This was intended to be an email reply, but I got carried away and then forgot about it. So here it sits. The "this silly thing" that the first line refers to is the email that is pasted below what I wrote. Any links in what I wrote or the original email may have long since gone away.
Re: Who's Smarter?
Sent: Monday, March 31, 2003 11:40 AM
I got this silly thing from four people. Distilling down "the biographies", once you get rid of the praising fluff given to the politicians, doesn't leave much. The main difference between the two groups seems to be that the politicians have a career in politics, and the actors have a career in acting. And the politicians had more years of formal education.
So what about their career choices? In normal times, we tend to dislike politicians and often assume they're lying to us, but the New Patriotism has changed that. Really, they're very similar professions. In both of them, the practitioner:
- Has a goal of getting in front of a bunch of people so their viewpoint can be heard.
- Has writers providing material for them to present.
- Takes polls to find out what the audience wants to hear or see.
- Has the writers change the presentation to give the people what they want.
In one case we call it a speech. In the other we call it routine or show. The polls try to determine if the people want to hear that you're improving our lives by taxing the rich and providing public services to the poor, or doing it by lowering the tax on dividends to stimulate the economy and let tricky-down economics do its magic. Or the polls try to determine why Leno has a greater market share than Letterman.
Looking at it this way, it makes sense that you get an actor like Reagan for president, or Schwarzenegger considering a run at governor. They both do basically the same thing.
Moving on to education: The politicians all finished college, some with advanced degrees. Some actors also did. Anybody that went to college knows that getting a degree doesn't mean you're smart or can solve problems. It just means that you could afford to go to school and that you spent enough time on your studies to pass some tests. How does Powell's degree in geology apply to opinions on world politics? And did the education help? Shrubya's early speeches caused special dictionaries of his newly created words to start popping up.
But maybe I misunderestimated him. He's certainly not the first to do this (remember all the Quayle bashing) and I know I would make lots of stupid mistakes talking to crowds, but it's not my profession. And Shrubya doesn't seem to do it anymore, so I guess he finally got the training he needed. Or the media was told to back off so that if you're not watching the speech real-time, you're not going to hear about it. But I digress.
The actors went out and made a bunch of money instead of staying in school. Hmm, make a bunch of money making a movie, or study for a poly sci exam? Decisions, decisions. Okay, I'm pushing it here. I'm sure lots of them were starving artists at first, or knew that they just didn't have the right connections or enough money to get into politics.
Seriously, when was the last time you based your opinion of somebody's thoughts on their education? It really doesn't matter in most cases. Knowledge of a particular subject is a different story.
It's certainly true that the politicians have more and better access to the facts than the actors. At least I hope it's true. But that certainly hasn't stopped them in the past from manipulating and selecting which facts the rest of us should hear, whether the purpose is furthering their careers, furthering their agendas, or "for our own good". So while the point itself is valid, it may not be relevant as far as the truth of we're hearing from either group.
Fluff: I'm sure there are lots of organizations the actors have been involved in, but it's hard to fit it into the one line in the original story that already contains their profession and education. Their participation isn't much more relevant than Condoleezza Rice being "Vice President of the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula." Okay, she's a joiner and with a fairly impressive list, I'll admit.
There's lots of military involvement for the politicians. Yes, they learned to follow orders. But I noticed that the list doesn't include Admiral John Poindexter, who was recently put in charge of going over your e-mails and credit card receipts as head of the Total Information Awareness program. His resume includes being a convicted felon who sold Stinger missiles to the Iranians, used the profits to fund an international terrorist organization, and then lied to congress about it. His five-count conviction for lying to Congress was overturned because Congress had given him immunity in return for his testimony, so I guess we can't really count that. It also doesn't mention that Cheney's testimony in the Iran-Contra hearings was key to clearing Bush.
The real point "Who's Smarter?" is trying to make seems to be that the actors don't have a right to be heard or have an opinion. That they shouldn't use the media to make their point, or spend their own money (instead of our taxes) to try to find out what's going on. It says on the one hand that "It is time for us, as citizens of the United States, to educate ourselves about the world around us," then chastises the actors for doing just that, apparently meaning that we should be good little citizens and believe everything our government tells us is true. (And perhaps the check is in the mail.)
Maybe it will turn out someday that we're attacking Iraq for the right reasons and that the Administration did have proof but couldn't show us for security or planning reasons. Then, in retrospect after the truth comes out some of us will have to say we were wrong about not wanting to start a war. Hasn't happened yet. No WMDs.
But in the end, can anyone imagine us not eventually proving our justification? With what the world would think of us if we don't eventually find a smoking gun, I'm sure something will turn up. But we'll probably never know where it really came from.
As far as not listening to the actors: Sorry, but if the media would listen to me, I would use it too. The article assumes people listen to the actors, but I question that. It's mostly a media event because many people seem to like to watch famous people. You've gotta fill 60 minutes of news with something. Gotta get the ratings. So we're going to hear actors and musicians and retired politicians and anybody else whose name we might recognize tell us their views.
In closing, while it may not PC for me to say it anymore, Bush is still an idiot. That doesn't mean that he's not smart enough to say what he's told to say (or not say) when it will be an advantage. And he's smart enough to lose millions of dollars of other people's money while collecting a tidy salary himself in the oil industry. About driving, George Carlin once said something along the lines of, "Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?" So maybe the word idiot was the wrong word, as was "stupid", "ignorant" and "moronic". It just means we don't like what we hear and see from the powers that be, and the words do seem to fit the actions.
P.S. Here's 600 links to prove, or at least enjoy, that he's an idiot: http://www.bushisanidiot.20m.com/links.htm
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.12A.wrp.idiot.htm
P.P.S. Furthering my you-can't-believe-everything-you-read statements, this history of Bush (from 1918 on) shows lots of interesting dots that are connected in lots of interesting ways. I don't know how much is true, or which stories to believe, but it can't all be a lie, and it can't all be true.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2003 9:41 AM
Who's Smarter? by Cindy Osborne
Subject: FYI: Who's Smarter?
The Hollywood group is at it again. Holding anti-war rallies, screaming about the Bush Administration, running ads in major newspapers, defaming the President and his Cabinet every chance they get, to anyone and everyone who will listen. They publicly defile them and call them names like "stupid" , "morons", and "idiots". Jessica Lange went so far as to tell a crowd in Spain that she hates President Bush and is embarrassed to be an American.
So, just how ignorant are these people who are running the country? Let's look at the biographies of these "stupid", "ignorant" , "moronic" leaders, and then at the celebrities who are castigating them:
President George W. Bush: Received a Bachelors Degree from Yale University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He served as an F-102 pilot for the Texas Air National Guard. He began his career in the oil and gas business in Midland in 1975 and worked in the energy industry until 1986. He was elected Governor on November 8, 1994, with 53.5 percent of the vote. In a historic re-election victory, he became the first Texas Governor to be elected to consecutive four-year terms on November 3, 1998 winning 68.6 percent of the vote. In 1998 Governor Bush won 49 percent of the Hispanic vote, 27 percent of the African-American vote, 27 percent of Democrats and 65 percent of women. He won more Texas counties, 240 of 254, than any modern Republican other than Richard Nixon in 1972 and is the first Republican gubernatorial candidate to win the heavily Hispanic and Democratic border counties of El Paso, Cameron and Hidalgo.
(Someone began circulating a false story about his I.Q. being lower than any other President. If you believed it, you might want to go to URBANLEGENDS.COM and see the truth.)
Vice President Dick Cheney: Earned a B.A. in 1965 and a M.A. in 1966, both in political science. Two years later, he won an American Political Science Association congressional fellowship. One of Vice President Cheney's primary duties is to share with individuals, members of Congress and foreign leaders, President Bush's vision to strengthen our economy, secure our homeland and win the War on Terrorism. In his official role as President of the Senate, Vice President Cheney regularly goes to Capital Hill to meet with Senators and members of the House of Representatives to work on the Administration's legislative goals. In his travels as Vice President, he has seen first hand the great demands the war on terrorism is placing on the men and women of our military, and he is proud of the tremendous job they are doing for the United States of America.
Secretary of State Colin Powell: Educated in the New York City public schools, graduating from the City College of New York (CCNY), where he earned a Bachelor's Degree in geology. He also participated in ROTC at CCNY and received a commission as an Army second lieutenant upon graduation in June 1958. His further academic achievements include a Master of Business Administration Degree from George Washington University. Secretary Powell is the recipient of numerous U.S. and foreign military awards and decorations. Secretary Powell's civilian awards include two Presidential Medals of Freedom, the President's Citizens Medal, the Congressional Gold Medal, the Secretary of State Distinguished Service Medal, and the Secretary of Energy Distinguished Service Medal. Several schools and other institutions have been named in his honor and he holds honorary degrees from universities and colleges across the country.
(Note: He retired as Four Star General in the United States Army)
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld: Attended Princeton University on Scholarship (AB, 1954) and served in the U.S. Navy (1954-57) as a Naval aviator; Congressional Assistant to Rep. Robert Griffin (R-MI), 1957-59; U.S. Representative, Illinois, 1962-69; Assistant to the President, Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity, Director of the Cost of Living Council, 1969-74; U.S. Ambassador to NATO, 1973-74; head of Presidential Transition Team, 1974; Assistant to the President, Director of White House Office of Operations, White House Chief of Staff, 1974-77; Secretary of Defense, 1975-77.
Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge: Raised in a working class family in veterans' public housing in Erie. He earned a scholarship to Harvard, graduating with honors in 1967. After his first year at The Dickinson School of Law, he was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he served as an infantry staff sergeant in Vietnam, earning the Bronze Star for Valor. After returning to Pennsylvania, he earned his Law Degree and was in private practice before becoming Assistant District Attorney in Erie County. He was elected to Congress in 1982. He was the first enlisted Vietnam combat veteran elected to the U.S. House, and was overwhelmingly re-elected six times.
National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice: Earned her Bachelor's Degree in Political Science, Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Denver in 1974; her Master's from the University of Notre Dame in 1975; and her Ph.D. from the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver in 1981. (Note: Rice enrolled at the University of Denver at the age of 15, graduating at 19 with a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science (Cum Laude). She earned a Master's Degree at the University of Notre Dame and a Doctorate from the University of Denver's Graduate School of International Studies. Both of her advanced degrees are also in Political Science.) She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has been awarded Honorary Doctorates from Morehouse College in 1991, the University of Alabama in 1994, and the University of Notre Dame in 1995. At Stanford, she has been a member of the Center for International Security and Arms Control, a Senior Fellow of the Institute for International Studies, and a Fellow (by courtesy) of the Hoover Institution. Her books include Germany Unified and Europe Transformed (1995) with Philip Zelikow, The Gorbachev Era (1986) with Alexander Dallin, and Uncertain Allegiance: The Soviet Union and the Czechoslovak Army (1984). She also has written numerous articles on Soviet and East European foreign and defense policy, and has addressed audiences in settings ranging from the U.S. Ambassador's Residence in Moscow to the Commonwealth Club to the 1992 and 2000 Republican National Conventions. From 1989 through March 1991, the period of German reunification and the final days of the Soviet Union, she served in the Bush Administration as Director, and then Senior Director, of Soviet and East European Affairs in the National Security Council, and a Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. In 1986, while an international affairs fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations, she served as Special Assistant to the Director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In 1997, she served on the Federal Advisory Committee on Gender -- Integrated Training in the Military. She was a member of the boards of directors for the Chevron Corporation, the Charles Schwab Corporation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the University of Notre Dame, the International Advisory Council of J.P. Morgan and the San Francisco Symphony Board of Governors. She was a Founding Board member of the Center for a New Generation, an educational support fund for schools in East Palo Alto and East Menlo Park, California and was Vice President of the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula. In addition, her past board service has encompassed such organizations as Transamerica Corporation, Hewlett Packard, the Carnegie Corporation, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, The Rand Corporation, the National Council for Soviet and East European Studies, the Mid-Peninsula Urban Coalition and KQED, public broadcasting for San Francisco. Born November 14, 1954 in Birmingham, Alabama, she resides in Washington, D.C.
So who are these celebrities? What is their education? What is their experience in affairs of State or in National Security? While I will defend to the death their right to express their opinions, I think that if they are going to call into question the intelligence of our leaders, we should also have all the facts on their educations and background:
Barbra Streisand : Completed high school Career: Singing and acting
Cher: Dropped out of school in 9th grade. Career: Singing and acting
Martin Sheen: Flunked exam to enter University of Dayton. Career: Acting
Jessica Lange: Dropped out college mid-freshman year. Career: Acting
Alec Baldwin: Dropped out of George Washington U. after scandal. Career: Acting
Julia Roberts: Completed high school. Career: Acting
Sean Penn: Completed High school. Career: Acting
Susan Sarandon: Degree in Drama from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Career: Acting
Ed Asner; Completed High school. Career: Acting
George Clooney: Dropped out of University of Kentucky. Career: Acting
Michael Moore: Dropped out first year University of Michigan. Career: Movie Director
Sarah Jessica Parker: Completed High School. Career: Acting
Jennifer Anniston: Completed High School. Career: Acting
Mike Farrell: Completed High school. Career: Acting
Janeane Garofelo: Dropped out of College. Career: Stand up comedienne
Larry Hagman: Attended Bard College for one year. Career: Acting
While comparing the education and experience of these two groups, we should also remember that President Bush and his cabinet are briefed daily, even hourly, on the War on Terror and threats to our security. They are privy to information gathered around the world concerning the Middle East, the threats to America, the intentions of terrorists and terrorist-supporting governments. They are in constant communication with the CIA, the FBI, Interpol, NATO, The United Nations, our own military, and that of our allies around the world. We cannot simply believe that we have full knowledge of the threats because we watch CNN!! We cannot believe that we are in any way as informed as our leaders.
These celebrities have no intelligence-gathering agents, no fact-finding groups, no insight into the minds of those who would destroy our country. They only have a deep seated hatred for all things Republican. By nature, and no one knows quite why, the Hollywood elitists detest Conservative views and anything that supports or uplifts the United States of America. The silence was deafening from the Left when Bill Clinton bombed a pharmaceutical factory outside of Khartoum, or when he attacked the Bosnian Serbs in 1995 and 1999. He bombed Serbia itself to get Slobodan Milosevic out of Kosovo, and not a single peace rally was held. When our Rangers were ambushed in Somalia and 18 young American lives were lost, not a peep was heard from Hollywood. Yet now, after our nation has been attacked on its own soil, after 3,000 Americans were killed, by freedom-hating terrorists, while going about their routine lives, they want to hold rallies against the war. Why the change? Because an honest, God-fearing Republican sits in the White House.
Another irony is that in 1987, when Ronald Reagan was in office, the Hollywood group aligned themselves with disarmament groups like SANE, FREEZE and PEACE ACTION, urging our own government to disarm and freeze the manufacturing of any further nuclear weapons, in order to promote world peace. It is curious that now, even after we have heard all the evidence that Saddam Hussein has chemical, biological and is very close to obtaining nuclear weapons, their is no cry from this group for HIM to disarm. They believe we should leave him alone in his quest for these weapons of mass destruction, even though it is certain that these deadly weapons will eventually be used against us in our own cities.
So why the hype out of Hollywood? Could these celebrities believe that since they draw such astronomical salaries, they are entitled to also determine the course of our Nation? That they can make viable decisions concerning war and peace? Did Michael Moore have the backing of the Nation when he recently thanked France, on our behalf, for being a "good enough friend to tell us we were wrong"? I know for certain he was not speaking for me. Does Sean Penn fancy himself a Diplomat, in going to Iraq when we are just weeks away from war? Does he believe that his High School Diploma gives him the knowledge (and the right) to go to a country that is controlled by a maniacal dictator, and speak on behalf of the American people? Or is it the fact that he pulls in more money per year than the average American worker will see in a lifetime? Does his bank account give him clout?
The ultimate irony is that many of these celebrities have made a shambles of their own lives, with drug abuse, alcoholism, numerous marriages and divorces, scrapes with the law, publicized temper tantrums, etc. How dare they pretend to know what is best for an entire nation! What is even more bizarre is how many people in this country will listen and accept their views, simply because they liked them in a certain movie, or have fond memories of an old television sitcom!
It is time for us, as citizens of the United States, to educate ourselves about the world around us. If future generations are going to enjoy the freedoms that our forefathers bequeathed us, if they are ever to know peace in their own country and their world, to live without fear of terrorism striking in their own cities, we must assure that this nation remains strong. We must make certain that those who would destroy us are made aware of the severe consequences that will befall them.
Yes, it is a wonderful dream to sit down with dictators and terrorists and join hands, singing Cumbaya and talking of world peace. But it is not real. We did not stop Adolf Hitler from taking over the entire continent of Europe by simply talking to him. We sent our best and brightest, with the strength and determination that this Country is known for, and defeated the Nazi regime. President John F. Kennedy did not stop the Soviet ships from unloading their nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1962 with mere words. He stopped them with action, and threat of immediate war if the ships did not turn around. We did not end the Cold War with conferences. It ended with the strong belief of President Ronald Reagan... PEACE through STRENGTH.