We Love Our Country
"America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country."
Hollywood Half-Wits
Who's Smarter? by Cindy Osborne
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:
The Leadership
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 Urban Legends. 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 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 1994, and the University of Notre Dame in 1995. She
resides in Washington, D. C.
The Critics....
So, who are these pompous, outspoken celebrity critics? 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 education 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 Garofalo Dropped out of College. Career: Stand up comedienne
Larry Hagman Attended Bard College for one year. Career: Acting
And...
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