Flame away, I don't agree with anything the guy does (especially his trip to Iraq - which seemed treasonish,) but he does come across as genuine in his feelings, not spewing angry hate at the top of his lungs like so many of his peers.
If we've got to put up with the Hollywood types, I'd rather see them doing, not saying. So I think he's out in left field, at least he puts himself out there instead of issuing statements from a lofty perch.
The Nazis believed they were "doing the right thing." The man shilled for Saddam Hussein, a modern Hitler, on his trip to Iraq.
Penn is one of the worst at spewing venom.
And all his protests do, contrary to your assessment, "at least he puts himself out there instead of issuing statements from a lofty perch", in reality give aid and encouragement to the terrorists and hurt the morale of the good guys. He's not a courageous idealist, he's a self-absorbed, narcissistic traiter who goes along with the Hollywood herd.
As a previous poster noted:
"He braved a hot fresh coffee at Starbucks, a Monday morning of no work, a chilly fog, and damp air... when most all of America has real jobs and are frikin' working on a frikin' Monday!"
I'm not so close minded that I don't have liberal friends, in fact, disagreements aside, I can appreciate a healthy arguement or discussion from an opposing view.
All I'm saying, and that's all I'm saying, is that the guy seems like someone a regular joe can speak to without the conversation instantly devolving into some canned lefty elevator speech. I could easily be wrong, just my impression.
I've seen/heard Penn spew a lot of idiocy in the last few years, but what he said today was the most ignorant and obnoxious stuff out of his mouth, ever. Even Spicoli was wiser and better informed.