In Hollywood, apparently, celebrity equals expertise.
Edward Norton: "Almost everyone in Germany and France is in sync
with the governments. I almost forgot what it's like to be proud of my
government. . . . It's dismaying to see the unilateralism the government is
doing. There aren't enough rational steps."
Robert Altman: "The present government in America I just find
disgusting, the idea that George Bush could run a baseball team
successfully -- he can't even speak! I just find him an embarrassment. I was
over here when the election was on and I couldn't believe it -- and I'm 76
years old. Then when the Supreme Court came in and turned out to be a
totally political animal, the last shred of any naivete that was left in me
has gone. When I see an American flag flying, it's a joke."
Mike Farrell: "It is inappropriate for the administration to
trump up a case in which we are ballyhooed into war." Yet when Clinton took
non-U.N.-approved military action in Kosovo, Farrell said, "I think it's
appropriate for the international community in situations like this to
intervene. I am in favor of an intervention."
Jessica Lange: "I hate George W. Bush" and "I despise" his
administration.
Danny Glover: "Yes, he's racist. We all knew that but the world
is only finding it out now. As Texas's governor, Bush led a penitentiary
system that executed more people than all the other U.S. states together.
And most of the people who died from (the) death penalty were Afro-Americans
or Hispanics. . . . (Bush) promoted a conservative program, designed to
eliminate everything Americans had accomplished so far in matters of race
and equality." (For the record, during George Bush's tenure as governor of
Texas, the state executed 152 people, over half were white, about one-third
black, with the remainder Hispanic or "other.")
Janeane Garofalo: "The world would be better off with multiple
superpowers." When asked if that means our enemies should be more powerful
Garofalo said, "Sure . . . when Communist U.S.S.R. was a superpower, the
world was better off. . . . The right-wing media is trying to marginalize
the peace movement."
Larry Hagman: "A sad figure (Bush): not too well educated, who
doesn't get out of America much. He's leading the country towards fascism."
Martin Sheen: "I think he'd (George W. Bush) like to hand his
father Saddam Hussein's head and win his approval for what happened after
the Gulf War. That's my own personal opinion, I don't know if that's true. I
hope it's not, but I suspect it is."
Ed Asner: "I think that the idea of Iraq being a nuclear threat
is poppycock, and if they are a nuclear threat then they'd have to borrow
atomic bombs from Israel."
Ed Harris: "Being a man, I've got to say that we've got this guy
in the White House who thinks he is a man, you know, who projects himself as
a man and because he has a certain masculinity, and he's a good old boy, and
he used to drink, and he knows how to shoot a gun and how to drive a pickup
truck, etcetera like that. That's not the definition of a man, God dammit!"
Dustin Hoffman: "I believe -- though I may be wrong, because I'm
no expert -- that this war is about what most wars are about: hegemony,
money, power and oil."
Sean Penn: "If there is a war or continued sanctions against
Iraq, the blood of Americans and Iraqis alike will be on our hands."
David Clennon (of the television show "The Agency") appeared on
the Sean Hannity radio show and likened America's current pro-war atmosphere
to that of Nazi Germany. Was he comparing Bush to Adolf Hitler? No. Clennon
said, "Hitler is smarter than Bush."
George Clooney: "You can't beat your enemy anymore through wars;
instead you create an entire generation of people revenge-seeking. . . .
These days it only matters who's in charge. Right now that's us -- for a
while at least. Our opponents are going to resort to car bombs and suicide
attacks because they have no other way to win. . . . We can't beat anyone
anymore."
Spike Lee: "Too many people are being bowled over by Bush and
Tony Blair in Britain. It's ludicrous to expect the whole world to follow
what they want.
. . . America doesn't have the moral right to tell other people what to do.
To say the whole world has to fall into line is you-know-what. I hope more
people will rise up."
To quote Oscar Wilde, "By giving us the opinions of the
uneducated, (journalism) keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the
community."
Surely not all of Hollywood feels this way. Undoubtedly,
however, many fear losing work if "outed" as a non-liberal. Maybe Hollywood
non-libs can band together, find a lawyer, and file a lawsuit with the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission. The grounds? Hostile work environment.