New Mexico residents fed up with big-mouth actor Val Kilmer

What goes around comes around -- even for Hollywood snobs and elitists. Big-mouth Hollywood actor Val Kilmer is finding that out in New Mexico, where a number of residents are upset over incendiary remarks the Hollywood pretty boy has made over the years about veterans and rural life in northern New Mexico. Now, they're giving Kilmer a hard time over his efforts to obtain permits needed to turn his sprawling ranch outside Santa Fe into an upscale bed-and-breakfast.

What, especially, are the locals so upset about? The Wall Street Journal provides details in an article today, "New Mexico v. Val Kilmer: Payback Time":

Mr. Kilmer, who starred in "Tombstone," "The Doors," "Batman Forever" and, more recently, "MacGruber," was quoted-misquoted, he says-describing his rugged corner of New Mexico as "the homicide capital of the Southwest."

He went on to avow that "80% of the people in my county are drunk," requiring him to carry a gun for protection. That was in a 2003 interview with Rolling Stone.

In Esquire two years later, Mr. Kilmer was quoted-again, misquoted, he says-opining that he understands Vietnam better than its veterans, because most of them were "borderline criminal or poor ... wretched kids" who landed in the military because they "got beat up by their dads" or "couldn't finagle a scholarship."

At a hearing last month on Mr. Kilmer's application, a half-dozen locals and veterans demanded the star apologize before being allowed to welcome paying guests onto his Pecos River Ranch. The county attorney, Jesus Lopez, backed them up. Mr. Kilmer's quotes were "incendiary" and, dated as they may be, created a "clear and present danger threatening public safety," he said.

Now surprisingly, Kilmer is getting support from the local ACLU. According to the WSJ, the rights watchdog declared that "whether or not (Kilmer) had actually talked trash about his county, he had every right to do so without fear that his permits would be held hostage."

A second hearing is scheduled for this Wednesday on Kilmer's quest for his needed permits. Some of the locals are hoping he'll apologize at that hearing. "It's a situation that's pretty volatile," David Salazar, chair of the Board of County Commissioners, told the The Journal.

He went on to avow that "80% of the people in my county are drunk," requiring him to carry a gun for protection.

That is true in our County also, and well over half of that crowd are hispanic immigrants (illegal or otherwise), confirmed by private talk with the local LEO's.

The ACLU is also correct in this case. What Mr. Kilmer has opinionated here has nothing to do with his property rights or appeal. It is called free speech. That is to say it is the judge (Lopez) who is the incipient bigot here.

For those who have not been to New Mexico or Arizona lately, these are the trashiest States in the union. Go out to the four corners area, the Navajo Reservation; in the middle of extensive plano there is trash as far as the eye can see. This apparently is the values of those inhabiting the region.

Repeat, the vast stretches of reservation in Arizona and New Mexico are trashed far beyond civility, and respect for American soil.

I do not personally know Val Kilmer but with respect to the land I would say exactly what he has said. Vietnam, a different story, for I have friends, college graduates, killed and maimed in such.

The point is, one must face the facts, beyond the bigotry of personal attachment or dislike. Barack Obama, advancing a bigoted political agenda, being the perfect example: he can say all he wants, but he should never have been a President (and was made so by sinister underlying forces).

As much as I hate to admit it, he does have the right to say what he wants. You can't selectively apply the 1st amendment, even though the ACLU and other lefties do it with conservatives all the time.

In Esquire two years later, Mr. Kilmer was quoted-again, misquoted, he says-opining that he understands Vietnam better than its veterans, because most of them were "borderline criminal or poor ... wretched kids" who landed in the military because they "got beat up by their dads" or "couldn't finagle a scholarship."

Actually, he was being kind here, as he left out "their Daddy couldn't find a National Guard unit for them to hide out in".

I suspect he has Elite Republican feelings. (See GW Bush - Little Danny Quayle)

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.