http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/5218882.htm
Posted on Thu, Feb. 20, 2003 Acting out Hollywood antiwar sentiment is loud and clear. And so is the opposition. By Beth Gillin Inquirer Staff Writer It's the largest outpouring of star-powered anti-war sentiment since the Vietnam War. Barbra Streisand, Martin Sheen, Jessica Lange, Spike Lee, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Martin Scorsese, Sean Penn, Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Ossie Davis, Robert Altman. Some of the country's biggest stars are loudly against invading Iraq. Edward Norton, Tyne Daly, Danny Glover, Rob Reiner, Penelope Cruz, Alec Baldwin, Mike Farrell, Janeane Garofalo, Woody Harrelson and Rosario Dawson. The list goes on. They're marching and speechifying, signing petitions and making commercials to rally opposition against Gulf War Two: Return to Iraq. Not everyone is impressed. "If Washington is a Hollywood for ugly people, Hollywood is a Washington for the simpleminded," cracked maverick U.S. Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.). Nevertheless, people are listening. "Celebrities have credibility with the general public," said Dennis Broe, a professor of film, media and television history at Long Island University. "As they raise the profile of the opposition, it hurts the president." "They definitely influence opinion," agreed Paul Levinson, chairman of communications and media studies at Fordham University. "There's even a term for it in propaganda: false association, or appeal to false authority." What this means, he said, is that a person admired as an authority on moviemaking or acting is easily accepted as an authority on politics as well. The current rage for Five-Minute Ordinary People Celebrities hasn't dimmed the power of Hollywood stars by so much as a watt, Levinson said. "Joe Millionaire is still an average Joe. He lacks the clout of a star whose work we've admired over and over on the screen." But can they stop the war? So far, the Hollywood Left has managed to seriously annoy some in the American Middle. By yesterday afternoon, 30,531 people had logged on to www.ipetitions.com to sign an online petition called "Citizens Against Celebrity 'Pundits.' " The petition protests movie- star marchers "using their celebrity to interfere with the defense of our country." Accompanying many signatures are blistering comments - "low-intelligence egomaniacs," "stay in your fantasy world and out of foreign affairs" - as well as boycott threats. It may seem that the antiwar stars speak for all of Hollywood. They don't. Many actors are Republican (Heather Locklear, Kelsey Grammer, Babylon Five's Tracy Scoggins, Senator-turned-Law-&-Order-star Fred Thompson.) Others are libertarian (Drew Carey, Lisa Kennedy, Kurt Russell, Penn and Teller, Tommy Chong, Russell Means).
Set and Matchpoint go to Dane !!
Really, Daney, this isn't rocket science. Do let's try and keep up, hmmmm?
And of course the point you are helping Dane make is that justice is an earned privilege dependent on voicing a politically correct opinion.
Now that you guys have won the game you can claim your prize. The one and only, original Bill of Rights!!! Rahhhhhhhhh!
Would the two of you like some privacy while you wipe each other's butts with it? Or do you need some help with that?