Obama Better Watch Who His Buddies Are
It seems, if we read the comments on BlogaBarbara, that one can't make fun of the rich unless one is rich. After all, they might hire you to wash their car or mow their lawn (if you habla enough ingles). But I regret I have to belittle our dear Oprah, and not just because she got her career started by crossing a picket line in Baltimore back in the early 1980s.
Oh no, there's this little tidbit that's never quite got out. Back in November 2005 when Archbishop Desmond Tutu gave an incredibly inspiring lecture at the Arlington sponsored by UCSB Arts & Lectures, A&L tried to get Oprah to do the introduction, as she had done a special love-in show with the Nobel Prize Winner a few months prior to the local event. A&L was very cautious, as Oprah had done little with UCSB despite buying a $50 million house within 15 miles of the university, trying to contact her through other rich friends who might then grease the millionaire wheels and get her to give a tiny bit back.
Alas, she refused to do the at most 5 minute intro.
But what's more, after A&L found good and kind donors to help fund the Archbishop's trip to Santa Barbara, Oprah took advantage of his being in the area to have an event at her house the next day with Tutu that did nothing for UCSB or Arts & Lectures. Nope, he got here, she used him, she did nothing for the folks who got him here, and that's the Oprah way.
Thanks, scab.
Oh no, there's this little tidbit that's never quite got out. Back in November 2005 when Archbishop Desmond Tutu gave an incredibly inspiring lecture at the Arlington sponsored by UCSB Arts & Lectures, A&L tried to get Oprah to do the introduction, as she had done a special love-in show with the Nobel Prize Winner a few months prior to the local event. A&L was very cautious, as Oprah had done little with UCSB despite buying a $50 million house within 15 miles of the university, trying to contact her through other rich friends who might then grease the millionaire wheels and get her to give a tiny bit back.
Alas, she refused to do the at most 5 minute intro.
But what's more, after A&L found good and kind donors to help fund the Archbishop's trip to Santa Barbara, Oprah took advantage of his being in the area to have an event at her house the next day with Tutu that did nothing for UCSB or Arts & Lectures. Nope, he got here, she used him, she did nothing for the folks who got him here, and that's the Oprah way.
Thanks, scab.
Labels: oprah the scab
posted by George at 10:27 PM
8 Comments:
I'm thinking of hanging out at the corner of Las Positas and Calle Real with a big sign..."Hey...when can working folks meet Obama?" or something like that.
And, don't forget the time that Oprah used the Montecito YMCA parking lot for her guests to park at and then get chauffered up to her mansion for a shindig. Did she bother to ask the Y if she could take over their parking lot? No. Did she make a public apology to the Y and the members who were not able to find parking anywhere around their Y...not that I am aware of.
Any sense of Oprah's thinking here? Trying to avoid the smack of excess liberalism?
A lack of respect for her book club?
A good buddy of Wendy?
Good idea, Cookie Jill, except a better place would be at the corners of San Ysidro Road and East Valley Road. Obama would be more likely to see and unless the buses go in the back entrance to Oprah's off Santa Rosa Lane, so would the busees.
I suspect Oprah's thinking re the A&L was to give nothing away without getting something substantial back — and she saw nothing coming to herself from A&L.
Don't forget. Oprah's "green" now - didn't you see her special episode?
Maybe someone should tell her that the 50 acre watered lawn and 24 seat PJ don't exactly conserve on resources...
Did you ever stop to think that Oprah might have been working in Chicago in November and not in Montecito? Don't TV seasons run from September-March? Did she turn the invitation down because of her daytime commitment?
She was in town to have her own shindig with Archbishop Tutu on Saturday, so I'm assuming she was in town Friday night for the lecture.
I like that sign idea on the corner however how will you know when Obama is arriving? Could be hours earlier than the busses or even after the busses.
I realise this is old news, but I ran across Cookie Jill's comment about the Montecito YMCA and had to clarify things. I am a member of the staff at the Montecito YMCA and was present when we recieved a call requesting the use of our parking lot for Oprah's event. The request was denied and the YMCA's lot was not ever used. A city parking lot across the street, belonging to Manning Park was used, just as it is used daily by the YMCA for overflow parking.
I am certainly no fan of Oprah, or Obama for that matter, but in this case she did not commit any offense to the YMCA or its members.
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