A group of Hollywood actors, entertainers, and musicians is urging Bush not to attack Iraq.
More than 100 entertainers signed the missive, which says a war with Iraq will “increase the likelihood of terrorist attacks, damage the economy and undermine our moral standing in the world.”
[Tony] Shalhoub, Martin Sheen and Mike Farrell were among nearly a dozen performers who got together to draw attention to their cause.
Among those signing the letter were Academy Award winners Kim Basinger, Helen Hunt, Olympia Dukakis, Susan Sarandon and director Jonathan Demme.
Other names included former “X-Files” stars Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny; “The West Wing” cast members Sheen, Janel Moloney, Bradley Whitford and Lily Tomlin; “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” actors Marg Helgenberger and Robert David Hall; and “Ocean’s Eleven” co-stars Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Elliott Gould and Carl Reiner.
R.E.M’s Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills joined fellow musicians Peter Yarrow and Bonnie Raitt.
Now, for the record, I’m not “pro-war” and I don’t see how anyone could be “pro” anything that will result in loss of life. But, while always regrettable, war is sometimes necessary, simply because the consequences of appeasement would be far worse (World War II comes to mind as an example).
So what I’d like to know is, what qualifies a movie or television actor, or musician, to be an expert on foreign policy? This group of celebrities may be nostalgic for the “We are the World” days, but in this case, they just look foolish. America may worship celebrity, but, except for in his role on the West Wing, nobody’s going to put Martin Sheen next to the red button. (Then again, they did elect Ronald Reagan.) The point is, celebrities are experts in their domains – fame, headlines, occasionally even talent. But when the line between celebrity and competent expert gets blurred, we’re all in trouble. Next thing you know, we’ll have Julia Roberts handling trade negotiations, and Britney Spears commanding troops.
Update: The full text and list of signatories of the letter is available on MSNBC (via LGF).
Of course they’re allowed to express their opinions. They’re citizens too, and that’s the beauty of democracy – everyone has a voice.
But personally, if the national security advisor to the president says that Saddam Hussein is a threat, and Gillian Anderson says he’s not, then it’s not going to be much of a contest for me who I’ll choose to believe.
I’ve groaned for years about celebrities pontificating about pet causes about which they know little more than the slogans. The fact is, though, that given a soapbox, almost anyone will fancy himself an orator.
If there’s anything to be bemoaned, it’s the attention given these orations. The press is to be faulted, but I must say, the Bush Administration deserves a lot of credit for treating actors as actors, and not as the universal authorities they too often fancy themselves. The Clinton embrace of Hollywood did a hell of a lot to reduce that administration’s credibility.
You can always know what position to
take in politics by looking at positions
taken by entertainers and doing the opposite.
I too think it’s quite silly for entertainers to express their views in this way. The thrust of this anti-war movement is misguided. However, if you were a public personality, wouldn’t you use your fame to further a cause you believed in? If I were endowed with such opinion-swaying power, I’d use it.
I must admit though… I cringed when I read the headline 🙂
Heyyy… Matt Damon signed it, but not Ben Affleck! Are they having a snit?
First of all, just because somebody is famous for one thing, doesn’t mean they can’t have and opinion (and an educated one at that) about some political cause. I’ve said this ever since Jesse Ventura was elected governor of Minnesota, even though I had never really heard of him before and I definitely (sp?) disagree with his politics!
Secondly, Bush isn’t going to go to war. He only stirred things up with Iraq so he could win his double majority in both houses.
And finally, why is it that Iraq is such a bad country when other countries like Saudi Arabia and China get away with everything they do? Oh yeah, I forgot. Saudi Arabia has more oil coming out they Wazoo than Mr. I-won’t-sign-Kyoto-becuase-I’m-an-oil-tycoon could ever dream of consuming. Oh yeah, and China actually has a bigger army than the US, so Georgy wouldn’t dare start up something with them, no matter how many human rights violations they have.
Oh and speaking of Human rights violations, guess which four countries lead the world in capital punishment? China, Saudi Arabia, USA, and Iran… and I’m pretty sure in that order!!! Now whos the Axis of evil???
If anybody is actually reading this, send me and e-mail whether you agree with me or not: theycallmemorty@yahoo.ca