Clooney: “I'm a liberal. Fire away.”
Smirking Republicans are getting a lot of mileage out of comments by George Clooney over at Huffington Post.
Specifically this passage:
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 bull----. Which is why it drives me crazy to hear all these Democrats saying, "We were misled." It makes me want to shout, "F--- you, you weren't misled. You were afraid of being called unpatriotic."This makes Clooney sound like some sort of self-hating, whack-job, Fox Democrat like Joe Leiberman or Susan Estrich.
What they've conveniently left off was the sentence immediately preceding that paragraph: "The fear of being criticized can be paralyzing. " Does that excuse the actions of the Democrats? No. But their dubious record pales in comparison to the horrific actions of George W. Bush.
Whatever happens in the war, it will be Bush's legacy.
Here's the concluding paragraph of Clooney's piece:
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.Fear can paralyze you. It is one of the most corrosive elements you will encounter in your lifetime. It can paralyze an entire nation.I am a liberal. Fire away.
Once upon a time, we were motivated to greatness by the power of our dreams. Now, too many of us are kept passive and cowering by an appeal to our worst nightmares.
Fact is, we (as a nation) have faced far worse than al-Qaeda. The Soviet Union had the ability to destroy the entire Earth 1000 times over and yet we faced them down. And our leaders didn't trash the Constitution in order to do it. Why do we think that our leaders must trash it now to "protect" us? Because too many of us are afraid.
We'd do well (Democrats and Republicans) to remember what Roosevelt said: "The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself."
I'm confident that one day we'll all wake up, drink a Bloody Mary and wonder, "What the f--- was that all about?"
I just hope it won't be too late.
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Categories: Democrats
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The presidential power grab has nothing whatsoever to do with terrorists or 9/11 or Iraq. The GOP is inflaming the fears and using it for their own agenda.
It's not that they are trashing the Constitution in reaction to our fear, to allieviate it, to make us safer. They are reshaping our system because they can, because they have a unique opportunity because we are in fear.
In their quest for a permanent GOP majority and the conservative dream of destroying government with crippling deficits, shrinking the tax base, laissez faire management and elimination of the middle-class, they must destroy liberalism itself. The Bill of Rights, Separation of Powers and of Church and State are designed to protect liberal ideals.
You never saw them advocate restrictions on the Second Amendment to combat gun crime -- even though conservatives will paint themselves as tougher on crime than liberals. But they have no problem ignoring the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th 8th and 14th Amendments because together, those protect liberal heresy, thought crimes if you will. It never was about making America safer. It never was, it never will be.
Liberals stand in the way of a puritanical Christian utopia. Liberals stand in the way of a world-wide commercial empire. Liberals stand in the way of greed.
They are at war with liberals first, last and always. They will fight terrorists or drugs or crime or communists as convenient and where useful in destroying liberals.
Posted by: Mark Adams![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.rubyan.com/politics/nav-commenters.gif)
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March 14, 2006 08:57 AM
"They will fight terrorists or drugs or crime or communists as convenient and where useful in destroying liberals."
Clearly, by now, they will do it badly, hearts not really being in it and all (I mean, other than the beating liberals thing).
Posted by: shep![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.rubyan.com/politics/nav-commenters.gif)
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March 14, 2006 11:01 PM
The smirking Republicans (what's up with that, anyway?) really don’t have much to smirk about, now do they?
First off, I don’t think many Democrat politicians bought the Saddam-terrorist-9/11 bullsh*t. I don’t think many bought the “mushroom cloud” bullsh*t either. But they (and all of us) were misled on Iraqi WMDs.
That said, the Dems obviously chose political expedience over a courageous if futile act of principle. That’s all it was because those who believed that invading Iraq was a mistake knew they couldn’t have changed the administration’s course no matter what they did. And they have paid, and continue to pay, for that choice (I shed not one tear for that).
But most Democrats merely acquiesced, they didn’t plan, advocate, implement, or apologize for this debacle from the neoconservatives.
Republicans did all of the above. It appears they just can’t stomach their own responsibility for the tragedy their hateful partisanship (and foolishness) has wrought. They want, they need, to blame Democrats. But, in their heart of hearts, they know they can’t even claim that we didn’t warn them.
Posted by: shep![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.rubyan.com/politics/nav-commenters.gif)
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March 14, 2006 11:12 PM