The Right's Obsession With Sean Penn

I've heard actor Sean Penn's name mentioned more times in the past couple days than I had for the past several months combined. Oddly enough, most of these sources were from conservative media outlets. What is it about Sean Penn? Whenever I hear a Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, or Bill O'Reilly talk about Hollywood celebrities, why is it that Sean Penn is almost always one the mentioned names? Alec Baldwin, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, and George Clooney are others I often hear mentioned.

I read a friend's blog the other day and she mentioned the Mel Gibson drunken episode and then compared it to Sean Penn's history of domestic violence. I did some research and although I don't have the exact date, somewhere in between 1985 and 1989 when Sean Penn was married to Madonna, he was charged with domestic assault. The initial charge was a felony, but it then got settled as a misdemeanor charge. So, this was between 17 and 21 years ago. He's been married to actress Robin Wright since 1996 with no domestic violence charges. So, they've been married for 10 years and have two kids. Of every celebrity, why Sean Penn? Why not O.J. Simpson? Michael Jackson? Arnold Schwarzenegger? Mike Tyson? Bill O'Reilly? Rush Limbaugh? Pee Wee Herman (Paul Reubens)? Why Sean Penn? While I completely agree that Gibson's drunken stupidity is nothing compared to domestic violence, again, why of everyone did she pick Sean Penn? I've heard his name I don't know how many times in the past 2-3 days. The funny part is, his upcoming movie, a remake called "All The King's Men" doesn't even have previews out yet. I haven't seen them, anyway. While Penn did have a history of violence some 15-25 years ago, it sounds like he has improved himself and his way of life.

That wasn't even the post that bugged me, because again, I completely agree that Gibson's idiocy while drunk wasn't nearly as big a deal as a domestic assault crime. But, today, I read a bulletin on myspace that told the story of actor Denzel Washington visiting some wounded soldiers in 2004 and writing a big check out to them on the spot. At the tail-end of the story, it wrote something along the lines of, "Why is a great story like this not on the front page of the newspaper and anti-American trash like Sean Penn, Alec Baldwin, and others are?" Well, I did some research on this story, as well. While it's true that Denzel did in fact visit the soldiers on that day, he did not write a check on the spot and the hospital was aided by several donors outside of Washington. Again, why Sean Penn? What's the big deal about this guy? I did some more research, and here's what I discovered.

Sean Penn sent a $56,000 advertisement to the Washington Post on October 18, 2002, asking Bush to end the cycle of violence. He visited Iraq briefly in December of 2002 and then again a year later, Iran in June of 2005, and New Orleans in September of 2005 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. He was involved in several rescues and donated money to the victims, yet again, he was criticized because he brought along a cameraman and a Rolling Stone writer.

Penn has been outspoken against the Iraq War and how Bush and his administration are running things in Washington. How this makes him "anti-American," I haven't the slightest idea. Questioning authority, speaking out against a decision made by a president, ensuring that the first amendment still lives is not "anti-American" in any sense of the word. It's those who claim this to be "anti-American" who are themselves anti-American. Sean Penn's name is just another point that our media is anything but liberal. Any celebrity who speaks out against the war or the president in any way will get bashed and smeared by the so-called "liberal" media. I've learned that neo-conservatives have such a simplistic ideology ("You're either with us or against us!") that they believe anything that is not conservatively-biased (namely, Fox News), is liberally biased. So, anything outside of Fox News and certain radio programs are all liberally-biased. Just because an outlet is not conservatively-biased does not mean that it's liberally-biased. Just because one isn't happy with a Republican president does not mean they are a Democrat. There is such a thing as just reporting the news as it is, whether a Republican or a Democrats does or says something stupid, the news is reported. The fact that the president, his administration, the senate, and house are all controlled by the Republican majority makes them more susceptible from a numbers standpoint to having news (good or bad) stated about them on the air.

Link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Penn