Has There Been a Rapture of Anti-War Celebrities? If Not, Where The Hell Are They?
Over at Buzzfeed, John Ekdahl has a must-read article up about "14 Principled Anti-War Celebrities We Fear May Have Been Kidnapped." Where, he asks, are the Sheryl Crows, Bruce Springsteens, Sean Penns, George Clooneys, Janeane Garofalo, and Barbra Streisands of the world who were never shy about voicing super-patriotic dissent against Bushitler's war machine? Here's a snippet:
Our government is yet again marching us towards a war of choice in the Middle East and our non-partisan, peace-loving celebrities have gone missing since late 2008. We fear the worst….The only explanation for their continued silence must be a large, organized kidnapping. To whoever is responsible for their disappearance, please post pictures of them holding a recent newspaper so we know they're okay.
Ekdahl helpfully gathers up the celebs' last-known pre-2009 utterances on the pressing matter of war (George Clooney: "You can't beat your enemy anymore through wars; instead you create an entire generation of people revenge-seeking"; Martin Sheen: "I am equally against the death penalty or war — anywhere people are sacrificed for some end justifying a means"; )
At least one of the folks on Ekdahl's list has publicly commented on the lack of star-studded anti-war rhetoric directed at the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize honoree, Barack Obama. Back before Obama took office, Ed Asner, best-remembered for his portrayal of lovably gruff newsman Lou Grant, said, "I also think that there is a strong streak of racism, and whenever we engage in foreign adventures. Our whole history in regime change has been of people of different color."
Now, he tells The Hollywood Reporter, "A lot of people don't want to feel anti-black by being opposed to Obama."
"I voted for him, but I'm not proud. He hasn't thrown himself on the funeral pyre. I wanted him to sacrifice himself. Instead, he has proved himself to be a corporatist, and as long as he's a corporatist, he's not my president," Asner said. "A lot of people have lost hope—with the betrayals, the NSA spying … People aren't getting active because 'Who gives a shit?' is essentially the bottom line."
