You wanted a picture? Ah, here's a nice one from memory lane.
Posted on 03/04/2006 11:46:25 AM PST by La Enchiladita
He hates government, loves cops, but he's no Republican...
NEW YORK -- Bruce Willis is supposed to be giving a press conference on behalf of his new movie this morning.
And yes, he does have a lot to say about the upcoming 16 Blocks, in which he plays a corrupt, burned-out cop who's given the opportunity to redeem himself.
But a Willis press conference -- his preferred way of communicating with a media he often dislikes -- also tends to be a performance. And it's entertainment quotient rises when it becomes a series of rants.
So he's in prime form today as he launches into a tirade against Entertainment Weekly magazine; explains why he hates being labelled a Republican; and, in typical Bruce Willis fashion, both defends and denounces violence and suggests policemen should be paid lots more money. ....
Beneath the brashness there's a committed actor who also thinks long and hard about the society of which he's a part. Willis is also smart enough to know that 16 Blocks offers him his best role in years.
"I'm from Jersey and I have a strong affinity towards working-class people," he declares. That's why he likes cops. "I believe with any job that requires you possibly to get shot at or get shot dead, you should be paid hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"These guys don't get paid anything. Yet they go out there and do it and there's not a lot of them out there and they're the last line between us and the wolves and the chaos that's out in the world.
"All these guys -- cops, EMT workers, men and women, emergency room doctors and nurses, people that every night have to see horrific things -- there should be thousands of films done about these guys. And they should get paid more money. A lot more money."
Moments later, he's off on a tangent when a reporter suggests that Willis is one of the few Hollywood actors who is "proud" to be a Republican.
"Let me stop you right there!" Willis interrupts.
"Everybody write this down because I'm sick of answering this.
"I'm a Republican only as far as I want a smaller government. I want less government intrusion. I want them to stop pissing on my money and your money -- the tax dollars that we give 50 or 40 per cent of every year, and I want them to be fiscally responsible, and I want those goddam lobbyists out of Washington. Do that and I'll say I'm a Republican.
"But other than that, I want the government to take care of people who need help -- like the kids in foster care, the half million kids in orphanages right now.... I want them to take care of the elderly and give them free medicine, give them whatever they need. There's tons, billions and billions of dollars, that are just being wasted. Okay? I hate government. I'm apolitical. Write that down."
... Almost immediately, Willis gets asked a political question anyway: is it ever legitimate to use violence in order to do the right thing?
"Occasionally -- when push comes to shove," replies Willis, who adds that he's not a violent man and doesn't advocate violence. But the United States and other countries in the free world "should do whatever it takes to end terrorism in the world." He's not just talking about the Middle East.
"I'm also talking about going to Columbia and doing whatever it takes to end the cocaine trade. It's killing this country. It's killing all the countries that coke goes into.... It's just a plant that they grow, and these guys are growing it like it's corn or tobacco or any other thing. By the time it gets here, it becomes a billion-dollar industry.
"And I think that's a form of terrorism as well."
... He then springs to the defence of controversial writer James Frey who received a verbal flaying from a furious Oprah Winfrey on her show last month for embellishing parts of his best-selling memoir, A Million Little Pieces.
"That's a great book," Willis says defiantly. He's unhappy that Frey had been "sucker-punched on Oprah, one of the most powerful women on television, just to grind her own axe about it."
"Hey Oprah -- you had President Clinton on your show. And if [he] didn't lie about a couple of things, I'm going to set myself on fire right now."
You wanted a picture? Ah, here's a nice one from memory lane.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
Sounds like what many of us say. Conservative first, Republican second.
This rant and this thread are kinda our little anti-Oscar "statement."
Your nephew could be wrong.
3 Things to think about:
1."Do not bear false witness"
2.Best not to speak ill of the dead.
3.They say the same thing about Bush, Clinton, and Gore and every other person who steps up to be a leader....
Just a thought, with Harry's passing away.
Bruce Willis PING special delivery for you.
Bruce must feel lonely among all those Hollywood uber Lefties...
Libertarians don't do it for me. They seem to be pushing the drug legalization thing a bit too much, which I could never support. The Constitution Party is the closest thing I can see to a real conservative party. The guy in California, from the Minutemen (I can't remember his name right now), is running for office as a part of the Taxpayers Party, which is California's branch of the CP.
PMJI late here. James Madison, in discussing specifically the limitations of the "general welfare" provision (either in the Federalist Papers or in his personal correspondence - don't have the cite handy) nailed it down even tighter, stating that the Federal governmet was only authorized to promote the general welfare though the exercise of the specific, limited set of enumerated powers outlined in the Constitution.
The doctorine IS liberal in the personal freedoms area; but it is very conservative when it comes to Constitutional powers and the rights of the people!
What we need is a new party name that says what it Stands for more clearly.
Not mine. I have 2.
1 is Mr. Smith and the other is Mr. Wesson.
DITTO
My nephew voted for Browne, so he would probably be more skeptical of reports of corruption.
In politics, there is a limit to how much one sweeps under the rug after a politician dies.
History should be reasonably accurate to assist future voters to make sound choices.
I did not bear false witness. This was a true report of what my nephew said, and he seemed pretty positive about the amount of evidence that had come to light.
However, in fairness, I will try to get his sources for him and correct the record if I'm not impressed with his evidence.
"He looks like a fat, very rich actor pretending he's a fisherman."
I'm not flaming you, but think about this: if you repeat an untruth, that's how lies get spread. There's plenty of people who will repeat anything bad said about President Bush, and they don't know or CARE that it's untrue....
Then again what do we know realy, unless we see it first hand.
Yeah, he's a "Republican" all righty.
"I'm a Republican only as far as I want a smaller government." [Snip] "I want the government to... the kids in foster care... take care of the elderly and give them free medicine, give them whatever they need."
Typical liberal hypocrite. He wants bigger government without the responsibility to pay for it.
Can't help lovin' that man o' (wish he was) mine....
...although Kiefer is givin' him a run for the money....
Gotta keep sending you the good pings, you know. Anything to make a nice lady smile!
While I don't completely disagree with that statement, I would suggest that the VERY last line between us and the wolves and the chaos is the 2nd Amendment.
That was well demonstrated by the LA riots a few years ago when the cops bugged out of the riot area and left the law abiding people there alone to defend themselves against wolves and chaos. The people who were armed survived and protected their property, a lot of those who weren't armed didn't. That picture of a Korean merchant standing on the roof of his undamaged store with a semiauto rifle in his hands while other buildings all around his were looted and burning spoke volumes.
Thanks for remembering that image from the 1992 riots. Koreans rock. For the most part, they have been a beneficial addition to American society. They work hard, are law-abiding and mostly Republican.
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