Maybe when the day comes that he gives me a reason to respect him. Until then, perhaps he should start respecting the American people.
Oprah called on President Obama's critics on Friday to “show some level of respect.”
"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.”
Sorry, but the I'd much rather have a president who isn't on a learning curve.
How nutty is this woman? She's actually broadcasting this mess.
She's become a billionaire off the back of persuading her celebrity guests to bare all - now Oprah Winfrey has let the cameras into her life for an uncensored view of her life behind closed doors.
Appearing without make-up and even in the bath, the chat show queen is even caught when she is 'so drugged' on painkillers after an operation, by her own admission, she 'couldn't even stand up.'
Oprah, 56, explained that she was on 'percocet and valium' after having a colonoscopy, and only stumbled into the meeting she never usually attends because she was so out of it.
In scenes that might surprise some fans, she says: 'The drugs are wonderful - it's a sedation vacation. You're somewhat in, somewhat out.'
The star explained she decided to let the cameras go in behind the scenes for the first time to mark the 25th - and last - season of her chat show, which starts on 1 January on her own new television station, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).
She called it 'an uncensored look into the private world of our show' run by the 'hardest working people in television - in showiness, in fact.'
Another Obama success story. Everything he comes near goes to mush. Let this be a lesson to celebutards and entertainers that there's a price to pay for being overtly political.
Of course the story doesn't mention the obvious connection.
Oprah is not going to go out on top.
Last week was the lowest rated in the 24-year history of her show according to Nielsen.
"The Oprah Winfrey Show" has been in reruns for several weeks but compared to the same week last year -- which was all reruns, too -- the ratings were down an eye-watering 23 percent, according to tvbythenumbers.com, a ratings Web site.
The audience for Oprah was just over 4 million viewers -- the lowest it has ever been since the show first went on the air in 1986.
This hasn't necessarily affected her pocketbook so she probably doesn't give a damn her audience is abandoning her.
The bottomed-out ratings have had little practical effect on the daytime talk show against which all the others are measured. Her ads remain the highest-priced on afternoon TV and getting big-name guests is still no problem.
That's based on her reputation and legacy. It cannot be disputed every since she cast her lot with Obama she was turning off a large segment of her audience, especially the Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin supporters and others who may lean right. Most Americans tend to overlook an entertainer's political leanings if they're not obnoxious about it. Winfrey went overboard and has been paying the price ever since, sliding in a downward trajectory, much like Obama's approval ratings.
If you need a reason why Rod Blagojevich should be locked up in a mental institution rather than prison, look no further.
As if she weren't powerful enough, Rod Blagojevich seriously considered asking Chicago heavyweight Oprah Winfrey to take over the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama.
"Nobody would assail this pick," he says in tapes recorded on Nov. 21, 2008. "It's huge!"
Winfrey undoubtedly looked like an attractive candidate for senate, despite her lack of political experience. She's perhaps the most recognizable figure from Chicago, she's black -- a trait Blagojevich highly favored -- and she has clout among legislators.
"She's a kingmaker!" Blagojevich says. "She made Obama!"
And she's been watching her audience abandon her since.
But even Blagojevich understood that she might not be willing to serve.
"Oprah is not far-fetched," Blagojevich contends. Then he concedes, "The odds of her f----ing taking it are slim to none."
Oprah Winfrey embellished her poor upbringing and made up stories about sexual abuse to boost her ratings, her relatives say in Kitty Kelley’s new biography.
Although Winfrey claims she never had any new dresses or dolls, and had to adopt two cockroaches as pets growing up in rural Mississippi, her cousin contends she was actually relatively “spoiled” as a little girl.
“Where Oprah got that nonsense about growing up in filth and roaches I have no idea,” Katherine Carr Esters said. “I’ve confronted her and asked, ‘why do you tell such lies?’ Oprah told me ‘that’s what people want to hear. The truth is boring.’”
In “Oprah,” which goes on sale tomorrow, Kelley also describes how rumors once swirled at ABC about a relationship between Winfrey and Diane Sawyer.
Employees there described “giggly late-night phone calls,” and a series of lavish gifts from Winfrey, including gigantic sprays of orchids and a one-carat diamond toe ring.
Diane Sawyer?
Shudder...
Despite such rumors, Kelley concludes that Winfrey is “asexual.”
However, she quotes sources describing how in 1989 Winfrey paid an ex-boyfriend $50,000 to keep quiet about her gay brother and “some lesbian affairs.”
As for her relationship with longtime partner Stedman Graham, according to the book the two do not share a bedroom.
Perhaps the biggest secret of the book is left a secret. Oprah still does not know the true identity of her father. Esters told Kelley who he is, on the condition she not publish the information until Winfrey’s mother comes clean to her daughter.
Vernon Winfrey, the man who raised Oprah, is also frustrated with the way she has played fast and loose with the truth.
“She may be admired by the world, but I know the truth,” he says. “So does god and so does Oprah. Two of us remain ashamed.“
Vernon reserves his harshest words for Winfrey’s best friend, Gayle King, who put the kibosh on a biography he was working on.
Calling her a “dirt hog“ and a “street heifer,“ he blames King for a rift in their relationship.
Ouch.
Somehow I get the impression Oprah won't be promoting this book.
Back in 1991 Kelley wrote an unauthorized biography of Nancy Reagan which was received adoringly by the liberal media. To no surprise Kelley won't exactly be having the red carpet rolled out for this book.
Actually, I'm offended they're not calling it a Winter Holiday special.
The queen of daytime will interview the president of the country during an ABC holiday special that brings together Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama.
The network has announced "Christmas at the White House: An Oprah Primetime Special," which includes an interview with the president, a conversation with the First Couple and tour of the White House. The special will also go behind-the-scenes as staffers prepare the White House for the holiday season.
The special marks the first time Winfrey has interviewed Obama since he took office. "Christmas at the White House" will air Sunday, Dec. 13, at 10 p.m.
Meanwhile, I got to thinking of some counter-programming. How does a Very Wasilla Christmas grab you? I'm thinking Sarah, Todd and the kids are joined by Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and Greta Van Susteren. They can roast the authors of Going Rouge, or maybe Andrew Sullivan over an open fire while Santa Limbaugh flies in from EIB's Southern Command to distribute toys. Failing that, see here for some suggestions.
After realizing that she can only get a bump in the ratings by including attractive conservative women on her show it appears that Oprah Winfrey is ready to hang it up. Today she is supposed to announce that she will be doing her last show in 2011.
Maybe she is going to run as Barry O's VP candidate after being inspired by Sarah Palin.
"The Oprah Winfrey Show," an iconic broadcast that grew over two decades into a daytime television powerhouse and the foundation of a multibillion-dollar media empire, will end its run in 2011 after 25 seasons on the air, Winfrey's production company said Thursday night. Winfrey plans to announce the final date for her show during a live broadcast on Friday, Harpo Productions Inc. said, bringing an end to what has been television's top-rated talk show for more than two decades, airing in 145 countries worldwide and watched by an estimated 42 million viewers a week in the U.S. alone.
Don't worry though, she has all kinds of other ventures out there and she will not completely disappear.
Winfrey is widely expected to start up a new talk show on OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, a much-delayed joint venture with Discovery Communications Inc. that is expected to debut in 2011. OWN is to replace the Discovery Health Channel and will debut in some 74 million homes. An OWN spokeswoman declined comment Thursday.
Chicago was eliminated in the first ballot of voting for the 2016 Olympics on Friday, a stunning defeat for the city that was expected to be one of the two finalists. Not even the presence of President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama — nor a long list of celebrities — was enough to help the United States’ third-largest city.
Chicago had seemed to pick up momentum in the last few days, with many International Olympic Committee members seemingly charmed by Mrs. Obama. But when IOC president Jacques Rogge announced the results of the first vote, Chicago was the city that fell out.
It was one of the biggest upsets in IOC voting history, and will likely have ramifications throughout the U.S. Olympic Committee. USOC chairman Larry Probst was stone-faced as he and acting CEO Stephanie Streeter walked down a hallway.
A shame President Palin won't get a chance to preside over the opening of the 2016 Olympics.
Of course, this must be raaaaacist!. Already, everyone but Obama is getting blamed.
The Daley Plaza crowd reacted to Chicago's elimination in silence. Some members of the crowd were crying as they walked away. People blamed negative media attention on the bid and former Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan's lack of participation as reasons for the loss. "We weren't unified as a city. We didn't get behind this enough," said Rob Fox of Chicago.
"Michael Jordan didn't show up," said Margaret Johnson of Chicago. "His city asked him for help and he turned his back on us."
When you think about it, can you blame the IOC? Obama has spent most of his presidency trashing the United States, so why would they want the Olympics in such a lousy country.
In the short term, CBS 2 Mike Flannery reports that the Chicago defeated leaves Obama politically wounded by taking on a fight that he really didn't have to take.
The vote is also a stinging defeat for Mayor Daley, who has been used to getting what he wants. Although opponents now no longer have the Olympics, and the potential for cost overruns and mismanagement, as a campaign issue.
CBS 2 Olympics expert Mike Conklin said the defeat points to the United States' lack of standing within the International Olympic Committee, dating all the way back to the U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics.
So how does that explain the 1996 Atlanta Games and the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games?
"Here we're going to go to Denmark to help secure the games for here in the U.S.... They shouldn't try to make politics of this. I think they should take some pride in the US's win, and you know we'll make sure they get some good seats once Chicago does host the games.''
So much for the battle between Rio and Chicago being close as hell.
Madrid and Tokyo are also in the running, but sources close the process said that Chicago and Rio have emerged as the clear frontrunners, and are neck and-neck ahead of President Obama's arrival early Friday for a presentation to the IOC's 105 members, who will be voting later that day.
After a flurry of private conversations among IOC officials here, one of the sources close to the process said bluntly that it's "close as hell" between Chicago and Rio, as both Obama and Brazilian President Lula da Silva plan to make personal appeals to the voters on behalf of their cities on Friday morning.
Want to walk that one back, CNN?
Question: How soon until the Chicago Machine unleashes the goons on the IOC?
Brazil will become the first South American country to host the Olympics, after the city of Rio de Janeiro was chosen to stage the 2016 Games.
Rio won a majority of the 95 votes at the meeting in Copenhagen, eliminating Madrid in the final round. Tokyo and Chicago had been knocked out earlier.
Earlier, Brazil's president told IOC members "it was time time to light the Olympic flame in a tropical country".
Chicago's early exit was a surprise, with bookmakers making them favourites.
I hope the bookies blame Obama for their financial bloodbath.
Can't say this wasn't predictable. It's the same thing with CNN and MSNBC. You become an adjunct of the Democrats and Barack Obama in particular and you can expect potentially half your audience to disappear.
Oprah Winfrey may be the Queen of Daytime TV, but it seems her reign may be slipping.
The ratings for "The Oprah Winfrey Show" during the week ending July 5 were the lowest since the talk show's debut in 1983, averaging only a 3.2 household rating, according to Medialifemagazine.com.
So how did the most popular woman in television have such a change of fortune?
Granted, it was a holiday weekend during the peak of cable coverage of Michael Jackson's death. In addition, the Wimbledon tennis tournament was on the air, and "Oprah" has been in repeats all summer.
That said, this was no ratings nosedive; viewership has actually been declining for months. The week before, the show received a 3.6 rating, matching its previous all-time low approximately a year ago.
Still, with all that she's No. 1 in the vast wasteland that is daytime television, although maybe, just maybe a little voice in her head is asking whether it was worth pimping for Obama.
Get these people a drool bucket. This slobbering is just out of control.
Though the room was filled with luminaries from around the world, most were star-struck to be in First Lady's company - even old friend Oprah Winfrey, her tablemate at the event.
"Seeing as how Michelle is the greatest First Lady we've ever known, not to take anything away from the other First Ladies, but I think its so fantastic that she's tonight's guest and leads the pack of influentials," Winfrey told the Daily News.
"I think that we see that Michelle is someone of multi-dimensions, and that you don't have to be just one thing, you can be many things," said Diane Sawyer. "In many ways were just getting to know all that she can and will do."
"She's very warm. She's very sane," said "The View" co-host Joy Behar. "She's not crazy like some people in politics."
"Michelle is incredible, I think she's amazing," said designer and Beatles scion Stella McCartney, who also made Time's list. "The half-American in me wants to dress her."
First Fan Barack Obama needs to chill out about his daughter's affinity for hoops, so says the First Lady.
"Barack's losing his mind," Michelle Obama told Oprah Winfrey, when the TV queen asked about 7-year-old Sasha's interest in basketball during an interview for O Magazine.
"I was like, 'Settle down -- don't act too excited, or she will not want to do it," Michelle Obama said.
Don't forget they keep reminding us they want to protect the privacy of their children, and what better way than to go on national television and keep blabbing about them?
Mercifully, there won't be another kid to exploit.
Michelle Obama laughingly took offense to rumors and Internet reports that she's sporting a baby bump.
"I was like, 'Baby bump?' As hard as I work on my abs?"
The First Lady told Oprah in no uncertain terms there is no baby.
"Here's the scoop: Not pregnant. And not planning on it," Michelle Obama said.
I now agree with all the Democrats in Illinois. Rod Blagojevich is clearly insane. Although I will note she is a political heavyweight.
Illinois' beleaguered Gov. Rod Blagojevich said today that when he was deciding who would take President Obama's Senate seat he considered appointing talk show queen Oprah Winfrey.
Blagojevich made the revelation to Diane Sawyer this morning on "Good Morning America" on the day his impeachment trial begins. That trial is expected to toss him out of office.
The governor said that Oprah's name came up as a potential successor to Obama in the Senate. "She seemed to be someone who had helped Barack Obama in a significant way to become president," Blagojevich said. Blagojevich added that "she had a much broader bully pulpit than a lot of senators."
His consideration of Oprah was tempered, he suggested, by that fact that "she probably wouldn't take it, and then if you offered it to her, how would you do it in a way it wasn't a gimmick to embarass her."
Oprah had endorsed Obama's presidential bid and showcased his candidacy on her show.
Blago's impeachment trial begins today but he won't be showing up for that. He's going to milk his final week in office for all it's worth by making the gabfest rounds.
Blagojevich's appearance on "GMA" was part of the governor's media blitz on the day that his impeachment trial is to begin in Springfield, Ill. -- without him. Blagojevich has already conceded that he will probably be convicted of corruption charges, but is refusing to resign or to attend the trial to defend himself. Instead, he is scheduled to appear on "GMA," ABC's "The View," the "Today" show, and "Larry King Live."
On the other hand, he'll be the sanest person on The View.
It seems no amount of money will ever be enough to salve this woman's fragile self-esteem. Great idea to milk another year's worth of programming, talking about what a fat slob you are, how you're going to lose it, then eating yourself back to being a fat slob.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
When it comes to her weight, Oprah Winfrey has always been straightforward. The talk show queen continues the honesty, saying in the January issue of "O" magazine out Tuesday that she now weighs 200 pounds and has "fallen off the wagon" when it comes to healthy living.
"I'm mad at myself," Winfrey writes in an article provided early to The Associated Press by Harpo Productions.
"I'm embarrassed," she writes. "I can't believe that after all these years, all the things I know how to do, I'm still talking about my weight. I look at my thinner self and think, `How did I let this happen again?'"
In the piece, Winfrey, 54, details her recent struggles with an out-of-balance thyroid and how the condition made her develop "a fear of working out." She says she's added 40 pounds to her frame since she weighed 160 pounds in 2006.
"Yes, you're adding correctly; that means the dreaded 2-0-0," Winfrey writes. "I was so frustrated I started eating whatever I wanted — and that's never good."
Winfrey also writes that her goal is no longer to be thin; instead, she wants to be strong, healthy and fit. She hopes to get started with her upcoming "Best Life Week," starting Jan. 5 with an episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" during which she is expected to talk candidly about her weight.
Deja vu all over again.
She's looking for some sympathy and trying to win back all the viewers who abandoned her because of her slavish devotion to Obama.
Just imagine if Warren Buffett wasn't a darling of the left and a close personal pal of Barack Obama. He'd be trashed as cold, cruel and mean-spirited for cutting off his granddaughter.
TWO years ago, billionaire Warren Buffett cut his son's adopted daughter, Nicole, out of the family inheritance, telling her, "I have not emotionally or legally adopted you as a grandchild, nor have the rest of my family adopted you as a niece or a cousin."
Now the 32-year-old struggling artist - who can't afford health insurance or cable television - opens up to Marie Claire magazine about her ousting.
Nicole, of Berkeley, Calif., and her twin sister were adopted at age 4 when Buffett's youngest son, Peter, married Nicole's biological mother. The two divorced in 1993, but, Marie Claire reports, Nicole was "embraced as kin by the larger Buffett family - especially Susan, Warren's first wife, an avid music lover and cabaret performer."
Nicole tells the magazine, "The first thing most people think of when they hear my last name is money." Super investor Buffett - who was worth $50 billion as recently as September - lives modestly in Omaha, Neb., where he sent his children to public school. He earmarked the bulk of his Berkshire Hathaway shares for charity in 2006.
So when Nicole chose to participate in Jamie Johnson's indie documentary "The One Percent" - which focused on children born into money - the Oracle of Omaha was furious. In the film, Nicole says, "I've been very blessed to have my education taken care of, and I have had my living expenses taken care of while I'm in school."
Nicole then went on "Oprah" to promote the movie, confessing, "It would be nice to be involved with creating things for others with that money and to be involved in it. I feel completely excluded from it."
Hey, maybe Oprah can stage a familiy reunion here. Bring in Obama, Buffett and the girl and see if they can all chip in and at least get her some health insurance. I mean, we're talking billions between them, can't they dig down deep and foot her tab?
"For him to discard me like that was devastating," Nicole told the magazine. "It permanently divided our family."
C'mon, Warren, man up. At least get her some cable and health care.
Why is Oprah Winfrey such a bigot toward Republicans? Is she so in love with Barack Obama that she'll alienate a large portion of her audience?
Oprah Winfrey may have introduced Democrat Barack Obama to the women of America -- but the talkshow queen is not rushing to embrace the first woman on a Republican presidential ticket, sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT.
Oprah's staff is sharply divided on the merits of booking Sarah Palin, insiders reveal.
"Half of her staff really want Sarah Palin her on, Oprah's website is getting tons of requests to put her on, but Oprah and a couple of her top people are adamantly against it because of Obama," a source explains.
One executive close to Winfrey is warning any Palin ban could ignite a dramatic backlash!
In the past, Oprah has refused to have other high-profile Republicans on her top-rated show. Last year, Winfrey blocked an appearance by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, timed to a promotional tour of his autobiography.
This woman is so pathetically in the tank for Obama she's willing to damage her career for him. She deserves all the scorn and ridicule she has coming and I hope her ratings plummet.
Fans of daytime queen Oprah Winfrey are rebelling against her campaign for Barack Obama, according to a report in the LA Times.
I doubt Winfrey has much to worry about, unless her financial advisers tell her to dummy up at some point.
Although it's true that rallies featuring Winfrey in Iowa and South Carolina have drawn some of the biggest crowds of the campaign so far, Obama's people won't know whether they also triggered a backlash until election day.
Winfrey's website has been buzzing for weeks with angry postings about her involvement in the Illinois senator's campaign, something Hollywood, which always keeps its eye on the public mood, is bound to notice -- this is a town, after all, that measures success by weekly grosses and daily TV ratings.
One posting on her site, Oprah.com, accused the talk diva of being a traitor. (By Thursday, that message string had attracted more than 12,000 views.) Another poster told Winfrey to "stop pushing Obama down our throats." (There were 3,000 hits logged on that one.) Another said: "Do you really know Barack Hussein Obama? Scary & something we have to take into consideration!" (There were more than 4,000 views for that.)
"First of all I want to say that I am a HUGE Oprah fan," one poster wrote. "I love what she stands for. She is a strong woman changing the world. However, I have been extremely disappointed with her recent touring with Barack Obama. It is a manipulation and an abuse of her power and influence on the American culture.
"Let the American people form their own opinion, Oprah."
Prediction: If Obama loses out in the Democrat primaries, expect Winfrey to begin shamelessly fawning and slobbering over the Dragon Lady.
Once celebrity who apparently has gotten a clue is George Clooney.
In a dinner-party conversation in Rome recently, Clooney said that Obama's people have been urging him to go out on the trail. "I've told them that having me out there would hurt more than help. I know they don't see it that way."
Perhaps Winfrey and the rest of Hollywood ought to take a cue from Clooney.
You know the fact Oprah Winfrey supports Barack Obama must be driving Mrs. Clinton crazy, but who knew how much it would set off supporters of John Edwards?
Prominent African-American supporters of John Edwards accused Barack Obama on Friday of performing a "publicity stunt" by bringing Oprah Winfrey to South Carolina and other early presidential primary states, saying that blacks won't vote for Obama just because of his race.
Winfrey, the billionaire TV star, was scheduled to campaign with Obama in Iowa on Saturday, South Carolina on Sunday and New Hampshire on Monday.
"John Edwards has committed himself to making rural communities' infrastructure a priority rather than have a celebrity come in," said South Carolina state Rep. Leon Howard. "It's insulting for anyone to think that African-Americans are automatically onboard with Barack Obama."
Candice Tolliver, a spokeswoman for Obama, said the Illinois senator welcomes Winfrey's high-voltage support.
"Oprah has universal appeal," Tolliver said. "She's earned a tremendous amount of respect not only here in the United States, but around the globe. It's fantastic that she has endorsed Senator Obama for president."
Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend Obama's rally with Winfrey in Columbia, S.C. Demand was so high that the Obama campaign changed the venue from an 18,000-seat indoor arena to an 80,000-seat football stadium.
Meanwhile, aspiring First Lady Bill Clinton tried to blunt Oprah's impact by campaigning for his wife Friday in South Carolina.
Bill Clinton will campaign for his wife today in South Carolina - a move that could keep Hillary in the headlines in the midst of Oprah Winfrey's mega-visit to the state to stump for Barack Obama tomorrow.
The Clinton campaign insisted that the former president's last-minute visit to Charleston is not intended to combat the wave of publicity surrounding the Obama-Oprah appearance in a state where blacks could make up half of the Democratic primary voters next month. Bill Clinton has long been hugely popular with African-Americans.
"I guess he's just Christmas shopping," laughed Don Fowler, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee and a major force in South Carolina politics.
"I don't think for a minute Bill Clinton will be above the fold and Oprah will be below the fold, but I guess Bill Clinton can provide some return fire.
Interesting how she hasn't mentioned any of this on her program, though she at least is taking the allegations seriously.
A take-charge Oprah Winfrey flew to South Africa twice in 10 days after her beloved $40 million "dream" school for underprivileged girls was rocked with shocking accusations of physical and, possibly, sexual abuse of students.
Winfrey canceled an Oct. 12 appearance at the American Cinematheque awards honoring Julia Roberts to meet with school officials and nervous parents.
She returned a second time over the weekend.
"Nothing is more serious or devastating to me than an allegation of misconduct by an adult against any girl at the academy," Winfrey said in a statement. She hasn't yet discussed the alleged incidents on her chat show.
Winfrey was alerted that a female school staffer allegedly grabbed a student by the throat and threw her against the wall and that the same "dorm matron" screamed at and assaulted her wards.
The unidentified woman allegedly fondled at least one of the girls, according to the Afrikaans-language newspaper Rapport. The staffer was fired, and no criminal charges have yet been filed.
Winfrey has hired a U.S. team of private investigators, led by a 30-year investigator of child exploitation at Chicago's Cook County Sheriff's Office, to work with South African police, her spokeswoman said.
