Penn and the Haitian Dictators: Actor Has Blind-Eyed Praise for Clinton & Martelly Roles

[EFerrari]

(I'm posting this even though it's depressing as hell, imo. )

In PBS interview, actor Sean Penn praises Martelly, downplays Duvalier, and dismisses Aristide
by Roger Annis l CHAN (first published in Haiti Liberté, January 25, 2012)
Last week, the PBS television interview program Tavis Smiley featured two half-hour evenings with Hollywood actor Sean Penn, a leading force in humanitarian relief work in Haiti since the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake.

Subtitled by the program as an ‘Actor/Humanitarian,’ Penn strongly defended the new neo-colonial order established in Haiti through the foreign-sponsored exclusion election of 2010/11 and the foreign-led, post-quake “reconstruction” plan spearheaded by Bill Clinton.

Penn made no mention of the foreign military occupation force increasingly denounced by Haitians, the United Nations Mission to Stabilize Haiti (MINUSTAH). (Just this week, UN soldiers in Port-au-Prince and Gonaïves were once again accused of sexual abuse of Haitian minors, a recurring phenomenon for which none have been brought to justice.)

http://www.pacificfreepress.com/news/1-/10794-penn-and-the-haitian-dictators-actor-has-blind-eyed-praise-for-clinton-a-martelly-roles.html

[bemildred]

1. Oh good Lord. nt

[EFerrari]

2. I want to write the musical "Oprah in Haiti"

because there was this creepy moment in the Oprah interview aired this week where she and Penn are riding in a car and talking about the school children on the street walking to school. Penn says, they spend 45% of their income on schools. And there was this insane, self satisfied moment where you can hear Penn and Oprah silently approving of this fact. And then your memory cuts to Oprah shilling for the privatization of American schools. And then, you realize that if Oprah works a little harder, soon she could be riding down an American street, approving of American families spending 45% of their income on schools for their kids. Oprah in Haiti.

[bemildred]

3. Just don't get confused as to who it is really about.

One thinks of Bono and Sting somehow. The poor as a convenient prop.

[EFerrari]

6. Yeah. I feel stupid now because was hoping

Penn's project would be different. But, he's providing cover for really bad actors. Maybe it's always complicated but his take is so clueless and reckless. Maybe influential people are attracted to other influential people despite themselves and the consequences.

[bemildred]

4. What the heck are you doing up anyway?

I'm an old fart, I went to bed at 8:20.

[EFerrari]

5. Medical emergency in the family

We're waiting on a surgery Monday and I woke up shivering and dry mouthed at about 3. Maybe this is something like shock. The melatonin isn't doing anything.

[bemildred]

7. Sorry, been there, done that. Stay the course. Take care of yourself.

Sleep, food, exercise, when you can.

Du is an excellent place to pass the time ...

[EFerrari]

8. Thanks. They're playing a movie game in The Lounge.

It helps.

[Judi Lynn]

10. We'll be thinking of you today. hoping you'll be getting better news soon. n/t

[naaman fletcher]

9. He likes Chavez, too!. nt