Oprah Gives Free Trips & Prizes to Her Audience While Mother of Iranian Hostage Can't Pay $500K to Have Her Released

Posted on | September 13, 2010 | No Comments |

In her farewell season premiere today, Oprah gave away hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and prizes to a mostly white woman audience that probably could easily do without. She also gave the audience of 300 a trip to Australia in a plane piloted by John Travolta. Maybe on the way she can stop in Iran to pick up its latest hostage.

From ABC News:

Price of Freedom for American Hiker in Iran: $500K Bail in Cash

I wonder if any of the screaming audience members would ever say, "Hey, Oprah. I'd like to donate my portion of the money you paid for trip to the Iranian hostage's bail."

Swiss diplomats negotiating with Iran on behalf of the United States for the release of an American woman accused of espionage have hit another road block: This time in the form of cash -- $500,000 to be exact -- that Iranian officials have demanded as the woman's bail.

It's the latest dip in an emotional roller coaster for the family of 32-year-old Sarah Shourd that began in earnest last Thursday when top Iranian officials, including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, announced that Shourd would be released Sept. 11. There was no mention of bail. Officials in Iran's judiciary canceled those plans Friday, but reinstated them Sunday with the bail requirement, according to an Iranian prosecutor who spoke to Iran's IRNA news agency.

I know we shouldn't negotiate with terrorists, but if all it takes is $500K to get her out, where are these beyond rich celebrities who always seem to be looking for a humanitarian cause? And where's Jimmah Carter in all of this?

Ever since, Shourd, who has spent 14 months in captivity in Iran, has been waiting in the wings as Swiss officials work to pull together the cash to buy her freedom. A senior U.S. official familiar with the negotiations told ABC News that the U.S. government would not be contributing any cash for Shourd's release.

An attorney for the Americans, Masoud Shafie, told ABC News Shourd could be released today, right up until midnight in Tehran, should the bail money be paid. The mothers of the hikers are appealing to authorities to drop the bail demand as they are apparently having trouble raising the money, Shafie told The Associated Press.

The blog "Free the Hikers," which is run by family and friends of the American, posted a solicitation for dontations Sunday.

Any chance Oprah will visit the blog?

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