Backlash over anti-war celebrities (more press for FR)

Talk show hosts and right-wing websites have been leading the protests against those celebrities who have been most outspoken against the war in Iraq.

At this year's Oscars, there were a number of protests against the war, most notably by Michael Moore, Susan Sarandon, Pedro Almodovar, and Barbra Streisand.

That has infuriated conservative political activists who are now using the internet to organise protests, and in some case boycotts, of those who have spoken out against the war.

Grassfire.net, one of the websites that has attacked celebrities for being anti-American, raised money to purchase a billboard opposite Hollywood's Kodak theatre to support the troops.

Last month Lori Bardsley, a housewife from Summerfield, North Carolina, gained 100,000 signatures for her online petition, called Citizens Against Celebrity Pundits.

The document she circulated on the internet said that "the undersigned American citizens stand against wealthy Hollywood celebrities abusing their status to speak for us.

"We believe that celebrities Martin Sheen, Mike Farrell, Tim Robbins, Rob Reiner, Barbara Streisand, and others with them are using their celebrity to interfere with the defence of our country."

The ability of the internet to contact like-minded people quickly, and amplify protests, have strengthened both pro-war and anti-war activists.

Websites like FreeRepublic were influential in organising a campaign against the Dixie Chicks after singer Natalie Maines said in London that the group was "ashamed" that Mr Bush was from Texas - a remark she later apologised for.

Radio stations reported receiving a flood of protests from listeners angered by the comment, and airplay for the group's songs dropped 29% on country stations, and 20% on general music stations around the country.

The Texas female trio's CDs have been burned and smashed - and even run over by a tractor in one event organised by a Louisiana country station.

But Simon Renshaw, the group's manager, said that the campaign was orchestrated by a small activist minority.

"The morning drive talk show guys, they get a few e-mails and phone calls, then they jump on it," he said. "They get a few people incensed and the whole thing just snowballs."

Talk show hosts have also been active in organising pro-war rallies across America.

Glenn Beck's website, which features a picture of the "Ditzy Chicks" playing with Jacques Chirac, shows pictures of dozens of rallies he has helped organise across the United States, with the latest planned for Tampa on 5 April.

He describes himself as "a Mormon whose politics lean toward libertarian but also promotes traditional family values".

"We believe that America is justified in a military response on any country found to support international terrorism," he adds.

His programme, which goes out on more than 100 affiliates across America, is just one of a series of influential talk show programmes - others include Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity - that have helped shaped the conservative agenda over the last decade.

But some critics of the Bush administration, like columnist and economist Paul Krugman, charge that the radio industry itself is organising pro-war rallies because of its ties to the president.

Mr Krugman says that the management of one of the largest media groups, Clear Channel Communications, which owns 1,200 stations and is based in San Antonio, Texas, has strong Republican leanings.

Its vice-chair, Tom Hicks, bought Mr Bush's baseball team, the Texas Rangers, in 1998,

Americans have always been both fascinated and offended by the lavish life styles of the rich and famous.

Some actors, like Barbra Streisand, say that the attacks on them are designed to shut down genuine debate by using the charge of patriotism.

But others question whether celebrities are really damaged by the campaigns against them, noting that for many the publicity may have boosted their careers.

So far, at least, there has been no repeat of the notorious McCarthy era in the l950s, when Hollywood stars and writers were blacklisted by the studios after being questioned about their communist affiliations in Congress.

The attached commentary "Who's Smarter", by Cindy Osborne seems to hit the nail on the head. Most Hollywood actors/actresses are sycophants or worse, lemmings!

The Hollywood group is at it again. Holding anti-war rallies, screaming about the Bush Administration, running ads in major newspapers, defaming the President and his cabinet every chance they get, to anyone and everyone who will listen. They publicly defile them and call them names like "stupid", "morons", and "idiots". Jessica Lange went so far as to tell a crowd in Spain that she hates President Bush and is embarrassed to be an American. So, just how ignorant are these people who are running the country? Let's look at the biographies of these "stupid", "ignorant", "moronic" leaders, and then at the celebrities who are castigating them.

President George W. Bush - Rec'd BA from Yale and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He served as an F-102 pilot for the Texas Air National Guard. He began his career in the oil & gas business in Midland in 1975 and worked in the energy industry until 1986. He was elected Governor on Nov 8 1994 with 53.5 percent of the vote. In a historic re-election victory, he became the first Texas Governor to be elected to consecutive four-year terms on Nov 3 1998 winning 68.6 percent of the vote. In 1998 Governor Bush won 49 percent of the Hispanic vote, 27 percent of the African-American vote, 27 percent of Democrats and 65 percent of women. He won more Texas counties, 240 of 254, than any modern Republican other than Richard Nixon in 1972 and is the first Republican gubernatorial candidate to win the heavily Hispanic and Democratic border counties of El Paso, Cameron and Hidalgo.

VP Dick Cheney - Earned BA in 1965 and his MA in 1966, both in political science. Two years later, he won an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellowship.

Secretary of State Colin Powell - Educated in the New York City public schools, graduating from the City College of New York where he earned a BA in geology. He also participated in ROTC at CCNY and received a commission as an Army second lieutenant upon graduation in June 1958. His further academic achievements include a Master of Business Administration Degree from George Washington University. Secretary Powell is the recipient of numerous US and foreign military awards and decorations. His civilian awards include two Presidential Medals of Freedom, President's Citizens Medal, Congressional Gold Medal, Secretary of State Distinguished Service Medal, and the Secretary of Energy Distinguished Service Medal. Several schools and other institutions have been named in his honor.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld- Attended Princeton on Scholarship (AB, 1954) and served in US Navy (1954-57) as a Naval aviator; Congressional Assistant to Rep Robert Griffin (R-MI), 1957-59; US Respresentative, Illinois, 1962-69; Assistant to President, Director of Office of Economic Opportunity, Director of the Cost of Living Council 1969-74; US Ambassador to NATO 1973-74, head of Presidential Transition Team 1974, Assistant to President, Director of White House Office of Operations, White House Chief of Staff, 1974-77; Secretary of Defense, 1975-77.

Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge - Raised in a working call family in veterans' public housing in Erie. He earned a scholarship to Harvard, graduating with honors in 1967. After first year at Dickinson School of Law, he was drafted in to the US Army, where he served as an infantry staff sargeant in Vietnam, earning the Bronze Star for Valor. Returning to PA, he earned his law degree and was in private practice before becoming Assistant Director Attorney in Erie County. He was elected to Congress in 1982. He was first enlisted Vietnam combat veteran elected to US House and was overwhelmingly re-elected six times.

National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice - Earned her BA in Political Science, Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Univ of Denver in 1974; her Master's from Univ of Notre Dame in 1975; and her Ph.D from the Graduate School of International Studies at Univ of Denver in 1981. She enrolled at Univ of Denver at age 15, graduating at 19 with her BA. The list of accolades are far too many to list here.

So who are these celebrities? What is their education? What is their experience in affairs of State or in National Security? While I will defend to the death their right to express their opinions, I think that if they are going to call into question the intelligence of our leaders, we should also have all the facts on their education and background.

Barbra Streisand- completed high school, career in singing & acting

Cher - dropped out of school in 9th grade, career in singing & acting

Martin Sheen - flunked exam to enter Univ of Dayton, career in acting

Jessica Lange - dropped out of college mid-freshman year, career in acting

Alec Baldwin - dropped out of George Washington U after scandal, career in acting

Julia Roberts - completed high school, career in acting

Sean Penn - completed high school, career in acting

Susan Sarandon - degree in drama from Catholic Univ of America in Washington DC, career in acting

Ed Asner - completed high school, career in acting

George Clooney - dropped out of Univ of Kentucky, career in acting

Michael Moore - dropped out first year Univ of Michigan, career as movie director

Sarah Jessica Parker - completed high school, career in acting

Jennifer Anniston - completed high school, career in acting

Mike Farrell - completed high school, career in acting

Janeane Garofelo - dropped out of college, career as stand up comedienne

Larry Hagman - attended Bard College for one year, career in acting

While comparing the education and experience of these two groups, we should also remember that President Bush and his cabinet are briefed daily, even hourly, on the War on Terror and threats to our security. They are privy to info gathered around the world concerning the Middle East, the threats to America, the intentions of terrorists and terrorist-supporting governments. They are in constant communication with the CIA, FBI, Interpol, NATO, the UN, our own military, and that of our allies. We cannot simply believe that we have full knowledge of the threats because we watch CNN! We cannot believe that we are in any way as informed as our leaders.

These celebrities have no intelligence-gathering agents, no fact-finding groups, no insight in to the minds of those who would destroy our country. They only have a deep seated hatred for all things Republican. By nature, and no one knows quite why, the Hollywood elitists detest Conservative views & anything that supports or uplifts the United States of America.

The silence was deafening from the Left when Bill Clinton bombed a pharmaceutical factory outside of Khartoum, or when he attacked the Bosnian Serbs in 1995 and 1999. He bombed Serbia itself to get Slobodan Milosevic out of Kosovo, and not a single peace rally was held. When our Rangers were ambushed in Somalia and 18 young American lives were lost, not a peep was heard from Hollywood. Yet now, after our nation has been attacked on its own soil, after 3000 Americans were killed by freedom-hating terrorists while going about their routine lives, they want to hold rallies against the war. Why the change? Because an honest, God-fearing Republican sits in the White House.

Could these celebrities believe that since they draw such astronomical salaries, they are entitled to also determine the course of our Nation? That they can make viable decisions concerning war and peace? Did Michael Moore have the backing of the Nation when he recently thanked France, on our behalf, for being a "good enough friend to tell us we were wrong"? I know for certain he was not speaking for me. Does Sean Penn fancy himself a Diplomat, in going to Iraq when we are just weeks away from war? Does he believe that his high school diploma gives him the knowledge (and the right) to go to a country that is controlled by a maniacal dictator, and speak on behalf of the American people? Or is it the fact that he pulls in more money per year than the average American worker will see in a lifetime? Does his bank account give him clout? The ultimate irony is that many of these celebrities have made a shambles of their own lives, with drug abuse, alcoholism, numerous marriages and divorces, scrapes with the law, publicized temper tantrums, etc. How dare they pretend to know what is best for an entire nation! What is even more bizarre is how many people in this country will listen and accept their views, simply because they liked them in a certain movie, or have fond memories of an old TV sitcom!

Yes, it is a wonderful dream to sit down with dictators and terrorists and join hands, singing Cumbaya and talking of world peace. But it is not real.

We did not stop Adolf Hitler from taking over the entire continent of Europe by simply talking to him. We sent our best and brightest, with the strength and determination that his Country is known for, and defeated the Nazi regime. President John F Kennedy did not stop the Soviet ships from unloading their nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1962 with mere words. He stopped them with action, and threat of immediate war if the ships did not turn around. We did not end the Cold War with conferences. It ended with the strong belief of President Ronald Reagan.....PEACE through STRENGTH.

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