Oprah and Obama: Irony of the Week

Juan Cole 12/10/2007

The irony of the week is that Oprah Winfrey has come out strongly for Barack Obama as president. Why is that ironic? Because the subtext of Oprah’s television show is that men are unreliable and women have to stick together.

So she supports a man for president in preference to another woman.

I like Obama very much, it is no reflection on him. But I think Oprah has some splainin’ to do.

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment and Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan. He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires. Follow him at @jricole.