Retread316
Adrenaline Junkie
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OMG! This kind of liberal bleeding heart whining just pisses me off like nothing else. My liberal little sister sent this to me thinking I'd friggin AGREE!!! I've just got to share, vent and see some comments from all you guys!
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Sean Penn's Open Letter to George W. Bush
Nov. 3, 2002
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 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 the 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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Sean Penn's Open Letter to George W. Bush
Nov. 3, 2002
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 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 the 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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