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| Fifth Column |
| Great wahrks! Weâre dumb! |
| 2003-11-12 |
| Hat tip LGF YES, SHOW A celebrity an American, and that celebrity will show you an ignoramus. Too sweeping a statement? Perhaps. But what about this Michael Moore screed about Americans in the London Mirror earlier this month? âThey are possibly the dumbest people on the planet. ...We Americans suffer from an enforced ignorance. We donât know about anything thatâs happening outside our country. Our stupidity is embarrassing.â Until Michael Moore pointed it out, you probably didnât know how embarrassingly stupid you are. In fact, you probably have so little intelligence you didnât know that Moore isnât the only celebrity who thinks youâre dumb. Indeed, Moore has colleagues in the celebrity kingdom who think the same thing. I knew that. So put on your well-worn dunce cap and check out what other celebrities say about your intelligence. And if the celebrities are correct in their analysis, youâre moving your lips as you read this. Johnny Depp said a few months back, âAmerica is dumb, is something like a dumb puppy that has big teeth that can bite and hurt you.â (Depp later claimed he was quoted out of context and offered: âI am an American. I love my country and have great hopes for it. It is for this reason that I speak candidly and sometimes critically about it.â But still, weâre like dumb puppies?) Ted Turner once said this about television-watchers: âThe United States has got some of the dumbest people in the world. I want you to know that; we know that.â Speaking of Ted Turner, Imagine how unphotogenic she is now that her lips have fallen off. Also in Canada, Martin Sheen said recently: âEvery time I cross this border, I feel like Iâve left the land of lunatics. You are not armed and dangerous. You do not shoot each other. I always feel a bit more human when I come here.â Lunatics, ignorant people, dummies â even dumb puppies. Yes, we got âem all here. Theyâre people like roâDepp, roâMoore, roâTurner, roâFonda, etc. Where does this superior celebrity intellect come from? Itâs actually part of a larger phenomenon, one involving the president. Celebrities sneer at President Bushâs intelligence. And then they think weâre all the same, just dumb Bush-boosters. For evidence of how much smarter celebrities think they are than the president, we start again with super-smart guy Michael Moore. A year ago, he told the London Mirror (he loves those British papers), âI really do believe Bush is dumber than s@?*. Whatâs odd about all this is that Blair is a smart guy. Whatâs he doing hanging out with a dumb guy? Back at school if you were smart, you hung out with the other kids that were smart.â Sticking with the European press, earlier this year Larry Hagman told a German newspaper that Bush was a âsad figure: not too well-educated, who doesnât get out of America much.â And Sheen told the BBC after Bush became president: âGeorge W. Bush is like a bad comic working the crowd. A moron, if youâll pardon the expression.â Iâm not sure which expression we should be pardoning there, mind you. Maybe itâs because Iâm a moron-American (weâre such a hyphenated nation these days). But the hits continue. In April, Edward Norton said of Bush: âAs an actor, I know in my mind, watching him, what a low-quality mind he has.â And during the 2000 campaign, Cher said, âI donât like Bush. I donât trust him. I donât like his record. Heâs stupid. Heâs lazy.â Youâre intellectually lazy, Cherry Pit. Yikes! Stupid and lazy? Câmon, Cher! Snap out of it! Also during the 2000 campaign, Rob Reiner said, âWe have the single most unqualified man running for president in our lifetime. Iâm not making this up! Iâm not making this up! The man has no experience, and worse than that, he has no intellectual curiosity.â Gee, he makes Bush sound like a, well, like a meathead. No celebrity said it smarter than Sandra Bernhard. She asserted her intelligence and belittled Bush at the same time to the Washington Post in March 2002: âIâm an intelligent person from America. I was born in Michigan and raised in Arizona, and while I do reside in New York, I travel the country extensively. Any thinking person who lives in the world would be disturbed at whatâs going on right now. I think Bush is amateurish and self-serving, and, frankly, itâs disgusting.â I would offer a retort to Bernhard, but I canât think of anything smart to say. Iâve never been to Michigan. So how did I solve those brainteasers? |
| Posted by:Atrus |
| #21 Hmmmmm, I'm dumber than rocks, or so Hollyweird says... Nice to know. Guess my selection to the Air Force Academy was based on my looks (NOT!). Guess the perfect score on an IQ test that sent shock waves through the local VA was just a fluke. Guess we'll have to discount the 18 years I spent OUTSIDE the United States, in places like Panama, Vietnam, Germany, England, and a dozen other countries - I don't know beans about any other country. The 200+ semester-hours of credit I've earned at college over the past 35 years is just eyewash - I'm really dummer than durt... The Hollywood Hypocrites should take a tour of the United States without their glamour and make-up. They might be surprised at how many really INTELLIGENT people there are running around without a single film or television appearance to their credit. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-11-12 9:46:15 PM |
| #20 Sgt.DT, roger your last. Have not seen it. I'm a cheap bastard by nature so doubt I'll blow the $7+ to see Robbins or Penn. Sorry to hear Clint butchered it for you. Watch The Outlaw Josey Wales, Fistfull of Dollars, & High Planes Drifter and please find it in your heart to forgive Clint this one faux pas (well, yeah, maybe second faux pas if you factor in that piece o'shite Bridges of Maddison County as well) LOL. |
| Posted by: Jarhead 2003-11-12 7:50:34 PM |
| #19 I don't know how a promotion tour translates into knowing a country. Making a moovie in a coutry doesn't qualify in my book either if there are psynchophants everywhere to cater to you. I give Depp credit for speaking French and living a real life in France. I think its been quite a while since any of these clowns have truly lived in America, though. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-11-12 7:36:05 PM |
| #18 MHW and Jarhead, Tim Robbins was good in the Mystic River movie. But the book was wonderful and the movie was butchered by Clint. |
| Posted by: Sgt.DT 2003-11-12 7:14:07 PM |
| #17 Sandra Bernhard..... raised in Arizona I fill ill. |
| Posted by: Raptor 2003-11-12 6:43:56 PM |
| #16 Martin Sheen-Apocolypse Now. Character executed wounded Vietnamese civilian; beheaded Brando at end of film. Robbins/Sarandon-Bull Durham. Scenes of heavy sex between Sarandon, a groupie who "adopts" a player every season; get laid by two guys (not simultaneously, don't worry) in film. Depp- Platoon Remember he was the interpreter in village scene where civilian got offed by the Evil sarge Larry Hagman- Dallas J.R. is an adulterer, materialist, liar, shylock and general sleeze. I'll stop there, for now. ALL of these folks (list could go on for days) are part of the reason US is so despised abroad and in Muslim-Arab lands. How many times in the past 25 years (17 in Arabia) have the Wahibi/Muslim Brotherhood/Antisemite fools pointed out to me that they hate Amreeka because of the blood/drugs/sex that is exported to their lands. Are they talking about real gangsters and porno stars? Hell no. It's all about what they see on TV and on movie screens. The damn Hollywood hypocrites. They are just so full of themselves that they cannot get past their dollars to see the damage their industry is doing to the rest of us in the eyes of those who, at best, do not have any interest in seeing America do well in war on Islamofascism. JUST CAN'T CONNECT THE DOTS. Then on top of that, the jerks' images get transmitted all over the world with their bitching and moaning about how Hitlerite and stupid the leadership is here. My uncle was a director in LALA land in the 50's and had to get back to Chicago to become sane again. He had never seen before or since such a bunch of insecure, preening, worthless group than the Hollywood "moral authorities" That's a wrap. |
| Posted by: Michael 2003-11-12 4:01:19 PM |
| #15 Wish I was dumb enough to go to Yale and Harvard... |
| Posted by: Paolito 2003-11-12 2:54:48 PM |
| #14 According to Michael Moore Americans are stupid and ingnorant while Germans are wise and educted: they know how to manufacture Ziklon B. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-11-12 2:53:53 PM |
| #13 Oh, Stupid is when you don't know anything and smart is when you know lots of stuff? I keep getting those two backwards.Better tell Tim before he says something smart, I means stupid. |
| Posted by: Susan Sarandon. 2003-11-12 1:27:22 PM |
| #12 And yet, Keanu Reeves manages to keep his mouth shut on politics and make rational comments about the rumors of his homosexuality. Go figure. |
| Posted by: Ernest Brown 2003-11-12 12:59:28 PM |
| #11 "Movie stars, is there nothing they don't know?" Homer Simpson. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2003-11-12 12:30:07 PM |
| #10 Let me try to put this in perspective. I would think Americans were dumb too, if I all I did was hang out with the Hollywood crowd and the likes of mike moore,tim robbins,susan saradon,ed asner, jane fonda, babra streisend, etc., etc. There's not a dumber, and more ignorant, bunch of bunnies on this earth than those arrogant s**theads. Fortunately, I read Rantburg so I know better. |
| Posted by: Gasse Katze 2003-11-12 12:16:16 PM |
| #9 Funny how actors will dump insults all over whomever they don't like. I assume most people have noticed the screwed up lives of most celebrity actors; the drugs, multiple marriages, assults, etc. Always remember Alfred Hithcock when asked why he treated his actors like children - he replied of course, they live in a world of make believe, what else do you expect? |
| Posted by: John B 2003-11-12 12:14:59 PM |
| #8 George Bush is dumb, and he's President of the United States. Arnold Schwarzenegger is dumb, and he's Governor of California. I wanna be dumb. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2003-11-12 12:02:45 PM |
| #7 Well, they present a compelling case. But I'm going to withhold judgement until Leonardo DiCaprio and Pee Wee Herman have had their say. |
| Posted by: BH 2003-11-12 11:34:06 AM |
| #6 Don't feel bad mhw - Eastwood directed it and he's good to go. I liked Robbins in Shawshank as well. However, in light of recent comments Robbins makes himself look fairly silly. I just feel glad in knowing that Robbins has to go home everynight to that ugly-assed bug-eyed b*tch Susan Sarandon. Being married to that sanctimonious self-righteous ho would probably be enough to make one gay.....who says there isn't some justice in the world. |
| Posted by: Jarhead 2003-11-12 11:33:42 AM |
| #5 When I read about personal attacks on the President, I tend to think of the German submarine commander's lines about Churchill in the movie Das Boot: "They say he's a drunk. They say he's a syphilitic. I must say, for a drunken syphilitic he's putting up a hell of a fight!" |
| Posted by: Matt 2003-11-12 11:29:41 AM |
| #4 Some day there will be a wtf tax placed on these loudmouths. WTF is a wtf tax? It what happens when you tell people who are otherwise your chief customer they are dumb and word doesn't get to them until later. Then, when the prospective consumer reads or otherwise finds out about how dumb American supposedly are according to these folks, they will say to themselves "wtf was that?" Then they will look at that Johnny Dip DVD or that Dizzy Chicks CD, and buy something else. |
| Posted by: badanov 2003-11-12 11:29:11 AM |
| #3 Clowning on celebs is one of my favorite pet projects. Especially actors. Moore otoh is a clown. I'd like to see that fat f*ck go up 3 flights of stairs w/out falling over. I once took an acting class as an elective at a community college. The instructor was an old hippie but a real decent guy. He said candidly that actors make a living doing what kids do everyday - "playing pretend." I remember asking him why celebs feel the need to spew about politics like they know anything more then the average Joe. He said they get wrapped up in their own self-importance, figure people care what they think, and can't identify w/you or me anymore. Plus, the media perpetuates the crap over & over. Maybe being an actor (for those that make it) makes them smarter then me in career choice, but I'd rather not take advice on politics or life from someone who "plays pretend" everyday for a living. As far as Bernhard goes, I'm from Michigan to. I feel bad for the citizens of New York but they can keep that skank, we don't want her back and hope the rest of the country doesn't hold her being born in our state against us..... |
| Posted by: Jarhead 2003-11-12 11:22:28 AM |
| #2 I am ashamed to admit it but I went to see Mystic River and even thought Tim Robbins was good in it. |
| Posted by: mhw 2003-11-12 11:09:08 AM |
| #1 Big Al agrees: The "quasi-hypnotic influence" of television in America has fostered a complacent nation that is a danger to democracy, former Vice President Al Gore said Tuesday. Gore, speaking on "Media and Democracy" at Middle Tennessee State University, told attendees the decline of newspapers as the country's dominant method of communication leaves average Americans without an outlet for scholarly debate. Which is why he's trying to set up a "liberal" television news network. Guess he's figured out that he'll need a lot more stupid people if he's to have any chance to get elected again. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-11-12 11:02:42 AM |