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Old 11-25-2002, 09:55 AM   #1
dave
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Sean Penn's letter to President Bush

An Open Letter to the President of the United States of America

Mr. Bush:

Good morning sir. Like you, I am a father and an American. Like you, I consider myself a patriot. Like you, I was horrified by the events of this past year, concerned for my family and my country. However, I do not believe in a simplistic and inflammatory view of good and evil. I believe this is a big world full of men, women, and children who struggle to eat, to love, to work, to protect their families, their beliefs, and their dreams. My father, like yours, was decorated for service in World War II. He raised me with a deep belief in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, as they should apply to all Americans who would sacrifice to maintain them and to all human beings as a matter of principle.

Many of your actions to date and those proposed seem to violate every defining principle of this country over which you preside: intolerance of debate ("with us or against us"), marginalization of your critics, the promoting of fear through unsubstantiated rhetoric, manipulation of a quick comfort media, and position of your administration's deconstruction of civil liberties all contradict the very core of the patriotism you claim. You lead, it seems, through a blood-lined sense of entitlement. Take a close look at your most vehement media supporters. See the fear in their eyes as their loud voices of support ring out with that historically disastrous undercurrent of rage and panic masked as "straight tough talk." How far have we come from understanding what it is to kill one man, one woman, or one child, much less the "collateral damage" of many hundreds of thousands. Your use of the words, "this is a new kind of war" is often accompanied by an odd smile. It concerns me that what you are asking of us is to abandon all previous lessons of history in favor of following you blindly into the future. It worries me because with all your best intentions, an enormous economic surplus has been squandered. Your administration has virtually dismissed the most fundamental environmental concerns and therefore, by implication, one gets the message that, as you seem to be willing to sacrifice the children of the world, would you also be willing to sacrifice ours. I know this cannot be your aim so, I beg you Mr. President, listen to Gershwin, read chapters of Stegner, of Saroyan, the speeches of Martin Luther King. Remind yourself of America. Remember the Iraqi children, our children, and your own.

There can be no justification for the actions of Al Qaeda. Nor acceptance of the criminal viciousness of the tyrant, Saddam Hussein. Yet, that bombing is answered by bombing, mutilation by mutilation, killing by killing, is a pattern that only a great country like ours can stop. However, principles cannot be recklessly or greedily abandoned in the guise of preserving them.

Avoiding war while accomplishing national security is no simple task. But you will recall that we Americans had a little missile problem down in Cuba once. Mr. Kennedy's restraint (and that of the nuclear submarine captain, Arkhipov) is to be aspired to. Weapons of mass destruction are clearly a threat to the entire world in any hands. But as Americans, we must ask ourselves, since the potential for Mr. Hussein to possess them threatens not only our country, (and in fact, his technology to launch is likely not yet at that high a level of sophistication) therefore, many in his own region would have the greatest cause for concern. Why then, is the United States, as led by your administration, in the small minority of the world nations predisposed toward a preemptive military assault on Iraq?

Simply put, sir, let us re-introduce inspection teams, inhibiting offensive capability. We buy time, maintain our principles here and abroad and demand of ourselves the ingenuity to be the strongest diplomatic muscle on the planet, perhaps in the history of the planet. The answers will come. You are a man of faith, but your saber is rattling the faith of many Americans in you.

I do understand what a tremendously daunting task it must be to stand in your shoes at this moment. As a father of two young children who will live their lives in the world as it will be affected by critical choices today, I have no choice but to believe that you can ultimately stand as a great president. History has offered you such a destiny. So again, sir, I beg you, help save America before yours is a legacy of shame and horror. Don't destroy our children's future. We will support you. You must support us, your fellow Americans, and indeed, mankind.

Defend us from fundamentalism abroad but don't turn a blind eye to the fundamentalism of a diminished citizenry through loss of civil liberties, of dangerously heightened presidential autonomy through acts of Congress, and of this country's mistaken and pervasive belief that its "manifest destiny" is to police the world. We know that Americans are frightened and angry. However, sacrificing American soldiers or innocent civilians in an unprecedented preemptive attack on a separate sovereign nation, may well prove itself a most temporary medicine. On the other hand, should you mine and have faith in the best of this country to support your leadership in representing a strong, thoughtful, and educated United States, you may well triumph for the long haul. Lead us there, Mr. President, and we will stand with you.

Sincerely,
Sean Penn
San Francisco, California
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Old 11-25-2002, 10:50 AM   #2
Griff
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Old 11-25-2002, 11:03 AM   #3
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...we'll just be bogus, too.
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Old 11-25-2002, 12:43 PM   #4
BrianR
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Sean Penn is an idiot

The man can't seem to read a newspaper nor does he demonstrate a shred of common sense.

Just because the Congress authorised the President to use military force againat Iraq doesn't mean that the President is going to run right out and take full advantage of it. The President seems to have sent in the inspectors, just like the Liberals and Mr. Penn have been shouting for. This was a foregone conclusion all along. Mr. Bush doesn't really want a war, but he's willing to prosecute one fully should one become necessary. And the military is up to the challenge despite the Congress' penny-pinching of the last decade.

War is NOT inevitable, but the possibility does exist. Get with the program and keep the noise to a minimum please.

Brian
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Old 11-25-2002, 01:56 PM   #5
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Re: Sean Penn's letter to President Bush

Quote:
Sean Penn sez:
intolerance of debate ("with us or against us")

...

There can be no justification for the actions of Al Qaeda.
No justification? Seems like Mr. Penn is being awfully intolerant of debate here. Maybe we should have a town hall meeting or a nice fireside chat on whether Al Qaeda's actions are justifiable.
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Old 11-25-2002, 02:01 PM   #6
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Re: Sean Penn is an idiot

Quote:
Originally posted by BrianR
Mr. Bush doesn't really want a war
There are many who would disagree with you here, but I think it was his plan all along. Make it seem like war is a foregone conclusion to put the pressure on Iraq.

So now we're hearing a new tune from Iraq. "Sure, you're welcome to inspect anywhere you want. Drop in on our palaces anytime. We'll be sure to have that list of weapons programs ready in December."

And Bush, just last week, said that war could be avoided if Iraq complies. We'll see if they indeed do.
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Old 11-25-2002, 05:06 PM   #7
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Bush just wanted a compliant Iraq and a compliant electorate.
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Old 11-25-2002, 10:05 PM   #8
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I agree with the letter, for the most part. And he spent $56,000 to put it in the Washington Post, though I suspect that the Post isn't something that Bush would care to read...maybe his advisers do.

That letter's over a month old now...I'm surprised I didn't hear about it. Maybe that was during my media blackout period.
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Old 11-26-2002, 06:28 AM   #9
Griff
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Quote:
Originally posted by sycamore
Maybe that was during my... blackout period.
You get those too? what's that empty case of scotch doing here? warch is sposed to be in Minn.
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Old 11-26-2002, 12:41 PM   #10
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Good letter.

Last edited by warch; 11-26-2002 at 12:47 PM.
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Old 11-28-2002, 04:10 AM   #11
elSicomoro
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Quote:
Originally posted by Griff
You get those too? what's that empty case of scotch doing here? warch is sposed to be in Minn.
Griff, I know you are a jack of all trades...are you practicing for a future media career now?

I suffered from what I will call "media burnout." I watched MSNBC every night from 7-10pm from early July until the end of August. All that political talk...Nachman, Donahue, Chris Matthews...I think it was just too much. I didn't watch much news from then until the end of October.

As far as an actual blackout...well, that's been a while.
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Old 12-17-2002, 12:16 PM   #12
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Re: Re: Sean Penn's letter to President Bush

Quote:
Originally posted by Tobiasly

No justification? Seems like Mr. Penn is being awfully intolerant of debate here. Maybe we should have a town hall meeting or a nice fireside chat on whether Al Qaeda's actions are justifiable.
Although my specialty is primarily entertainment, and I rarely enjoy indulging in political and serious conversations as I suppose should be serious as the decisions of politicians effect our laws. And politicians wage wars, whether neccesary force to prevent further mishap or merely a hidden agenda. We are told that Al Qaeda's actions are the instigating reason for "stepping up" security and also for preparing for a possible war. My interest in disagreeing with such a notion is the very fact that "Rockin the Suburbs", was pirated work that was released on September 11th, 2001. I smell the putrid stench of capitolism combined with an element of opportunism and enough of an indicator that some Americans were aware of what was about to happen and did nothing to stop it. I think that really stinks, and will point out that even the final track of the cd is "Rockin the Suburbs". This was originally recorded in 1984, my vocal and piano work and I most certainly had no knowledge of any terrorist activity beforehand. 1984, for christ's sake. I believe that Mr. Bush truly is under the impression this Al Queda outfit is the group behind the WTC "bombings", but I have reasonable suspisions that americans are actually to blame. Excuse me Al Queda, where is my royalty check you evil evil non-english speaking do gooders! You are very bad for wanting to defend your land and your families knowing that you are not responsible for this most violent act of terrorism. I think that the Bush people should be made aware of this one fact alone. I believe they released my cd, pirated work per se and coincided it's release on a day when they knew somehow of what was about to happen to generate extra sales and not only am I working for slave wages to this very day, I am outraged that this matter has not yet been investigated by the FBI itself. I hope someone who knows Bush is reading this and passes it on, I want to believe that he is not the war monger I once suspected and accepts this information as reasonable cause to cool his jets and temporarily cease his efforts to have others sponsor a new world war. I want to know what the agent who pirated this work from myself had to do with the WTC "bombing". I can go one better and name this very individual!
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Old 12-17-2002, 12:31 PM   #13
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Looks like somebody's reality check didn't clear this month.
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Old 12-17-2002, 01:52 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally posted by wolf
Looks like somebody's reality check didn't clear this month.
I am being very serious. I would challenge the guy in a court of law just to merely show up for the hearing. This is very serious. I haven't been kidding around about these FACTS. You can read all about the fact the release was PLANNED for September 11, 2001 at mtv.com. I'll say it once again, I HATE MTV!!
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Old 12-17-2002, 02:49 PM   #15
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mmmm.....the Glenfiddich 18 year old....oooooohhhhhh....

I'm tired of ad hominem attacks, anyone else?

Warch, are there any good places round here to get a GOOD belt of scotch?
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