Is Miss California the New Leo Penn?
by Melanie MorganLeo Penn, the father of famous actor Sean Penn, was hauled before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (the McCarthy hearings) during the 1950s and harassed, spied upon and ultimately blacklisted for his political views (he attended a pro-union meeting called to support other black- listees.)
He refused to accuse others, and lost his livelihood for a period of time, but went on to direct many TV shows including Star Trek, The Law and Mr. Jones, and I Spy.
Now Carrie Prejean, beauty queen and determined supporter of marriage between a man and a woman, finds herself smeared on the Internet, castigated in public, on TV, (Chelsea Handler on E! channel has taken aim with a vicious gleam in her vodka-stoked eyes) and her parents have been dragged through the mud as well.
So where are the free-speech warriors? How about Sean Penn and the rest of the Hollywood elitists who think the First Amendment was written solely for their benefit? Penn has made millions playing everything from a stoner in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” to gay Supervisor Harvey Milk, who was slain in a horrific attack in San Francisco that also resulted in the death of San Francisco mayor George Moscone.
Penn, who played Harvey Milk in the film “Milk,” for which he won an Oscar, is probably too biased to see that the Founding Fathers weren’t just thinking of him and his high-brow leftists when they stood for freedom of expression for EVERYBODY.
Yes, that means Penn has the right to demand California have a special holiday for Harvey Milk, no matter how silly that is. The First Amendment also allows the outrageous burning of the American flag – or at least that’s how the courts have interpreted the First Amendment, so we have to live with it for now.
Guess what, Sean. Because you have the right to rant and rave about your radical agenda, Ms. Prejean also gets to use words that are so offensive to you and Perez Hilton, whose mouth is filthier than a latrine in a high school locker room.
These leftists have gone so far as to compare Prejean, a beautiful and thoughtful Christian, to a Nazi. They have divulged that she had breast implants just prior to the pageant. So-called mainstream journalists have even gotten on the beat-Prejean-to-a-bloody-pulp bandwagon.
Her sin: Hilton asked her about gay marriage and she answered truthfully. She faced the loss of her crown and has faced unrelenting attacks from thoughtless, cruel and vile people.
Sean Penn and his ilk should stand up to those who are piling on with their high-tech lynching campaign of Ms. Prejean. Perhaps Penn has forgotten about the blacklisting of his own father because of his beliefs.
I do wonder what Daddy Penn would say… I suspect he would not be pleased.
Email this to a friend | Print |
Share on Facebook
| Tweet this
| 
Follow Us on Twitter
Subscribe via RSS
Got a Tip?
126 Comments
Hey, it is not about free speech and it never was. It was, and it about the RIGHT speech, the one that Sean likes. It is important to protect one's world view.
Thanks, good article.
PS-Where is the ACLU? Is Carrie's free speech OK with them or do they draw the line at the Nazi's right to free speech?
"Leo Penn, the father of famous actor Sean Penn, was hauled before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (the McCarthy hearings) during the 1950s and harassed, spied upon and ultimately blacklisted for his political views (he attended a pro-union meeting called to support other black- listees.)"
Can't tell this story without pointing out that 3 of the Hollywood 10 eventually admitted to being commies. The question then is how many more were Soviet sympathizers and never admitted it?
Stalin had starved 30,000,000 Ukrainians to death as political enemies. Commies are not democratic and they confiscate private property. Is there any good reason to allow them to control media and to lie to tens of millions of Americans as they did in this last election?
The Miss California affair is almost Orwellian. "Think Again, Carrie", the Voice would intone, "do you really think that is the correct answer? Remember, your career depends on it".
What I don't understand is how Perez Hilton became a beauty contest judge.
Funny think is that everyone now knows Carrie – who won the event? Who cares?
The ACLU will ignore this because, first, it's not government action and, second, they have no beef with it.
"…was hauled before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (the McCarthy hearings)"
Nitpicking time: HUAC was the HOUSE UnAmerican Activities Committee.
Tailgunner Joe was a Senator.
Which reminds me of a question I've had in the past: what do you call a witch hunt that keeps finding witches?
McCarthy was NOT involved with the House Committee on Un-American Activities, Melanie.
These were not "the McCarthy hearings". Do we need to distort this man's history any more?
Our leftists have transformed themselves from liberals to fascists, and this is what fascists do — they destroy those with whom they disagree. Sean Penn is a zealous party member.
We need more "celebrities" like Carrie.
Not to mention that it's pro-Christian. While the ACLU in fact DOES sometimes stand up for such views, usually they do not.
Great article. I've been saying the leftists media are "Neo-McCarthyites" for a couple of years now. C'mon folks…use their own lingo against them!
test
The left has had to make changes in form over the years to keep up with the times. They have made no changes in substance. Penn's daddy would be pleased as punch that Prejean is being silenced and vilified. It's what the left does. The First Amendment is clear: You are free to say whatever you want, so long as it agrees with the left.
They will come for Trump!
http://www.polmachina.com/?p=155
Relegate her free speech to a free speech zone well away from the media and any creature comforts like that little cowardly Bush did. There – problem solved.
Is this a defense of communist ideology or a defense of Sean Penn? The distinction is important.
That is just silly. Read Leo Penn's history, then tell us he only agreed with the "good parts" of communism. They even gave him a second chance as a director, and CBS had to fire him again for violating his agreement not to associate himself with active communists. He was hard core, not just a lovable dupe. If he only agreed with ninety percent of the communist agenda, that is enough.
Please correct me if I'm misremembering this…but didn't Obama Himself say something on the subject of gay marriage that was almost identical in content to what 'Miss California' said, back during the Democratic primaries?
(edit)
Well, never mind. I just read the next article down from this. Apparently, it has been noted.
Almost as silly as your other post. Which murderers in the Shepard case "got slapped on the wrist?" Your involvement in gay causes is admirable, but tens of thousand of people in the streets still does not mean that special penalties for gay victims is right. If the extra penalty you want had been in place, those vicious thugs would not have done anything different than they did.
Just to make sure: you believe that it's a violation of the First Amendment for private citizens to reject the speech of another private citizen?
Where do you find support for that in the text? Come on, now – I know you're supposed to be originalists around these parts!
Aw, Old Tom, you gotta know the Great Teleprompter only said that to get votes from the straights before the election! BTW: Secretary of State Hitlery Clinton also expressed the same view.
"I do wonder what Daddy Penn would say… I suspect he would not be pleased."
Will Prejean be threatened with imprisonment if she does not "name names" ?
No.
I look to Big Hollywood, among others to keep the pressure on Hollywood hypocrisy. My belief is that guys like Sean Penn get lionized for taking active political stands, supposedly risky to their careers. Today, the more you scream at Bush or a Carrie Prejean, the more likely you are to get a nice acting gig (See Barfalo and "24" as an example.) The really brave actors are guys like Gary Graham who admit to their beliefs and are much more likely to be discriminated against.
You're absolutely right, Bruce. This is about massive lefty abuse of their own free speech rights, and we have to counter it with our own free speech. But there is no violation of law, no government censorship, and thus no need for the ACLU to get involved, even if they chose to become involved. This is a political issue, not a legal one. As private parties, Trump, Perez Hilton and their ilk have very right to do what they did or are possibly about to do, but this is an issue for angry citizens to attack with countervaling speech, not one for the lawyers.
Where was "The National Organization Of Woman"? Again they have shown they only care about woman who are liberal democrats.
As a few have mentioned, McCarthyite is kind of an weightless insult since the Venona Project has been public for 13 YEARS NOW and we know old Joe was mostly correct. What kind of an insult mocks someone who was falsely accused?
And also as someone has mentioned, the HUAC was a HOUSE committee, not a SENATE committee. McCarthy was a Senator.
The intentions of this article are honest, but the points it attempts to make are obsolescent. If McCarthyists were correct, why should we hold up Leo Penn as a comparison to Ms. California, especially given that the outcry in Penn's case was a (justifiable) action by the Federal Government and this situation is entirely in the private sector? Penn got what he deserved and if we're going to cry about it, let's at least compare it to other people who have been singled out by the government, not private citizens. Or we could perpetuate a myth that refuses to die and make an unequal comparison while we're at it. Either way, you know.
Come on, Jesse, Hilton wasn't just a private citizen rejecting the views of another private citizen. It was an ambush ploy by an attention-craving, no-talent media whore, who in his capacity as a judge in a public setting, behaved very poorly (even worse afterwards). If anything, he abused his right of free speech, and was merely exercising free will in his catty, spiteful diatribe against Miss Prajean. Hilton was exercising the 1st amendment right he wasn't inclined to extend to Miss Prejean. We might have to put up with it, but we don't have to like it.
The commie ideas always lead to dictatorial governments, most obviously because they remove the individual's earned power base, his private property.
Talk to any red diaper baby and you learn that privately in their Brooklyn homes they spoke of, "Papa Stalin,” but publically claimed that the Soviets did not represent true communism.
No, I don’t have to agree with everything America has done, but I realize that with our system of rule of law I can in a civilized way organize against it, so long as I control my own private property.
That does not exist under any commie regime that has ever existed. Stalin starved 30mil political enemies to death. Mao “accidentally” starved 30 mil. Pol Pot slaughtered 2 mil. North Viet Nam (after agreeing not to) killed 2 to 4 mil. How about that Robert Mugabe?
Penn plays patty cake with Hugo Chavez who aligns himself with Islamofascists and narco-terrorists. Which part of previous commie actions doesn’t Penn agree with?
He fits into one of three categories:
1) He's a delusional commie dupe who is endangering untold future Western Civilization generations.
2) He's a willing commie traitor.
3) He's being blackmailed. Possibly while visiting with Castro he was filmed teabagging a 14 year who with breast implants looked 19 (see Humberto Fontova’s Che Guevara).
I’s like someone ask Penn this question: why does B. Hussein O. Jr. need to control all the money and confiscate all the guns if his ideology is so benevolent?
Better yet: what if 6 million Jews had each owned 3 assault rifles?
Firstly, who cares what some dim witted weirdo from HollyWeird says. Secondly, hooray for the lady & hooray for the opportunity she had to express what so many of us feel, thank you ever so much. Stand and walk proud young lady.
Without knowing the slightest thing about Mr. Leo Penn (other than this article) I would have to say any parent that raised some one like Sean Penn, wasn't/isn't likely to have much sympathy for anyone with differing opinions.
Sean Penn should try to silence Miss Cali's critics in the name of free speech.
Good call, Melanie.
One of the problems with the Left is that they yell and scream for the protection of rights and privileges that they willing give themselves but adamantly withhold from others. So of course it makes sense for Sean Penn (and those of a similar bent) to espouse a thug like Chavez or Castro but deny someone like Carrie the right to speak her mind….especially when her mind does not match his.
Excellent observation, EdSki!
"Leo Penn, the father of famous actor Sean Penn, was hauled before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (the McCarthy hearings) during the 1950s…"
I would like to think that Americans could condemn the act of the State dragging citizens before committees and demanding that they rat out their friends for the crime of ideological impurity. I would like to think we could at least condemn the act 6 decades after the fact and 3 decades after the fall of the Soviet Union (is there a Communist threat anywhere in the world today?), but as we can see from the McCarthy defenders here, some people are not willing to make that leap, yet.
While I agree with the finer points of your argument, you're never gonna make a silk purse out of that sows ear. Using the term "Neo-McCarthyite" cuts right trough the BS to almost anyone.
So she deserves to be trashed because she answered a question honestly? That stuff is ok?
It seems to me that "people" like Perez Hilton are trying to bully others into believing what they believe under penalty of humiliation and slander. So while imprisonment isn't going to happen, other punishments are.
Amen to that. I wonder if Sean Penn gets any endorsements from NOW after he visits regimes that endorse the brutal treatment of women.
How that complete tool is popular with the gay community is beyond stupid. Penn just loves places that abuse women AND gays. Didn't Penn's good buddy AquaVelvaJad just hang some guys for being gay in Iran?
Melanie,
Nice try but slightly off in comparison. I think the comparison to the Sean Penn's father blacklisted for his political views doesn't really make a good case or do justice to the actual issue raised by the 'gay' activists. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think same sex 'marriage' is strictly a 'gay rights' issue and has a more far reaching implication than simple political views. I think it is a core religous belief issue with traditional Christians, Moslems, Jews and a variety of other religions. I also think also the word 'marriage' is a hot button. Civil unions are already legal in CA and are subject to community property laws so it seems that the 'gay' uproar is really over acceptance of the 'lifestyle' legally and coercive governmental compulsion of those who do not share their sexual deviancy and moral bankruptcy.
The religions I mentioned earlier share a tolerance towards 'gays' except for the most fundamental believers but it is universally against their core beliefs to accept and appear to condone homosexual behavour that contradicts the word of their God. I also believe the 'gay' community highly coercive reaction to those who do not share in the open acceptance of homosexual behavour violates the right of freedom of expression, religion and free speech. I will never 'accept or condone' the 'gay lifestyle' as government mandated by unconstitutional laws. Also, from the vote on Propisition 8, it is apparent I stand with the majority on the issue of 'gay' marriage.
"Leo Penn, the father of famous actor Sean Penn, was hauled before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (the McCarthy hearings) during the 1950s and harassed…"
McCarthy was a Senator, and as such had nothing to do with the House Committee on Un-American Activities. The McCarthy Hearings involved investigations into weather Communists had infiltrated the U.S. military.
What the hell are you talking about, fool? Your post makes even less sense than usual. And Penn only takes on women, and men smaller and less famous than he is. Penn is a loudmouth bully. Prejean is not.
ignatov:
I don't think anyone is completely defending HUAC here — it's just that Joe McCarthy had NOTHING — I repeat … NOTHING to do with it.
McCarthy's mandate was to find communists in the State Department — NOT citizens. Not one citizen has ever been thrown into a gulag for being a communist. In this fictional world where McCarthy was rounding up citizens, what was he ever going to do with them?
As it's been mentioned previously, the Venona project pretty much vindicated the man.
So please, BigHollywood editors — take McCarthy's name off the lead to this story. It makes you look uninformed.
The left has been dragging this man's name through the mud for decades — the effort does NOT need to be assisted by this site. Every time a person's loyalty to this country is chalenged, the left throws the term "McCarthyism" out there. The truth must be told in order to disarm it — and it should be told in places like this.
Please — take McCarthy from the story.
"Prejean is being silenced and vilified"
Oh please. This woman has been on Fox News every day since this happened. It is the biggest cable news operation in the country. CNN and MSNBC are not giving it much attention because rational people don't really care what some beauty contestant had to say or what some gossip blogger said in response. One day story at best. That isn't the same as "silenced and vilified".
It's funny how Fox News is insignifcant when it's convenient, and the biggest cable new operation in the country when it's convenient. I was talking about Perez Hilton and his friends. You're right about the beauty contest part. But it is still part of a much bigger picture. The left wants gay marriage by fair means or foul, and anyone who disagrees, from beauty contestant to famous political pundits, religious leaders, and entertainment figures, will be vilified as H8ers. The story from the gutter of Perez Hilton all the way to the top is the same: "If you don't agree with us, shut up, or we'll tell everyone you're a hater, a bigot, and an ignoramus."
So "humilation and slander" is as bad as being behind bars. Got it.
Perhaps when Prejean's meanie detractors reach the level where they’re burning CDs of conservative musicians and sending them death threats like the right did with the Dixie Chicks, then she might be taken seriously.
If she had said, "I support President Obama's position," she would have been totally ignored and the important story of her breast implants would not have been told.
"So, if you're communist, by default, you condone every last iota of communist history?"
Yes. When in history has communism ever led to anything but totalitarianism and mass starvation? Yet you still support communism even after it's repeatedly shown itself to be a failed idealogy. Mass graves arent the exception to the rule when it comes to Communism…they are the rule.
Nice logic troll. So basically, if a group of us round you up and start torturing you, you're not being oppressed so long as other people don't join in.
Go back to your cave idiot, the big kids are talking.
So you're cool with Nazism so long as your Nazi buddy didn't actually participate?
Big Hollywood staff: I emailed this to you, but it didn't seem like your interface was working. Forgive me if you received this message, but want to make sure it gets read. Thanks.
Dear staff:
I would like to thank you for working to provide a place for conservatives to gather and exchange thoughts and ideas. As we see every day, our belief structure is under a constant assault, and you are to be commended for providing an opposing voice.
In undertaking such an endeavor, you are essentially striving to break through the lies and mistruths of the leftist movement. Melanie Morgan's lead to her editorial is working against such a goal.
For decades, we have been told that Senator Joe McCarthy was involved with the House of Un-American Affairs Committee when he certainly was not. McCarthy's task was to root out communists in our State Department — not to target citizens. In fact, the results of the Venona Project vindicate the man's work.
All that's required to rectify this situation is to simply remove "(the McCarthy hearings)" from Ms. Morgan's piece. A correction isn't even necessary.
I am a newspaper editor, and I understand this happens all of the time. So, in order to be a serious site, you must correct errors like this. Otherwise, you are just doing the left's work, and performing a great disservice to truth.
Thank you very much for your attention to this matter.
Yeah, you got it Paul_D. Right on the head. Humiliation and slander is a miserable, and, dare I say it, communist (groupthink) response to one's individual expressions.
Political jailbirds make hay out of their time in detention, while people holding popular opinions are publicly shamed.
Milk was killed by a crazed homosexual. Shep as a result of a really bad drug deal. Our media has lionized both out of context, while demonizing Prejean for having an opinion.
You seem to think commiting acts of "humiliation and slander" is some sort of virtue.
Prominent media of the "right" didn't send death threats to the Dixie Chicks. Prominent media of the "right" didn't call the Dixie Chicks "dumb bitches" and "c -" words.
Unfortunately, I can't say the same for your comrades.
Got it?
That's right. Since you approve of HUAC hearings and blacklisting, you must think it's fine what they did to Carrie PreJean?
Forum Troll, Forum Troll, says whatever they tell him to. Can he think for himself, no he can't he's just a tool.
And when one of the Dixie Chicks voiced her opinion, it was wrong for conservatives to attack them, burn their records and kick up such a fuss?
At let us not forget that HUAC was ran by Democrats. Perhaps that's why the left prefers to smear the Republican Joe McCarthy
These historical inaccuracies really get on my nerves. McCarthy was a Senator and the House Committee on Un-American Activities was a "HOUSE" committee; thus McCarthy had nothing to do with the HUAC. People blame McCarthy because he was a Republican, but the HUAC was a bipartisan effort, there have been both Democrat and Republican chairmen. But I agree with the article that liberals are trying to destroy Miss Prejean because of her belief. What ever happened to diversity and tolerance? Miss Prejean's beliefs are diverse, so shouldn't they be tolerated as well?
It's not a free speech issue because this is not a government issue. It's all up to The Donald.
I'm glad Ms. Prejean has had such a successful launch to her career. I almost wonder if she paid Perez Hilton to launch it for her. If Hilton had asked some fluff question and she had given the fluff answer ("World hunger"), and won the contest, would anyone still remember her name by now? Not a chance. Now she has pictures all over the place, speaking opportunities — most excellent possibilities. Good for her.
Mostly I am highly entertained by the thought that the Religious Right's new poster child is a fashion queen with a boob job. You can't make this stuff up.
And it doesn't strike you that there is something wrong with the communist doctrine if it keeps ending up in gulags, secret police and purges?
Who cares what another bleached bimbo has to say? Anyone who knows the "beauty" circuit knows it's just a whirlwind of oral favors to judges.
"House Committee on Un-American Activities (the McCarthy hearings) during the 1950s"
Senator McCarthy held the Army hearings, in the Senate. The HCUA was in the HOUSE, was well before McCarthy. It was set up by a Democrat Congressman, Samuel Dickstein of New York who later turned out to be on the Soviet payroll, in order to search for Nazis/Nazi sympathizers .
Oh Fox News is significant. I have never said that it wasn't significant. I think it is obvious they are in the tank for the Republican party though. That said I find your imprecise use of language to be unusual for someone with a legal background. My point remains unaddressed who is silencing her? You even brought up the first amendment. That would indicate some sort of serious effort perhaps by authorities to silence her. I am just not seeing that.
Vilified maybe, but by some pretty insignificant web personalities. I never heard of Perez Hilton before this kerfuffle and I could have gone on through life happily that way. Some people debate by vilifying their opponents. I bet I could find examples on this very blog. If you want to elevate the debate you could start here.
"different" not diverse; it sounds better.
Now it is oppression!
First silenced, than vilified, and now oppressed.
I really don't think you are in any position to question my logic. Why is it that any disagreement equals troll with you? It seems like you really can't handle anyone who isn't conforming to your world view. It makes you look weak and frightened.
Well that fact is that over 50% of the people in California voted not to allow Gay Marriage so other people are joining into the fray. And as far as torturing people I would have definitely used another analogy because one does not equate to the other.
Historical inaccuracies get on my nerves too, Thomas.
It's frightening the type of propaganda the left launched decades ago has engrained itself so much in our psyche, that Ms. Morgan so casually puts a SENATOR in charge of a HOUSE committee in her editorial.
Ms. Morgan — you are obviously unaware of McCarthy's role, or are purposely pushing a lie. Since I don't think it's the latter, I have to conclude that you just have you facts mixed up — and that's fine … it can happen to anyone.
But please … have the sense to remove it from your piece. The editors here should know this — it's not good that this type of mistake got through the editorial process.
I expect more from this site.
Well done, Steven — yet another informed reader.
Big Hollywood HAS to correct this. It's unacceptable for this to remain in the lead.
Read my other posts on this subject. I made it abundantly clear that this was not censorship, and even added that there would be no reason for the ACLU to be involved, even if they chose to become involved. Silencing comes in many forms, and it doesn't require government censorship or a gag. My comment "if you don't agree with us . . . ." addresses the issue of silencing opposition by means other than legal action or physical restraint. But if it makes you feel better, I'll settle for vilify.
I brought up the First Amendment specifically in regard to Perez Hilton. He has every right to spew his filth, as we have every right to call him on it. I never said or even suggested that Prejean's First Amendment rights had been harmed. Quite the opposite. I was pointing out the one-sided definition of free speech promoted by the left. So far, they've been unable to get a court to agree with them.
It's not my job to "elevate the debate." Apparently, you have annointed yourself for that task.
Is Miss California the new what? no she's the new bottle blonde with plastic boobs and a scandalous underage nudie spread who hears satan in every fat gay reporter's questions……just as phony as the rest of the right wing wannabees….hail to the conservative American Taliban…..ear plugs in and mouths wide open
Yeah, I will agree this is bizaare. It does not matter to me if Miss California has traditional views. She alone is not going to stop the tide of gay marriage legislation in this country. She should not be singled out for her views, which are shared by many. In fact, Obama himself has come out against gay marriage.
Plus, this is a beauty pageant! Shouldn't she be judged mainly on looks and her ability to seem somewhat coherent and friendly and all that? Some on the Left have really made mountains out of molehills with this. I'll admit that.
If you're not a troll, you sure do a good impression of one.
They were busy building Prejean's effigy.
Political jailbirds make hay out of their time in detention, while people holding popular opinions are publicly shamed.
That's right slick, doing hard time will really open some doors for you.
"Shep as a result of a really bad drug deal."
Stop with the oxygen thievery already. Matthew Shepard's killers attempted to invoke the "gay panic defense" during their trial.
But, if you want to defend the actions of two murderers to bolster your case, swing away.
"Prominent media of the "right" didn't send death threats to the Dixie Chicks."
Nope, just the isolated actions of real 'Muricans where "Y'all" is the sub-dialect. All the while Clear Channel banned the Dixie Chicks music. They must be a cottage industry.
You seem to think commiting acts of "humiliation and slander" is some sort of virtue.
All I did was ridicule the comparison of McCarthyism to Carrie Prejean's situation. You're the one getting the vapors.
Enough for what? Are you suggesting that people should be forbidden from working because of their political opinions?
Especially if the result makes no sense at all!
Haven't you read the constution? The first amendment clearly states that if some braindead yoyo in a beauty contest utters some rightwing nonsense we all have to follow her or we're violating her rights to — um, to, well, have people take her seriously.
I haven't read your other posts on this subject. Thanks for the intellectual honesty to point out that this isn't a censorship or civil rights case. I just don't see the silenced part of this. She has more of a voice than any of her critics. Fox News is a big microphone. She seems to be getting an undue amount of air time to me. I think your broadside at "the left" for promoting a "one-sided definition of free speech" is b.s but hey everyone has an opinion.
Penn, his daddy and Miss Cali can say whatever they want. Its what makes us different people. We will all disagree. The left and right go at it when it hears something it doesnt like, but to attack her the way she was attacked is wrong.
Your free speech vs. free will distinction makes no sense, one, and two, you just contradicted yourself.
The beauty of free speech is that you don't have freedom from responsibility for what you say. I can have any number of opinions about you or your comments here, and I can express them, but if Big Hollywood chooses not to host them or a hundred people call me an awful person for what I say, my freedom of speech has been in no way abridged.
Dumb question. The communist party had as its basic principle the overthrow of the American government by force and violence. Whatever other means they may have tried, that one was always on the table. So you are damn right I am suggesting that if the political opinion is in line with the communist party the bastards should be fired. Private parties like CBS and those who fired Penn before had every legal right to do it, and a moral obligation also.
We know where you are coming from, and that is fine. But most of the males on this site are more than happy to believe Prejean. In fact, I think I will check those photos out again just to make sure you are not right.
Is this troll dumbass day or something? HUAC and the Senate both turned up communists and communist sympathizers galore. They weren't just little civil rights folks in a hurry. They were dedicated to the destruction of the American government and its people. Please explain in your cute sojourning way how a serious matter of national security involving treason and communist infiltration has anything to do with the right of a beauty contestant to be against gay marriage. Try to make sense next time. What would be even better, is if you just did not bother us anymore.
Is this troll dumbass day or something? HUAC and the Senate both turned up communists and communist sympathizers galore. They weren't just little civil rights folks in a hurry. They were dedicated to the destruction of the American government and its people. Please explain in your cute sojourning way how a serious matter of national security involving treason and communist infiltration has anything to do with the right of a beauty contestant to be against gay marriage. Try to make sense next time. What would be even better, is if you just did not bother us anymore.
[...] at Wanda Sykes “joke” about wanting Rush Limbaugh dead Melanie Morgan, Big Hollywood: Is Miss California the New Leo Penn? Gary Graham, Big Hollywood: All-American Girl Michelle Malkin: $%^&*!!: Civility and tolerance [...]
It is not really an issue of free speech. The government isn't supposed to suppress free speech. The McCarthyists were trying to destroy people they didn't like through Congressional hearings and industry blacklists. This would be closer to John Henry Falk who was blacklisted because a right wing think tank was putting pressure on broadcasters not to hire Communists. They falsely accused Falk of being a Communist and Falk sued. He was represented by Louis Nizer who includes the case in his book My Life In Court.
Actually, this case is closer to Rush Limbaugh being fired from Monday Night Football because he said that Donavon McNabb wasn't a very good quarterback but the media wanted a black man to succeed as quarterback. (Unfortunately for Rush, Donavon has shown that he is a top tier quarterback). But this case is different, because there wasn't any truth in what Rush was saying. His opinion wasn't supported by the facts, which means Rush was biased in a racial way. Miss California's opinion is, at least for now, something reasonable people can disagree upon.
Which is fine, except that the entertainment industry has many gay and lesbian members who feel passionately about this issue. And so, this case is actually more like the things say about Richard Gere having sex with gerbils, or the usual things people on this blog say about Sean Penn or President Obama. It is easy for a public person to get slimed in this country if they become controversial. I guess that is Miss California's cross to bear if she wants to be a national celebrity.
dear N. O' – successful?
Okay, I'll type this s-l-o-w-l-y so you can understand. Belonging to the Communist Party itself is not a crime; spying for the Soviet Union is. McCarthy used innuendo and even nonexistent lists to scare the public into believing that any association with the Communist party was de facto evidence of treason. And yeah, he was right sometimes, but so is a broken clock.
The point being that Hollywooders like Leo Penn who were blacklisted weren't only punished by the government, but the blacklisting was done because of public pressure.
Now Carrie PreJean is being asked, have you now and have you ever been opposed to gay marriage, and the public–not any government agency–is blacklisting her in a sense.
If you think blacklisting was okay for Leo Penn and others, you must think it's okay to blacklist Carrie PreJean. Did that help?
"Belonging to the Communist Party itself is not a crime; spying for the Soviet Union is. "
McCarthy was a bully, a lout and a drunk. He gave McCarthyism a bad name.
Which is a shame, because when McCarthy crashed and burned, he took the efforty which has been labelled for him with it.
No, the Communists which riddled Hollywood and academia and (as with Duranty and Stone) the press were not spies. That wasn't their job: what would they spy on? Their job was subversion: the Gramscian "Long March through the institutions" which underlies the very foundation of BigHollywood: the spread of leftist doctrine and the suppression of opposing views. The USSR may be gone, but the seeds they planted have flourished and borne fruit.
“Leo Penn, the father of famous actor Sean Penn, was hauled before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (the McCarthy hearings) during the 1950s and harassed, spied upon and ultimately blacklisted for his political views (he attended a pro-union meeting called to support other black- listees.)”???
I support Miss California but please don’t tell me that Penn senior was a victim too.
Do they teach history in America?
Point one: HUAC had nothing to do with the Republican McCarthy. McCarthy was a Senator. The “H” is for “House.”
Point two: Sean Penn’s father was a spin doctor. There were communists in Hollywood, even according to old Russian primary sources. Penn was either a fifth columnist or an enabler for one of the most brutal killing machines in history. He was more than a “pro-union” bully.
Point three: Ironically, many communists were censored by their fellow communists, and the real victims of blacklists were conservatives, according to Ayn Rand.
When you posted your original comment a few posts above and your response to my comment, you exercised your right to free speech , Big Hollywoodwood saw no need to remove it. Had you threatened or libeled me, you would have been exercising your free will. Big Hollywood would have removed it, because you have no right to such a behavior (can't shout fire in a crowded theater either , sport).
The Prejean/Hilton kerfuffle is interresting because Hilton was in a position to withhold a title, not because she didn't show the proper amount of poise in answering his ambush question, she didn't say what he wanted her to say. Had she stammered out an answer that clumsily stated her support of gay marriage, she would have won, and Hilton would not have libeled her with his free willed hissy fit masquerading as free speech. There's a disgusting quid pro quo going on here.
Yet another reader points out the McCarthy error, and it's still there.
Hello, editors … is anyone there? There's a HUGE mistake in one of your stories. Are you going to correct it, or ignore it, and hope no one remembers it tomorrow, and take a blow to your credibility?
Well done on the entire post, by the way, BPT.
I thank you for explaining a distinction that had nothing to do with your original comment, champ.
You also apparently have no idea what "quid pro quo" means, either. Or what my response to you said. But hey, just keep putting phrases together, and one day you'll make an argument! My recommendation: "tu quoque".
Not to be mean, but does a writer on a Conservative blog who – as many have already pointed out – doesn't know that Sen. McCarthy had nothing to do with the H(ouse)UAC hearings really deserve to be writing here? What is particularly telling is not only that the mistake was made, but it signals that Ms. Morgan has absolutely no grasp of some of the most era-defining moments in Conservatism and the people who were involved. The mistake is not a typo or a brainfart – it is a wholesale ignorance of relatively recent history. Sorry to get huffy, but for those of us who admire Sen. McCarthy and what he was attempting to do, hearing this nonsense all over again is frustrating. Even history buffs who hate McCarthy are in for an eye-roll.
Where were you when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
/Blutarski'd
Miss California, Victim of Liberal Blacklisting for Her Conservatism
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/melanie-morgan/2009/...
I think the whole episode makes both the "left" detractors and the "right" sympathizers look a little foolish. Her answer, regardless of your marriage views, was not very good. It was not, as some have celebrated, some articulate defense of traditional marriage. It was rather clumsy and contradictory in some parts and not based on any principles, Christian or otherwise. It was the type of "non-thinker" answer inexplicably championed by some conservatives recently. I don't understand why some so-called conservatives are so quick to pick these characters like Joe the Plumber and Miss California who really just end up dumbing down the discourse. Liberals are stupid enough as it is, but some conservatives have embraced some strange game of trying to out-dumb the liberals and accuse anyone with an IQ over 70 or any critical thinking skills or belief in science/math/anything as being "intellectual elitists." Many conservatives are smart people and they used to be embraced. Now it's all about making martyrs out of idiots? Why is anyone trying to out-dumb Sean Penn? This stuff really shouldn't be that difficult but when you latch onto ideas that, well, discourage ideas- don't be surprised when things don't go your way.
FWIW, I think there are many people ( at least more than anyone would realize based on the media and blogs) who might disagree with her views but think the whole witch hunt against her is in poor taste. There are those who agree with Sean Penn ( well to an extent, on a few issues) but think the guy is a world class idiot/a-hole.
eccere, mea canicula! Now go have the last word, I'm not not wasting any more time with you.
GREAT post!
I've been monitoring this here and there from work, and it still hasn't been changed. This is a blow to BigHollywood's credibility, if you ask me.
I don't know what's worse: the lack of basic knowledge, or the breakdown of the editorial process.
Well of course there's no support for it in the text. People do make that argument erroneously, just like when leftists say there is a separation of church and state in the Constitution. Those words simply do not exist within the text either.
What we have here is the latest example of how the left suppresses speech through intimidation. There is a selective tolerance on the left for vile language when it's directed at political enemies. Consider the comments of Wanda Sykes, wishing that Rush Limbaugh's kidneys fail. You may not like Rush, but she cannot be shielded by the fact that she was doing a "comedy" bit. Do I even need to tell you what would be going on in the press right now if it had been Dennis Miller making that crack about Keith Olbermann?
Not only do I agree with Carrie Prejean, but I have tremendous admiration for the way she has carried herself through this whole ordeal. As for you sir, if you consider yourself a liberal, then even if you disagree with her views, it ought to be of much greater importance to you to defend her right to speak freely and openly.
I'm curious as to why you take such offense with people who disagree with you? Is your mind really so soft that you are incapable of serious debate and discussion? Usually little children and people with substandard IQ's engage in name calling.
I hardly think that because we won the cold war, we should proclaim that those traitors who were identified, and called to task for their transgressions weren't so bad after after all. The reason we won said cold war is because we ferreted out many (but not all) of these traitors, some at very high levels of government (re:Alger Hiss). If anything, time should wound all of these heels, in spite of anyone's touchy-feelings.
You must be logged in to post a comment.