Sean Penn Hammers BushCo

[Jcrowley]

<snip>

I'm sure many people who I met in Baghdad, both in my trips prior to and during the occupation, now similarly cannot just look forward. With lives so entirely shattered by a violence of occupation - an ongoing U.S. war effort and the civil war that it has catalyzed. All on the back of a crumbled infrastructure, following eleven years of devastating U.N. sanctions.

And, where is the accountability on behalf of the American dead and wounded, their families, their friends, and the people of the United States who have seen their country become a world pariah. These events have been enabled by people named Bush, Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld, and Rice, as they continue to perpetuate a massive fraud on American democracy and decency.

On January 11, 2003, I made an appearance on Larry King's show following my first trip to Iraq. I suggested that every American mother and father sit down with a scrap of paper and pencil and scribble the following words: Dear Mr. and Mrs. So-and-so -- We regret to inform you that your son or daughter so-and-so, was killed in action in Iraq. I then asked that those mothers and fathers complete that letter in whatever way might comfort them should they receive it. When one considers what a bewildered continuation of those words a parent might attempt to write today, it seems inconceivable that this country could've ever bought into this war. Who were those mothers and fathers believing in?! We know it's not the administration alone, but a culture at large, cloaking itself in self-righteousness, religion, and adolescent hero-dreaming machismo. Would they have believed Rush Limbaugh if they'd known he was high as a kite on OxyContin? Would they have believed the factually impaired Bill O'Reilly if they knew he was massaging his rectum with a loofah while telephonically harassing a staffer? Hannity, had they known he was simply a whore to the cause of his pimps - Murdoch and Ailes? Or the little bow-tie putz, if they knew all he was seeking was a good laugh from Jon Stewart? Maybe our countrymen and women were listening to Ted Haggert while he was whiffing meth and boning a muscle-headed gigolo? Or Mark Foley seeking junior weenis? Joe Lieberman, sitting Shiva? And Toby Keith, singing about how big his boots are?

"Oh, there goes Sean...he had to go and name-call. They say he can't help himself." Or, did I name-call? Maybe I just quickly summed up 7 or 8 little truths. Oh, no, you're right - I name-called. I said, "putz". I take it back. Or, do I? Did I say "whore?" Pimp? These are questions. But, the real and great questions of conscience and accountability would not loom so ominously -- unanswered or evaded at such tremendous cost -- without our day-to-day failure to insist on genuine accountability. Of course we'd prefer some easy ways to get there. But no easy ways exist. Not a new Congress. Not Barack Obama. And, not John McCain. His courage in North Vietnamese prison makes him a heroic man. His voting record in Congress makes him a damaging public servant. We have gotta stand the fuck up and show the world how powerful are the people in a democracy. That's how we regain our position of example, rather than pariah, to the world at large. And that is how we can begin to put up our chins and allow pride and unification to raise our own quality of life and security.

More:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sean-penn/on-receiving-the-2006-chr_b_36659.html

[tanyev]

1. Wow. Wow. Wow.

Read the entire article.

[pacalo]

2. Excellent & dead-on rant. And I agree with him about impeachment.

So...look, if we attempt to impeach for lying about a blowjob, yet accept these almost certain abuses without challenge, we become a cum-stain on the flag we wave. You know, I was listening to Frank Rich this morning, speaking on a book tour. He said he thought impeachment proceedings would amount to a "decadent" sidetrack, while our soldiers were still being killed. I admire Frank Rich. And of course he would be right if impeachment is all we do. But we're Americans. We can do two things at the same time. Yes, let's move forward and swiftly get out of this war in Iraq AND impeach these bastards.

I admire Frank Rich for speaking out when not many were doing so, & I admire John Dean for his intelligence & experience of having served in the boy king's mentor's administration. But they are wrong when they discount impeachment. We are silent now because we're waiting to see what the Democratic Congress is going to do. Once the hearings begin, we will be demanding impeachment. The impeachment provision in the Constitution was made for this boy king. It's the only thing that will protect this country from administrations just like this one.

For six long years we had to sit & take it, keep our mouths shut or be arrested, be accused of not supporting the troops or not loving our country, be kept out of the boy king's personal appearances, be ignored when we contact our congresspeople...I've had enough.

[TabulaRasa]

3. Damn! That's my boy. A great actor, and a great person.

He's really taking no prisoners. Slight correction, though. O'Reilly was massaging his rectum with a vibrator, not a loofah. A loofah, or falafel, as the case may be, was what he was imagining himself rubbing over the body of his sexual prey, while he was massaging his rectum with said vibrator. :D

[neoblues]

4. Hits The Truth Squarely Out of the Park!

We have to stand up and make the changes happen. There's no easy way, but if everyone took even a small action, the effect on our "leaders" would be enormous.

[lyonn]

5. Ok, my votes for Sean Penn!!

If only Harry Reid could speak "nearly" as well as Penn. The hell with politicians' job security. We hired them to do the job for us and then the likes of Reid say, "well, maybe we can surge some troops into Baghdad, let's see what happens". Somehow I don't think that is the language the people voted for in Nov., they expected more from the Dems. Shouldn't our Dem. leaders acknowledge what the voters were saying?

[Jcrowley]

6. KICK

for more folks reading pleasure.

[gordianot]

7. At least Sean does not go to Iraq holding a platter with a rubber turkeys.

""

[Pacifist Patriot]

16. Oh please tell me you are kidding.

[Straight Shooter]

19. He's kidding. It was a plastic turkey.

And I'm not kidding. It was plastic.

[Pacifist Patriot]

21. *sigh* Our men and women in uniform deserve...well...so much more.

Like home for the holidays!

[Straight Shooter]

22. At the least they deserve a leader worthy of respect.

:(

[gordianot]

25. True it is plastic but most likely somewhat rubbery.

That prop was also obscenely expensive. Bush standing in the mess hall in Iraq on Thanksgiving with a prop turkey is the perfect allegory for his entire administration.

A coward trying to take on a military persona holding an inedible prop. These people have no shame.

[Straight Shooter]

27. Prop turkey.

Potemkin Thanksgiving. What a sham he is, no matter what he does.

[H2O Man]

8. Last night he called

for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,237357,00.html

[valerief]

9. Right on, actor man! nt

[nam78_two]

10. K&R.nt

[Spazito]

11. Wow!

Now THAT is one righteous rant! Go Sean, keep telling the unvarnished truth!

[Parche]

12. awesome

We know it's not the administration alone, but a culture at large, cloaking itself in self-righteousness, religion, and adolescent hero-dreaming machismo. Would they have believed Rush Limbaugh if they'd known he was high as a kite on OxyContin? Would they have believed the factually impaired Bill O'Reilly if they knew he was massaging his rectum with a loofah while telephonically harassing a staffer? Hannity, had they known he was simply a whore to the cause of his pimps - Murdoch and Ailes? Or the little bow-tie putz, if they knew all he was seeking was a good laugh from Jon Stewart? Maybe our countrymen and women were listening to Ted Haggert while he was whiffing meth and boning a muscle-headed gigolo? Or Mark Foley seeking junior weenis? Joe Lieberman, sitting Shiva? And Toby Keith, singing about how big his boots are? ..

Ok I just fell off my chair laughing so hard....that is hilarious


You Rock!!!

[Tinksrival]

13. More info on what Sean Penn has been up to .........

on yesterdays thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2943121&mesg_id=2944616

[Cha]

14. Obviously Sean Penn

could a decent job as our president if he even wanted the job.

[Pacifist Patriot]

15. Totally flip response...

Spicoli as President? There's a thought! :)

[Cha]

18. Spicoli grew up to be

the caring, eloquent Sean Penn and bush the frog dynamiter grew up to ..never mind.

[Pacifist Patriot]

23. Funny how that happens, isn't it?

I can think of two total fuck ups from my high school who have turned out to be really fine generous adults. And two BMOC who are sitting in jail. Hmmm...

[Uncle Joe]

17. Outstanding Sean, I am in total agreement with the exception

of the Frank Rich part. Frank Rich enabled Bush to power, I have no admiration for him.

Kicked and recommended

[pacalo]

24. You know more than I do about Frank Rich.

I came to know his work only after he started writing columns of outrage against the boy king. I'd never noticed him before that, so if you could fill me in, I'd appreciate it.

[Uncle Joe]

36. This is just an appetizer,

there is much more on the Daily Holwer's website regarding Rich's reporting during the runup to the coup of 2000.

http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh021804.shtml

<snip>

Clearly, Alterman and Tomasky imply that the iconic slanders of Candidate Gore were initiated and driven by “the right-wing media.” But that is just plainly untrue. Indeed, just look at the examples which E&M cite. As everyone surely knows by now, the “Love Canal” misquotation started (on 11/30/99) at the Washington Post and the New York Times, in stories by Ceci Connolly and Katharine “Kit” Seelye. The matter of Gore and the school desk in Florida? It was an instant post-Debate I hit, lovingly pushed all through the mainstream media. And how about Gore’s “fully buttoned brown suit” (his earth tones)? The notion that Naomi Wolf told Gore to wear earth tones also started in the Post, with a “speculation” reported by—who else?—Ceci Connolly. The right-wing media played no role. And by the way: E&M omit the Love Story tale. That iconic canard was invented in December 1997 at—where else?—the New York Times, in a trio of ludicrous columns by Maureen Dowd and Frank Rich and in tortured “reporting” by Melinda Henneberger. Sorry, kids: All the iconic slanders of Gore began at the Washington Post and New York Times. The “right-wing media” were active in the campaign. But the Post and the Times were in charge.

No one has done more work on the coverage of Campaign 2000 than we have. And we can’t think of a single one of the major Gore Slanders that were initiated or driven by the conservative press. Indeed, the Washington Times worked hard to establish several such stories, but failed to gain traction every time. (Gore’s canoe trip; Gore as slumlord.) The War Against Gore was not initiated or driven by the right-wing press. This war was driven by the mainstream press, no matter how often career scribes tell you different.

<snip>

Here’s more

http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh060906.shtml

Special report—Frankly, that’s Rich!
READ EACH INSTALLMENT: We had to laugh when a certain pundit reviewed Al Gore’s deeply troubling new film. But then, Frank Rich has produced this sort of nonsense for years. Be sure to read every installment:

PART 1: Gore was right on every big judgment—but Rich is in love with a narrative. See THE DAILY HOWLER, 5/31/06.

PART 2: Gore had made a string of sound judgments. But omigod! Someone laughed at his jokes! See THE DAILY HOWLER, 6/1/06.

PART 3: Rich says Gore was right in 2002. In 2002, he said different. See THE DAILY HOWLER, 6/2/06.

PART 4: Before the Swift Boats, Rich invented Love Story. See THE DAILY HOWLER, 6/5/06.

PART 5: Right to the end, he Frankly proclaimed—Gore was a clown, just like Bush. See THE DAILY HOWLER, 6/7/06.

[pacalo]

37. Ugh. His comments in regard to "An Inconvenient Truth" are shameless.

He seemed to be looking for things that would minimize the impact of opinions on global warming (he called it "climate change"). I know he used to write theater reviews for the NYT, so maybe he feels he's at his best when he's criticizing.

At a time when we have a buffoon in the WH, totally inept in every aspect, you'd think Rich could have shown a little appreciation for the man who actually cares about this country & the world. Gore outshines the boy king in every way imaginable.

[onecent]

20. Sean Penn is a legend in his own time. I love him. n/t

[mzmolly]

26. Wow,

just wow! :toast:

[Danger Mouse]

28. Hmm...

I didn't like Sean Penn before, but I like him now. Good and ballsy.

[Lautremont]

29. It's funny - I just read a newspaper from exactly four years ago

(it was saved for reasons of personal posterity), and there was a little article about how Penn had returned from Iraqu on a fact-finding mission and had determined that there were no WMD. Of course, the tone of the article was very mocking, but Penn was, of course, absolutely right.

He's due to do a lot of mocking of his own, and I'm glad to see he's at it!

[Old and In the Way]

30. Sean's a great actor and a great American.

We should make him an honorary DUer.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

31. K&R

[Vidar]

32. I respect Penn as a person, an actor & for punching out paparazzi.

[JNelson6563]

33. Take it to 'em Sean!

:yourock:

[LibDemAlways]

34. Twenty two years ago Sean Penn

played real life convicted spy Daulton Lee in The Falcon and the Snowman. In preparing for the role Penn visited Lee in prison and got to know him. Daulton Lee was anything but admirable. He was a long time drug dealer who had sold out his country for profit and reinvested the money in heroin.

Lee had received a life sentence, but he was a model prisoner and eventually in the late 90's he was parolled. Penn had stayed in touch with Lee for the duration of his prison term and must have seen the possibility of redemption for the exceptionally short, acne scarred man who had grown up the adopted son of a surgeon in wealthy Palos Verdes, CA. (As an aside Daulton Lee and George "Macaca" Allen graduated in the same 1970 class.)

Anyhow, Penn stood by Daulton, and when he was parolled, gave him a job. To my knowledge, Daulton hasn't been in trouble since.

Penn - hell of an actor. Hell of a human being.

[xxqqqzme]

35. from Wikipedia

'...In December 1976, Lee (with top secret microfilm on his person) was arrested by Mexican police in front of the Soviet Embassy on the false suspicion of having killed a Mexico City police officer, but under torture instead confessed to espionage, quickly implicating Boyce in the scheme. Lee was convicted of espionage and sentenced to life in prison at the federal penitentiary in Lompoc, California. He was released on parole in 1998. At some point after his release he was apparently hired by Sean Penn to be his personal assistant...'