Andy Rooney had no problem with Clinton and Chirac waging war on Serbia 4 years ago (without UN approval). His current change-of-heart hypocrisy is due entirely to the lack of anything else with which to attack his hated Republicans.
Posted on 04/28/2003 4:08:10 PM PDT by ThreePuttinDude
Monday, April 28, 2003
Andy Rooney Has War Guilt
Andy Rooney says he was wrong about his views on going to war with Iraq - sort of, that is.
"I felt chastened," the cranky "60 Minutes" commentator told the Associated Press. "I had to think that I was a little wrong. There's no question that it's better without him in there, without Saddam Hussein."
"A little wrong"? Earlier this month he was less wishy-washy about President Bush's decision to launch Operation Iraqi Freedom. He said April 10, "And I must say that fortunately he's president and I'm not."
In reciting his mild new mea culpa, Rooney defended his right to speak his mind, even when proven wrong.
Rooney, who faced combat in World War II as a front-line correspondent for Stars & Stripes, upset some viewers with anti-war remarks, which he says he does not regret.
AP recalled that on CBS April 6 Rooney declared he couldn't remember any more unpleasant times.
"I hate everything about this war except that we're winning it," he said. "You can't even be critical, either, without sounding unpatriotic."
He went on to mock the idea of the war being fought by a coalition and said "the only real good news will be when this terrible time in American history is over."
A week earlier, Rooney said: "We didn't shock them and we didn't awe them in Baghdad. The phrase makes us look like foolish braggarts. The president ought to fire whoever wrote that for him." He said that because the U.S. had failed to find Osama bin Laden the administration was transferring the blame to Saddam Hussein.
The remarks, said Rooney - a self-described liberal - provoked thousands of viewers to write him, apparently in protest. "Only a handful were 'I'm never going to watch "60 Minutes" again' letters," he said. "The worst I got were 'I've always liked what you said and watch you every week, but I was disappointed.' I get that kind, which is most influential to me. Those that just condemn me, I throw away."
The 84-year-old curmudgeon sloughed off those complaints. "I'm in a position of feeling secure enough so that I can say what I think is right, and if so many people think it's wrong that I get fired, well, I've got enough to eat."
Rooney recalled coming under the influence of a pacifist professor before World War II and briefly considered becoming a conscientious objector then. "It has embarrassed me ever since," he said.
"It made me nervous about my opposition to this war," he said. "If I had been so wrong then, might I not be wrong again?"
Gary Bauer, former contender for the GOP presidential nomination, told AP, "I found the commentaries irritating." But he was impressed that Rooney was semi-willing to admit he was wrong.
"I often disagree with him, but I admire the fact that he's a plain talker," he said. "I think more of that will help the debate. I just hope that when we take on the next part of the axis of evil, he'll be on our side."
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
It's not just American history, pal. We're talking WORLD history in the making. With that said, I do enjoy Andy's weekly rants on 60 Minutes. I don't have his wit at age 28 and I certainly won't have it when I'm his age.
The next Sunday was when he did his take on 'seeing both sides of things'! I knew then that he had received a lot of mail.
Andy Rooney had no problem with Clinton and Chirac waging war on Serbia 4 years ago (without UN approval). His current change-of-heart hypocrisy is due entirely to the lack of anything else with which to attack his hated Republicans.
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