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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMartin Sheen Has Harsh Words For Progressives Critical of Obama
Martin Sheen Has Harsh Words For Progressives Critical Of Obama
During the Bush Era, "West Wing" President Jed Bartlet offered left-wingers a refuge from realitymuch as Fox News does for conservatives today.
But Martin Sheen, who turned his late-career turn as Bartlet into his signature role, had already been a liberal icon for decades before the show, thanks to his political activism and his performances in counterculture classics such as"Apocalypse Now."
Today, however, Sheen finds himself frustrated with fellow progressives over their disappointment that Barack Obamas real presidency hasnt matched the heights of his imaginary one.
Its unrealistic, Sheen told The Huffington Post Canada in a backroom at Montreals Theatre St-Denis after speaking at Free the Childrens latest We Day youth rally. I wonder how many of those progressives are black? How many of those progressives understand historically what happened?
Theres one face in that crowd that night in Lincoln Park that was the expression of absolute miraculous reality when Barack Obama took the stage with his family as president-elect. Did you see that night when they showed Jesse Jackson? he asked, mentioning the civil rights icon who spoke earlier at the same event. I wonder how disappointed Jesse is with Barack Obama?
Sheen dismissed the complaint from the left that Obama has failed to match the intense umbrage of his Republican opponents. People say he ought to start getting mad and start yelling at these people, Sheen said. He didnt get here by showing an angry man; this is a very important job. The whole world is watching every move, listening to nuance that he breathes in public.
The actor pointed his finger squarely at Republicans for Obama's problems, arguing that they have been an unprecedentedly obstructionist congress, especially since the 2010 mid-term elections.
Its been fighting tooth and nail to get anything on the table with these morons, Sheen groused, adding that the GOP is being directed by the Tea Party, which he called the professional against-ers who are really to be identified as radical extremists who have no agenda and no purpose.
As for the Republican candidates currently battling it out for the chance to challenge Obama in the general election -- a field which remains crowded after Rick Santorum claimed three states, Mitt Romney six and Newt Gingrich one on Super Tuesday -- Sheen isn't concerned.
It does not shift the balance of reality. You can listen to any one of those four nominees talk about the [economic] situation and none of them is really in touch with what the hell people are facing, you know? They keep knocking the president, and yet they cant find any fault with him regarding the specifics of the programs that hes initiated in opposition to them.
Despite the seemingly never-ending Republican primary, Sheen said he predicts Romney will wind up the ultimate nominee. But the actor said the former governor of Massachusetts will enter the general election hamstrung by what hes had to say to compete in Tea Party-influenced primaries.
Who the hell is going to be able to really believe anything Romney says when he stands next to someone who comes from a place and stands for it and risks his life to achieve it? You know, Obama rarely raises his voice, but he rises to every occasion
Of course, hes going to win. When he gets Romney one on one then youll see the quality of the man, where he comes from, what he stands for and where he wants to take us. Romneys got a big wallet and a lot of campaign rhetoric, but whats he going to stand on when he stands next to Obama and debates?
Besides, Sheen said, progressives can also take heart that Occupy Wall Street has halted the rightward swing after the mid-terms and set Obama up to knock the pins down during the election.
I cannot begin to tell you how encouraging and refreshing the Occupy Movement is to us old-timers, because it came about from a totally new, unconnected generation to us. It came of its own volition, dealing with its own issues. This message that, we are divided in a lot of very fundamental ways. Theres the 1 percent and the 99. That is on the agenda now. That cannot be erased.
Its like you cannot un-ring the bell. They rang the bell on Wall Street, if you will, and that clang reverberated around the world.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/03/07/martin-sheen-barack-obama_n_1327360.html
eissa
(4,238 posts)Martin Sheen is a national treasure. How he raised an animal like Charlie is beyond me.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)"Apocalypse Now". What a fine progressive voice, reasoned and reflective. We're lucky he's on our side, his errant offspring Charlie notwithstanding.
SG
just1voice
(1,362 posts)who will be critical of any criminal policies.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)to comply with copyright rules, though.
unionworks
(3,574 posts)To pick with anything the man said. His enthusiastic comments for Occcupy Wall Street tell me he is not a Bluedog DINO.
villager
(26,001 posts)zipplewrath
(16,646 posts)The folks he criticizes are very likely the same folks he praises.
Hmmmm.... Kinda like progressives and Obama!
PragmaticLiberal
(904 posts)Regardless of the headline, I basically agree with Mr. Sheen's sentiments.
emulatorloo
(44,182 posts)It is a trap sometimes.
Cobalt-60
(3,078 posts)I'm of 10 minds about the issue!
Larry Ogg
(1,474 posts)Thinking outside of the box is an alien concept for some...
If it's "not my way or the highway", then it's "if your not with us your against us.
Swede
(33,282 posts)Larry Ogg
(1,474 posts)That way everyone will keep on voting for the blue conservatives
and the red conservative extremist that the one percent want us to vote for.
saras
(6,670 posts)TheWraith
(24,331 posts)Unless, of course, you're looking to try and rewrite what he said in order to take shots at Obama.
progressoid
(49,999 posts)ignore the Wall Streeters in the White House.
TheWraith
(24,331 posts)progressoid
(49,999 posts)joshcryer
(62,276 posts)zipplewrath
(16,646 posts)I can both appreciate what he has accomplished, and be critical of those things he's done that are objectionable. He doesn't have to be perfect, and I don't have to ignore his failings to appreciate him.
There are intermediate points between "cheerleader" and "hater", you know. I'd rather have Obama in power than any Republican, but I still think he could fight harder on some issues.
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Sid
MADem
(135,425 posts)You've got way too many paragraphs happening, and you're putting DU in copyright jeopardy.
Chop it down to four and leave the link up.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)He can be counted on to align himself with the red-meat Republicans every time one comes up.
blogslut
(38,016 posts)Total Arrests: 66
Rap Sheet: The actor famous for a slew of roles including President Bartlet on The West Wing and Captain Willard in Apocalypse Now has another claim to fame: the Hollywood celebrity with the most arrests. He admitted in 2009 to being put in handcuffs a whopping 66 times. Of course, his crime of choice happens to be protest; his most recent arrest in 2007 was for trespassing on a Nevada nuclear test facility. His first arrest dates back to 1986 when he was pinched for civil disobedience while protesting Ronald Reagan's "star wars" initiative.
link: http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2010/10/27/most-arrested.html
TheWraith
(24,331 posts)gratuitous
(82,849 posts)Try as I might, though, I just can't seem to trim my ideals to fit the fashion, Mr. Sheen. Perhaps you could suggest some ways for me to get over this unnatural attachment I have for the Constitution, and thinking that it would be better for our government to follow it rather than work so assiduously to subvert it. From what I've seen, the people who can just turn off the "speedy trial" and "due process of law" principles are far happier with the way our government is working, and I'd like to be that happy too.
Thanks in advance for any help you can render!
SusanaMontana41
(3,233 posts)cyberpj
(10,794 posts)snooper2
(30,151 posts)think
(11,641 posts)"A Violation of Trust" when it hits the movie theaters this fall.
Gruntled Old Man
(127 posts)durec.
hughee99
(16,113 posts)of an extra-judicial killing between now and election day, I don't see how anyone could not vote for President Obama.
OranicManic
(30 posts)N/T
I'm scared now.
Tarheel_Dem
(31,240 posts)Carla in Sequim
(228 posts)Time to order The West Wing and see it again.
And speaking of TWW, I think Willard is watching it. He called our president feckless a few days ago. Hmm.
Also, I had the priviledge of meeting him after a march in Los Angeles for Kerry. He spent so much time shaking hands with EVERY disabled person at the back of the huge crowd, it delayed his speech at the podium. Nobody cared. He is wonderful. He was a guest on Actor's Studio some years back that is also worth watching, if you can find it.
BumRushDaShow
(129,440 posts)He summed it all up in an excellent fashion!
Phlem
(6,323 posts)but I wouldn't disparage the progressives with unrealistic expectations. I think a lot of them were hanging on their last threads when Obama was elected and we've just slowly forgotten about them. I see a lot more people on street corners now than before and I've lived in one spot for 20 years. It's nice to criticize from a comfortable sofa in a nice house with a full stomach.
-p
eissa
(4,238 posts)Seems like he comes from a long line of rebel rousers
Arkana
(24,347 posts)Loudmxr
(1,405 posts)Martin Sheen worked several times at my facility. I was always shy about approaching him. I regret that. To tell him what a hero he is to me and the country.
But that was before I was called to service by my friend former Mayor Marsha Ramos.
The most inspiring quote from The West Wing is and shall always be:
"Mrs Laningham...what's NEXT!"
Brigid
(17,621 posts)In "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Catholicism," there is an interesting sidebar about him. According to it, he works in soup kitchens, visits prisons and juvenile facilities, attends Mass regularly, and carries a rosary in his pocket. He once said in a newspaper interview, "Spirituality is not safe. It leads you down uncharted waters. If it didn't cost you anything, you'd have to question its value."
butterfly77
(17,609 posts)progressoid
(49,999 posts)DianaForRussFeingold
(2,552 posts)Tennessee Gal
(6,160 posts)I wonder if Lawrence O'Donnell wrote that episode.
FailureToCommunicate
(14,020 posts)Bradley Whitford ("Josh" who is our neighbor.
The West Wing really helped get us through the Bush years.
UTUSN
(70,740 posts)MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Truly, Sheen has done very, very well.
Us Peasantry? Bupkes.
bluestate10
(10,942 posts)Martin Sheen is right, reality NEVER matches up to dreams. The greatest failing of ideologues is an abundant lack of capacity to be realistic ad realize that progress is one long, continuous struggle where every inch is won by intense, sustained effort.
TheKentuckian
(25,029 posts)birth control, extra judical executions, and "reforming" entitlements.
Inches of advancement, leaps backward, and lots of flirtation with complete meltdown.
Larry Ogg
(1,474 posts)Because those who agree with him say he is.
At least that's what a conservative would say.
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)flamingdem
(39,321 posts)nt
Leopolds Ghost
(12,875 posts)In much the same fashion as Cornel West.
Robb
(39,665 posts)maximusveritas
(2,915 posts)so most of your African American friends are in the minority. There are definitely those like West who I feel are more critical of Obama than they would be of a white President with similar policies/results because they are extra sensitive about not appearing to give him preference for being their same race. It's the same problem with some in the "liberal media" who are tougher on Democrats in order to prove their objectivity.
Leopolds Ghost
(12,875 posts)My friends are not among them.
The Civil Rights generation is dying off. Really, African Americans are only trailing the extreme rightward shift in the general population in this regard.
They are still moving to the right while the pendulum is beginning to swing back among younger whites.
Funny because it does not jibe with what Martin Sheen is stereotyping African Americans and using them to inflict white guilt on anyone who disagrees with, say, Obama's uber-rightwing health care reform act.
Not that most Americans really understand what is right wing any more since both parties have shifted to the right.
Bluerthanblue
(13,669 posts)I appreciate his words.
Response to samplegirl (Original post)
Post removed
SCVDem
(5,103 posts)What a class act that show was.
Keep in mind it helped us survive the Bush years.
FailureToCommunicate
(14,020 posts)did on that show! It was a sanity saver.
kaitcat
(193 posts)And now I'm sitting here bawling. Thanks for posting this.
graham4anything
(11,464 posts)+1
Martin Sheen is one of the greatest, most patriotic Americans there is alive
His words should be manditory reading for those whiners who complain about this or that.
Martin has walked the walk, talked the talk
Enrique
(27,461 posts)his words aren't so harsh, he's just saying how he sees it.
Excellent point.
naaman fletcher
(7,362 posts)What if, as a progressive, you are:
1. Against war.
2. Against bailout out banks
3. Against letting banker thieves get away with crimes (see MF Global)
4. Against the drug war
5. Against warrantless surveillance
6. Against torture.
Obama is for all those things, apparently.
progressoid
(49,999 posts)Or worse yet, George Clooney might get disillusioned!!11!
MNBrewer
(8,462 posts)grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)anyway.
And wrong about costly trade agreements. And wrong about not prosecuting Bush crimes. Wrong on rendition.
But you still need us if you don't want Romney!
OranicManic
(30 posts)Obama, bigger MONSANTO MAN than Bush ever wet dreamed of. Bush (Cheyne) had the M-I-C, Holoburton, etc...
bvar22
(39,909 posts)But there are many disappointing things that President Obama has done that the Republicans had absolutely no control or influence over,
starting with THIS one:
[font size=5]
The DLC New Team
[/font]
(Screen Capped from the DLC Website)
http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=254886&kaid=86&subid=85
The policies that his administration have pursued are consistent with the Center/Right make up of these choices for his "Team",
including the White House support for Blue Dogs like Blanche Lincoln and Republicans like Arlen Specter in the 2010 Democratic Primaries.
Candidate Obama ran a Populist, Left Leaning, Pro-Working Class campaign,
but has governed as a Pro-Big Business conservative DLC "New Democrat".
Not everything is the fault of the Republicans.
There is plenty for mainstream/Center FDR/LBJ Working Class Democrats like myself to be disappointed about,
and STILL acknowledge that Obama is far better than any current Republican.
You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.
[font size=5 color=green]Solidarity99![/font][font size=2 color=green]
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TBF
(32,090 posts)"extremists" are not stupid. We understand what a 2-party system means and CPUSA (communist party USA) has endorsed Obama. (http://www.obamabiden12.com/obama-biden-2012/obama-endorsed-by-communist-party-usa-sam-webb-chairman.html)
Folks who are claiming disgust and considering voting for Libertarians like Paul are simply confused or they weren't left to start with. So don't put that on us.
Sheepshank
(12,504 posts)I thought everyone knew that the accepted term was morans. Will someone please call Mr. Sheen and fill him in?