HOME | POLITICS | SPORTS | LIFE | SCI/TECH | OPEDS | HELPFUL TIPS
|
Apr 18, 2003 Tim Robbins is hopping mad, and he let us know it. Glowering over the podium during a recent speech at the National Press Club, Robbins ripped into the Bush administration and its allies for creating what he described as a culture of fear and intimidation among those opposed to Gulf II. Fed up, Robbins urged the opposition - press included to reverse the tide. The last straw for Robbins was, of course, the snubbing that he received from Dale Petroskey, the president of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Robbins was supposed to attend an event in Cooperstown to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Bull Durham, arguably one of the finest baseball films ever put on celluloid. Petroskey, a former staff member in the Reagan administration, decided to revoke the invitation based on Robbins outspoken anti-war stance. Tim Robbins is a pretty darned good actor. Bull Durham aside, he gets the nod for Shawshank alone (which, in turn, more than absolves him of the sins of Howard the Duck). However, when it comes to politics, I vehemently disagree with just about everything he says. Nonetheless, I have to admit that in the case of the Hall fiasco, Robbins is in the right (no pun intended). Petroskey turned what should have been a harmless and apolitical celebration of a movie about Americas pastime into a media circus. The two agendas should have never crossed paths and Petroskey, quite frankly, made my side look bad. That painful admission out of the way, I must say that I have little sympathy for Robbins and any other lefties who have gotten into hot water because of their anti-war/anti-Bush views. At the NPC gig, Robbins bemoaned that opposing Bush carried consequences, as if this were something new or disturbing. Its not. Words have, and always will, carry ramifications. The First Amendment covers the right to dissent, but it doesnt confer a free pass in the court of public opinion. Consider the Dixie Chicks. At a recent concert in London, singer Natalie Maines said that Chicks were ashamed Bush is from Texas. For a band whose fan base is overwhelmingly found in the red states, such a comment amounts to career suicide. Feel free to wear your political heart on your sleeve, Ms. Maines, but dont be surprised when the guy with the Uber-mullet drinking Budweiser in seat 13D, section 6, gets his NASCAR shorts in a bunch over it. (Maybe the Chicks can start touring again once the doctors surgically remove Maines foot from her mouth.) Cries of foul! from the left also lose a lot of weight simply considering the source. For years now, a pet cause of the left has been to stamp out, if not criminalize, hate (hateful words, hateful books, hateful groups, etc). Even terms that could be perceived as an insult have been ridiculously scrubbed from our collective vocabulary. A few years back, a DC councilman used the word niggardly (meaning miserly) to describe a colleague. The resulting furor left the councilman without a job. In their efforts to create a world where we all forced to join in rousing choruses of Kumbaya (with conservative, white, male Christians relegated to the back riser), liberals plowed right through any concerns about the First Amendment. Yes, the same First Amendment in which Robbins et al now drape themselves. But wait, hate speech is not the same as dissenting with your government, right? Well, if so, go tell that to the folks over in Iraq serving their country: a placard accusing them of killing babies doesnt exactly send them a warm and fuzzy. The tricky thing about hate speech is that it is all in the eye of the recipient. Lets bring it a little closer to home for Robbins and the rest of the Hollywood glitterati. Think about Rosies treatment of Tom Selleck (an NRA member) on her show a couple years back. Wasnt that a primetime example of the consequences of having a different opinion? Or how about Charlton Heston? When was the last time that guy was invited anywhere? Indeed, actor Tim Roth, of ultra- violent Reservoir Dogs fame, said he had a real problem working with Heston on the set of Planet of the Apes. (One can only assume that the responsible gun ownership message of the NRA conflicted with Roths affinity for senseless theatrical violence.) The point is that for years the m.o. of the left including those in Hollywood - has been to ridicule, marginalize, and outright criminalize those who dont toe the liberal line. Indeed bashing people like Heston became a hoot, almost a fashionable sport among the Barbara Streisand crowd. Now we are expected to believe that the reverse is McCarthyism? Funny how the left finds that the game isnt so much fun anymore now that the tables have turned somewhat in these hawkish times. To Dale Petroskey: shame on you. You know better. To Robbins et al: cry me a river. Yall helped make the bed. Get comfy. And dude: Howard the Duck? What were you thinking? About Matthew Bastian: Recovering socialst, part-time drummer, long-suffering Brewers fan, and all-around beach hound, Mr. Bastian lives in central New Jersey. Email Matthew Bastian: mbastian19@hotmail.com ------------ Comment on this column in the forum. ------------ |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
