortcomings as President Bush did on the Oprah show.  The only thing wrong that President Obama sees with America is the "Arrogance of America" while traveling abroad. 

President George W. Bush was called a 'Dunce', a 'War-Monger', a 'Rube', and a 'Cowboy' by most media outlets and almost all commentators in the nation (these were some of the 'nicer' variants I heard over the past ten years). 

Yet, the quotes above ring true about the flawed man who served as our 43rd President.  I didn't agree with everything the man did, but I believe that when he did something, he did it because he felt it was right. 

I fear that President Obama's reflections will be all about "President Bush" too, insofar as explaining why President Obama was not re-elected for a second term. 

For while President Bush takes responsibility for his actions, President Obama can't help but deflect his shortcomings on the man who went before him. 

That cowboy, "George".

Click the following link for the complete article if you like, I'm done talking about Oprah and President Obama for the day, it makes me 'twitchy'...  POLITICO 44: Just a little bit