[filepile]

Editor - From reading The Chronicle's banner-line propaganda, which teases the "star envy" piece within ("A modest proposal for celebs on the skids," Thursday), I could only hope this great city was more clever than its increasingly lame-brain paper. In its unequivocal naming of Chavez as dictator on A1, either "Pop Culture" man Peter Hartlaub or his equally biased Chronicle editor, doesn't quite understand that Venezuela's President Chavez was democratically elected, and that dictators don't lose constitutional referendums. The Chronicle should take comfort that the New York Times generally does no better than them here. Yet, in the paper's attack on Oliver Stone, who, agree with him or not, has at least the balls, passion and intellectual curiosity to pursue information away from a porcelain dumping bowl and a desperate newspaper, we see another attempt to marginalize the outspoken. (Outspoken: a louder and more credible voice than The Chronicle itself.) For myself, also listed in Hartlaub's piece, it should be noted that my recent trip to Venezuela was as a journalist, and marginalization of that due to "celebrity" is simply "Putin ultra light" to me. Believe it or not, I have a reasonably good sense of humor (if that's what Hartlaub attempted), but I felt so embarrassed, even for The Chronicle. Its "hard news" section for the banner line, and now its Datebook editorials have become Mad Magazine for small-minded cowards and former writers of substance. Who could that be, Phil?

SEAN PENN

Former S.F. Chronicle contributing reporter

SAN FRANCISCO

[lonestar]

Sean Penn is an idiot! — that I’m sure of!!!!!!

[Red6]

“Venezuela’s President Chavez was democratically elected, and that dictators don’t lose constitutional referendums. “

Hitler was democratically elected, so was Mussolini. Saddam had referendums and elections. There are elections in Lebanon, Iran.......

Mr. Penn, you are bind boggling ignorant.

[avacado]

Just reading that 3rd grade essay of grammatical torture with Penn’s over use of commas explains clearly to me why Sean Penn is a dropout from the auto mechanics department of Santa Monica Community College.

[EvilOverlord]

Chavez changed the constitution to allow him to rule by decree.

That would be the textbook definition of a dictator, wouldn’t it?

[azhenfud]

Yeah, and Sean Penn is no actor.

[Califelephant]

OK, Sean, how about Castro? Is HE a dictator? How about Kim Jong-il?

[Gator101]

"Venezuela's President Chavez was democratically elected"[and therefore not a dictator]

-Sean Penn

You say it brother! Now take a real dictator like Adolf Hitler! Now he came into power by...oh wait...

[WorkingClassFilth]

Chavez is no dictator! --Sean Penn

Sean Penn is a useful idiot! --Chavez

[AngryJawa]

Deep Thoughts from Hillary’s future Secretary of State...

[weegee]

...doesn't quite understand that Venezuela's President Chavez was democratically elected...

People voted for Adolph Hitler too.

[FormerACLUmember]

Sean Penn, you are a liar. And a party to a tin-horn dictator. I have decided not to patronize any more of his movies.

[bigbob]

Well Chavez is a democratic leader as much as Sean Penn is a journalist.

[lainie]

Somewhere, Robin Wright is thanking her lucky stars that she got away from this pile.

[samtheman]

If that were written in a 5th grade English composition class it would get a D-. That was terrible writing. Terrible.

Doesn’t he have any friends who can help him string a few sentences together coherently?

[lowbridge]

In its unequivocal naming of Chavez as dictator on A1, either "Pop Culture" man Peter Hartlaub or his equally biased Chronicle editor, doesn't quite understand that Venezuela's President Chavez was democratically elected, and that dictators don't lose constitutional referendums.

"Who the **** are we to say whether they’re (Iraqis) better off? We have a dictatorship in this country. Our government is presently the greatest threat to our people."-Sean Penn

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

“sean penn” is no man either.

[Gator101]

Hey Sean,

I have a career suggestion for you. If they ever make a move about the life of Pulitzer prize winner Walter Duranty I think you should go out for the role. I don’t know why, but for some reason I think you would really capture his essence. You could do an English accent couldn’t you?

[The Great RJ]

Chavez is no dictator and Penn is no actor. Penn should go out into the streets and ask the majority of voters why they recently denied Chavez even more dictatorial powers.

[Chode]

Chavez: "You are a devil, you smell like sulfur, you are a drunk, you are the demon, you are a dictator, you are an assassin Mr. Devil, you are..."

Bush: "YEAH, Yeah, yeah, WHATever... just fill'er up MonkeyBoy!!!"

[KC Burke]

Hayek pointed out that centralized socialism and all the related forms fostered by the French Revolution take the form of totalitarian rationalistic democracies. The totalitarianism can occur precisely due to the democratic nature of the form of government.

In the mixed forms of government, the mixture, the lack of scientific ideology controled precise national forms, all bring about the resistance to totalitarianism.