Actor Robbins slams critics of his opposition to war

Washington Times ^ | 4/16/03 | Julia Duin

[kattracks]

Actor Tim Robbins pleaded with listeners at the National Press Club yesterday to "defy the intimidation that is visited upon us daily in the name of national security and warped notions of patriotism" after calling some members of the press "Aussie gossip rags" and "talk-radio patriots."

[Hoosier-Daddy]

If you can't stand the heat...

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[airedale]

I hope people try to track down his examples in his speech. A lot of them seemed very far fetched.

Also while not naming the individual at Clear Channel those in the know probably could identify who we was talking about. In effect Robbins outed the guy who was afraid of speaking out against the war for fear of being fired.

Can you really believe that someone was fired for wearing a peace symbol t-shirt?

[rvoitier]

This is simple, even for Robbins:

He's an entertainer. He now brings his fingernails-on-the-blackboard rhetoric to the screen. Now, he's not entertaining, only grating.

[Cultural Jihad]

Speaking alongside Mr. Robbins, Win Without War National Director Tom Edwards called for a "citizens movement" to identify members of Congress who supported the Bush administration's $62 billion appropriation for the Iraq war.

Yeah! Who were the Congresscritters who heroically voted to liberate the enslaved Iraqis, anyway? ;)

[Lady Eileen]

bump......thanks for the post.

[Woahhs]

I saw a clip of Robbins speech, and I had to say it made me very happy. It was obvious Mr. Robbins was extremely troubled...I like that. Whether it was due to a his persecution-martyr fantasy, good acting on his part, or growing awareness of the diminishing usefulness of his one and only sociological weapon (i.e. criticism-free public relations 'hits') means nothing to me. The simple fact he looked miserable was enough.

[John Lenin]

As Ann said it's shock and awe time for the liberals in showbiz and the media, they no longer have a monopoly on freedom of speech. Robbins is such a moron he doesn't realize the irony in his own statements. MLB didn't cancel him because of what he said they canceled him because of what the fallout would have been had he performed. The anti-war crowd is the minority so if you are going to make unpopular statements you better be able to deal with the backlash. Thank god for FOX news and conservative radio, the liberals are on the run.

[oyez]

Robbins is deep into the idea of a kind of government that would respect ony one point of view, and conservatives with means can be disenfranchised and reeducated.

[Kay Soze]

Don’t be fooled

Tim Robbins does not believe he is being silenced or he would not have bothered to shave, shower and drive to the press club! He is much less concerned about being criticized or silenced for his political views than he is about being remembered for having come down on the wrong side of history.

He is trying to shift attention from his support of a dictator. A dictator so ruthless that he once arrested, tortured, killed and then left the dismembered remains of his political rival on the doorstep of her parents.

His rants complaining about the three week horrors of name calling he has endured ring hollow given his love for his self generated political limelight.

For 8 long years I lived with the label; mindless right wing extremist wacko.

So unthinking was I that no less than the White House called me inhuman and nothing more than part of a machine, a vast right wing machine.

Tim Robbins is not concerned about the loss of his first amendment rights but rather he is concerned with attempting to restrict mine.

He and his ilk have and continue to come down on the wrong side of history, they registered their support with the Stalin and Idi Amin side of history.

[Calvin Coolidge]

"While the journalists' outrage at the cancellation of our appearance in [Hall of Fame headquarters at] Cooperstown is not about my views; it is about my right to express those views. I am extremely grateful that there are those of you out there still with a fierce belief in constitutionally guaranteed rights," Mr. Robbins said.

This is where people such as Mr. Robbins just don't get it. None of his rights were being threatened. A private organization wanted to keep him out of a private function. No government soldiers were headed to his home to arrest him. Noone was going to pull his tongue out in prison for speaking out against government policy. The First Amendment does not and should not have any bearing on private disputes such as his disagreement with the Baseball Hall of Fame.

If Robbins has such a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the First Amendment, it is not surprising to see that he has no appreciation of the importance of freedom. Why he has more sympathy for a recently deposed genocidal dictator than he does for the democratic leader who just deposed him, in the name of freedom.

[Mentos]

Never mind my twelfth-grade education - you can tell by my natty tie that I'm a deep thinker.

[TLBSHOW]

bump

[Woahhs]

they no longer have a monopoly on freedom of speech

They never had a monopoly on speech...they had a monopoly on dissemination. That's changed now thanks to the net, talk radio, and FNC (Gawd I love how they hate FOX).

I have always wondered how much support could be generated for a restriction of the first amendment on par with the same rationale liberals use to erode the second amendment. "The founders had no idea an elite cabal would be able to spread their message to the exclusion of all others. Our modern understanding of the technology of propaganda is something they never dreamed of, and didn't prepare us for."

Personally, I'd settle for holding media and politicians accountable to libel laws, but easy access to the vast underground of cyberspace seems to balancing the scales nicely.

[The Westerner]

Excellent rant. Don't forget that in his business, you don't work if you disagree with his political point of view.

[woofie]

The silenced Celebrities are too loud !

[Joy Angela]

Outside the National Press Building, four demonstrators with FreeRepublic.com, a pro-war group, hoisted signs such as: "Iraq has been liberated. Get over it already." "We're protesting Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon and all the other Hollywood leftists," said Kathy Wood of Burke. "They are all hypocrites."

Pro-war group?

Pro-America is more like it!

[MJY1288]

I listened to this complete and utter a$$hole had to say today at the National Press Club and my best assessment is that this anti-war maggot can dish the shit out but can't take any of it. I consider jellyfish like him a prime example of a shallow mindless liberal who will never know what he stands for because he has nothing to stand for.

Part of standing up is being able to make your case. This spineless worm today tried portray himself as some kind of mis-treated victim of the "Right Wing Media"

When I hear one of these out of touch Hollywood dirtbags trying to explain why they should be listened to, I just laugh. Just what do these sheltered leftist maggots know about defending their own views, not too mention FREEDOM