CLOONEY on HUFFPOST: I Am a Liberal. There, I Said It!

[yurbud]

Clooney says Democrats are lying when they said they were misled about Iraq, a country whose military we had destroyed 80% of in the first Gulf War, and whose airspace we patrolled enforcing "no fly zones" right up to the second invasion.

George is exactly right, but he left out one other reason many Democrats got behind an obvious lie, for the same reason all republicans did: profit.

The war is like local politics writ large with the Chamber of Commerce seeing it as a way to "socialize risk and privatize profits."

Dick Cheney & Halliburton are most obvious about doing this, but he is far from alone, and not in entirely Republican company.

Unfortunately, one of our own Democratic senators here in California, Dianne Fienstein, falls into this category. Her husband got rebuilding contracts in Iraq.

The Democrats are still our best hope of setting this country right, but it can't be done until a firewall is built to keep the profit motive from influencing their thinking.

As Upton Sinclair said, "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."

KEY EXCERPTS:







George Clooney

I Am a Liberal. There, I Said It!

Too many people run away from the label. They whisper it like you'd whisper "I'm a Nazi." Like it's dirty word. But turn away from saying "I'm a liberal" and it's like you're turning away from saying that blacks should be allowed to sit in the front of the bus, that women should be able to vote and get paid the same as a man, that McCarthy was wrong, that Vietnam was a mistake.

***

The fear of been criticized can be paralyzing. Just look at the way so many Democrats caved in the run up to the war. In 2003, a lot of us were saying, where is the link between Saddam and bin Laden? What does Iraq have to do with 9/11? We knew it was bullshit. Which is why it drives me crazy to hear all these Democrats saying, "We were misled." It makes me want to shout, "Fuck you, you weren't misled. You were afraid of being called unpatriotic."

Bottom line: it's not merely our right to question our government, it's our duty. Whatever the consequences. We can't demand freedom of speech then turn around and say, But please don't say bad things about us. You gotta be a grown up and take your hits.


FULL TEXT:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-clooney/i-am-a-liberal-there-i-_b_17119.html

[Why Syzygy]

1. I knew he was on our side.

And proud to have him.

[yurbud]

2. it would be nice to hear some candidates speak this plainly

[Why Syzygy]

6. Wouldn't that be a relief! n/t

[wake.up.america]

3. I like the word liberal, but I also like to think we are the ones who...

I like the word liberal, and I also like to think we are the ones who are right.

It's much more than a fight between conservatism and liberalism.

It's a battle between right and wrong.

We really need to make a very loud point about that.

[yurbud]

9. all ideas should be able to make their case in the public square, but not

at gunpoint.

[auagroach]

13. The Right...

have known all along if given a fair and open discussion they would lose so it'll never happen. That's why they control the mass media, to obfusicate and indoctrinate, not enlighten and liberate.

[stellanoir]

4. I'm slightly irked

I spent a fair amount of time commenting on his post and what I wrote apparently got swallowed into the bowels of the Huff Post.

So I'll post it here I guess since he's rumored to lurk here sometimes.

"Welp good for you.

I agree wholeheartedly that the demonization of liberalism is a total ruse and am pleased you are defending it's finer more salient points. Whenever I am confronted with the "tax & spend liberal" spin I invariably say, "so you prefer loot & waste pseudo conservatism?"

However I feel a lot of the problem lies in the myth that these labels are not somewhat antiquated. Or as Jon Stewart once so aptly put, "we no longer have liberals and conservatives, we have moderates and extremists."

As to the oxymoronic label of "compassionate conservatism," compassion is simply a quality to which frugality could never possibly or plausibly apply.

I believe that a rather huge part of our problem lies in the adherence of a dualistic model, when once upon a time this land was notoriously admired for being "the land of the lively discussion." There are simply many more than two points of view. The result for a while was intractable gridlock but at least there was periodic room for compromise.

Now with single party control of the three branches of the legislature, the media, and the voting technology there pathetically isn't even that any more. I believe the only issue to unite our divided country is a tenacious & irascible defense of our Constitution and the rights granted therein which are now dangerously imperil.

As a 13th generation American my heart aches for our eroded democracy and increasingly shredded Constitutional rights.

I deeply believe that in these oh so oppressive times rectification will not come through logical or linear means alone.

That's why I've been obsessively crafting and sending some inspirational writing far and wide since November. It is inclusive of "19 tricks or Weapons of Massive Reintegration for Global Amelioration." They are simple and only require a few moments of time. I'd be happy to share them for free with anyone who is interested and promise not to spam ya. The writing is spiritual, political, anecdotal, and believe it or not somewhat humorous.

As to the issue of the colossally disastrous vote to empower the pRes to go to war in Iraq, the point missing in the Dem defense of that vote is always void of the operative prepositional phrase, "WITH UN APPROVAL." Psssssst. . .The UN never approved. 14.41 my butt. The inspectors were allowed back in. But * went and invaded anyway not at all in accordance with the provisions of that legislation. By then Sadaam was happily writing romance novels and had committed most of those heinous atrocities when he was our ally.

Based largely on the pRes reselection cycle we rushed into a tragic war clueless of history or Muslim culture. How the heck were our troops to ever win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi's not even knowing how to say "Hello" in their native tongue? I'm baffled and sickened by what has transpired and by how badly the whole thing was botched.

Mr. Clooney why don't you run in '08? Reagan was only a B grade actor ya know? Our country needs someone with no less than your stellar charm & savvy to restore hope and all the global prestige that the pRes has summarily trashed in such a relatively short time. Most Americans adore you and are sillily star struck. As long as you continue to speak with common sense, they more than likely wouldn't even care that you've never held elected office. I'm not kidding about this.

Thanks for your thoughtful post. Hope you continue to contribute.

[Why Syzygy]

5. I would like to

look at the 19 steps. Can you im them to me?

[stellanoir]

7. check your PM's

[yurbud]

8. I'll bite, send me the 19 too

[SoulDrift]

15. Send that to me also please

You realize Clooney would get so much crap in a run for the Presidency.. the Right doesn't want to hear from Hollywood, unless they happen to be big name conservatives like Ahh-nold who can help their party win an election.

[stellanoir]

16. Okay send me a PM when you

have enough posts to access and send them. I'm not sure how many posts it takes. Maybe around 50 or so but I'm just guessing. Just go kick a bunch of threads you like and you'll be there.

As to Clooney. . .do you think if I ran around saying a decade prior in the '70's that a B grade actor would ever be Pres anyone would have believed me?

I don't think idol worship is a healthy thing but most Americans DO worship celebrities, few worship politicians at all. The few Bushites who did are ever dwindling.

Considering what little I know of Clooney's manner through minor observation, he'd more than likely not suffer the slander of fools and dust 'em with raw style, a saber wit, and absolute candor, the three attributes the right sorely lacks and could never truly possess due to all their disingenuiousness. IMHO .

[baldguy]

10. Ken Mehlman thinks we need a slogan

How about "It's unpatriotic to confuse dissent with disloyalty"?

[yurbud]

11. How about, "We don't keep our gays in the closet, Ken"

[Matilda]

12. And to be honest about his film Good Night and Good Luck,

it has occurred to me that perhaps it didn't win the Oscar because it was coming too close to today's
truth for comfort.

[yurbud]

14. Content was dead on, but film-making had some rough edges

Brokeback should have won.

[Martin Eden]

17. "Fuck you, you weren't misled."

Question:

Did John Kerry and other Democrats who voted for the IWR understand that war was certain with the passage of that resolution, or did they actually believe Bush would follow the written intent and invade only if Saddam wouldn't cooperate with UN inspectors?

Even if they did not believe that Saddam had anything to do with 9/11 or posed a "grave and gathering threat" to America, they still could have been misled by the disparity between what was written in the resolution and Bush's subsequent actions. Settling the Iraqi WMD question by forcing Saddam to readmit the UN was a legitimate goal.

I'm trying to cut Kerry and others some slack here, but I can't get around the fact that I firmly believed at the time that once given the authority Bush would invade no matter what. I also thought it was obvious that the Bushies were lying through their teeth with all the dire warnings of an Iraqi threat.

Which is more likely -- that my partisan bias colored my views, or that Kerry etc. saw what I saw and voted for it anyway?