The Other Side of the Edge…..
When did Oprah become Al Sharpton??
By Joe Facinoli

In a recent interview with the BBC, while in London promoting her new movie, Oprah Winfrey decided it might be a good idea to morph into Al Sharpton.

Unfortunately, this choice put her at that most dangerous intersection, where double standards become the “double-edged sword” of hypocrisy, and of pure, true, unadulterated racism, ….reverse, or any other kind.

Ms. Sharpton,….er,…Winfrey, stated clearly, in a video now gone viral, that regarding President Obama, she believes “…there is a level of disrespect for the office that occurs, …and…in many cases, because he’s an African American.”

Really ??

Disrespect for the office? Of the President? Because he’s a black guy???

Honey, (oops, sorry, meant no “disrespect”) that started a long time ago, and just in case you missed a couple of history classes, everyone who’s ever held that office, prior to Mr. BHO, ….was a white guy.

She went on to say, that “….there’s no question about that, and it’s the kind of thing that nobody ever says, but everybody is thinking it.”

There’s no Question about that??? Really?

And here I thought Oprah was a bright gal, and that she might just be above all that petty, far too convenient nonsense.

After all, she’s proven that a black woman, can make a fortune, while speaking mainly to white women, and making them cry uncontrollably, three or four times during each of her one hour TV shows, and buy anything she tells them to, by the millions.

She’s been the one, true, racial equalizer, and even emancipator, …..for the Love of Tom Cruise !!!

So why now?

Could it be to promote her latest attempt at acting?

She’s actually pretty good at that, and one of the two or three most famous women on the planet, so not sure why she needed more “pub” at this point.

Is it because her TV network is tanking?

Well maybe, but if all she’s got to offer is Rosie O’Donnell, and a few re-runs of her own old shows, then no amount of publicity’s going to help that.

Maybe,…just maybe,…would it be the fact that Lady O is not in the “limelight” as much as she was a few years ago?? Could be, and it would only be natural, if that’s the case.

But why go to the race card? After all she’s done to get past that, and after all the success and achievements she’s managed, with the help of ALL races, and types of people?

Your guess is as good as mine, because it’s nothing, if not moving backwards, at this point in the 21st century.

Backwards, that is, right into the wheelhouse of all the Al Sharptons and Jesse Jacksons, and any other career race players, baiters, and mongers, who make it their life’s work to continue to promote the “victim mentality” of black people in this country.

Oprah, …you’re better than that.

Is there still racism today, …of all kinds? Absolutely. There will always be stupid, narrow-minded people among us. Of ALL races and creeds.

Will it ever be completely gone?

Probably never. It’s the nature of the ignorant and uneducated, who unfortunately have the same rights to be here, as those of us with a little more common sense and humanity.

Does that mean we that can’t still move forward, and make progress towards a better society, where more and more people, of all races, genders, ethnicities, and even lifestyle choices, can take advantage of the myriad of opportunities offered by this magical experiment, called the UNITED States of America?

Absolutely not. We’re doing more and more of it, every single day. Maybe not fast enough for some, but it’s happening, and on an ever broadening scale.

Let’s talk about that “Respect” thing for a moment, from the historical point of view of a few of our former Presidents:

--Truman: Called a country bumpkin, mush mouth, and know-nothing. Unprepared and inexperienced.

--Eisenhower: an old, sick, lazy, do-nothing. Elected only because he was Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during WWII, and comfy resting on those laurels. Would rather be playing golf than anything else.

--JFK: Loved by many, hated by more. Said to be a puppet of the Pope, and son of a boot-legger. Bought and stole his election, using dead people to vote.

--LBJ: Crooked, Texas bully. Created Vietnam, and loved killing babies there.

--Nixon: Well, everything they said about him was probably true, but “respect for the office” played no part in any discussions about ol’ “Tricky Dick”.

--Ford: Called just a stupid ex-football player, who’d been hit in the head once too often. Clumsy doofus. Saturday Night Live loved him, for all the wrong reasons.

--Carter: Another doofus, and a geek, and weak, and scared. Perhaps the smartest man ever to be President, but got no “respect” from anyone.

--Reagan: Loved by many, hated by more, who called him a lazy, old, dumb, war mongering actor, and a “tired old king”, as Don Henley sang of him.

--G.H.W. Bush: Slammed as a liar (“Read my lips,…no new taxes.”)

--Clinton: Like Nixon, everything he was ever called was most likely true, and deserved, but there was NO respect for his office, at that time, either by him, nor his critics. He was impeached, for personal reasons and agendas, for probably doing little more than Kennedy ever did.

--“W” Bush: Little doubt that he may have received more DIS-respect, as a President, than probably anyone who’s ever held that office. Some of it of his own doing, but he never deserved the slanderous, incredibly disrespectful, personal, and purely petty things that were said about him, non-stop, every day, and still to this day.

Ok, do we see a pattern here?

That “disrespect” stuff, sort of comes with the gig, and those in there, usually figure out how to deal with it, just fine, without excuses from Hollywood.

The way around that, or at least to avoid it somewhat, is to do good, responsible things, for the majority of the citizenry, and not to have personal agendas and clandestine programs and processes, which alienate the masses, once they come to light.

And when you go to Wikipedia, or Bing, or Google, to view the picture gallery for these ex-Presidents, you’ll quickly see that they are all very, very white.

Now, that brings us to Ms. Oprah’s favorite President.

First, he was elected, twice, to an office which no one of any color other than white, had ever been so favored.

Black folks make up only 13% of the voting population. Seems like he may have had just a little help, from a few other folks, ….those with complexions a bit more fair.

I was in DC on that day, in January 2009 (on other business), when Barack Obama was first inaugurated. Was there from 4 a.m. ‘til 6 p.m., and I’ve never seen a bigger, more happy and excited bunch of white folks, all there to cheer on their new President, than I witnessed that day. And I was all over town, doing work at several hotels we serviced.

Washington DC’s black population is just over 50%, with a large percentage of that group not on a very high economic level.

But on that historic day, the white people in evidence easily made up 70, 80, even 90% of the masses attending those giddy festivities, and nearly all of them seemed to be quite a bit better off, than most “average” Americans.

In other words, Obama’s elections, while many things, would never have happened without HUGE support from other races and cultures.

Understandably, it has to be very disappointing, to ALL of his supporters, especially blacks and African Americans, to see this President fail so miserably, so demonstrably, and so publicly.

But his failures have NOTHING to do with the color of his skin, nor with how he’s treated because of that “different” hue.

No, instead, they have EVERYTHING to do with his policy choices and dictates, his executive actions, his ignoring of the Constitution, …and, …despite his promises to the contrary, his unfailing habit of polarizing and politicizing every, single, issue.

I couldn’t stand Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, nor George Bush the 1st, for their various ineptitudes and inadequacies.

And I hated Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. A lot of good people died, or were irrevocably changed, because of those two. Some who I knew then, many I still know now.

By contrast, I’m only annoyed by Barack Obama.

More than I’ve ever been annoyed, by anyone I’ve ever met, or anything I’ve ever known, ….but I don’t hate him.

I hate his policies, his practices, his ideology, his failure to grasp the importance of the office he holds, and that it has merely been entrusted to him, by us,…not given.

And none of these things are black, Ms. Winfrey, …….nor any other color of the rainbow.

Joe Facinoli

--Joe can be reached at: joefacinoli@gmail.com
Intelligent Response Encouraged !!

© Copyright 2013, Joe Facinoli