O, no you don't, America. NO!

Oh, no you don't, America. NO. YOU. DON'T. Oprah Winfrey is not here to be anybody's savior or convenience. Period. You got us into this mess. You're gonna have to dig us out.

Stop it with always taking the easy way out. It's time to take a very honest look at ourselves and realize that we've become complacent and self-destructive as a nation. We've allowed ourselves to create divisions in government that were never there before. We've allowed vitriol, hate speech and peer pressure to keep us from making decisions based on our own convictions and values and consciously ignore what our hearts know is right. We've allowed media to create their own rules for reporting the truth, filled with opinions and eye rolls and split screens instead of doing their damn job which is reporting the news as factually and unbiased as humanly possible. We've allowed ourselves to become so jaded and uninterested in politics that we're allowing the people we voted into office to run amok and get caught up in the game of quid pro quo and special interests and making deals without fighting for the very platforms that got them elected.

And now, instead of actually listening to the contents and context of the incredibly powerful and nuanced Golden Globes speech that Oprah gave, you all jump on your convenient little bandwagons and hitch your horses to the delusion that Oprah Winfrey should sacrifice a beautiful life that she created and actually deserves and run as a worthy successor to yet another celebrity who managed to sneak into the White House without a majority of the popular vote and with zero government experience. Are you insane, America? Seriously.

Oprah Winfrey has more than done her part for this country. She's survived rape at the hands of a relative who was never prosecuted. She's survived discrimination as a Black woman in a profession that she helped to revolutionize. She had a successful tv program that brought people from every faith, political affiliation, race, sexual orientation, etc. together and created conversations at dinner tables that never would have happened without The Oprah Winfrey Show. She survived being sued by the meat industry because of a simple comment that had a powerful and swift affect on their profits. She presented her own struggles with weight in an open and honest way so that others could relate to her life-long struggle and know that they, too, were human. And she sunset her own, worldwide phenomenon television show while at the top of her game with nary a personal scandal or black mark in its entire 25-year run. Sorry, America. You don't get to make this woman your martyr to cover up the fact that you're too lazy the get out and vote, debate issues openly and fairly, recall the people who reneged on their promises, and actively teach your children the difference between right and wrong, just and unjust instead expecting them to Google it and figure it out for themselves.

Oprah's Golden Globes speech was squarely in support of a movement that took far too long to materialize and gain in strength. Too many women, for decades, have suffered at the hands of entitled men who felt they were beyond reproach and, mostly, were. But as Oprah stated as did all of the black attire and the pins sported by the men in the audience, a smattering of whom I give major side eye, TIME'S UP. That is the only thing we should be focused on and taking from that speech. Focus, America. Please! We need to keep our eyes on what's currently in front of us. This movement has created a visibility and a reciprocity that is the most powerful since women's suffrage rights. We have created a new level of accountability that is only at its infancy. The more we focus on exposing the guilty, leveling the gender inequities, and holding companies to a new standard of cultural inclusion without it being some exercise in hiring "a bunch of those" to balance a couple of line items on a spreadsheet, the sooner we can all benefit from businesses that actually reflect the communities in which they are built and where everyone is in place based on their ability to do the job well and be compensated equally and fairly.

Stand down on this "Oprah in 2020" BS. It's not going to happen. Especially not to save you from having to get involved and do a little hard work of your own. Sure, if Oprah decides for some insane reason to completely tarnish her legacy and subject herself to the abject racism, misogyny, inequality, yellow journalism and spin of a Presidential bid, she will have my full support. In fact, I would likely put my business on hold and join that campaign tout de suite. I believe she is more capable than anyone to take down our current Administration and do it in a way that's intelligent and based in fact and not fall victim to the name calling, race bating, lack of integrity, and us/them rhetoric that has dogged this Administration's campaign. But, despite her intelligence and experience as a brilliant businesswoman, she's not a politician. And the learning curve in Washington is steep and frustrating, especially for a 63-year old woman who has already proven everything she needs to to a country who, despite her best efforts, still can't quite get their shit together.

What Oprah could do best for the country right now is revive The Oprah Winfrey Show. This country needs that vehicle back in our lives to help us develop or reignite our ability to empathize and understand one another through the medium that we know best. We need honesty and integrity in a platform providing the truth, stripped of any bias or BS or agenda. And we need it now. Not Oprah to come and handle our dirty work for us.

So please, America. Stop it with the talk of an Oprah Winfrey-led White House. How about you focus on eradicating the need for a single other person having to say #metoo to call out abuse or inequities in their lives like she addressed in her speech. How about we beat it to the polls in 2018 and make some sweeping changes in personnel on The Hill. How about Silicon Valley stop profiting off the peril and dehumanization of this nation with their stupid apps ruining our ability to relate to one another face to face and put some skin in the game on The Hill to finally fix many of the problems this nation continues to suffer at the hands of old, corrupt, inept politicians who are getting richer while doing absolutely nothing for their constituencies. You want change? Start there.

Oprah is not for sale. Move along, please. Nothing to see here.