Posted on 09/21/2011 12:12:51 PM PDT by MissesBush
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Tony Bennett has again addressed his controversial remarks made to Howard Stern regarding 9/11 attacks on America.
Bennett, 85, appeared on Howard Stern’s Sirius XM show on Monday night to promote his upcoming release “Duets II.” The conversation took a bizarre turn after Stern asked Bennett, a veteran of World War II, how the United States should deal with the terrorists who were responsible for destroying the World Trade Center.
“They flew the plane in but we caused it,” Bennett said. “Because we were bombing them and they told us to stop.” He also asked Stern, “Are we the terrorists or are they the terrorists? Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
Bennett apologized for his remarks on his Facebook page.
Appearing on ABC’s “The View,” Bennett was asked about his comments. He produced a card and read from it.
“I am sorry if my statements suggested anything other than an expression of my love for my country, my hope for humanity and my desire for peace throughout the world,” the singer said, echoing his statement on Facebook.
“Nobody loves America more than I do,” Bennett said, reading from the card.
On his Facebook page, Bennett wrote “My life experience… made me a life-long humanist and pacifist, and reinforced my belief that violence begets violence and that war is the lowest form of human behavior.”
That said, not everyone is pleased with the apology. On his Facebook page, some were critical.
“My brother died in one of those buildings, and frankly you are so off base in your views of who the terrorists are, I now question your patriotism,” wrote Ron Bogdan of Lawrenceville, New Jersey.
“Nice statement by your publicist, however, we heard you loud and clear on the Stern program,” wrote Brian Eades of Omaha, Neb. “You clearly equate U.S. actions with those of the terrorists and said the U.S. somehow caused 9/11. The 3,000 people that died that day were innocent people. They were murdered in cold blood. Nothing – no matter what you can point to in U.S. policy over the years – justifies what was done or somehow mitigates the tragedy.”
And we have the right to react/freedom to his statements as well. Free speech goes both ways.
react/express our opinions of
Nothing in his so-called apology contradicts his original remarks.
It is one thing to be a pacifist, and quite another to be a traitor.
Oh he was probably just pissed because he thought Obama’s Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s comment regarding “garlic nosed Italians” was a reference to him and he has been sulking since March 2008 because he thought it was an insult.
While I despise what he said and have a totally different opinion of him because of this, I do believe he is a talented artist and he most certainly can carry a tune.
You don’t have a singing career spanning over 60 years if you cannot sing.
LLS
My wife had the Duets I CD, it got thrown in the garbage yesterday
Yo, Tony! You can’t put the tooth paste back in the tube. Too late!
“My wife had the Duets I CD, it got thrown in the garbage yesterday”
That’s the real reason he is apologizing, because he has this new duets CD that came out recently, and he’s afraid his comments will affect the sale of his new CD. He’s right too, it will.
I despise what Bennett said, but who do you regard as a good singer?
Nailed it! Tony B is history to me. I had no idea how addle-brained he is.
The thing is, he didn’t just give an opinion, he made stuff up like GWB confiding in him “I made a mistake.” A totally imagined lie. As well, WTH is he talking about that “we were bombing them and they told us to stop.” Who are “they” and when did this “bombing” occur?
What a horrible human being you actually are, Tony Bennett, hating the country that made you famous and rich.
ML/NJ
Nobody has left anything even remotely related to a brain in San Francisco.
I left my brain... in San Francisco...
Tony who????
Humanist and Pacifist-There’s your answer.
Yes he can, at his own peril.
He said it because that’s the way all the people around him think. He probably was very surprised when his remarks caused such a furor. This was his way of showing how big-hearted and tolerant he is - the way any “progressive” should think.
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