Excluded By Oprah

For a long time Oprah has been a Big Sister/Best Friend of mine. She included me in her discussions, ups and downs of dieting, told me about new books, introduced me to celebrity’s and gossip. We saw great music, heard heart wrenching stories, been through lawsuits, bad hair days and good, Jeans, 1 hour shoes and ear piercing, spiritual growth...we've been through it all together.

Even though she included me in her life, she didn't always listen as I responded to her through the TV. Sometimes I agreed with her, sometimes not. But that’s OK, it was a part of the relationship I accepted. An hour a day with a great friend, perfect.

Then came the change, subtle at first, more pronounced later. Her magazine came out, and as I started to read the many issues, I started to feel a gap with my friend, a slowly widening rift. Her Picks became more and more outrageous, too expensive, too… much. Her magazine no longer interested me, it was…. uninteresting, dedicated to an ideal I no longer shared with Oprah.

It took a while to notice, but there it was, all of the sudden…My Oprah Aha Moment! And it was not pretty. I realized our friendship was not going to last.

Next came the loss of a bigger part of me, a part of our friendship we struggled through. She always was able to help me get through those tough times with the most wonderful words of encouragement, we struggled with the ‘authentic me’, that spiritual person hiding inside who needed to come out. Her decision to end ‘Remember your Spirit’, an amazing little segment that was all of 60 seconds a day, was a blow. I LOVED those last 60 seconds of the show, it helped keep me on a daily track of Spirit, and now it was gone.

Finally the last blow, one that may never be reconciled, Oprah excluded me. She closed the door on me. Oprah, my TV Sister, who pushed so hard for women’s rights, so hard to be equal in a world of inequality, gave it all up in an instant when she decided to back a MALE Presidential Candidate instead of a Female Presidential Candidate. What happened?? Oprah, What Were You Thinking? A woman who is supremely qualified for the Office of The President of the United States has the best chance ever of winning the election, and you say NO to her? You throw away all you’ve said, worked for? All those barriers you’ve busted through? For What Oprah… For What?

You see my Friend Oprah…Politics is a very Exclusionary Club, you either believe in the candidate or the party, or you don’t, there is no middle ground. And there is no middle ground in this part of our friendship. All that we’ve shared in the past, all that you’ve included me in makes me wonder.

Has Oprah taken her life of Inclusion and turned it into one of Exclusion?

A Shock To My System

Imagine this.. you are getting your first cup of coffee on a Sunday morning, December 30, 2007, as it happens. The paper is still cold from the outside, you are excited to read in leisure, no rushing through to barely grasp the basics of the news, columns and fun stuff. You open the paper , start sorting the sections, and all of the sudden, you see the Parade Magazine, with George Bush Jr. on the cover. My day is almost destroyed, until I remember, I am the Complaint Dept and I have a job to do.

Dear Editor,

TO say when I opened my paper and saw you gave the cover to George Bush Jr. was a shock to my system, is an understatement. How could you???

He is a man that stole a Presidential election, steered the world to the brink of another world war simply for some misguided personal gain, took the Constitution of the United States and virtually shredded all our freedoms, destroyed the middle class in the USA, increased the wealth of the top 1% of this country while creating more poverty of such desperate levels as has not been seen in decades, and is so out of touch with the reality of Global Warming as to make me wonder...What were you thinking??

Be very happy yours is not a subscription magazine, as I would cancel it instantly and I will NOT be supporting ANY of your advertisers.

sent 12/30/07 to Parade...

Now I can sit back, get a new cup of coffee and enjoy the day.

Hillary Clinton IS our Future

This is an election for the future of the United States...

We need a candidate of substance, one who understands and can work with the politics and the climate of Washington DC, a person with a strong connection to the Leaders of so many foreign countries who want to change the direction of the world to one of peace, someone who has made a difference in so many lives and can continue to make that difference, a person who has proven their abilities are beyond the stylistic prose spoken by so many...she is a Woman of Substance with more experience than anyone else.