Iraqi Picture Horror Show

Susan Sarandon will headline an anti-war TV commercial that will air just before Geo. Bush's State of the Union Address tonight. The spot has been produced by True Majority, a protest group created by Ben of the union-busting Ben & Jerry's ice cream. The ad's main message? A rather feckless "Let the inspections work."

I saw a good chunk of the spot on a morning yak show and was left wondering: Over the years, what's been the most effective use of celebrities for specific political purposes (not counting Ed Asner's brilliant double-agent antics as a vocal supporter of the Sandinistas, thereby earning Ortega and crew the undying enmity of the American public and quite possibly the world)?

Comments

[Kevin Carson]

Steve:

No, I've just been mixing Ripple with LSD.

[Warren]

Kevin,
Amen brother

[Glen]

We could always talk about Meryl Streep and the anti-Alar fiasco of some years back. She was wrong, but she got a lot of press for doing it.

[Omnibus Bill]

Fyodor, here's how the inspections regime will work, per the French plan. In accordance w/t Foucault's Discipline & Punish, each infraction of the inspection regime would be met with a carefully calibrated, precisely meted out punishment aimed at teaching compliance with international norms. For example:

1. Iraq denies all; admits nothing. Punishment: continued inspections.

2. Iraq denies most, admits nothing, leaves a handful of warheads in a warehouse. Punishment: continued inspections, with a threat of future Blix press conferences.

3. Iraq finds out about an ex-inspector/pervert's kiddie-love arrest, blackmails him into publicly supporting Hussein, and then puts weapons labs into semi trucks that roll around the desert. Punishment: continued inspections, followed up with threats of further continued inspections if the trucks don't meet Kyoto Protocol emissions and CO2 standards.

4. Iraq blows Israel to hell with nukes, gasses the Marsh Arabs, Kurds and Iranians with chemical weapons, lets American troops inadvertantly poison themselves blowing up the Sarin stores. Punishment: be forced to listen, with straight face, to Dada-ist French argument that "he doesn't have nukes or chem weapons, so we can't invade, because if we did, he might nuke or gas us." Alternate punishment: Put arms inspectors into a prison designed in accordance with Bentham's panopticon. Once the inspectors are comfortable in their cells, Saddam will man the guard tower. This will allow the instructors to keep an eye on Saddam at all times.

5. Iraq sends various sheep diseases to every man, woman and child in the U.S. and Britain, in large Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes envelopes, claiming "you may already be a winner." Punishment: Continued inspections, with "Smart Sanctions" that force Saddam to order weapons of mass destruction through the U.S. Mail Service, instead of Fed Ex from France.

It's pretty straightforward, don't you think?

[Billy Oblivion]

Omnibus Bill:
Beautiful.

[Dan]

if every country in the world was issued a handful of nukes, it would be a lot harder for any would-be "hegemonic power in a system of world order" (in Huntington's memorable words) to throw its weight around.

If every country in the world had a handful of nukes, all of the world's major cities would be smoking craters. The policy of mutually assured destruction -- the ONLY thing that's kept nukes from being used, to date -- works only when the number of potential actors is small enough that the party responsible for a given nuclear incident can be reliably identified. Basic game theory, there.

[GW Bear]

Comrades Sarandon and Asner should go and live in the workers paradise of their choice, Iraq, Iran, China, etc. and spread their rhetoric with the other inmates instead of bothering us with it.
Oh that's right, if they made these type of comments, especially someone of the female gender as Ms. Sarandon is they would be imprisoned wouldn't they.
It's time to stop paying attention to the "beautiful people" and giving them free air time to spread their ca-ca.

[Harry Tuttle]

Ed Asner... beautiful people? What kind of a sicko are you?

[Brad S]

Add Susan Sarandon and Ed Asner to the long list of Hollywood celebs who really need to stick to saying words that someone else has written for them.

[fyodor]

Who said anything about "free air time"?? Seems to me someone is paying for this ad, something libertarians shouldn't have a problem with, and probably wouldn't if it didn't involve Hollywood actors, a group that this peanut gallery can't stand to let someone else one up their bitter scorn for.

My advice for those who don't like this is the same most of us would give to someone who's outraged that a Starbucks or McDonald's is spoiling their view: look the other way.

Having said that, and as one who opposes a preemptive invasion of Iraq, I *would* like it if someone were to explain to me how continued inspections are supposed to "work."

[Rachel]

I think the last time celebs were of use was WWII and selling war bonds. Face it--this is still Susan Sarandon from Rocky Horror. No one takes them seriously, except each other.

[Ranald H.]

Ah, "Janet" redux! Nick, you are tooo funny.

A toast!

[Kevin Carson]

GW Bear:
I, too, loathe celebrities and other limousine liberals--they are ignorant and they are parasites. Almost as ignorant and parasitic as the ignorant parasite, Dumb W. Ass, who will be spouting off the bullshit that some neoconservative geek has written for him tonight.

But that "why don't they go to North Korea" crap don't cut it with me. I live in a country founded by trouble-makers and hell-raisers who overthrew their own government. They weren't "grateful" that British America was the freest land in the world, thanks to King George; they weren't grateful to the King for "defending their freedom" against the French; and they didn't go somewhere else. They stayed right where they were and kicked their parasitic government out.

So if you identify "patriotism" with believing whatever Glorious Leader tells you about the manufactured enemy of the year, or with cheerleading for the state and its wars, why don't YOU go to some homeland where uncritical attitudes toward authority are the norm--how about Nazi Germany, or the editorial offices of FrontPage magazine?

The reason WE have freedom in this country is not the state and its wars--there hasn't been an "enemy" in this century that was as much a threat to our freedom as "our" government. We have freedom because of all the folks right here at home who were willing to distrust "their" government, to resist it by force of arms if need be, and to say "HELL, NO!"

What really bothers me about Sarandon and their NPR liberal ilk is they can't get beyond the "me, too" posture. They buy into the idea that Iraq is a threat to the U.S., but it's better to "let inspections work." They sound a lot like the "let sanctions work" crowd of twelve years ago. How about just staying home and minding our own damned business? I'm with Cockburn on this: if every country in the world was issued a handful of nukes, it would be a lot harder for any would-be "hegemonic power in a system of world order" (in Huntington's memorable words) to throw its weight around.

[Steve]

Kevin? Forget the Prozac this morning?

[M. P. King]

When I coined the phrase 'Iraqi Horror', I was referring to Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi Horror Picture Show is the (how can I put this that sounds witty and resembles 'gavel-to-gavel'? oh, the heck with it!) news coverage of the US-led invasion of Iraq.

Personally, I'm all for "taking out" Iraqi Horror, provided he is actually "stockpiling weapons of mass destruction". Question: What if the coalition forces don't find any? Was the invasion still justified?