Admired Jane Fonda's courage...

[elizm]

I admired Jane Fonda's courage to speak at the March on Washington on Saturday. I wish there was some way to thank her. Any ideas?

[welshTerrier2]

1. the perfect word: courage

she was absolutely great. total class and integrity.

I've been looking online for a video but haven't found one yet.

[elizm]

3. Here's one...

Not the best quality....but a keeper! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXVIof7mQfM

[JohnnyLib2]

13. Courage. Yes. Then and now.

Unquestionably, IMHO

[Botany]

2. I for one was pissed @ her.

March yes, talk no. She gave the right wing perfect talking points
by her getting up and speaking. And she knows that too. This was
about her ego.

Allowing Fonda to speak was really stupid.

[elizm]

4. I have to disagree..

The right wing only showed their stupidity in their response to her speaking. She has long been an advocate for peace. Why would you deny her that at 69 years of age? I admire her extreme courage and thank her for her willingness to speak, with her grandchildren there, knowing the criticism she would receive. Why not welcome her as one of us?? Why the antagonism?

[Botany]

7. Because her speaking publicly was a very dumb move.

She knows that she is a lightening rod and that no matters what she says
or no matter how good her attentions were the fact that she got up
and spoke allows the "other side" to run down the anti war movement.

Every fucking national news cast had @ least 10 seconds of Jane Fonda.

The big picture is stopping that war and for our side to have to go back
and fight about shit she did 38 years ago is a waste of time.

[elizm]

11. I would not want to silence....

...ANYONE who feels compelled to speak out. She got a great response from the other marchers. Why should we care what the wing nuts say?

[Say_What]

18. "Silence Is No Longer An Option": Jane Fonda

I agree. More power to her. She was excellent! Here's the text:

<clips>

JANE FONDA: I’m really here because I want to thank you all. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being here today. So many of you, so many of today's speakers, including my fellow actors up here, were here at the beginning, before we went into Iraq, because you knew and they knew what was in store. Thank you so much for the courage to stand up against this mean-spirited, vengeful administration. Your actions are proof that the most precious part of this country, its soul, is alive and well. So thank you. Your ongoing commitment to ending this war allows people in other parts of the world to remain hopeful that America has the stuff to become again a country that they can love and respect. Thank you. I especially want to thank and acknowledge the servicemen and women and the military families and Gold Star mothers that are here.

A lot of press people have been asking me today, “What's the difference between now and during the Vietnam war?” And I’ll tell you one huge crucial difference: it took six years for Vietnam veterans, active-duty servicemen, Gold Star mothers and military families to come out against the war. It has happened now within three years of the war. Their presence here is critical, and we should acknowledge their courage.

I haven't spoken at an antiwar rally in 34 years, because I’ve been afraid that because of the lies that have been and continue to be spread about me and that war, that they would be used to hurt this new antiwar movement, but silence is no longer an option. My daughter, who is here with me today -- come here -- she was a little girl when she would come with me to the anti-Vietnam War protests. She's here today with her two little children, my grandchildren. I’m very proud that they're here, but I’m so sad that we still have to do this; that we did not learn the lessons from the Vietnam War; that we've made the same mistakes, blindness to the realities on the ground, hubris and arrogance in dealing with a people and culture far older than we are; and that we understand so little, carelessness and thoughtlessness in our approach to rebuilding a country we've destroyed, allowing billions of dollars to be stolen, squandered at the hands of private contractors, just as this administration has done in our own gulf in the post-Katrina era.

So, thank you. Thank you for being here, and we'll continue to be here for as long as necessary. God bless.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/29/1453235

[justiceischeap]

5. Free speech... love it or lose it

Not just parts of it.

[durrrty libby]

6. You are afraid of the idiot wing nuts? How pathetic

I don't give a rat's ass about those ignorant fools

Why the hell should Jane Fonda be seen and not heard?

Go Jane

:yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock:

[Botany]

9. Why give the other side a stick to hit us with?

So now they can sell the Jane Fonda angle and not the size of the rally or
just how many people really oppose this stupid war.

[KingFlorez]

8. Who cares what they think?

They criticize anyone who speaks against the war, because they like war. Their opinions about Fonda don't really matter.

[Botany]

10. But it allows "their side" to side step the real issue Iraq.

I don't give a rip what the Freepers and Rush think but remember
we have a lazy media that response to Creative Response Concepts
and the real story gets lost in the mix.

[Dragonfly]

21. 'Tis true that most of MSM

dismisses or distorts growing progressive headway. However, 11/7 elections denote American people shifting to anti-war positions
portending unstoppable change in America; some celebs just happen to have also become quite solid citizens in their own right, IMO.

IOW, MSM will just have to join govt. in getting out the way of the people's desire for peace, much like Prez Ike predicted at the end of his tenure.

[Graybeard]

12. The RW will talk against us Fonda or no Fonda.

She might, however, convince people who have been silent about the invasion and occupation of Iraq, and who were strongly against the war in Nam, to speak out and become active now.

[Imagevision]

25. I for two was pissed @ her.

March? fine -- Speak? only contributed to the msm to do what they did which was to use Fonda's past to credibilty issue to the protest that was going well until she found it necessary to speak.

[jedr]

14. she's a lightning rod and has no credibility on either side;

A poster child for all that is radical on the left. Although I will get flamed, I feel there are some who are liberals who should just sit down and shut-up. Jane and Jesse Jackson are two of them.

[LeFleur1]

15. List Please

Give us a list of your approved speakers for protest marches, please.

I admire the courage and the personal sacrifices it might have taken for all of the peace marchers to show up at that place and time.
I am quite certain that you were there and that you stood and spoke. Thank you. Too many sit back and talk the talk but they never march the march. They'd rather cut those down who dare to stand up.

[jedr]

19. I was at peace marches probably before you were born;

'67 and '69, wore my Navy uniform and voiced my dissent; was gassed and beaten and swore that I would never let this happen again. You assume a lot. Jane fonda doesn't speak for me, or many Vietnam vets. It wasn't your friends that died when while Jane sat in an anti-aircraft gun in Hanoi. However well meaning she was, she made a fool of herself and the movement. That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it. You may hold your opinion and we can agree to disagree. Jesse is an whole other topic.

[LeFleur1]

32. Marchin For Peace

Hey Jedr,

I was marching back in the day, too. And my friends/relatives were dying in Viet Nam. You don't have a corner on that market. Jane Fonda may have gone about her protest against the Viet Nam war in the wrong way, but even you must admit that she brought publicity to it that hadn't been there before. She pointed out that our government was wrong and our people were dying because of the wrongness of it. Some of the anger against her seems misplaced. Those who served in Viet Nam and watched their friends die had a right to be angry. They have a right to stay angry. But their anger is directed at the wrong person, although she has been a good scapegoat for you all.

Besides, This isn't Viet Nam. This is another war because of another stupid government decision.
I emphatically do disagree with you that only certain people have the right to gather and speak for peace.

[eddiemunster]

28. Courage?

Flying in on a Learjet to speak for 10 minutes to the little people isn't courage...

[welshTerrier2]

20. here's a little hint

Kerry was a lightning rod too ... ever hear of swift-boating?

Little Bo Peep would be a lightning rod. The days of cowering in the corner because the republican's big bad spin machine might smack us down are over ...

we speak out and we say what needs to be said ... that's how it's going to be ... get used to it ...

[Botany]

22. I agree .... Fonda is about Fonda

I read about her meeting members of A.I.M. (American Indian Movement)
who had taken over Alcatraz in the 1970s. After only a few minutes she
was sitting with the Indians, smoking dope, and telling them how "outraged"
she was by how they had been treated.

In the summer of 2005 I heard her on the radio talking about her new good
friend, teen star Hilary Duff, as she was pimping her book.

Fonda she have known better then to get up and speak and the organizers
she have known better too.

[eddiemunster]

26. Correctamundo...

Agreed. Fonda is a media whore. As are the other "celebs" who were involved in this pathetic ego-driven circle jerk. Bumper sticker politics benefits no one.

[ShortnFiery]

16. That makes one of us

My brother was in critical condition from shrapnel wounds when Jane Fonda went to NORTH Vietnam. I am no raving nationalist, but I will not admire her for that act. My brother seethes hatred every time her name is mentioned.

I just don't think that younger people know how much the ENTIRE Military and their family members despised her at the time. Even today, I KNOW that "it's over" but because of my emotional torment of having a loved one over in Vietnam, I will not ever think she's anything special. Not ever, not for going to NORTH Vietnam when my brother was fighting for his life. Sorry, I know that I'm in a distinct minority, but that's how I feel.

On edit: I am sorry for how I feel but some scars don't ever fully heal. :(

[eddiemunster]

27. No apologies needed...

There are many other Dem's out there who still feel the same way.

[elizm]

29. Just so that you know.....

I'm not a younger person. I'm 54 years old. We just see things differently...and that's okay.

[Say_What]

17. Penn, Fonda, Sarandan, and Robbins--all very good--each spoke

of very important issues such as the major cutbacks on veteran services, etc. Here's a link to the text of their speeches.

<clips>

SEAN PENN: What’s Hollywood doing here today? We're here, because it’s our job, just like it’s yours. We’re Americans, and our fellow Americans are dying as we're standing here today. We are dependent on our congress, but our congress is dependent on us, and we're going to come out here in these numbers and in doubled numbers, and we're going to send our congress this message. We've heard the excuse, “if I had known then what I know now.” Well, we're here to tell them now what they have to know in 2008. And if they don't stand up and make a resolution as binding as the death toll, we're not going to be behind those politicians. We're here, and we’re going to be in local districts, and we’re going to push this until this resolution is binding, the money stops and the troops come home.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/29/1453235

[Imagevision]

23. Someone should have told Fonda to stay home, cheap move - anything for publicity

Pictures don't lie Janey, bored little rich girl, even her old man gave her shit about putting her two cents in viet nam

[ruggerson]

24. And I hear her house is HUGE n/t

[Dragonfly]

30. I am grateful that you posted

on this topic. Having recently turned 58 and still blessed with a good memory, I remember how I felt when leaving the 6-month active duty phase of Marine Corps Reserves training at Camp LeJeune in 1969. Most of the gents from ITR were bound for Vietnam. I was going back to college to change my major from history to sociology, which I hoped would open doors of understanding for me to work w/others to one day see a more peaceful world.

Idealistic? Yes. However, much of what I view now puts a vibrant tinge of transformative hope on this crucial American moment. To witness smart, passionate and highly informed people on that stage and in the vast crowd (via print and video interviews) means that the message of change is resonating beyond the November ballot box.

Bravo to the excellent shared citizenship exhibited by Jane Fonda and one-in-the-crowd "Jane Smith" from "Springfield," joined by mind and spirit on reclamation of what is good and decent about our troubled nation, no matter what their age or socioeconomic status.

[4bucksagallon]

31. I am a Vietnam vet and I have no problem with Jane Fonda speaking out.

Read my signature and you will see why. How many republicans went to Nam? Everyone of the RW talk show hosts except Oliver North, whom I despise, either had a boil, pimple or zit on their butt to keep them from going but not from raving about how we should have won that war. Bulls*** Chickenhawks are just that and at least Jane is not a chickenhawk.