Bryan W. Alaspa 1Who really runs Chicago? Why Oprah, of course
September 3rd 2009 00:08
Imagine having the power to bring an entire city to a standstill. Imagine, with a virtual wave of your hand bringing traffic on a major thoroughfare to a halt. Imagine making even the great and Powerful mayor of this particular city tremble and bow his head. Just imagine having that kind of power and now imagine the city of Chicago.
Who would wield that kind of power? Who would cause even the great Mayor Daley to bow his head and then shrug his shoulder? Could it be some notorious gangster or someone with the mob? Could it be some alderman or some other politician? Could it be the president of the country? No, none of those people can even hold a poor candle to this person.
This person would be Oprah Winfrey.
It was revealed this week that Oprah is going to broadcast her show from a street corner in Chicago right on Michigan Avenue. This is going to bring to a halt traffic on Michigan Avenue. For those of you who don't know, Michigan Avenue is the major thoroughfare through the heart of downtown Chicago. If Chicago were a heart and it were to have a major artery it would be Michigan Avenue.
Why does Oprah want to close down the street? Does it really matter? Oprah could decide anything and the world seems to bend to her whim. Sure, she could spend a million dollars forty different times and open forty one million dollar schools in Africa. No, Oprah spends forty million on one school so she can have some hand in who does and who does not make it into the place. Oprah runs her own magazine so she can be the cover-girl every single month regardless of her looks or weight. Oprah expects stores to stay open later for her when she wants to shop and if they don't she drags the manager onto her show and shames him into apologizing.
So, Oprah wants to broadcast from the corner of one of the biggest and busiest streets in the city and disrupt Chicago's traffic for days. She wants and so she gets. You see, at some point Oprah became more than a talk show host. She drifted into cult leader a long time ago.
There was a time, many moons ago, not long after the Earth cooled, that Oprah ran a talk show like every other talk show at the time. She had crazy people on her show and she had celebrities. She even drifted into outright goofy guests and strange people that others would normally associate with “Maury” and “Jerry.” She gradually grew in popularity and, at some point, decided that she would become some kind of cult leader.
She began talking about everyone's “spirit” for example. Then she began telling her loyal followers what they should and should not read. Then she began bestowing gifts upon them. Then she granted them her magazine.
What amazes me is how many people still give themselves over to her. The women who faint and swoon at her show where she gives out the gifts and you would think she was God almighty bestowing manna on his people. They gaze with ecstatic joy as she shows them things that, in general, they could not afford were she not giving it to them as though it were blessed.
So, now she wants to close a major street in downtown Chicago. Of course, she gets her way and the workers and drivers who have to suffer, be damned. Oprah has cast down her judgment and found them not worth caring about. The Great and Powerful Oprah wants to do her show on a street corner. The rest of us must bow and be grateful she continues to do her show in this city.
Now, if only she could turn her attention towards truly great things and good things. At the very least, she should be able to make sure Chicago gets the Olympics.
Who would wield that kind of power? Who would cause even the great Mayor Daley to bow his head and then shrug his shoulder? Could it be some notorious gangster or someone with the mob? Could it be some alderman or some other politician? Could it be the president of the country? No, none of those people can even hold a poor candle to this person.
This person would be Oprah Winfrey.
It was revealed this week that Oprah is going to broadcast her show from a street corner in Chicago right on Michigan Avenue. This is going to bring to a halt traffic on Michigan Avenue. For those of you who don't know, Michigan Avenue is the major thoroughfare through the heart of downtown Chicago. If Chicago were a heart and it were to have a major artery it would be Michigan Avenue.
Why does Oprah want to close down the street? Does it really matter? Oprah could decide anything and the world seems to bend to her whim. Sure, she could spend a million dollars forty different times and open forty one million dollar schools in Africa. No, Oprah spends forty million on one school so she can have some hand in who does and who does not make it into the place. Oprah runs her own magazine so she can be the cover-girl every single month regardless of her looks or weight. Oprah expects stores to stay open later for her when she wants to shop and if they don't she drags the manager onto her show and shames him into apologizing.
So, Oprah wants to broadcast from the corner of one of the biggest and busiest streets in the city and disrupt Chicago's traffic for days. She wants and so she gets. You see, at some point Oprah became more than a talk show host. She drifted into cult leader a long time ago.
There was a time, many moons ago, not long after the Earth cooled, that Oprah ran a talk show like every other talk show at the time. She had crazy people on her show and she had celebrities. She even drifted into outright goofy guests and strange people that others would normally associate with “Maury” and “Jerry.” She gradually grew in popularity and, at some point, decided that she would become some kind of cult leader.
She began talking about everyone's “spirit” for example. Then she began telling her loyal followers what they should and should not read. Then she began bestowing gifts upon them. Then she granted them her magazine.
What amazes me is how many people still give themselves over to her. The women who faint and swoon at her show where she gives out the gifts and you would think she was God almighty bestowing manna on his people. They gaze with ecstatic joy as she shows them things that, in general, they could not afford were she not giving it to them as though it were blessed.
So, now she wants to close a major street in downtown Chicago. Of course, she gets her way and the workers and drivers who have to suffer, be damned. Oprah has cast down her judgment and found them not worth caring about. The Great and Powerful Oprah wants to do her show on a street corner. The rest of us must bow and be grateful she continues to do her show in this city.
Now, if only she could turn her attention towards truly great things and good things. At the very least, she should be able to make sure Chicago gets the Olympics.
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