ABC's Peter Jennings sees an ominous new threat in the world (To Hollywood Celebrities)

Media Research Center via E-Mail | April 16, 2003 | Brent Baker

[PJ-Comix]

ABC's Peter Jennings sees an ominous new threat in the world. Not weapons of mass destruction or terrorism, but another vast right-wing conspiracy at home, specifically, the supposedly "well organized and aggressive efforts to make life very difficult for celebrities who speak out against the war."

Jennings ended Tuesday's World News Tonight with this plug for Wednesday's show: "That is our report on World News Tonight. Tomorrow on the broadcast, the well organized and aggressive efforts to make life very difficult for celebrities who speak out against the war. I'm Peter Jennings. Have a good evening, and good night."

I can't wait to hear how all the celebrities who were regularly appearing on cable news before the war were suppressed. And if people choose not to watch their shows or buy their CDs, that's the free market and the public just expressing its disagreement with their views.

Apparently Jennings doesn't consider it newsworthy to examine how celebrities erroneously predicted disastrous events would result from the war or whether some owe an apology, like Janeane Garofalo who promised that she'd admit it if she were proven wrong. (See item #7 below for more on Garofalo.)

That's probably because he too would have to admit that he was wrong.

Jennings' agenda is probably inspired by some recent whining from actor Tim Robbins, who was Tuesday's luncheon speaker at the National Press Club. On Monday's Today show, prompted by the Baseball Hall of Fame cancelling an appearance by him, Robbins contended that the message is that "if you would disagree with this administration you can and will be punished."

MRC analyst Geoffrey Dickens caught how on the April 14 Today Matt Lauer tossed up a bunch of softballs to Robbins, who used Baseball Hall of Fame President Dale Petroskey's decision to cancel an event marking the 15th anniversary of the movie Bull Durham in which Robbins starred, as an excuse to spout off about how he's being oppressed.

Robbins charged: "He basically says that if you do not agree with this President you don't have the right to this particular forum. You do not have the right to come to Cooperstown. Which is a very punitive and, and aggressive kind of way of dealing with the situation....And by doing it in the public way he did, by sending it to the AP at the same time he's sending it to me he's trying to, he's trying to send a message out which is basically, if you would disagree with this administration you can and will be punished."

Robbins echoed himself: "We're sending out messages to the public on an almost daily basis that they have no right to protest against this President." Matt Lauer cued up Robbins: "So when the Dixie Chicks say, 'I'm embarrassed by President Bush being from Texas,' radio stations pull their music and people stomp on their CDs." Robbins spun a conspiracy tale: "But let's not forget the connection between Clear Channel or the Bush administration or the connection between Petroskey and the Reagan administration and prominent Republicans that he's worked for including Elizabeth Dole. This is, this is an endemic problem and it's a terrible situation, a terrible message to be sending out."

If Robbins fears Elizabeth Dole, about as mushy a moderate as you can find, he really has insecurity issues.

Lauer tossed Robbins another softball pitch: "How did this climate get created, in your opinion?" Robbins: "We are fighting, we are fighting for freedom for the Iraqi people right now, so that they can have the freedom of speech, yet we are telling our own citizens that they have to be quiet at home, that they have to acquiesce to this president in a time of war. And he said, okay, he said, 'This war will be lasting a long, long time.' So when can we disagree with him?" Lauer finally challenged him: "You, you've said in the past you think this is a war based largely on oil. When, when you see the scenes of people celebrating in the streets of Baghdad and tearing down statues, does it change your opinion as to our need to go in there at all?" Robbins is still unmoved: "No, I am ecstatic that they feel this freedom. I hope that they, that we have the resolve to, to get in there and make it work. So far we've lost our focus on Afghanistan, it seems to me. And, and we have a terrible track record as far as our military leading to democracy. Look at Panama, look at Nicaragua. It's not, it's not in our best interest for some reason to keep it going."

Back for a second round after the 8:25am local news break, Lauer re-cued Robbins for his spiel: "What do you think about the climate we're living in right now where the Dixie Chicks records are pulled, where Madonna pulls a music video because she's afraid that people will misinterpret as anti-war, anti-troops?" Robbins: "Yeah, well it's, it's kind of scary. It's kind of scary because not, not because of me or Susan or, you know, the, her United Way thing being cancelled or the Baseball Hall of Fame. Those things are in, in the radar, we get, we get to talk about them, we get to discuss them and we get to, you know call Dale Petroskey to the, to the carpet on, on his actions. What, across the country this kind of stuff is happening on a daily basis. We were just down in Florida this weekend at a family reunion and almost everyone I talked to was telling me about something in a school, in a local district, that is not being reported, about, you know kids being intimidated for anti-war views, people being suspended for wearing peace signs. An event cancelled because they chose to pray for Iraqi civilians that were killed. Really crazy stuff. A disc, one of these, a talk radio person in the South calling for the murder of Hollywood celeb, a particular Hollywood celebrity. Crazy stuff. What is going on here?" Lauer: "You mention timing. I mean it seems as if the rules is if troops are engaged do not criticize." Robbins: "We will have troops engaged and we have had troops engaged for the last 20 years somewhere in the world. It's not, you can't go on that, on that basis. This war, according to the President, is going to last a very long time. Do we cancel the next election because we can't criticize this guy? Why, why are they so concerned? Why can't they engage in the debate of it? Don't they have points that they have to, that they can make. I mean the problem is we are dealing with a, with a situation where people are, are abdicating their First Amendment rights in fear. This is not what we, what this country is built on. We, we are supposed to be able to vigorously talk about issues and debate subjects."

How exactly are you being silenced when the most-watched national morning television show gives you a platform?

For a picture of Robbins and a rundown of his film roles, check the page for him on the Internet Movie Database: http://us.imdb.com/Name?Robbins,+Tim

[Yeti]

I remember years ago, Joan Rivers of all people, saying basically that if 10% of the population likes you, you are a HUGE star, and that it doesn't really matter that the other 90% hate your guts.

In fact, you can get rich saying things you don't even believe, that you know will enrage the vast majority of people, because a certain segment of the population will LOVE you just because most people HATE you, right or wrong.

I think Garafalo, Robbins, Sarandon, et. al might be busier than ever, even though "everyone" hates them now. For example, if Garafalo wrote a nonsensical, vacuous anti-establishment book, every lefty in America would rush out and buy it, whereas in the past, nobody on the left or right would have any particular reason to.

They might lose a few mainstream gigs, but their identified segment of wierdos will deify them and champion them at every turn.

[IrishBrigade]

..and don't forget Tim's little closing sally in that speech, referring to 'fair and balanced 19th Century Fox'...that even generated a caustic comment from the vapid Shepard Smith...

[GirlShortstop]

Tomorrow on the broadcast, the well organized and aggressive efforts to make life very difficult for celebrities who speak out against the war.

Can I join this Organization?!   LOL.

Cause and effect... too straightforward for the likes of Peetah to comprehend apparently.

[goldstategop]

It ticks liberals off that people watch Fox News Channel?? Bwahahahaha!!!

[KeyBored]

So Tim Robbins is upset that celebrities should have to suffer any consequences for their utterances. He's all for free speech, or so he says.

Where was Tim, then, when Dr. Laura was boycotted?

[Nick Danger]

With ABC losing viewers at every turn, I see a Peter Jennings slowly sinking into... obscurity.

I think the existence and the success of Fox News presages a more honest era in American journalism in which all these smarmy liberals who deny their obvious bias finally take off the masks. We will see something more like what they have in Europe, where news outlets explicitly lean to the left or the right, and nobody tries to hide it.

I think this is a healthy development. It is certainly more honest than what we have now.

I think it is inevitable, for business reasons, that one of the broadcast networks will move to position itself much farther to the right. Fox News has uncovered the fact that there is a huge market for this. The issue is whether one of the current leaders will grab the position before Murdoch himself does... the Fox broadcast network now scores higher than ABC in the entertainment ratings, so they are not an idle threat.

The obvious candidate for re-positioning is CBS, which is last in the news ratings anyway, and whose anchor increasingly resembles Methuselah. It's time for an overhaul there, and no matter how distasteful it might be to the left-leaning CBS News team, the "suits" will be making the decision... not them.

Everybody sees this coming, and it is not unreasonable for ABC to explicitly position itself as the left-leaning network. Someone will occupy that position, and it is likely to be just as lucrative as the segment on the right. The big loser may well be whoever moves last to take off the mask.

[Tacis]

Look, the same high-priced PR firms that comvince us that the no-talent celebrities are rocket scientists and convince the no-talent slugs, as well, also work for Jennings and the other celebrities who read the news.

Do you think the pimp allows anyone to believe that all his girls aren't well worth the money or that one is better than another? Same thing with these celebrities. Jennings has to defend these warts. In doing so, he defends himself, a guy making millions to do a job that most college communications majors could do as well, if not better.

[abitwpf]

"if you would disagree with this administration you can and will be punished."

I love how celebs all want they're freedom of speech but when their FANS (not the administration) calls them out on how wrong they are, they get all defensive and start crying becasue nobody agrees with their opinions. Look at the Dixie Chicks, they upset they're whole fan base and I'm sure the administration wasn't sending messages over TNN. Tim Robins, when did he even become a celebrity?

[skinkinthegrass]

The USA citizens may show their displeasure, not the GWB...
stupid actor(s).

[goldstategop]

As I recall when the heterophobes shut down Dr. Laura's TV show you didn't hear a peep from Tim Robbins or any of the usual suspects. Free speech you see, applies only to anti-America Leftists. The rest of us, like Laura Schlessinger should at worst be shipped to the gulag or at best have their mouths gagged with duct tape. That's Robbins' idea of the fate the unwashed masses deserve if they cross their enlightened betters.

[sticker]

" if Garafalo wrote a nonsensical, vacuous anti-establishment book, every lefty in America would rush out and buy it"

They may buy it, but how many would read it or how many lefties can read?

[Petronski]

BOYCOTT DISNEY: a vortex of seductive evil™

[MJM59]

For a guy that continuously whines about being oppressed, this guy sure talks a lot.

[Osage Orange]

"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk"

Harry M. Warner- When asked when he was going to start making "talkies".

[7thson]

At the end of the article, I copied the movie link - http://us.imdb.com/Name?Robbins,+Tim - and checked out his movies. I have seen some of them - BULL DURHAM, CADILLAC MAN, JACOBS LADDER (one of the worst movies I ever paid to see - I had no idea what it was about or what the director was trying to do - it just sucked), HUDSUCKER PROXY, SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, and two others - TOP GUN and SURE THING - that I do not remember seeing him in the flick. I have noticed a couple things with his films. One - for most of them, he is not the leading man. The ones that he is, he cannot carry. Two - most of these movies, he plays some sort of misfit, distrustful of the government, socialist type. After reading the above article, I would love to debate this guy. I think anyone on FR could tear his arguments apart, except for all his crying about no debate, he does not want to participate in any debate.

For anyone interested, here is his bio and trivia from IMDB. In bold are things that I think are important aspects as to his ef'd up personality.

Mini biography

Robbins studied drama at UCLA where he graduated with honors in 1981. That same year, he formed the Actors' Gang, an experimental ensemble that expressed radical political observations through the European avant-garde form of theater. He started film work in tv- movies in 1983, but hit the big time in 1988 with his portrayal of the dimwitted fastball pitcher "Nuke" Laloosh in "Bull Durham." Tall with baby-faced looks, he has the ability to play naive and obtuse ("Cadillac Man" and "The Hudsucker Proxy"), or slick and shrewd ("The Player" and "Bob Roberts").

Trivia

His partner is Susan Sarandon (1988-present) with whom he has two children.

Has played in the "Hero's of Hockey" game at the National Hockey League's All-Star Game.

Ranked #60 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]

His father, Gil Robbins was a member of the folk music group The Highwaymen.

Graduated Stuyvesant H.S. in New York City.

By age 12, Robbins was already a member of the Theatre for the New City, an avant-garde acting troupe.

As co-presenters of the Academy Awards in 1993, Tim and his partner, Susan Sarandon, seized a chance to bring public attention to the plight of a few hundred Haitians with Aids who had been interned in Guantanamo Bay.

Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#94). [1995]

Was kicked off his high school hockey team for fighting.

A long-time Green Party member (along with wife Susan Sarandon), he was repeatedly criticized by other Hollywood stars for voting Ralph Nader during the controversial 2000 election. He wrote a small essay about why he made the choice in the August edition of "The Nation", a monthly progressive magazine. [August 2001]

After the September 11th attacks Robbins was planning to fly out to New York City to be with Susan Sarandon and their children. Upon finding out that all flights were grounded, Robbins and a friend drove from Los Angeles to New York City in a 56 hour trip that began on the morning of September 12, 2001.

LA Weekly cover story (August 2001) detailed his struggle taking creative control of The Actors' Gang, the theater company he founded in 1981. Many long-time members of the group left the company during the contraversy.

Robbins considers himself the worlds biggest New York Rangers fan. He claims to own every highlight video released of their 1994 Stanley Cup Championship season.

Attended anti-war rally in London on 15th February 2003

[el_texicano]

Ah, but this argument of "Free Speech" from the likes of Jennings and Co. is nothing more than a straw man argument. They want to cast "free Speech" as that no one (that is no leftist) should suffer the loss of the publics good will from what they say.

If that's the case, then no politician should lose an election because of stupid acrimonious statments that offend the public sensibilities.

It's the same attitude of the left that they want all the trappings of freedom but no responsibility for their actions. God forbid that anyone should hold them responsible for what they say or do.

[PGalt]

Robbins and Jennings still spewing propaganda from their pulpits. From every platform they pontificate...there is no direct rebuttal. They do not even consider reading "letters to the propagandist". Their word is not to be challenged. Lauer strikes out on the "change-up" Meat throws him.

[Sgt_Schultze]

Right you are, the homophiliacs did indeed boycott Dr. Laura, but remember, she's a "hater." Back a couple of years ago, Rush guest-hosted Pat Sajak's late night show, he was also shouted down by the homophiliacs. The audience had to be emptied so Rush could close the show, but that's okay because Rush is, of course, a "hater."

Just recently, some internet has-been launched a campaign to boycott the advertisers of Rush's radio show. This is very similar to what the Hollywood protest crowd is experiencing. But that is something the ultra left supports because Rush is a "hater." And repetedly on college campus' across the country, conservative speakers are shouted down from the audience, or disinvited entirely as a result of a protest from a loud minority of hard-core leftists. But that's okay because conservatives are "haters."

Juck Feter Jennings and Tuck Fim Robbins. They are both clods and irrelevant and they are realizing it - and they just throwing a temper tantrum.

[leprechaun9]

I know these "celebrities" from them pretending to be someone else. I have never seen them be themselves and now have to ask, "Who are they pretending to be now?"

[Mamzelle]

If someone is going to read the news while I watch, I insist upon wit and eye candy, not some doddering, wrinkled relic with an unpleasant accent. Just from the point of aesthetics, why do they keep Jennings around? I'll watch Shepherd, Tony and Brit. And you can have Lipgloss Laurie...