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Read this if you're questioning whether or not we should attack
Iraq.
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 that
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.
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 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.
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. 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, and 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 |
