By Jason Miller

Thomas Paine's Corner

http://www.bestcyrano.org/T HOMASPAINE/?p=277

"The other kids were all into black power," Oprah told the Tribune in the mid-1980s. But "I wasn't a dashiki kind of woman ... Excellence was the best deterrent to racism and that became my philosophy."

Excellence indeed. Few would deny that Oprah Winfrey has achieved an extraordinary degree of THAT, at least by our society's warped standards. Witty, articulate, attractive, beloved by tens of millions, and fabulously wealthy, she is the "I pulled myself up by my bootstraps" queen of a vast media empire. Oprah is a living embodiment of the American Dream. What is perhaps most inspiring to her genuflecting disciples is that Oprah rose to her stratospheric position of wealth and influence from an impoverished start in a socioeconomic hierarchy still largely dominated by white males.

Product (RED), an initiative conceived by Bono to get international brands to market and support the Global Fund for AIDS, TB, & Malaria, officially hit American shores Friday.  I have a feeling that many readers are wondering what on earth it is and that most readers cock their heads when they hear "Bono" and "Global Fund" in the same sentence (albeit for dramatically different reasons, depending on what you think of Bono).  Regardless, you won't be wondering for much longer.  But the question I have to ask is, "Why didn't you know in the first place?"

Those of you familiar with me know I'm not given to writing many 'Fuck You' diaries, but I have just come across something that really bothers me.

Oprah Winfrey made a stand that, had it been in 1998 or 1999, I would have applauded. But right now, it just frustrates me to no end that she said what she did.

On CNN (courtesy of the Huffington Post) -

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Senator Hillary Clinton and TV host Oprah Winfrey. According to the Gallup poll, they are the two most admired women in America. They had a very interesting and possibly politically significant encounter at the International Emmy Award ceremony Monday evening.

OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: Thank you. I hope you do us a privilege and run for office. Thank you...

(APPLAUSE)

... president of the United States.

Why is this worth subjecting yourself to another freaking Hillary diary?

Find out, if you dare to brave... THE FLIPSIDE!!!
(where freepers fear to tread...)