"Every day, this elected leader is called a dictator here, and we just accept it," actor Sean Penn remarked the other day on Bill Maher's HBO program. "And this is mainstream media, who should -- truly, there should be a bar by which one goes to prison for these kinds of lies." Doesn't Penn know that dictators can win elections, too? Hugo Chavez warned that foreigners who come to Venezuela and criticize him will be expelled. He has expropriated private property. His government has killed its protestors. He has shut down opposition television channels and radio stations. One could say Chavez's views on free speech are consistent with Sean Penn's.
I was in Caracas a few months ago, and I was amazed at the number of homeless and destitute people. What kind of Communist country doesn't even have housing for everyone? And the roofless houses that some of these guys have, though, ALL have Direct TV. Keep putting them to sleep....
Actually the main stream media coverage of Hugo Chavez is generally quite favorable. Most of them would agree with Mr. Penn's assessment of Hugo Chavez. Instead of "every day" being called a dictator very rarely is Chavez called a dictator in the main stream media. When Hugo Chavez is discussed, the discussion of him is generally quite favorable. Not sure where Mr. Penn gets this crazy idea that Mr. Chavez is not treated well in the main stream news media.
Why doesn't Sean Penn and the rest of his uneducated,Hollywood pals move to this paradise?
They are frauds and are as easily manipulated as a wooden puppet in a drawer. Penn, like many leftists don't have the capacity to allow logical thinking to override their emotions.
Penn's old man was an ardent supporter of Joseph Stalin, the hero of Aemrican leftists.
He and Chairman Mao only killed about 100 million civilians in the name of the left's holy grail, "social justice".
The sad thing is, these uneducated dimwits have never been asked to make an accounting of their actions.
The Hollywood crowd demonstrates time and time again that they are leftist nuts with too much money and way too much time on their hands.
Where it would be true that a person of Sean Penn's recognition could live in a fascist country like Venezuela under a real dictator like Chavez (as opposed to wannabe dictator in training - Barack Hussein Obama) and be insulated shows that he considers not how brutal is must be for the average business man and citizen there to live under such an oppressive regime.
The hypocrisy of the left and especially of the 'artist' crowd is astounding.
Along these lines, the other day Tom Hanks made a statement about racism in America and how we have a long way to go to finally eradicate it. My contention is that racism (white, black, yellow, brown - take your pick) will never truly be eradicated because humans are a tribal species, but I digress. But, it's unclear to me what Hanks is railing about. Is racism in this most benign society still a big problem? Are we still living in the 50's?Do we not have a black President? It's hard to understand sometimes what these most insulated of our citizens are talking about.
The allusion that America is such a bad place when it's the freedoms we enjoy here that allow for everybody to prosper given some effort is confusing. The same freedoms that allow for the Penn and Hank types to make a lot of money and live in palatial comfort in their own little worlds.
