A HOT WIND IS BLOWING IN THIS NATION

http://www.geocities.com/rhubarbpudding/TimRobbinsHotWind.htm ^ | June 22, 2002 | rhubarbpudding

[Lycomedes]

A Hot Wind is Blowing in This Nation
Tim Robbins Warning to America
The Gulag Americana

(The Gangly Boob Has Found A Cause)

On April 15, 2003 Hollywood actor and part time political activist Tim Robbins addressed the National Press Club. Robbins spoke eloquently of how after "the ugliness and tragedy after 9-11" there was a brief period where he held out a "great hope" that "in the midst of the lethal air we breathed as we worked at Gound Zero" (note Robbins' use of the word "we" instead of "they". He makes it sound as though he was right there in the midst of the tragedy, sifting through the rubble looking for survivors, helping to care for the wounded, giving coffee and sandwiches to the brave volunteers at the site of the attack-perhaps he was, I have no knowledge of his whereabouts after the disaster and do not wish to wrongly impune him if he really was there and did help out), he hoped that the leaders of America might seize on this moment when "no one wanted to talk about Democrat versus Republican, white versus black, or any of the other ridiculous divisions that dominat our public discourse."

What a wonderful concept, what a beautiful picture of unity and harmony Robbins has painted for us. Can you imagine it? Democrat and Republican joining hands; Jesse Jackson hugging Jerry Falwell; Tom Daschle and Patrick Lahey confirming George Bush's court nominees; the ACLU allowing peaceful townships to keep their monuments of the Ten Commandments in the Public Square; the Boy Scouts no longer being harrassed for not allowing adult homosexuals to go out on camping trips into the wilderness with young 12 and 13 year old boys. Yes, that would be wonderful.

He went on to say that even though we all wanted to be there at gound zero like he was (he was?), there is work to be done all over America.

"Our help is needed at community centers to tutor children, to teach them to read" [Excuse me while I wipe away a tear as I imagine Mr. Robbins now, spending his spare time in an inner-city ghetto, leaving his palatial mansion to regularly jet over to Harlem and Watts to help out in the local Head Start center]. "Our work is needed at old-age homes to visit the lonely and infirmed; in gutted neighborhoods to rebuild housing and clean up parks, and convert abandoned lots to baseball fields."

Again, I can see Alec Baldwin (another Hollywood hot-air balloon) offering to help out with Pat Robertson's Operation Blessing, giving aid and medical treatment to those in poverty in third world countries; Susan Sarandon giving advice and comfort to a young pregnant teenager at a Crisis Pregnancy Center, informing her of the risks involved in abortion, and showing the young woman an ultrasound of the unborn infant sucking his thumb, encouraging her to have the child and offering to help out in finding a good couple to adopt the baby; perhaps Tim Robbins himself helping out in the local Gospel Mission giving out food and clothing to the homeless people. Yes, I can almost see it myself now through my tears.

Robbins went on to say that he had hoped that there would be

"a new unity in America born out of the chaos and tragedy of 9/11, a new unity that would send a message to terrorists everywhere: If you attack us, we will become stronger, cleaner, better educated, and more unified. You will strenghthen our commitment to justice and democracy by your inhuman attacks on us. Like a Phoenix out of the fire, we will be reborn."

But alas, that was not to be. "Our leader" as Robbins characterised the President, brutally used this occasion to begin an overseas campaign of imperialistic expansion; it was nothing less than a new Crusade where we wished to bring down the iron fist of the United States on a peaceful happy regime in the middle east.
Robbins intones: "And then came the speech: You are either with us or against us. And the bombing began." [Has anyone watched the news reports coming over from Iraq and seen the great areas of devastation in Baghdad, and the vast sections of the city where there are only bombed out craters and city blocks reduced to rubble? I'm missing something.]

And a dark cloud settled over our nation at home also. There was a new reign of terror in the United States as Robbins described how

"our leader encouraged us to show our patriotism by shopping and by volunteering to join groups that would turn in their neighbor for any suspicious behavior."

Let me get this straight. After 9/11 Americans were out spying on our neighbors, and "we were encouraged to show our patriotism by shopping [what in the world did Robbins mean by that? Did anyone ever say that not-shopping was unpatriotic?] Yes, I remember now when the secret police came and got that middle eastern couple in the middle of the night. They were never seen again.

And people turned against one another as we entered a new era of tyranny as oppressive as anything that occured under the Communistic rule of Stalin. We were stripped of our basic human rights, the constitution was abandoned, people huddled together in small groups afraid to mention politics or to speak out against the "leader", President Bush, unless they would be thrown in jail or sent off to some work camp in the frozen north. Hear it from the lips of Robbins himself: "

"In the 19 months since 9-11, we have seen our democracy compromised by fear and hatred. Basic inalienable rights, due process, the sanctity of the home have been quickly compromised in a climate of fear. A unified American public has grown bitterly divided, and a world population that had profound sympathy and support for us has grown contemptuous and distrustful, viewing us as we once viewed the Soviet Union, as a rogue state."

But of course this did not deter such brave souls as Robbins (and his gracefully aging wife Susan Sarandon) from standing up amidst all of the persecution and speaking for the plight of the oppressed Americans. In fact, when Robbins and his wife were able to tear themselves away from their work with the inner city poor to attend a family reunion (having their travel permits in order for the politbureau), they were heartily thanked for their fearlessness by others who were afraid to speak out against the Bush regime:

"This past weekend, Susan and I and the three kids went to Florida for a family reunion of sorts. Amidst the alcohol and the dancing, sugar-rushing children, there was, of course, talk of the war. And the most frightening thing about the weekend was the amount of times we were thanked for speaking out against the war because that individual speaking thought it unsafe to do so in their own community, in their own life. Keep talking, they said; I haven't been able to open my mouth."

What brave souls Tim and Susan are, putting their lives on the line to speak the truth. Robbins tells of others who have been less lucky than his wife and himself, those who have undergone the terrible repurcussions of standing up against a dictatorial regime:

"A famous middle-aged rock-and-roller called me last week to thank me for speaking out against the war, only to go on to tell me that he could not speak himself because he fears repercussions from Clear Channel. "They promote our concert appearances," he said. "They own most of the stations that play our music. I can't come out against this war.
And here in Washington, Helen Thomas finds herself banished to the back of the room and uncalled on after asking Ari Fleischer whether our showing prisoners of war at Guantanamo Bay on television violated the Geneva Convention."

Can you imagine that? Ari Fleischer, the Minister of Propaganda has enforced a gag rule on all dissent against the White House by giving Helen Thomas a back seat in a press conference. Robbins has worked himself up to deliver his hallmark statement:

A chill wind is blowing in this nation. A message is being sent through the White House and its allies in talk radio and Clear Channel and Cooperstown. If you oppose this administration, there can and will be ramifications."

The Bush Reichstag has sent out their Brownshirts to hunt down opposition to their regime, while the shill voice of Der President can be heard encouraging the BushYouth to die for the Fatherland. And liberals are forced to wear a Hollywood Star on their shirts to identify them as enemies of the state, according to Robbins:

"Every day, the air waves are filled with warnings, veiled and unveiled threats, spewed invective and hatred directed at any voice of dissent. And the public, like so many relatives and friends that I saw this weekend, sit in mute opposition and fear."

Robbins continues on in this bucolic bombast, which become a trifle curious, since he began his tirade with an appeal to unity and togetherness, yet as he is nearing the last turn before the final stretch in this relentless rant he declares 

"it is time to get angry. It is time to get fierce. And it doesn't take much to shift the tide?

Do I detect a note of shrillness in his voice, perhaps a departure from the man urging us to abandone all this "talk about Democrat versus Republican, white versus black, or any of the other ridiculous divisions that dominate our public discourse."

I think we can see who it is who is divisive; we can see who it is who is upset that there are others who do not hold to the same views as he does; we can see who the opportunists are who only seek to exploit a situation for political gain and personal aggrandisement. I think that there is indeed a wind blowing in this nation, but it is not a chill wind from the White House, but it is a hot wind blowing from the direction of Hollywood, from the liberal loudmouths who claim to speak for the common man, from those elites who are party to the same leftists and fascists who supported Stalin, the Nicaragua Sandinistas, Castro and Ho Chi Min and who now want to destroy a defining moment in American history: A moment when we can stand proud and tall again as a nation for liberating a people from a brutal dictatorial regime, and for standing up for ourselves again in the world, and for telling the world that America is not going to be pushed around by the UN and their Marxist and Militant Moslem cronies, and that we are proud to be Americans, and are not ashamed of our country or of our record in the history of the world, and that were proud to be Americans, the home of the brave and the land of the free.

[Lycomedes]

Liberal Recipe for a Political Argument

• 1%      Truth
• 10%    Baloney
• 5%      Hogwash
• 20%    Hot Air
• 15%    Exaggeration
• 30%    Flat Out Lies
• 10%    Malarky
• 9%      Fish Story

Take the above ingredients and repeat
 them over and over again until satisfied that everything that you believe is true.

[Capitalist Eric]

PERFECT ANALYSIS!!!

CE

[ThreePuttinDude]

In Addition

:: Rules according to the Democrats ::

We're not supposed to take Ronald Reagan
seriously because he was merely an actor.


But we're supposed to take Tim Robbins
seriously merely because he is an actor.

[ProudEagle]

So many comments...so little space.

Actually I find it hysterical that they are all in such denial.

And to the burnt out hippie rocker has been who longs for the days of his misspent youth, go ahead, start your own liberal media tv channels and radio stations...oh wait you already OWN 90% of the media. Yeah, my heart bleeds for the loser. Too bad he's too stupid to realize that shooting off your mouth and offending your audience has dire financial consequences and that companies aren't going to take a financial risk with such stupidity. It's called capitalism idiot, a concept you've made your so called living from for the past thirty years. To rewrite Paul Simon, "still clueless after all these years".

Let 'em all whine. The sound of a dying pig squealing is music to my ears. Maybe they need to wake up to the possibility that America itself woke up after 9/11 and we realize what fools they truly are. You're paid puppets who's sole function is to dance and entertain us. So Robbins and Co., shut up and go back to pretending to be somebody you're not on screen and do us a favor, make a movie that actually has some value and entertainment quality. Musicians, hit the stage and give me a tap dance zippy, I want my moneys worth, not your lip or drug induced paranoia and conspiracy theories.

[Pete'sWife]

We in the northeast could use a hot wind.

It's been raining for two months, and we're all turning into mushrooms.

[woofie]

the 1% truth may be a bit high

[omniscient]

"The Bush Reichstag" -- priceless.

Has this Robbins clown actually said anything new lately? -- I could use another good laugh. Everytime his name comes up now, I am reminded of Rush Limbaugh's killer impression of him right after Robbins' original tirade, especially the way he pronounced "fear" as "fee-ah," in that phoney, pompous George Plimptonish accent.

[jwh_Denver]

"still clueless after all these years".

It's not that "Meat" and his ilk don't have any clues, it's just that their clues are all wrong. I think you should have stuck with what Paul Simon really said: "Still Crazy After All These Years". And the rubber in the rubber room needs replacing.

[metesky]

You're paid puppets who's sole function is to dance and entertain us. So Robbins and Co., shut up and go back to pretending to be somebody you're not on screen and do us a favor, make a movie that actually has some value and entertainment quality. Musicians, hit the stage and give me a tap dance zippy, I want my moneys worth, not your lip or drug induced paranoia and conspiracy theories.

Worth repeating...

[Elkiejg]

We're not supposed to take Ronald Reagan seriously because he was merely an actor.

But we're supposed to take Tim Robbins seriously merely because he is an actor.

GREAT -- I nominate this as quote of the day!!

[Robert Drobot]

Tim Robbins. Dare you to name one film in which he was actually 'acting'. He a home grown Hollywood brat who thinks the world should think it privileged if he lets it kiss his as. Arrogant punk is my take on this blowhard.

[TalBlack]

Let 'em all whine. The sound of a dying pig squealing is music to my ears. Maybe they need to wake up to the possibility that America itself woke up after 9/11 and we realize what fools they truly are.

The problem with these people is that they truly believe that anyone who is NOT them is is Evil and that THEY THEMSELVES are the warriors of righteousness. This rant by Robbins (and many others) is an indication that they realize at a fundamental level that their "religion" (and that IS what it is!) is loseing traction in perhaps a PERMANANT way. So look for them and their ilk to do something stupid in the near future (say two to five years)

[randog]

Too bad he's [burnt out hippie rocker] too stupid to realize that shooting off your mouth and offending your audience has dire financial consequences and that companies aren't going to take a financial risk with such stupidity.

It's amazing, isn't it, that some businessmen and women think that ridiculing and offending their customers or potential customers is a valid sales tactic?

[Ditter]

The only word I can come up with to describe Tim Robbins is "corny". "Shut up Tim"! You are *only* an actor not a writer or great thinker. You are in over your head here, be embarrassed & slink away.

[ProudEagle]

Dare you to name one film in which he was actually 'acting'.

Shawshank Redemption is the only one, and he was carried by Morgan Freeman on that one. No Morgan, no movie so I guess I just contradicted myself, ha!

[ProudEagle]

It's amazing, isn't it, that some businessmen and women think that ridiculing and offending their customers or potential customers is a valid sales tactic?

Well as another poster pointed out to me, I should have kept Paul Simon's song as "Still Crazy". I respectfully disagree. You make my point that they are cluesless and ignorant. They'll gladly rake the money in, without a clue as to how it was earned or why it was earned. They all have others doing the business end of things for them anyway so they truly don't have a clue. Just a bunch of no nothings with over inflated views of their own self worth and importance. Intimidation and insults never made a sale to a savvy consumer, at least I've never witnessed it.

[ProudEagle]

So look for them and their ilk to do something stupid in the near future (say two to five years)

I pray you're right. Some get angry at them and rightfully so. I'm of the mind and encourage them to keep opening their mouths and squealing. It only helps to reveal their stupidity and ignorance.