Watch Oprah today: "Truth In America" (Frank Rich as guest)

[Oilwellian]

It looks like Frank Rich will be her guest and she will have audience participation in the discussion. Here's the link to a preview of the show:

http://www2.oprah.com/index.jhtml

The war in Iraq: "The greatest story ever sold?"
Should you trust everything you see on the news?

Keep this thread kicked.

On Edit: Added Frank Rich to thread title

[AlCzervik]

1. cool! I have his book and it is excellent so far.

[Imagevision]

2. thanx for the heads up

[Pharaoh]

3. I'll be watching

K&R

perhaps we can keep this thread going through the show..........

yesterdays show was inside north korea......

Oprah really is doing great work to educate the masses.....

[Oilwellian]

11. This looks like it will be one of her more daring shows

I've been a little disappointed that Oprah hasn't used her power to bring more of the truth to light. Hopefully she will change my mind after today's show.

[williesgirl]

4. Happy to be #5

[wryter2000]

5. Hot damn

Frank Rich on Oprah? I can't imagine much better news.

[me b zola]

25. Exactly. Getting the truth out there to the soccer moms

[stubtoe]

35. It's beyond important to reach them.

Soccer moms = "Security moms" -? They need to see their potential to become "Draft moms" if things don't change in November and '08.

[butterfly77]

39. They think that they are fighting ...

ww2

[conscious evolution]

41. "Draft moms"

I like the sound of that.

Draft moms.

[VOX]

50. Right. Once the truth starts spreading out like this, it's hard to stop.

Daytime TV is an enormous vein to tap into. Glad to see that this is happening.

[Chimichurri]

6. Finally! Thanks for the heads up.

[JuniperLea]

7. When I saw the ad on TV

I thought perhaps it would be a spin-fest, that they would ask hard questions and then give the RW talking point spin treatment to sooth all the sheeple.

Thanks for the clarification!

[helderheid]

8. I'm tivo'd up!

[sandnsea]

9. Did anyone see Lisa Ling in N Korea??

I saw it on a replay last night. I don't know when the original broadcast was, but I can't believe this woman went into North Korea and she isn't all over the news. Anybody have more info on that?

She is becoming quite a journalist, perhaps she'll move into Amanpour territory one of these days.

[Oilwellian]

15. I saw it

Lisa Ling has become one of my favorite journalists. It was incredibly brave of her to pose as an assistant to an eye surgeon who was summoned to NKorea to do cataract surgery on hundreds of patients...a symptom of the mass starvation they are experiencing. Her experience was chilling.

[TheModernTerrorist]

16. I remember

when she started out on "Channel 1" in high school.
She was my favorite on their as well.

[Marie26]

17. Channel 1 actually

produced some good journalists. Didn't Anderson Cooper start there, too? I remember him covering war zones for the channel (w/blond hair!).

[helderheid]

10. Town hall style - cannot wait!

[me b zola]

27. No way! Get out!

What a great way for the freeper type moms to pose their talking points and have them met with cold hard facts.

Yeehaw, momma! It's going to be a fact-fest!

[KingFlorez]

12. Whoo-hooo!

This should be good, the Freepers will probably blow their tops.

[qanda]

13. Thanks for the reminder

I tape Oprah every day. Today sounds like a good one:

The New York Times columnist Frank Rich's new book, The Greatest Story Ever Sold: The Decline and Fall of Truth, takes a controversial look at the Bush administration, challenging the reasons America went to war with Iraq.

Among the topics covered in the book, Rich asks why the White House suggested al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein were connected and takes the news media to task for not asking the hard questions after September 11.

"I love America. … My feeling is that America can only function if there's truth and facts at its core," Frank says. "The whole point of a democracy is to make decisions based on real evidence. And if that well is polluted, we're in trouble."

Frank argues that our 24/7 "infotainment" culture has made America stop thinking critically and become a society that rarely questions what it is told. "I think…there's been a rise in "truthiness," as Stephen Colbert says, and a decline in truth and it's not just about war and politics," Frank says.

[elehhhhna]

14. uh. oh. she finally gets into it, huh? GREAT! I thought she was all talk.

[Dem2theMax]

30. She gets a hell of a lot more than that for which you give her credit.

nt.

[elehhhhna]

59. wow. you know her?

[LostinVA]

54. Oprah's been getting it for about 50 years

[faithnotgreed]

18. seriously? frank rich will be on oprahs show? WOW

way to go

i couldnt say when i last saw her show or any show on network tv but this could be very important
frank rich? cannot believe it

[cui bono]

19. nice. I don't watch her often but she did do a lot of good Katrina stuff

We'll see how much she gets into it with Rich. Where is she on the political spectrum? I have the impression that she's republican, maybe because I seem to remember her fawning over Ahnult when she had him on her show last time he ran for governator.

[Pharaoh]

21. Shes a Liberal!

[Marie26]

76. Lifelong Democrat. nt

[QuestionAll...]

20. thanks for the heads up.

I rarely watch Oprah so I would have missed it.

This should be very interesting.

[CatWoman]

22. sorry I didn't see this thread

did you see the clueless freeper bitch? the one who claims that Chimpy didn't deliberately lie?

[Oilwellian]

28. It won't show here until 5:00 PM EST

Can't wait.

[CatWoman]

32. don't you dare miss it!!

this is very, very good.

[CatWoman]

23. wow!!! the hateful email Oprah got before the war started

just because she had a panel on asking was war the only option.

"you hairy black bitch"?

"go back to Africa"?

[qanda]

24. So far this is a very good program

They are raking the media over the coals. Talking about how the news on television is ratings-driven. Oprah discussed how the worst hate mail she has ever received was after she dared to question if war was the only answer in the run up to the Iraq war. Frank Rich did a wonderful job of slapping down a Freeper who was spouting the same old talking points about how the Clinton administration had the same information as the Bush administration. I'll try to fill in some more later, but I need to get back to the tv for now.

[QuestionAll...]

47. Frank fell short on raking the media...

it's not only about ratings, it's about these huge corporations that sell bombs and own news channels to promote wars. How the hell can't there be bias.

Wish the heck he would have brought that hot potato up.

[Greylyn58]

26. So far this has been very good

hope it continues in that vein.

[malaise]

31. Excellent program

and I rarely watch Oprah. Even more important is her massive audience who are getting some important facts.

[qanda]

29. Another update

Frank Rich was saying that much of the country is not able to be covered because it's too unsafe. He was talking about how polarized the country is and that thankfully we are in a "civil" Civil War. He discussed the fictional reality of the Saddam statue coming down, how there were only a few Iraqis there and the Americans were actually the ones to bring down the statue.

A couple of supporters of the war stood up to say that we aren't seeing all the good things happening in Iraq.

[butterfly77]

40. Did they give any good things...

[annabanana]

33. Oprah is the first dip into political waters

for MILLIONS of people. When she gets political, it'll be like American Idol. I have wished for years that her show was more politically involved!

[Cha]

77. She actually had a "Voting Party"

segment in 2004 right before election that left no doubt who she wanted to win..it was awesome. We had such high hopes then.

[Greylyn58]

34. Not sure if Oprah is trying to play devil's advocate

but for her to say that the pResident didn't know or had not been informed about what was happening in the aftermath of Katrina is just ludicrous!!!

The President is suppose to stay on top of any kind of emergency situation--whether or not he has a middle man handling the problem.

It is also obvious there are some Bush apologists in the crowd...especially this last grinning woman taing about the mis-admin being humans prone to mistakes. Don't think so.

[AtomicKitten]

36. as I said in GD-P, when Oprah apologizes for promoting liar Schwarzenegger

as she did for promoting James Frey, then I'll give a crap what she has to say.

Question: What happened to the ABC boycott? (Oprah is on ABC in SF)

[Pharaoh]

38. she's cbs here

cut some slack, she's on our side!

[AtomicKitten]

42. that's tough for this Californian

I'm pissed off that Schwarzenegger rode in on the Enron debacle here in California and Oprah helped him by lying to her audience about his groping proclivities and, with him having admitted to that, she has failed to apologize for the bum steer. She apologized for James Frey; I expect no less of her regarding something that impacts my life.

Sorry, but I have a tendency to cling to principle.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

44. I read somewhere last week that Arnie...

has been/is going to be back on Oprah again -- notice it's right before another election.

She is pissing me off with her attempt to butt into my state's election proccess.

[Pharaoh]

46. Yes they really fucked gray Davis

did'nt they............

criminal bastards!

she's buds with maria, that's why she leaves lumpinator alone........

[QuestionAll...]

37. to the top!. Its about to start here at central time. nt.

[Subdivisions]

43. What a FANTASTIC way to raise awareness in sleepy America...kick

[wildeyed]

45. That was a good show.

I have been watching Oprah off and on this year. So far she has been more edgy and political than I recall in the past. This season, she did a show on Sudan, N. Korea plus the Rich show that aired today. During one of the road trip segments she made a comment about poverty and homelessness that was pointed, something about how wrong it is in a country this rich. Anyway, I hope she does more of these. She has a huge following.

[earth mom]

48. Thanks for posting-I'm hoping this show may be a turning point for many

Americans. Oprah is beloved by millions of people who put a LOT of stock into what she has to say, so this show could be a very good thing.

The past few years, I've so wanted her to DO something like this. But I think it was Katrina that finally opened her eyes and was THE turning point for her.

Right now, my fingers are crossed and I can't wait to see the show which is on in about an hour here...

[onecent]

49. This show was fabulous! Please drop a note to Oprah - she said

she is expecting lots of hate mail from this show.

Lots of soccer moms LOVE her...I have my moments with her show, BUT she's very very informed...and very very loved.

I'm going to buy this book also.

[Oilwellian]

51. Good suggestion

Let's drop Oprah a line in support of today's show. Here's the email address:
http://www2.oprah.com/email/tows/email_tows_main.jhtml

[ikojo]

53. Here's what I sent to Oprah....

Ms Winfrey,

Thank you for hosting Frank Rich on your show today. It's sad that in a country that is allegedly in Iraq to "promote freedom" one is said to "be courageous" when dissenting from the dominant corporate world view.
You will probably receive a lot of "hate mail" and for that I apologize. The freedoms we celebrate on July 4 of each year include the freedom of the press and the freedom of speech.

Thank you for exercising your freedom of speech and actually INFORMING people of what is really going on.

[wildeyed]

66. I did that, too.

I figured she was going to get an earful of negative comments.

[ikojo]

52. Oprah merely put her finger to the wind and

saw that * is less popular than the New York Mets in St Louis at the current time.

Don't take this as Oprah "seeing the light." Once an opportunist, always an opportunist. If his poll ratings were to suddenly increase, she'd be back up his butt and we'd know what he ate last week.

[LostinVA]

55. Oprah has never been a political opportunist nor been up "Bush's butt"

The vitriol against her on DU is truly appalling.

Oprah doesn't have to "see the light" -- she's seen it her whole damn life.


on edit: on the Arnold thing. I don't agree with what she did, but I underused the background of why she did it. Maria Kennedy befriended Oprah when they were on air together in Baltimore... and she was a very powerful protector to have. I think Oprah saw this as a way to pay Maria back. Again, I don';t agree with it. However, when I weigh this against ALL the things she has done for others... she comes out more than ahead.(This episode of Oprah was not broadcast in California, btw, because of election laws.)

She's a black woman who grew up in a segregated South, was molested by family members for years, went into a profession that has never been kind to either women, minorities, or those not Hollywood Cute... and beat them at their own game. And, instead of living in an Ivory Tower for the rest of her life, she has given back so much time and money.

But hey -- go ahead and kick down a Sister who's on the side of the angels.

[ikojo]

56. You don't wanna hear what some in my

workplace have to say about Ms Winfrey.

She fawned all over the Bushes during the last presidential campaign. That is being up Bush's butt, IMHO.

[Cha]

78. That's weird cause she

had a "Voting Party" segment on before the 2004 election and she made narrator comments that didn't leave much to the imagination that she didn't think bush was a good one to vote for. I'm sure she got Letters on that one, too.

I'm trying to remember who all was on that show..Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, Christina Aguillera, Jake Gyllenhal, PDiddy..and they sure as hell weren't gonna vote for the war monster.

[ariellyn]

79. "They are building schools" "people are thanking us"...plants in

the audience? Smells like it to me.

Also, Frank Rich said "this is a very divided country--even before Bush took office. He was elected with a 50/50 vote."

Elected my ASS.

[ocean girl]

63. I agree with you Lost - I give her full credit for

what she's accomplished in her life.

She's not perfect, she's human, but I think she's contributed a lot to the world and I'm a radical liberal Oprah fan!

[LostinVA]

70. Thanks, OG!

[wildeyed]

72. I watch the show off an on

and I don't get the hate either. It's a popular chat show. Oprah certainly doesn't NEED to stick her neck out the way she did today. She could do a makeover show or interview Brad Pitt and get much better ratings and no hassle. But instead she has Frank Rich on and asks if we are being told the truth by the media and Bush admin. Works for me.

[SeattleGirl]

57. This is a GREAT show!

I am so glad to see her doing this.

[cui bono]

58. too soft on Bush for my tastes...

but I missed the first 10 min. and got a phone call, so I'll have to watch the rerun tonight.

I did hear her at least twice, let Bush off the hook. One time was for him "not being informed" on Katrina, Rich said that with it on TV how could he not have known what was going on and she wouldn't let it go until Rich agreed that Bush wasn't informed, but that Jerkoff and Brownie had to have known. Then about the WMD and Al Quaeda lies to get us into Iraq, she brought it around to "so you blame Congress then" and Rich agreed! "I blame Congress". Then it was over, no clear explanation about how it was fabricated and a lie. And I was disappointed that Rich didn't express it clearly enough that it is known that there was no evidence to support either of those reasons.

So overall I was somewhat disappointed and definitely felt that rules had been set up to not go "there". But still, good to get him on Oprah for sure, hope his book sales surge.

[wildeyed]

69. I dunno, she put Rich on with no rebuttal

pitching a book called "The Greatest Story Ever Sold" about the Bush admin, the media and the Iraq War. For the entire hour. She asked people to think more critically about politics and world events. The very nature of the show, asking "did the Bush admin lie, does the media lie?" was pretty radical for her demographic. I am not going to quibble about the details, even if I didn't agree with everything she said.

[sandnsea]

60. Bush was just "uninformed" about Katrina

The show was interesting, but I'm struck at how oblivious people still are, after all that's gone on. Oprah STILL doesn't get it, and neither does Frank Rich because he let her off the hook when she chose to believe Bush wasn't bold-faced lying when he was praising Brownie while New Orleans drowned. We have a long long way to go to getting the truth out.

[SeattleGirl]

61. Bush may well have been uninformed, as he does not like to

hear "bad news". If you recall, Andy Card (I think that's who it was) put together a DVD of the news stories for Bush to watch while he was on his way to NOLA. I'm not excusing him by any means, but it really isn't a stretch of the imagination to think he was oblivious to what was going on in the Gulf Coast region. And for that, he IS at fault, and so are his staff members for not sitting him down and MAKING him listen (yeah, I know, like THAT's gonna happen).

[sandnsea]

64. On Friday??

That was what Rich was referring to, when Bush was standing in Alabama saying "heckuva job Brownie" when the rest of the country had seen what was happening all week. He knew it was a mess by Friday and his first reaction was to COVER UP their failed policies. That's all they ever do. And Oprah still doesn't see it. Incredible.

[SeattleGirl]

65. Sorry; I think I misunderstood your post. Yes, he did know by

Friday. Have you read "Bush on the Couch"? I'm about halfway through it, and it's scaring me even more that this nutjob is the President. One of the things the author says is that Bush is incapable of saying he was wrong, or he made a mistake, or screwed up. He is completely disconnected from reality, which of course we have seen for the longest time. The way I see him is like this: if he says it, that makes it true, even if evidence to the contrary is staring him in the face.

[earth mom]

62. NOT GOOD ENOUGH OPRAH.

The show is almost over and it's plain to see that Oprah has a VERY LONG way to go. She let * off the hook for "not knowing" about the extent of the trauma during Katrina. C'mon now Oprah! For Shame!

The show was clearly stacked with a bunch of freepers who were probably there to give the topic "balance".

IMO-the show would have been a thousand times better with Randi Rhodes or Michael Moore or Mike Malloy or Spike Lee participating and telling it LIKE IT REALLY IS!


Bravo to the woman who demanded an apology! Too bad she nor any of us will ever get one!

[Generator]

67. Well that show pissed me off/but a start

now that it's too frigging late! The war is going to go on until....

And Oprah is in one damn bubble. For a Black woman to not GET what happened during Katrina just amazes me. It's not just they don't care about Black people-we know that-they don't give a shit about poor people. Let 'em drown. She has no outrage. That's what amazes me. Yes, I know she did some show after it and was down there but here she's giving Bush/the admin a pass. Really unbelievable as others have said.

Anyway---she does some good in the world but obviously the show was about 75% Bush supporters from the applause. Yes, they did let the other half speak more but the applause was heavy on the thank GOD Bush did something after 9/11. I almost vomited on that one.

But the worst thing of all was this nonsense that Frank Rich is peddling about "We may never know where they got the idea to go into Iraq or who decided it." WHAT????????? Here I am just a damn soccer mom myself and dammit I know the answer to that. CHENEY. And oh yeah he also pushes the Bush didn't want to go to Iraq at first. TOTAL BULLSHIT. Wasn't it Paul O'Neill who said Bush wanted to go after Iraq five minutes after being inaugurated (BEFORE 9/11.)

OH and Richard Clark mentioning that it was five minutes after 9/11 and Bush wanted to blame it on Iraq. Can our media ever really tell the truth? After that show I'm not sure it EVER will.

[qanda]

68. All I have to say

Is that DUers are NEVER satisfied. It's so annoying that it literally drives me batty!!!!!! Complain, complain, complain. NEVER SATISFIED!!!!!

[LostinVA]

71. Agreed, Qanda

I have never understood the Oprah hate on here.

[AtomicKitten]

73. Californians get it.

When she screws with a race in your state, maybe then you'll get it too.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

74. HAHAHAHA, LOL. Favorite post in this thread. Ain't it the truth!

MKJ

edited to add, because the deconstruction is excrutiating, but it's so why we're here...LOL.

Second edit: Take out the rofl and replace with for qanda.
MKJ

[Marie26]

75. Exactly

She could be doing a show about Mel Gibson right now. But instead she's TRYING to get Americans to think critically, to recognize propaganda, to be skeptical of what the Bush Administration tells them. She's trying to get people to speak up, debate & participate in a democracy again. It's the most patriotic thing she could do, IMO, and I'm so glad Oprah had the courage to do this show. It's more than the corporate TV news would ever do.

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

80. I just watched the re-run of Oprah's show here in Chicago.

I'm sorry folks, but that show today was a huge disappointment to me.

I have nothing against Oprah. In fact I remember when she first started here in Chicago on WLS in the 1970's. I've always admired her and am very glad that she's had the success that she well deserves.

I'd honestly love to know why she said that she felt Bunnypants was "uninformed" about Katrina. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't she do a series of shows last fall about what went wrong in NO and along the Gulf Coast?

I actually thought Frank Rich was rather weak in a lot of areas as well. Most of his op-ed pieces in the NYT are usually right on the mark, but he was rather ineffective today.

I know millions of woman watch Oprah's show every day. That being said fair play to her for having Mr. Rich on promoting his book. Maybe some of Oprah's fan will make an effort to read the book and it might just open their eyes, but from my impression of most of the audience participants, I don't think it'll make any difference.