Web Letters: The Audacity of Oprah

diary of a mad law professor

By Patricia J. Williams

This article appeared in the December 24, 2007 edition of The Nation.

December 6, 2007

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  • Puhlease. First, I do not shovel money at Hollywood enertainers. And, as a black man, I have so longed to have Obama be the real deal. But, alas, he ain't.

    With his recent signal of support for the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Bill, a k a the Thought Crimes Bill, or the Police State Bill, my final delusions have been shattered. Hopefully when it comes through the Senate he will have come to his senses and realized this will be a driving-while-black bill for all dissenters in America.

    I don't know about him, or Bill Clinton, but my "black" candidate is Dennis Kucinich.

    Mario Budha

    Harlem, New York, NY

    12/11/2007 @ 12:31pm


  • My, my, my. Patricia, you just called Oprah, Mamie! "Comforting sort of motherly everywoman."

    I heard you this morning on NPR along with the other skill- tongued old school feminists, how boring you all sounded. The hums and ums of elitist academic feminists. I am unfortunately in your "age group" and quite versed in feminist rhetoric, also very skilled in "crap" detecting of your deconstruction of Oprah and Obama.

    Your types are small-minded and your disdain of America is so apparent to those of us who listened years ago to women who built their lives and current careers around deconstructing middle-, lower-, working-class women.

    Good old Hillary. Upper-middle-class girl. What has she done? She went to Wellesley, married Bill, moved to Arkansas and, most of all, she changed her last name! Hillary has been his partner in crime for over forty years. She has done nothing for women. She has provided an escape route for her Bill after he messes with as many women as he wants too. Hillary is still standing with her Bill. This must be very difficult for you feminist academic types, as you avoided it like the plague on NPR today.

    None of you elitist feminists even mentioned Geraldine Ferraro. Maybe because she is not seen as a radical feminist? Or better yet, she didn't attend Wellesley, and she is Italian.

    Out here in the Midwest, we are very aware of what is happening in Washington, DC, and academia. Boy, Patricia, you sure came to life, you almost forgot to hum, um, when talk radio was mentioned.

    I am a daily listener. Why, I have even listened to Michael Savage! I am a daily viewer of CNN, FOX news. I am also a daily listener of NRP for years. The apparent differences are that CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC are very liberal in their deliverance of the news. FOX makes up for the news that is avoided by those mentioned above.

    Have you read Laura Ingraham or listened to her point of view? Or read Bridgett Gabriel? I doubt it. Anything outside of your feminist realm is considered beneath your kind. How do I know this. I have been right here along with all of you through the '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s and now the twenty-first century.

    I followed my dream of being a mother of three children, then I returned to school as my children were in school to obtain my college degree. I am, happily, a grandmother. I work for corporate America.

    We live in the best country, America. I changed my long standing as a Democrat to a Republican.

    We have a huge problem in this country, and you are a big part of that. The elitist liberal socialist point of view will be the demise of Americas citizens and its constitution. We are a republic where my voice does count.

    Kathryn Udrovich

    Des Moines, IA

    12/10/2007 @ 12:02pm


  • Oprah seems to understand, as I do, that Obama would likely unite the country more than Bush or Hillary Clinton would.

    However, I would like to see Joe Biden gain more ground, since he has the clearest plan to end the war in Iraq strategically through political diplomacy. If you log onto his website, there is a link on the plan to end the war in Iraq. If Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee, then Biden deserves to be either Vice President or Secretary of State, given his diplomatic experience over the past thirty-five years in the Senate.

    Nick Rosen

    Great Falls, VA

    12/09/2007 @ 3:10pm


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