Once an idiot [1], always an idiot [2]:
First Amendment be damned . . . If Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn had his way, any journalist who called Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez a dictator would quickly find himself behind bars.
Penn, appearing on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” on Friday, defended Chavez during a segment in which he detailed his work with the JP Haitian Relief Organization, which he co-founded.
“Every day, this elected leader is called a dictator here, and we just accept it, and accept it” said Penn, winner of two Best Actor Academy Awards. “And this is mainstream media, who should — truly, there should be a bar by which one goes to prison for these kinds of lies.”
It was just the beginning of a busy weekend for Penn. When asked on CBS’ “Sunday Morning” about those who question his motives for his humanitarian work in Haiti, he said:
“Do I hope that those people die screaming of rectal cancer? Yeah. You know, but I’m not going to spend a lot of energy on it.”
Go to prison? For lies? If that was the case, this dumba$$ Hollyweirdo would be locked up for life.
You can read more of the relevant part of the transcript via Tim Graham [3]. If you can stomach it, here are video clips from the Maher show in question: clip 1 [4], clip 2 [5], and clip 3 [6].
Rhymes with Right [7] has a great suggestion:
Tell you what, Sean – why don’t you head down to Venezuela or Cuba and stay there. After all, they already have the sort of press-responsibility statutes you speak of – journalists regularly go to jail for offending the government in Cuba, and the Venezuelan DICTATOR has shut down opposition media.
Not to mention that a Spanish judge is alleging that the Chavez government – alongside the ETA and FARC – was involved in a plot to kill Colombia President Álvaro Uribe [8] and other Colombian officials during previous visits to Spain.
Anyone else with me on launching a nationawide fundraiser to help pay for a one way ticket to Venezuela for Jeff Spicoli [9]?