Oprah the Capitalist

May 26th, 2011 by John Feehery

Without Oprah Winfrey, there would be no President Obama.

And Republicans should be okay with that.

Let me explain.

While Oprah campaigned for Barack Obama in the last election, that was the least of her contributions to the “Yes We Can” campaign.

Her example was far more important. She paved the way for Obama in ways that I don’t think have been fully appreciated by the American people.

She single-handedly broke down barriers between black and white. Her talk show audience is 80% white, (and mostly women).

Oprah was the first mega-media star to confront serious social issues in a way that was informative, provocative and non-threatening all at the same time.

She followed in the footsteps of Phil Donohue, but took his game and raised it to a completely different level.

Almost everybody who was anybody came to Chicago to talk to Oprah and her interviews were revealing, news breaking and interesting.

Oprah was also the first media Robber-Baron. She could make or break somebody, especially authors who needed a platform.

She has made hundreds of millions of dollars, and she is the most dominant African-American media powerhouse in the world.

Obama is Losing it

October 11th, 2010 by John Feehery

THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

If you are an American and you travel anywhere in the world in an official capacity, one of your first meetings is likely to be with the local American Chamber of Commerce.

Meeting with AmChams (as they are called) is an essential way to get a better understanding of how American businesses are doing in selling American products overseas. Members of AmChams (who are usually American) have an acute understanding of the local laws, the obstacles that foreign government often place in the way of trade, and the opportunities that exist for further investment.

AmChams are the tip of the spear when it comes to international trade. And without international trade, American business can’t grow. And if American businesses don’t grow, jobs don’t get created back here in the United States of America.

When President Obama talks about the supposed foreign influence that has infiltrated the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, he is talking about dues that are being paid by these AmChams back to the Chamber.

His argument is complete non-sense. It smacks of McCarthyism. The argument itself is delusional and it makes me wonder if the President has taken leave of his senses.

What Would AmocoMan Do?

June 16th, 2010 by John Feehery

In the late 1970’s/early 1980’s, Amoco Torch magazine, at the time one of the largest circulated company magazines in the world, featured a comic strip called “AmocoMan.”

It was the story of a mild-mannered oil company employee Jeffrey Ledfrey (lead free, get it?), his long-suffering Pet dog Roleum (Pet Roleum, get it?), his girlfriend, Polly Ester (polyester is a bi-product that comes from oil), who works as a clerk with Jeffrey.

One day, Ledfrey mistakenly tasted some mysterious oil substance that had crashed into Earth from outer space, and immediately gained super-human powers.  Ledfrey decided to use those powers to defend freedom, the American way of life, and of course, to do battle against the most evil super villain, Darth Shortage.  He went to the local K-Mart, bought some tights, a tee-shirt, a hard-hat, and some safety goggles, and immediately became AmocoMan.

In the first episode, AmocoMan rescues Polly Ester from an evil plot by Darth Shortage to tie up the oil industry with so much paperwork that it could no longer drill for oil. Darth’s plot — to create a terrible oil shortage and end civilization as we know it – was foiled by AmocoMan’s daring problem solving.

Rand Paul and Online Poker

May 19th, 2010 by John Feehery

Photo credit: Jamie Adams

It was interesting to go to a Ways and Means Committee meeting on the possibilities and pitfalls of online gambling in the aftermath of Rand Paul’s huge victory in Kentucky.

Paul is a libertarian, and by definition should be in favor of doing away with the prohibition of online gambling.  His father, Ron Paul, is a co-sponsor of legislation that would do just that.

Paul also has ample reason to change the current Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. The law could have a negative impact on para-mutual horse race betting, an industry important to the home state of Churchill Downs.

The hearing exposed both the philosophical and practical problems with the current law.  Philosophically, as Republican primary voters are clamoring for more freedom from the federal government, this law says simply that American adults are not capable of handling the temptation of Internet gambling.

Now, that may be true for a small percentage of Americans.  And it may be true that a small percentage of Americans can’t handle the temptation of sniffing glue.  But we don’t ban glue because of those fateful few whom have decided that sniffing it is the best use of glue.  Nor should we use the resources of the federal government to throw people in jail because they want to play poker in their own homes.

The Rope

May 5th, 2010 by John Feehery

It was Lenin who said:  “The Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them.”

A Washington corollary might be:  “The Capitalists will give us the campaign contributions from which we will hang them.”

The headline in one of the newspaper articles brought that thought to my mind:  “Obama biggest recipient of BP campaign contributions.”

British Petroleum gave more money to Barack Obama than to any other candidate in the last election.  Obama’s spokesman, Mr. Gibbs, said that the President is going to keep the Administration’s boot on the throat of BP, paraphrasing his Interior Secretary.

I didn’t realize that the Administration had a boot nor did I realize that BP had a throat.  Sounds kind of kinky to me.  But I digress.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that the Administration was filing criminal charges and civil charges against Goldman-Sachs, the erstwhile and formerly very powerful investment bank.

Goldman is charged with the high crime of making a lot of money at the expense of a lot of suckers.  That they didn’t tell the suckers that they were suckers seems to be the chief of allegation against them.