The United States of Oprah

America’s talk show queen has thrown in her support for a presidential candidate. She is admittedly “nervous” and feels that she had to step “out of my pew.” If I were Oprah, I probably would have done the same thing – a long time ago. I don’t blame her one bit for using her “position” of Queen of the United States to set forth her opinion on anything. Besides, I’m sure more Americans could identify her quicker than they could their own governors, mayors, or heck (pardon the strong language), even their own neighbors.

I don’t even watch Oprah. Every once in awhile an advertisement for one of her shows will catch my attention and I’ll tune in for a few minutes. She seems to be a nice lady and quite benevolent, for a queen. Then again, if I had amassed the millions (or is it billions) that she has, I’d be handing out cars and such on a regular basis too.

Oprah seems to be a woman of conviction. From ads for her show alone, I can tell that she feels deeply about every situation presented on her show. Heck (there it is again), she’s even willing to flip flop from day to day if that’s what it takes to empathize with her guest. She’s a wonderful queen.

So you see, my problem isn’t with the queen. She’s no different than the rest of us (except for the bank account). My problem is with the people of the kingdom, the people of the United States of America. Millions of voters will be persuaded by her opinion. Is this because she is an economist? Maybe it is because of her degree in history or law. Perhaps it is because has written so many good essays on foreign policy. When did Oprah begin googling “military strategy” so as to be up on the best approaches to establishing world peace? Or maybe, she is the one keeping us up to date on political issues in Wikapedia.

Get the picture? For crying out loud, Oprah is a feel good talk show host! Why should we be at all persuaded by her opinion on politics? America, where is your backbone? Is it in a Chicago studio?

The problem with America is Americans. It is our lack of conviction about anything and our willingness to follow the most persuasive opinion about everything. “Persuasive” is quite often translated “Hollywood”. Do you remember all the “stars” who were going to leave America if Bush were elected? Well, he was and they are still here and they are still giving their opinions based upon nothing other than what best suits their lifestyles – lifestyles that are in no way similar to those of the average American.

America, wake up! Do you have a world view? Do your politics follow this world view? Do you either keep up with the issues surrounding your daily life or at least seek the advice of someone with whom you are like-minded?

I am so tempted at this point to give my view on such things but I will not. My cry right now is for the people of the United States (or at least the few reading this) to know who they are and what they believe!