(Simon and Garfunkle’s tune “Mrs. Robinson” stuck in my head while I’m writing) Where have you gone, Joe McCarthy, a nation turned it’s back on you too soon… woo woo woo…
OK, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but an interesting post on Seaspook’s Rants over the weekend started me thinking down a path I hadn’t really explored before: Who’s side is Hollywood really on?
We’ve chatted about Rosie O’Donnell at length here, but there are plenty of other nuts out there sharing similar views… or are they really nuts after all. Maybe this is merely an expression of their hatred of our capitalist society; maybe this goes a lot deeper than it appears on the surface… then again, maybe they are just plain nuts.
From World Net Daily via Seaspook’s Rants:
Would it surprise you to learn that one of those prominent Hollywood communist Jews who sided with Germany until the breaking of that Hitler-Stalin Pact was none other than Leo Penn, the late father of Sean Penn.
Now it’s Sean Penn’s turn to relive and recommit the sins of his father, who never repented of his Communist Party activities …
Penn spoke at a town hall meeting in Oakland last weekend. What he said about his country was shameful. What he said about our country’s enemies – and the enemies of freedom throughout the entire world – was even more despicable.
More info on Leo Penn at Wikipedia:
He was a strong political supporter of Joseph Stalin and advocated US neutrality in the war in Europe during the period of time where the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact created an alliance between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. The moment Hitler violated that pact Penn urged that America enter the war.
So.. the war was bad until Hitler violated the pact with the Soviet Union… then it was good.
So, what of young Mr. Penn? What has the little tike been saying that is causing such a stir? Here’s what I think is the full text as posted on The Huffington Post (interrupted by a few of my own expressions of free speech):
Four and a half years ago, I addressed the issue of war in an open letter to our President. Today I would like to again speak to him and his, directly. Mr. President, Mr. Cheney, Ms. Rice et al: Indeed America has a rich history of greatness -indeed, America is still today a devastating military superpower.
And because, in the absence of a competent or brave Congress, of a mobilized citizenry, that level of power lies in your hands, it is you who have misused it to become our country’s and our constitution’s most devastating enemy. You have broken our country and our hearts. The needless blood on your hands, and therefore, on our own, is drowning the freedom, the security, and the dream that America might have been, once healed of and awakened by, the tragedy of September 11, 2001.
Fabulous bit of hyperbole, showing that dramatic flair that will convince people he actually said something here. However, when broken down to the basics, all he said is the president is Commander in Chief and it is Penn’s OPINION that the war against terrorism was not the correct path following the series of direct attacks on our country. What he believes the correct path to be remains a mystery, probably even to himself.
But now, we are encouraged to self-censor any words that might be perceived as inflammatory – if our belief is that this war should stop today. We cower as you point fingers telling us to “support our troops.”
Cower? Self-censor? You’re kidding, right?
Well, you and the smarmy pundits in your pocket, those who bathe in the moisture of your soiled and bloodstained underwear, can take that noise and shove it. We will be snowed no more.
Wonderful imagery. No substance, but interesting use of underwear to convey no message what-so-ever. Best guess interpretation: Penn believes that anyone who believes the president, is somehow on the take, and the rest of the country has been somehow blindly following the president… hey Sean… where have you been dude? There has been a healthy, relatively civil (in that no one has included imagery of bloody, soiled underwear before this point in time to my knowledge) debate going on for many, many months now. Did you just wake up and happen to turn on Comedy Central to watch the “news”?
Let’s make this crystal clear. We do support our troops in our stand, while you exploit them and their families.
And you are basing this on….? Wonder if the troops feel supported by you and yours. (there must be a you and yours since he referred to a him and his). But really, come on, you can admit it. You don’t really like the troops at all. But these days it is “PC” to say you do. If this were 40 years ago you would be pushing to the front of the line to spit on the troops as they returned home.
The verdict is in. You lied, connived, and exploited your own countrymen and most of all, our troops.
Interesting verdict there Sean. Any evidence? I mean from the real world… no fair making stuff up.
You Misters Bush and Cheney; you Ms. Rice are villainously and criminally obscene people, obscene human beings, incompetent even to fulfill your own self-serving agenda, while tragically neglectful and destructive of ours and our country’s.
Misters? Is that a word? Anyway… instead of any discussion of issues or specific points to be addressed, Penn illustrates the common flaw that repeatedly surfaces during debates on various issues with the Hollywood left… they have no real understanding of the issues so they resort to personal attacks, as if by calling names they’ve proven their point.
And I got a question for your daughters Mr. Bush. They’re not children anymore. Do they support your policy in Iraq? If they do, how dare they not be in uniform, while the children of the poor; black, white, Asian, Hispanic, and all the other American working men and women are slaughtered, maimed and flown back into this country under cover of darkness.
And I got? Mr. Penn! “I have”.. not “And I got”.. please, if we are to have adult conversations we must use grown up words and sentence structure. Now, as to your imagery here. First, let’s clarify something that you may not be aware of, having been living in Hollywood and far from the real world for some time now: WE HAVE AN ALL VOLUNTEER MILITARY NOW! That being said… can you share with us the break out of poor, middle class and affluent in the military? How about by race? Or are facts not really relevant when you are trying to prove yourself right. And are our American Service Men and Women flown back under the cover of darkness? Really? Come on… make your arguments using facts and stay with us in the real world for a moment or two… otherwise, just shut up please.
Now, because I’ve been on the streets of Baghdad during this occupational war, outside the Green Zone, without security, and you haven’t; I’ve met children there. In that country of 25 million, these children have now suffered minimally, a rainstorm of civilian death around and among them totaling the equivalent of two hundred September 11ths in just four years of war. Two hundred 9/11s. Two hundred 9/11s.
Were you walking around counting while you were there? Were you? Were you? Did you happen to ask them how many were killed by Americans and how many by terrorists? Did you? Did you? Will the killing stop when we leave? Will it? Will it? Does saying something three times make it true? By the way, you can walk around outside the Green Zone without the same level of security the president needs because, frankly, you are not a high value target.
You want to rattle sabers toward Iran now? Let me tell you something about Iran, because I’ve been there and you haven’t. Iran is a great country. A great country. Does it have its haters? You bet. Just like the United States has its haters. Does it have a corrupt regime? You bet. Just like the United States has a corrupt regime. Does it want a nuclear weapon? Maybe. Do we have one? You bet.
Are we threatening to blow up our neighbors with nuclear weapons? Is Iran? You bet. Interesting how you can visit all these countries in relative safety… hmmmm. By the way, we don’t have a “regime”… you may have slept through it, but we had an election. And if you are looking for corruption, look no further than your Dem friends in Congress.
But the people of Iran are great people. And if we give that corrupt leadership, (by attacking Iran militarily) the opportunity to unify that great country in hatred against us, we’ll have been giving up one of our most promising future allies in decades. If you really know anything about Iran, you know exactly what I’m referring to. Of course your administration belittles diplomatic potential there, as those options rely on a credibility and geopolitical influence that you have aggressively squandered worldwide.
Hey! Who has been leaving Sean out of the loop on all the backdoor diplomacy that has been going on? The encouragement of factions sympathetic to the West? The offers of assistance if Iran gives up their plans to wipe Israel of the face of the Earth? I thought we all agreed to keep him in the loop. Sorry about that Sean…
Speaking of squandering, how about the billion and a half dollars a day our Iraq-focused military is spending, where three weeks of that kind of spending, would pay the tab on a visionary levy-building project in New Orleans and relieve the entire continent of Africa from starvation and the spread of disease. Not to mention the continued funds now necessary, to not only rebuild our education and healthcare systems, but also, to give care and aid to the veterans of this war, both American and our Iraqi allies and friends who have lost everything.
Hey.. while we’re spending everyone’s money on projects we like.. how about sending a billion or two my way. Oh wait.. that’s right… we kind of need that money to keep the terrorists busy over there so they won’t have time to come over here.. sorry, I forgot.
Not to get off topic… but the money that has been sent to New Orleans over the years to improve the levees has been reallocated to other projects by New Orleans. So instead of whining about not getting more funding from the rest of the country, how about an accounting of what you did with the money we already sent your way. And how about some answers to some real tough questions? How much money do we spend to fight Mother Nature. Not just in New Orleans, but in any coastal or low lying area. You want to live there? Great. But perhaps we should consider using the money allocated for rebuilding to rebuild elsewhere so we don’t have to spend it over and over again… like along the Jersey shore as an example. Sorry.. I digress…
You say we’ve kept the war on terror off our shores by responding to a criminal act of terror through state sponsored unilateral aggression in a country that took no part in that initial crime. That this war would be fought in Iraq or fought here. They are not our toilet. They are a country of human beings whose lives, while once oppressed by Saddam, are now lived in Dante’s inferno.
Sigh… refuting arguments that present opinions as fact and then build conclusions upon false foundations can wear you down. It was not a criminal act of terror, it was an act of war. These are not criminals, they are warriors.. just ask them. Do they believe they are committing a crime or fighting a war against the West? If they believe they are fighting a war, why can’t you believe it? Iraq, the nation, did not attack the United States. However, the world is a bit more complicated than in the days when your dad was arguing against US involvement in the war against Hitler until Hitler attacked his buddies in the USSR. This war has no borders. Saddam Hussein was a sponsor of terrorism, it is proven that he paid the families of suicide bombers as a reward for killing Jews, he harbored terrorists in his country, and even if 9/11 never happened, we already had cause for war because he kept shooting at our planes. Do you really believe if we leave now the killings will stop. Are you really that stupid?
My 15-year-old daughter was working on a comparative essay this week (you can ask Condi what a comparative essay is, as academic exercises fit the limits of her political expertise.)
Condescension on academia would be more credible if you had gone beyond high school in your education. Nothing wrong with a high school education.. but I believe a Yale degree is a wee bit higher.
My daughter’s essay, which understood substance over theory, discusses the strengths of the Nuremberg trial justice beside the alternate strategy of truth and reconciliation in South Africa, and I quote: “When we observe distinctions between one power and another, one justice and another, we consider the divide between retribution and reconciliation, of closure and disclosure.” I can’t do her essay justice in this forum, but at its core, it asks how, when, and why we compromise toward peace, punish for war, or balance both for something more.
Sounds like your daughter is pretty smart. Maybe she should have written the letter.
This may focus another soft spot in the rhetoric of both sides. We’re told not to engage in the “politics of attack.” To “keep away from the negative”…Well, Mr. Bush, when speaking of your administration, that would leave us silent, and impotent indeed.
And that would be bad because….?
So, in conclusion, I address my remaining remarks to the choir: We all played nice recently at the sad passing of former President Ford. Pundits and players on all sides re-visited his pardoning of Richard Nixon with praise, stating that a divided nation found unity. But what of that precedent on deterrence now? Where is justice now? Let’s unite, not only in stopping this war, but holding this administration accountable as well. Without impeachment, justice cannot prevail. In our time, or our children’s. And let’s make it clear to democrats and republicans alike that we are not willing to wait on ‘08 to hear them say again: “If I’d known then, what I know now.”
Impeachment? Yet another man in need of a copy of the US Constitution. So.. which part of the war would you like to stop? The part where we are tying to protect Iraqi’s from terrorists, the part where we are trying to stop Afghanistan from becoming an al Qaeda base again, the part where we are trying to prevent another attack on American soil? Which part don’t you like and what is your alternative solution? Shall we invite them over for tea?
Even in a so-called victory, what we saw yesterday was a House of Representatives that couldn’t bring itself to represent either conscience or constituents. It’s a tragedy that the Democratic Party’s leadership in Congress refuses to allow the House to vote on Barbara Lee’s amendment for a fully funded, orderly withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of this year. Elites circled the war wagons against this proposal, and postponed the day of reckoning that must come as soon as possible – a complete pullout of U.S. military forces from Iraq.
So.. if they had voted on it and it went down in flames… you would still be whining. It is clear that the only legitimate view is your view. Otherwise, you would realize that the elected representatives are supporting their constituents and that the majority of the House and Senate, as well as the country, is not made up of left-wing loons such as yourself. In fact, the leadership of the House and Senate is far left of the mainstream of the House and Senate.. for now.
There are presidential candidates who understand this. We do have candidates of conscience. As things stand today, I will be voting for Dennis Kucinich, who has fought this war from the beginning. You might say Kucinich can’t win. Well, we have an opportunity to re-establish the credibility of democracy as viewed by the world at large.
Damn! I missed it. When did democracy lose credibility? Was it back when Gore tried to disallow thousands of votes by military personnel to steal the election? No.. that can’t be it, because he lost anyway. Was it when Gore took it to the Florida courts, only to ultimately lose in the US Supreme Court. No… that can’t be it since that worked out for the best as well. Oh.. and if it had somehow gone to Congress for a vote, Bush still would have been president.. won’t bore you with the details.. it’s all in the Constitution. Oh… and by all means vote for whoever you want for president… that’s part of living in a democracy.
We can fire our current president. We can choose the next president. You and me, the farmer in Wisconsin, the boys at Google, and Bill Gates.
We can? (thumbing through copy of US Constitution).. nope, nothing here about firing the president because Sean Penn doesn’t like his policies.
It’s up to us to choose. Why don’t we choose?!
Ummm.. I did? Hey wait… I thought this was an open letter to the president. When did it shift to an open letter to the American people, specifically the lunatics who would actually believe any of this tripe?
So, what will it take for this war against terror to be a good thing for Mr. Sean Penn, like the war against Nazism became a good thing for Leo Penn so many years ago? Maybe Sean Penn can share his thoughts on when terrorists will have crossed that line in his next letter to the president.
