"Oprah Winfrey's Contribution to the Rush to Iraq War"

[mtnsnake]

This is inspired by another thread which is currently discussing a similar subject.

Title of the video: (Bill Moyer's Journal): "Rush to War. Oprah Winfrey Aided and Abetted Bush Admin's Rush to War"

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vqVtRJeXxXM

[NYCGirl]

1. Oprah's Anti-War Series:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah's_Anti-war_series

[wyldwolf]

2. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name.

:shrug:

[NYCGirl]

3. Something wrong with the coding in the title. Try this:

http://tinyurl.com/2695cb

Oprah’s Anti-war series was a series of episodes of the Oprah Winfrey Show that ran from early November 2002 until March 18, 2003. The series was supposed to begin in the Fall of 2001 but was delayed when the pilot episode inspired an enormous backlash. Winfrey was quoted as saying:

“ I once did a show titled Is War the Only Answer? In the history of my career, I've never received more hate mail — like 'Go back to Africa' hate mail. I was accused of being un-American for even raising the question."<1> ”

In a September 2002 interview with Phil Donahue Winfrey asked for advice on how one could do such shows without looking unpatriotic: “After we did a show called ‘Is War the Only Answer?’ I thought, Can’t you even ask the question without people attacking you”. Donahue replied by saying that dissent would become easier as time passed from September 11. Winfrey praised Donahue for plans to do anti-war shows on MSNBC saying “the bottom line is we need you, Phil, because we need to be challenged by the voice of dissent”<2>, but was not yet ready to rejoin the anti-war movement herself. In the coming months, her position on joining the movement changed. Professor Daphne Read noted that in the aftermath of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Oprah show, like all mainstream media, "was very closely tied to the Bush administration's response and the media rhetoric of America Under Attack,…however, the content of Winfrey's forum began to diverge from the purely consensual, giving voice to a much wider range of views.”<3>

One of the first installments in Winfrey’s anti-war series was a show called “What Does The World Think Of Us?”<4> which aired in early November 2002. The show challenged Americans to be skeptical about their government’s foreign policy. For this, Winfrey was praised by anti-war activist Michael Moore for being the only mainstream media at the time to show footage of Donald Rumsfeld shaking Saddam Hussein’s hand in the 1980s. Moore wrote:

“ When she showed Rumsfeld all lovey with Saddam, there was an audible gasp in the studio audience. Everyday, average Americans were shocked to see that the devil was actually our devil. Thank you, Oprah.”<5> ”

Moore argued that the footage was especially important for Americans to see because the rest of the mainstream media was only showing much older footage of Jacques Chirac shaking Saddam Hussein’s hand in the 1970s, seemingly to imply France opposed a war with Iraq because they were friendly with Hussein.<6>

MUCH MORE AT LINK

[wyldwolf]

8. I have a few issues with that wiki entry

The series was supposed to begin in the Fall of 2001 but was delayed when the pilot episode inspired an enormous backlash.

Is this an insinuation that she was against the Afghanistan war? Because the public was overwhelmingly on board with it. That date seems off. Fall of 2002, maybe?

I also see the source of the quotes from Oprah are from her and her magazine.

This passage is telling: Professor Daphne Read noted that in the aftermath of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Oprah show, like all mainstream media, "was very closely tied to the Bush administration's response and the media rhetoric of America Under Attack...

Sorry. While I'll give the info in the article the benefit of the doubt, it still doesn't detract from Moyer's piece (who I trust more than I trust Oprah and Michael Moore.)

[NYCGirl]

9. Be as skeptical as you want. Four antiwar shows and praise from Michael Moore?

As opposed to ONE show?

[beachmom]

17. I actually watched an Oprah episode before the war in Afghanistan

and the real nervousness (from one guest who was Afghan) was that the already suffering Afghan people would suffer even more. Like when people said "bomb them back to the Stone Age", the Afghan man said "already done" by the Soviets and their civil war. I remember it being a thoughtful show -- focusing on the Afghan people. Luckily, the U.S. did that war fairly right (at least at the beginning) and there were minimal civilian casualties.

It wasn't against that war, just showing how nervous people were about it. Unfortunately, such reticense did not exist before Iraq. I think it's a good thing that people pause and reflect before armed conflict, even if very just, as ousting the Taliban was.

[CyberPieHole]

14. LOL...

a link to NOTHING...how apropos.:rofl:

[NYCGirl]

18. ...

http://tinyurl.com/2695cb

“The World Speaks Out On Iraq” was considered to be the most significant installment of Winfrey’s anti-war series for being a two-day special. It was also considered significant because it aired February 6, 2003, the day after Colin Powell’s speech to the United Nations which was credited with shifting public opinion in favor of the war. Winfrey told her audience that it was the most important time to speak out against the war, and wanted to hear not just from her studio audience but from people around the world. Winfrey showed clips from citizens of Britain, France, South Africa, Iraq, and Pakistan - all urging America not to go to war. She also showed clips of Nelson Mandela and Pope John Paul II speaking out against war and interviewed a spokesman for Patriots for Peace.<7> Also appearing on the show was anti-war activist Jessica Mathews and columnist Thomas Friedman who debated whether America should go to war. Mathews pointed out that Saddam Hussein had no connections to al-Qaeda and while Friedman supported war only if America could get international support, he conceded that Hussein was not a security threat to America. At the end of the two day show Winfrey sided with Mathews agreeing that the case for war was not convincing enough considering the consequences.

During part one of the two-part show, a press conference held by George W. Bush and Colin Powell interrupted the show in many markets. An article in Buzzflash.com claimed the press conference was a deliberate attempt to silence debate:

“ Bush pre-empted Oprah for no reason other than to stop her broadcast regarding Iraq and insert his own propaganda!…In the middle of the show a "Special News Report" notice came up, then Peter Jennings announced Bush would be making a MAJOR announcement on Iraq. Then Bush and Powell came in and Bush summarized what Powell had said yesterday at the UN. He spent about 20 minutes in all…The Administration would have known the content and timing of today’s show because it is broadcast live and/or in the morning in many markets such as Oprah’s home base in Chicago. This was in such bad form I couldn't believe it! I called Harpo Studios in Chicago to let them know and they said they had received a lot of phone calls. I said Oprah should tell her audience what happened and that I thought Bush was purposely interfering with her show. They commented they didn't know what the reason was and in any case there was no way to prove anything.<8> ”

An article from Academics for Justice drew the same conclusion:
“ Today, Oprah Winfrey started a two-part series focusing on the impending U.S. war on Iraq. About halfway through the show the broadcast was pre-empted by coverage of Pres. George Bush, with Colin Powell at his side, reading a prepared statement on Iraq. The coincidental timing of this pre-emptive press statement raised immediate questions about the motives of the White House war strategists. Students of the Civil Rights Movement will recall an incident in 1964 when activist Fannie Lou Hamer sat before a live television audience and gave a riveting account of the oppression she and other Blacks faced in the South. President Lyndon Johnson was so convinced of the power of her appeal to undermine his own political/racial agenda, that he hastily called a press conference to pull cameras away from Hamer’s impassioned revelations…The pre-emption of Winfrey’s show today should be seen in the same light. Oprah’s audience is a vast and powerful—but largely apolitical—force of middle-class white women. It is likely that most did not watch Colin Powell’s live testimony at the U.N. yesterday. In fact, it is likely that this huge audience was being oriented to the issues of the Iraq war for the first time…The first 30 minutes of the show was decidedly anti-war and highlighted not only worldwide unanimity in opposition to the war but presented many of the heretofore unheard voices of ordinary people speaking forcefully against Bush’s motives.<9>

On March 6, 2003 Winfrey did a show called “What You Should Know About Iraq,” in which Middle East expert Fawaz Gerges described the suffering of the Iraqi people since Operation Desert Storm. Gerges argued that the desire of the Bush administration to overthrow Saddam Hussein would have a devastating effect on the Iraqi people. Dan Rather also talked about his interview with Saddam Hussein, in which Hussein was apparently curious about George W. Bush and the will of the American people to attack Iraq. The guests on the show explained that the United States had worked with several dictators in the past and actively aided Hussein during the administration of Ronald Reagan to keep the Islamic fundamentalist movement in Iran from spreading. On Oprah: After The Show (aired on Winfrey's cable network Oxygen, Gerges urged Winfrey's audience not to believe reports linking Saddam Hussein to the September 11th attacks, reports which Oprah Winfrey condemned as "propaganda."

And another:

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Oprah's+Anti-war+series

[oasis]

4. An Oprah smackdown of a woman asking a legitimate question about the war.

And now the Queen praises Obama for being wise enough to oppose the war from the beginning.:puke:

[mtnsnake]

6. As always, it's Oprah the opportunist.

I guess back then the war was fashionable for her. Nothing like consistency, eh.

[blm]

16. Good thing she's not as influential as Bill Clinton who supported Bush's decisions

on terrorism and Iraq war much more consistently than Oprah - and he was believed because of HIS access to privileged information about Iraq throughout his presidency.

I guess Oprah was influenced by Clinton's support of Bush on these issues, just as other Democrats were - and look at Tony Blair - who do you think he was listening to and trusting?

[mtnsnake]

19. Maybe you should start you own threads about that instead of trying to change the subject here

Hey, if you think Oprah is the greatest thing since cotton candy, that's your priviledge! Start some threads about that, too (snicker)

[blm]

20. Oprah influenced fewer Dems on Iraq war than Bill Clinton did. That's the only point

that ANY Dem should care about it - unless they insist on pretending a talk show host had more influence over the historic record and had more access to privileged info than a president had.

How do you know Oprah wasn't influenced by Bill Clinton's support of Bush and influenced by his many staff members who fanned out over the newsmedia parroting Bill's support - just like most average Democratic citizens?

[mtnsnake]

21. Hey blm, here's a video I think you'll really enjoy! (snicker)

I still can't believe how Kerry's first choice for VP was McCain. Thank goodness McCain shunned the feelers put out by the Kerry camp for him to be Kerry's running mate.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=OMQ45OJ1K24

[blm]

24. Yep - Kerry should've known he could never trust a GOP or a Clinton, no matter how

friendly they might appear outwardly.

Because even though Kerry's reasons are always worth trusting as he EARNED that trust - few others in DC have earned that trust.

So, while McCain may have been trusted at ONE POINT in time, Biden and others on the Unity idea should have kept their wits about them and known that even a CASUAL MENTION of that idea would be treated dishonestly by political spinners.

[mtnsnake]

26. Another Oprah/Obama supporter who can't defend their own people on their own merits

How'd you like the video?

[blm]

29. I wish Oprah wasn't influenced then by Bill Clinton's support of Bush on Iraq. Don't you?

All those Clinton cabinet and staff members fanning out across the newsmedia to help unite Democrats and the public around Bush's decisions on Iraq - what a generous gesture on Bill's part, eh?

[mtnsnake]

32. I wish Kerry wasn't influenced by John McCain to the point he wanted to run with him

http://youtube.com/watch?v=OMQ45OJ1K24

At least try using some common sense like Beachmom did here, instead of using my thread and everyone elses as an avenue to paste your nonstop propaganda about the Clintons 24/7.

[blm]

35. I think you should care about open government and I won't give up on you

even when you dig in to protect your devotion to the Clintons and their decision to protect the secrecy and privilege of the Bushes.

I am devoted to the ONE Dem lawmaker who has worked the most to expose government corruption and protect open government and you are devoted to the ONE Dem lawmaker who has worked to protect the secrecy and privilege of the corrupt Bushes and protect closed government.

This has always been the bottom line to our entire exchange - and still is.

[beachmom]

27. So a guaranteed winning ticket defeating Bush was a stupid idea, ESPECIALLY

since McCain's people approached the Kerry people first? AND, if you had watched Kerry on Tavis Smiley earlier this year, you would have heard that Kerry wanted McCain to switch parties as part of the deal. In the end, McCain would not do that so there was no deal.

Since that time, McCain has sold his soul, and has been eating some humble pie as a result. But if you look at McCain's Senate career, the moment he went downhill was when he not only turned down the unity ticket (which Kerry knew was a longshot, by the way), BUT went on to actively campaign FOR his arch nemesis Bush. I think you can trace it to his betraying his friend.

So I suppose your attack will work for some, but for me, Kerry would have been foolish not to consider this tact of a guaranteed defeat of Bush in '04.

[blm]

39. The only alliance desired by closed government supporters is Bushes and Clintons

Secrecy and privilege must be protected.

[dionysus]

5. you know man...

ONE of these days you'll show a little TOKEn fairness about this... sometimes your posts go a little bit OVER THE LINE...

:hi:

[mtnsnake]

7. lol

I like the diluted version better, not that it won't mess up my head or anything as much as your original one.

:hi:

[AlCzervik]

10. i'm a little disappointed in this forum, i cannot believe no one has recommended Oprah

be waterboarded.

[NYCGirl]

11. Give 'em time. NT

[mtnsnake]

13. Not yet, but at least Stephen King recommended that Jenna Bush be waterboarded

as an experiment to show the Bush family whether or not they think waterboarding is torture or not. That was too funny.

[superkia]

38. Or tasered.

[durrrty libby]

12. K & R

[CyberPieHole]

15. K&R

Oprah is trying to rewrite history. It's too late for that.

[Tellurian]

25. Precisely, Oprah's mea culpa's don't cut it in the realworld..

[flpoljunkie]

22. Bill Clinton's lack of courage on speaking out against war in Iraq stands in stark contrast to that

of Vice President Al Gore and former president Jimmy Carter. And, for Bill Clinton to recently pretend he "always opposed the war in Iraq" speak volumes.

[mtnsnake]

23. yeah..blah blah blah...go get your Bill Clinton rocks off somewhere else. This is about Oprah

...and another feeble attempt by you bites the dust.

Why don't you start a thread on your gripe about Bill Clinton if it's so newsworthy?

[flpoljunkie]

28. Weak, mtsnake! The truth hurts, doesn't it?

[mtnsnake]

30. Another Oprah/Obama supporter who can't defend their own people on their own merits

Why would "the truth hurt"? I only suggested that you post your Bill Clinton vitriol as a thread of its own instead of trying to change the subject here in this one, which is about Oprah. She sure had some interesting things to say in that video, eh.

[flpoljunkie]

36. I expect Oprah learned from this that there are those who use their influence to peddle wars in

a deceitful way, like Judith Miller and Kenneth Pollack who appeared on her show to sell the war.

[mtnsnake]

37. In retrospect, she just might agree with you

although I'm not sure that they were there to sell it to her in a "deceitful" way or not, but perhaps just to sell it, period. Who knows.

[beachmom]

31. I think the point is celebrity endorsements (be it Bill or Oprah) come with a price.

And that is scrutiny of that celebrity. The truth is the target audience for Oprah's appearance isn't, well, us. Nor is Bill's. Bloggers are a bit savvy and are more interested in a person's past, what they have said, etc. The truth of the matter is Oprah fans are ... Oprah fans ... and they actually would be mad to know about these attacks on her, and just think "I hate politics".

[mtnsnake]

33. Good post.

I can't say I can disagree with that premise.

[flpoljunkie]

34. Moyers: "Contrary opinions weren't very popular in Washington either."

Got the rest of the tape, by any chance? I'd love to hear this part, as well.