Jon Voight on new movie September Dawn, his career, and his politics (Moral Clarity)

Legendary actor Jon Voight on his controversial new movie September Dawn, his career, and his politics, which might surprise you.

HH: Now in your assessment of whose going to be the next president, and we’re going to now transition to the war and come back to your career and come back to the film, what do you most want in a commander in chief?

JV: Well, I think you have to have many things. One is someone who is able to look beyond partisanship and see what’s right for the country, and understand what’s really happening. In this day and age, you really have to know who the enemy is, and not be distracted from that, because we’re facing an enemy, in my estimation, that is similar to…I mean, this is more akin to 1938 than anything else, in we’re dealing with a totalitarian aspect that is very, very pernicious. And as we can see, it has no borders. I mean, this incident that just happened a couple of days ago…

JV: These kids were from Kosovo, who we went to defend against the Serbs to protect these people, do you see? And they have no allegiance to our country, or any gratitude. They’re coming to do as much damage, and to destroy our democracy.

HH: Jon Voight, not only fun movies like this one [Mission Impossible] and Anaconda, Camp Fun, but great movies, and Coming Home was what your Oscar was for. It’s an anti-war movie. It’s understood as an anti-war movie. In fact, I was with my brother-in-law this morning, retired lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps, said to say hi, but not to your co-star in that movie, for whom he has no use. And the question is, were you anti-war at the time that Coming Home was? And what’s the difference between Vietnam and the war that we currently find ourselves in?

JV: Well, there’s a big difference, isn’t there? A big difference between Vietnam and this war. We’ve been attacked on our own soil here, and we have…and the enemy might be our own neighbor, as was brought forth in a very vivid example by the attack on Fort Dix. This is a very different situation, and so…and I think we’ve learned things. I’ve learned things from the 60’s, and that time, and where my head was at that time, and I can see things in a different perspective.

HH: You’re a 9/11 person, as opposed to a 9/10 person. I read in your Radar interview that you’d just been to Walter Reed. Now I have the young men from the Semper Fi Fund up here, coming in a couple of weeks. They were here in December. They’re rehabbing at Camp Pendleton, been seriously wounded, but they’re making their way back. I have extraordinary, as do you, extraordinary respect for these people. Did they have confidence, the kids you met at Walter Reed, the kids you dined out with, we were at the same Marine Corps, dining out in Newport Beach a few months ago. Do they have confidence the war can be won?

JV: Yes, they do, and it was said repeatedly when I visited the troops, the wounded warriors at Walter Reed. And I must say, I wish, I wish I could have carried the entire United States with me to see these fellows’ faces, and to hear their words. These guys are really, these guys are top of the line. They are way beyond their peer group, in terms of strength of character, and understanding of what’s going on in the world, and their commitment to helping the United States. They’re just extraordinary people. And in the wake of their disabilities, which were happening by going to one room, and I said when did your injury happen? And I think because of Coming Home, and working with all the vets there, and the paraplegics and the quadriplegics, I know not to be shy to talk about everything. So where’s your injury? When did it happen? You know what I mean? And we get into it. Well, it happened two and a half weeks ago, Jon. I shouldn’t be here, says one of the guys, most of the guys. I shouldn’t be here. If that helicopter hadn’t shown up and the medics took me out five minutes after we went down in our humvee, we were, we had two bombs blow us up, or it would have blown up a city building, and you know, these guys came. And I was looking around for the guys who were moving on my team, and see if anybody made it, and they got me out of there, and they got here. So I’m a miracle. You’re looking at a miracle. And this is a guy with you know, half a leg on one side, and none on the other, and multiple injuries.

HH: Jon Voight, when I asked you that question, for a moment there, grief crossed your face, and not only because of the suffering, but something else. Why is that? Now you’re an actor. You could shine me on, but you’re not. Why does that touch you so much?

JV: Well, I mean, to see courage in any way is…it’s humbling, isn’t it? I mean, I go in there, these guys are great people, and I’m telling you door after door I go in, and they’re not looking for any kind of pity. And by the way, I would say pity will kill them. Don’t make them a case for pity. These guys are heroes. Let’s call them what they are. And they have great…and I say well, how’s it going? Well, I’m having a pretty rough day today, but it’ll get better tomorrow. You know, I mean, always with a positive. And when I came out of there, I felt great to be an American, and I felt very humbled, as I say, and moved, and I felt so great about the young generation.

HH: Now do enough of your colleagues in a business on which you are at the pinnacle, do enough of this? I know some do. I mean, Denzel Washington has done this, I know that a number of guys go over and tour, and a number of girls do. But does the industry as a whole make themselves available to the war effort, and know these young men and women?

JV: I think not enough, of course. I think that there are only a scattered few, but boy, the ones that do, you know, get tremendous, get something. They say you get what you give, but you get much more than you give here.

HH: And we’ll come back to this next hour. But briefly, why is your industry fundamentally clueless about the war. Hostile to Bush, I understand. They’re just Democrats. They’re just lefties. They don’t like Republicans. But what about the war? They don’t seem to get it.

JV: Well, there’s a…I have a lot of thoughts about that. Let me just say that there’s…and I don’t agree with the Bush bashing as being just a Democratic phenomenon. I think there’s something else afoot. Let me say this. My understanding of what it means to be an American is not about Democrats or Republicans. It’s about a United States of America. And that means we’re all united to protect our great democracy without bashing our president, or our country in any way. And if you take a close look at the people who defend terrorists as if they are abused people, these people are usually abused people themselves in some form or another.

HH: And is that part of the Hollywood cluelessness, that they are…it’s a tough system to get lucky in. It’s a tough system to succeed in.

JV: It’s a tough system, but there’s a lot of things that go on. I mean, we’re very fortunate. Here, we get a tremendous amount of attention, and a tremendous amount of money for play acting, you know, and then when I go, it’s like going from one world to another, and then I see these guys who have come back, and I say holy smokes.

HH: I’d pay cash money to see you debate Sean Penn. Now he might be a friend of yours, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone as fundamentally clueless about the world. And I don’t know if you want to comment about his statements. I know he might be a friend of yours. But how can you be that out of touch?

JV: Well, unfortunately, I’ve read a couple of his statements, and I find them disturbing.

HH: And so it could be pretty powerful. All right, the Radar interview which I’ve been referring to has occasioned a lot of criticism of you on the online world. Do you read the blogs?

JV: I get it from the normal sources, but I do a lot of reading. I read a lot of books, I have people who I trust who I read, and you know, then I ask questions. I’m an inquisitive fellow.

HH: Let me read this quote from the Radar interview. “The war on terror is real,” you say. “People would have you believe it’s not real. This is not Vietnam. This particular situation is not the same wherein we can walk away and just leave destruction behind us. No, we can’t. Anyone who’s paid attention to what Ahmadinejad is saying, what all the mullahs are saying in this country, and in England, and all the Arab world, this is serious. They’re calling for the destruction of America and all democracy, and that’s what’s going on. We could lose this war.”

JV: What does it look like? Well, you know, we’re dealing with a totalitarian…theocratic totalitarianism. This is like dealing with Hitler. I mean, we’re dealing with people who want to bring us down. We could lose it.

HH: And does that mean the end of the Republic? Does that mean a city in ashes? What’s…when you say that, what do you mean?

JV: Well, when I say what do I mean…look, we had 9/11, didn’t we? The damage that was done on 9/11 was extraordinary. Yes, two buildings went down and thousands of people, innocent people were incinerated. It was a horror. But not only did it send shock waves throughout our country, and traumatize us, it was economically hugely damaging to our country. And we had better know that something hitting our soil again could be even more successful. This is a dangerous time and a dangerous enemy.

HH: When Ahmadinejad says Israel will be gone in a flash, do you take him seriously that he might use a nuke if he obtains one? And should we allow him to obtain it?

JV: Obviously, he means what he says, and he’s spoken about the destruction of the United States as well. So he’s a serious enemy. We have to take him seriously. And he is going, you know, he’s going forward as fast as he can to achieve that weaponry.

HH: So the phone rings, and it’s George W. Bush, and someone sent him a transcript of this, and he says you think I should bomb them? They’re getting close. What do you tell him?

JV: Well, I think we’re…I think that we have a tremendous…this time is fraught with dangers, and we have to have responsible people in the White House and in our government. And I believe that our generals are capable, and I believe our President is capable.

HH: Now let’s turn to Bush. You said some nice things about Bush and the Vice President in Radar. Again, a lot of people don’t like this. You said, “The attack on George W. Bush I find to be reprehensible. I have great regard for our government. We have all sorts of checks and balances that are afforded us by our Constitution. We have a lot of hard-working people in the government. Once it gets to be partisan, it takes the energy in another direction.” You point out that they wanted to impeach Lincoln in 1864. What’s Bush’s reputation going to be in twenty years, Jon Voight?

JV: Well, you know, who knows? At this time, when you ask me a question like that, I’m reminded that I’m an actor. This is not my strong suit, but I would say in my little humble view, I think he will have a high place.

HH: And what has impressed you the most about Bush in the six and a half years he’s been in?

JV: I think this strength of character, his fortitude. I think he sees, he understands things, and I think he’s, by the way, I think he’s extremely gracious. When you seem him introducing Nancy Pelosi, or meeting with other members of Congress who are, who have set themselves against him. He’s always a gracious figure, he always speaks kindly and nicely of people. He never stoops to name calling or any of that. But he holds the line. He knows what has to be done, and he stays with it. He doesn’t seem to…I mean, you have to have extraordinary strength of character, I would say, but you know, to take the blows that he has taken in office, you have to have an extra reserve of strength, and he has it. It was one of the kids in Walter Reed said, and he was one of the fellows who said I’m not going back, I won’t go back. And almost everyone else to the man said I want to go back and be with my buddies, and if I can’t do the things on the field because of my injuries, they’ll find a place for me, and I’m very grateful for that. I’m going back, Jon. This fellow said no, I don’t think I’m going to go back. That’s it for me. I said well, what do you think about our President? And he said he is strong. This guy is a strong guy, Jon.

HH: What about the Vice President? You also refer to Cheney in this Radar interview.

JV: Well, I referred to an aspect that was, that people very little know, we see a certain kind of face on Dick Cheney. And people make jokes, and try to demean this fellow, but he’s got a great dignity, he’s very bright. And also, he’s very sensitive. He goes to Walter Reed every six weeks, and goes to every room. And when I see, when somebody talked about…people review a speech as if they would review a movie or something like that. They said well, his tie was this way, and he was looking around at this point, and I saw at the State of the Union, Dick Cheney’s face, and I know what he’s carrying in terms of the responsibility and his caring for this country and for those guys, too, and that’s what I see in his face.

HH: So what do you make of the hatred for him? Where does it come from, for both Bush and Cheney, probably more for Cheney than Bush, if you go to the hard left.

JV: Well, I think it’s been orchestrated, really. I must say, I think that I don’t like speak in a partisan fashion. I really am not a fellow who likes partisan politics in any way.

JV: I’ve got a couple of bucks that I’ll give you. Now this idea that they figured a way, they say we have to get the presidency back, so the way to get it back, or the way to get power back is if we get this guy, and find every way to attack this guy, this is the way to bring him down. But they’re attacking not only this man, but the President of the United States and our country.

HH: Once I was by Tim Buckley, from of course, Coming Home, the movie for which Jon Voight won the Oscar in 1978. Tim Buckley could have been a great, great man in the music world, died of an overdose, though, at the age of 28.

HH: Jon Voight, the business…I’ll come back to politics. The business is changing so dramatically. Do you mind what’s happening to it in this age when everyone can order anything at any time, and call you up and chop you up on YouTube, and turn you into cartoons, and just pirate and bootleg everything?

JV: Well, when you put it that way, it doesn’t sound like I should vote for it.

JV: But listen, freedom is a very precarious gift, isn’t it? But it’s the greatest gift we have, so we have to protect freedom. On the other hand, I think that we should have a sense of responsibility of where there’s a line that shouldn’t be crossed. We have a moral sense. We certainly shouldn’t be doing immoral things. And I do think about the kids growing up, and so many times, I’ve heard, as I know you have, they say boy, I’m glad I didn’t grow up in this generation. It’s so tough for the kids these days. And I do think we should protect the children. In every society, they have these principals. I don’t believe that one group of people get God’s information, but that almost, that every nation has some share in it. And one of the indigenous people of this world, the Efe’ Pygmy, have three principles by which they live their daily life. And the first principle is to give all children extravagant love. And then the second one is don’t waste food, which they have had a history where they became materialistic, and so now, they’ve learned that lesson, and they don’t waste anything. And then the third one is respect your elders, because if you respect life’s lessons and life, you have to respect those older than you who have been through more lessons. But anyway, that first principle is so important. Let’s give all our children extravagant love, and that means protecting them, being there for every moment in their lives, and not allowing them to be polluted or to be distracted by the things that we know are going to take them down the wrong road.

HH: Now when we sat down to begin the interview, you said I might get to this Ben Franklin quote that you’ve got with you.

HH: And you showed it to me, and it’s a pretty interesting quote. Why did you bring it? What’s it say?

JV: Well, here’s the deal on this. I’m always interested when people say well, you’ve done this thing on religion, religions are the problem, if we get rid of religions, you know? And I say no, no. Do not get rid of religions. Where I stand on that is I say that any crime that’s done in the name of religion, as Gandhi said, when a crime is done in the name of religion, religion weeps. And I’m with Gandhi on that. A love of God is extremely important. And the expression of that love is the basis of the guidance of our Constitution. It comes back to our founding fathers, and it’s extremely important that we protect that idea. This Judeo-Christian heritage is the greatest blessing. It’s the greatest blessing.

HH: We may save that until the next break, because I don’t want you to break it up in the middle of the read, if you’re going to read it. So go on, tell me about the school.

JV: I’ll read it in the next session, but I saw this very handsome black couple, elderly…not elderly, I’d say fifties. They’re kids.

JV: Young black couple, very, very beautifully dressed, with a certain air of dignity at the Good Earth restaurant which I frequent, right? And so I’m a kind of guy that if I see somebody that I think is exceptional, or if I want to meet somebody, I don’t have any fears. The clock is ticking. I might as well go and find out what’s going on with this lovely couple. So I introduced myself, and usually, people know who I am. These guys didn’t know who I was. And I said to this fellow, gee, you guys look so well done. This is like something out of another age in a certain way. You’re showing the young people how to dress. This is great. And just the way you have about yourself…do you mind asking, if I ask you what you do? And this fellow said well, my name is Noble Hanson, this is my wife, Helen, and we are principals of a school. I said really? And I said listen, I talk to kids all the time. I’d love to come to your school. So I went to their school, and I’m just going to end it this way, because I hear the music in my ear. I went to that school, and these kids at this little school, they say the Pledge of Allegiance, they sing a few Gospel songs to get themselves going in the morning, they say the Lord’s Prayer, and I looked at this group, and I said these kids are off and running. They’re going to be successful kids.

HH: That’s the music from The Champ. Jon Voight played Billy in this 1979 film. People are crying even as we speak. It’s definitely one of those that people just start crying when they think about The Champ. Jon Voight, are you an observant Catholic? Are you a religious man anymore?

JV: You know, not really, but I do find a home in the Catholic Church, yes. And I find I’m very comfortable in there.

HH: All right. Because I want that background. You’re impressed by what Franklin says, 1787…

JV: Yeah, and they’re having difficulty. They seem to be going all over the place, and they’re having trouble, and there’s chaos in the Convention. And so someone stands up. It’s Ben Franklin. And he stands up and says a few words, and I’ll quote a center section. “In this situation of this assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, sir,” and the sir is George Washington, all these great guys assembled, “How has it happened, sir, that we have not hither to once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understanding? In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for the Divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard. And they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending providence in our favor. To that kind providence, we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?” And at the end of this, of course, they voted that before the sessions of Congress, both Houses, that they should have prayer, and they’ve done it ever since. And I think that what I say is gosh, guys, these are our founding guys. They knew what to do. They knew…

HH: Now let me ask you, Jon Voight, with the ACLU attacking faith in the public square, you just played a religious fanatic, right? A man who killed and massacred, and we talked about the movie, September Dawn, and so they’re afraid of religion. Is the ACLU and the secular absolutists wrong to be on this attempt to push religion from the public square?

JV: Well, I think when you say secular absolutists, I mean, this is the Hugh Hewitt Show. That’s a Hugh Hewitt phrase, I’m telling you. You mean atheists, these guys (laughing).

JV: Instead of secular absolutists. I think you know, when I look at the ACLU, my heart is heavy when I see that group. I don’t have a great, they don’t hold great esteem in my view of things, and I believe that they, when you check the roots, maybe you’ll see some imprint of, I don’t know, let’s say, boy, it’s hard for me to say this kind of stuff. I just think that there’s something wrong with that group. For instance, there was a picture, there was a photograph of Marines at prayer, a beautiful photograph, all heads bowed. And it said that they were in prayer, and they took issue with this picture, saying this was on public, this was on government grounds. I mean, let’s…I think there’s a lunatic aspect to this group.

HH: At the arc of your career, you’re a Hollywood guy, you’re an Academy Award winner. I think you were a man of the left. I’m not sure. I don’t know that you were political, as much as just in political movies. And now you’re, I mean, you must be paying a big piper’s price in Hollywood right now for what you’re saying. What happened to you?

JV: Well, look. Lots of things have happened. I’ve gotten older. I’m one of those guys that the pygmies understand. You know, as you get older, you learn a lesson or two, and you grow. And then you become someone that should be listened to. Then you have to say things that should be listened to.

JV: Just a little growth. Well, I think that there are many things about our business that are tough to deal with. The celebrity, what happens to celebrity is a tough deal, psychologically, to go through, I guess, and there’s a lot of things. Look, but there are guys out there who are stand up guys, and I think that perhaps they can come forward, too.

JV: I’m a little older, I’m a little older, so I have…there’s not much time to wait, if I’m going to say anything.

Jon Voight, Part 1

Hewitt: Hour 2 - Hugh speaks with legendary actor Jon Voight about his role in the controversial new movie about the Mountain Meadow Massacre, September Dawn.

http://www.townhall.com/MediaPlayer/AudioPlayer.aspx?ContentGuid=cab3889e-0c09-4294-bb61-297405101009

Jon Voight, Part 2

Hewitt: Hour 3 - Hugh concludes his two hour interview of legendary actor Jon Voight by discussing his career and his politics, which might surprise you.

http://www.townhall.com/MediaPlayer/AudioPlayer.aspx?ContentGuid=9a018410-fa2e-4d3f-bba2-19c9fb1a9f39

Just a little too coincidental that he would choose this particular moment to make a move casting the LDS in a very negative light.

They don’t make movies overnight, and I’m sure he started this project well before the current crop of way-too-early “candidates” were out the gate or even near it.

He’s interested in the West, there was a book published a couple of years ago about the massacre, and I think it really was simply a coincidence.

Some of us grow & learn as for others....
“Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.”
Sir Winston Churchill

If you would actually read the article, you’d see that they filmed 2 years ago.

It went into production long before that.

Timing is everything. Sometimes they make a film and hold it for years. Sometimes they never release it. Sometimes just release it to video. It’s been no secret that Romney had political ambitions for years.

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