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OPRAH - SCHMOPRAH

Lord Acton’s dictum does not apply only to the “absolute corruptibility” of political power. The thrall of filthy lucre and over-fawning popularity also can take their toll to the extreme when one is devoid of overload control. History shows that a head could be lost merely by displeasing an ego-driven monarch whose power is indisputably derived from an invisible, omniscient/omnipotent being; a dictator with hypnotic powers could depopulate a goodly portion of the globe; a billionaire (when that was “real money”) could corrupt government institutions and individuals to the point of madness. We must accept the fact that corruption of the ego also can take the form of doing very highly visible “good.”

Who in the hell made Oprah Secretary of Exterior Education? The way they are reporting on those dinky incidents (taking in the whole picture) at a girls’ school in South Africa, one would think that Ms. Oprah’s very common childhood experience had recurred “in flagrante.” I cite a fairly recent, radically more serious occurrence in Saudi Arabia: There was a nighttime fire at a girls’ dormitory. The religion police would not allow the girls to exit because they were inappropriately attired. The girlss were burned to a crisp! Compare that with Oprah’s South African “crisis.”

It was apparent that Oprah was going off the rails when she and her “peeps” arrived at an exclusive Paris jewelry boutique, after closing hours and demanding special attention. Dressed casually and sans her Oprah wig, she was unrecognized. (Snooty Parisians don’t recognize anybody—wig or no.) Of course, the earth’s sensitive seismic faults underwent undo strain upon their resistance capacity.

Bill Gates early-on announced that when he reached a certain age he would give away most of his fortune. I thought that remarkable at the time, and did not doubt his sincerity in the least, such was its sensibleness and its simplicity. He kept that vow, placing his father at the helm of the charitable trust. Later, he announced that he would retire as active head of Microsoft in order to handle the trust personally. Topping that, America’s (and the world’s) other rich man, Warren Buffett, has added the bulk of his own sizeable fortune to that of the Gates’. What a levelheaded way of redistributing the goodies they have reaped from the earth and its peoples. They know they never can spend such super fortunes, and the history of the “Robber Barons” has shown them that they could do great harm to their progeny by transferring to them such awesome responsibility intact.

Now, Oprah, why cannot you and others who have felt the brunt of U.S. history’s evil underside, and have profited much too easily—those of you in entertainment and sports—why do you not join together and invest just a small portion of your fabulous earnings into a trust that would benefit those of your ilk who have not been as fortunate as you? In our urban centers, there is a great need to break the cycle of ignorance and poverty (mainly of the spirit and soul!). This can be done only by expanding the proven effectiveness of the “Headstart” philosophy to several more years, in a boarding school atmosphere. Otherwise, the cycle goes on, ad infinitum.

With all due respect, Oprah, you have not finished the job here.

ADDENDUM NON SEQUITUR:

Dubya, you’re a piker! Pervez Musharraf shows how it’s really done—spin and all.

(Oops! He still has over a year to catch up!)