Send Them Packing!

March 20, 2002 1:51 AM

Send Them Packing! That's right -- the uninformed opinions of well-known Hollywood actors have grated on you for years. They seem to love Cuba more than America. Well, with the click of a mouse, you can buy them a ticket! [more inside]
posted by dhartung (46 comments total)

It seems like a decent idea, but who would send their unencrypted credit card information to some guy on the net?
posted by gyc at 1:58 AM on March 20, 2002

Of course, the actual voting doesn't seem to correlate well with Known Obtuse Liberal Positions, as Alec Baldwin should be first in line. (Not only did he "act out" on Conan O'Brien, saying we should stone Henry Hyde and his family over the impeachment, but he keeps promising to leave America if Certain Things Happen. They happen. He's still here.) And he isn't, by a long shot; nor is the second in the "I'm Leaving! I promise!" line, director Robert Altman. Though he does spend a lot of time in London ....

Anyway, the winner of the lottery so far seems to be there out of sheer grating annoyingness, as people of all political stripes can likely agree. Maybe people are using raw acting talent as the yardstick, subverting the political will of the site's owners.

Well, then, why can't they open the bidding up to public nominations? I have a few I'd like to add. We could even vote on the destination, too. Carrot Top? The moon?

Funny. It's supposed to be funny. Laugh.
posted by dhartung at 2:00 AM on March 20, 2002

I think this is pretty stupid. I probably care more about what movie stars are doing than most people, and even I couldn't give a shit what they have to say about Henry Hyde, or any other politician or political issue. They're movie stars. Their job is to be famous. Their opinions on political issues mean nothing. They already spend more time outside the country than most US citizens anyway. And I honestly have no idea what each person listed on that website said or did against the US; the site doesn't help me out on that score either.
posted by bingo at 2:30 AM on March 20, 2002

What gyc said, and how about instead of wasting money, people who don't like the tv shows and movies these people act in just don't watch them or pay to see them in theatres.
posted by Keen at 3:29 AM on March 20, 2002

Ah. America: love it or leave it.

Now that's original. And funny. And a compelling argument. And unfortunately the only one some have, eh?

Ha.
posted by fold_and_mutilate at 3:36 AM on March 20, 2002

When Congress enacts term limits we can have term limits for those who don't theselves take what they have said with any seriousness.
posted by Postroad at 3:49 AM on March 20, 2002

I love that the guy who runs the website is so ignorant that he thinks you can buy a plane ticket from the US to Cuba (what? surely the American government wouldn't restrict where I can travel).

The fact that Whoopi Goldberg and Rosie O'Donnell (I wonder why...) are top should give you a clue about the kind of idiots who think this is a good idea.
posted by Gaz at 3:50 AM on March 20, 2002

bingo: And I honestly have no idea what each person listed on that website said or did against the US
From the website (click on an actor photo):
This originated as a site dedicated to purchasing a one-way airline ticket to a foreign country for any high profile American who indicated that they would like to leave the country if George W. Bush won the election.
Two problems quickly developed: (1) Many actors quoted and reputed to saying they were going to leave the country have denied the words attributed to them and (2) many very out-spoken anti-Bush actors have not uttered the words but have been equally bombastic and have offended the sensibilities of many Americans.
Therefore, this list will include those who have reportedly indicated they had a desire to leave the country and those who have been submitted for inclusion in the list based upon requests by visitors to this site and the judgement of the webmaster.

In other words if you are anti-Bush you are anti USA... how enlightened. Note the "offended the sensibilities of many Americans" part...
posted by talos at 3:53 AM on March 20, 2002

Yeah, register those horrible leftists and put them in camps, or at least stop them from entering the USA once they've left it!

Now, there's an ugly fascist streak in the opinions of some freedom lovers. Exclude, clean, kill!

And Cuba of course still poses a real threat to the USA :-)
posted by selanna at 4:02 AM on March 20, 2002

I'm surprised that many of you haven't torn an ACL or two with all of your kneejerking.

Calling bullcrap on all of the people who threatened to leave if Bush won isn't out of line, it's accurate. They said they'd go, but none of them did. The idea that Alec Baldwin ought to be held accountable for a death wish made on national television isn't so far-fetched, either. The notion that Barbra Streisand hasn't the knowledge nor the experience to be left unchecked when she's sent 50+ page memos to members of congress to outline strategy she suggests for reclaiming a democratic majority and defeating republican legislative initiatives isn't exclusive to the lunatic fringe of the right.

Meanwhile, this site is a poorly written (this guy's grasp on grammar and spelling are about on par with the average fifth grader) attempt at turning the tables on these people who have used their bully pulpit of celebrity to make some really outrageous comments about this nation. In the main, it's nothing to get all that upset about, if only because of its obvious amateurishness and lack of plausible, possible effect. It might have been nice, however, if a discussion of the concept of celebrities as arbiters of national policy might've arisen instead of the typical spate of name-calling and finger pointing.

They're movie stars. Their job is to be famous. Their opinions on political issues mean nothing.

If only that were true. Celebrities have a lot more influence on the uninformed/unthinking members of the electorate than many of the more politically savvy may know or wish to think possible. They know it, that's why they make every effort to get their opinions out there whenever possible. The candidates know it, that's why they're glad to have smiling celebrity faces on their stages and podiums and on the pre-recorded phone messages that the auto-dialers generate the week before an election. (I know that I'm not the only one who picked up the phone to hear "Hi, I'm Ed Asner...")
posted by Dreama at 4:50 AM on March 20, 2002

If only this site had existed before Ronald Reagan embarked upon his political career.

it's pathetic. laugh.
posted by riviera at 4:53 AM on March 20, 2002

Yeah, this is funny...
(From the same site) 'To Be A Good Democrat ...'
You have to believe the AIDS virus is spread by a lack of federal funding...[we know how it's spread: we need funds to prevent it]

You have to believe that the same teacher who can't teach 4th graders how to read is somehow qualified to teach those same kids about sex.....[so - teach them about sex yourself. What? you're embarassed? But it's your kids life we're talking about here!]

You have to believe that gender roles are artificial but being homosexual is natural...[Well, how many cyborg gays have you met?]

You have to believe that homosexual parades displaying drag, transvestites and bestiality should be constitutionally protected and manger scenes at Christmas should be illegal....[Bestiality? uh, I know of some religious rites which act out cannibalism in the US, but bestiality is a new slur on me. Keep your cutesy manger scenes, fairy tales didn't harm many people.]

... or you could call it obsessive, mean, biased, hateful, ignorant, selective, insecure, irrational and sad. It's up to you.
posted by dash_slot- at 5:01 AM on March 20, 2002

(Ok, I take back the gratuitous anti-catholic jibe, it's gonna de-rail the thread. Sorry.)
posted by dash_slot- at 5:07 AM on March 20, 2002

My favorite part? They only came up with "clever" nicknames for a few of the deportees.

"C'mon, man. I came up with 'Guns O'Donnell'. It's your turn. Pick one for Robert Altman!"

"Ummmmm...how about 'Camera Guy?'...I'll work on it."
posted by ColdChef at 5:19 AM on March 20, 2002

The idea that Alec Baldwin ought to be held accountable for a death wish made on national television isn't so far-fetched, either.

How do you propose that we hold Baldwin accountable for a comedy skit on a late-night program? I've seen that skit and it's clearly a joke. I love it when people are selectively humorless when it suits their politics.
posted by rcade at 5:24 AM on March 20, 2002

A comedy skit? Baldwin was not doing a skit, he was in the middle of an interview and he started walking around Leno's set ranting like a madman. If he was joking, then he's a much worse actor than I thought, because his point wasn't coming across at all. (Not to mention that there's nothing comedic about wishing death on an elected offical and his family.) I watched it in a hotel room in London with my mouth agape at what the hell was happening back here, and considering just staying abroad. Skit my great aunt fanny.
posted by Dreama at 5:54 AM on March 20, 2002

Yeah. I remember that. It was no skit. Alec just went a little "Billy Baldwin." He probably though it was a joke, but it spooked Conan.
posted by ColdChef at 6:04 AM on March 20, 2002

And of course, Rogers, so is this website. A bad joke -- but can you really say an undeserved one?

Speaking as a liberal pragmatist, bloviating idiots like Alec Baldwin give the left a black eye -- and anybody who thought his "skit" was funny ought to take a good long look in the mirror. I was appalled. And I think a party that takes these people seriously is either blinded by celebrity or silenced by money.

I'd just as soon make fun of them as listen to more of the same. They don't constitute a Decent Left. Worst of all, they're a bourgeouis elite that would rather jet off for Europe than stand up for their values, stand up for the "people" for whom they presume to speak. Do we (either America, or the American left, as you prefer) really need them? Shouldn't we call bullshit on this?

Of course, such a critique would be much better coming from a friendly camp. But it really doesn't. In fact, people actively defend Baldwin, or shudder Ted Rall. And so a website like this exists, catering mainly to a polarized, reactionary cadre, who have been given the impression that these folks represent the rest of us.

The left shouldn't be so wimpy that it can't take a joke, but MeFi proves again and again that it, at least, cannot. Sets my teeth on edge, it does.
posted by dhartung at 6:17 AM on March 20, 2002

Thank you, Yoda.
posted by NortonDC at 6:36 AM on March 20, 2002

The left shouldn't be so wimpy that it can't take a joke, but MeFi proves again and again that it, at least, cannot. Sets my teeth on edge, it does.

Oh please, spare us! C'mon dhartung, don't pretend like your link was anything less than a rather thinly veiled troll. By the way, I'm not obligated to fit into whatever silly preconcieved

In all fairness, we should have the option to deport the right wing nut celebs along with the leftist Hollywood phonies. Shouldn't we start a fund to send Charlton Heston to Afghanistan?

Anyone who takes celebrity political opinions seriously needs to have their heads examined anyway.
posted by mark13 at 6:47 AM on March 20, 2002

"They voted on one article of impeachment already. And I come back from Africa to stained dresses and cigars and this and impeachment. I am thinking to myself, in other countries they are laughing at us 24 hours a day and I’m thinking to myself, if we were in other countries, we would all right now, all of us together, [starts to shout] all of us together would go down to Washington and we would stone Henry Hyde to death! We would stone him to death! [crowd cheers] Wait! Shut up! Shut up! No shut up! I’m not finished. We would stone Henry Hyde to death and we would go to their homes and we’d kill their wives and their children. We would kill their families. [stands up, yelling] What is happening in this country? What is happening? UGHHH!"

Cutting to the supposed punch line, O’Brien then jumped up and put an air mask over Baldwin’s mouth to calm him down.

That doesn't sounds like a rehearsed skit to everyone? Or do you think that stupid television host keeps a mask around for such purposes and that a guest so dangerously impassioned would let the goofy host literally muzzle him with it?

And he said "if we were in other countries, we would all right now, all of us together..." [stone Hyde and family]. Which is probably true. I haven't made a great study of stoning -- it's just a little hobby of mine -- but I'm confident that a crowd in countries other than Baldwin's just might stone Hyde and imbeciles like him. Or might stone Baldwin. Or both.

What's the alternative? Is anyone (besides these monkeys) dim enough to think this actor would really lead a stoning mob through Washington? Or that he earnestly wished someone else would? Even the FBI isn't that dim or they would have arrested him long ago.

He's a fucking actor. I don't believe I've ever seen any of his movies, but it appears that he's paid millions of dollars for his skill in making audiences believe that he believes what he's saying, no matter how stupid the premise. But if you still believe it after the show is over and the lights are turned up, someone needs to sit you down and explain to you how the movies and television and fiction work.
posted by pracowity at 6:58 AM on March 20, 2002

mark13: Charlton Heston hasn't threatened to leave the country. This isn't about deporting anyone. It's about offering someone a plane ticket -- an offer expected to be refused. It's street theater aimed at persons who have invited it (well, and a few who haven't, either).

Nor was my post intended as a troll. I even did my level best (see my continued post) to direct discussion away from politics, focusing on the funny aspects. Was it intended to let MeFites know that there's a wide world out there that doesn't indulge in the same groupthink that's shocked, shocked there are other opinions out there? Yes. That's a troll. Hell, Baldwin's skit was a god-damned troll, no question.

The stupid thing is that Henry Hyde wasn't the leader of the lynch mob, as Baldwin supposed (and Salon performed the lay-up with its expose). Hyde was the reasonable one, the one who didn't want the impeachment trial, the one with whom Charles Ruff tried to negotiate a deal that would result in censure. Hyde didn't have room to negotiate away constitutional duties of his committee, though. (See The Breach.) And once the vote was taken he took up the task of prosecution. If there was anybody in that crowd who knew the awful bad joke this whole thing was going to become, it was Hyde. If Baldwin wanted to stone anyone, it should have been Tom DeLay, because he cooked up the whole let's force an impeachment strategy -- but DeLay didn't seek out the cameras, and Hyde (who didn't either) couldn't avoid them in his role as Chairman. (Again, see The Breach.) So he became the focus of this witless attack, in the twilight of an otherwise respected career.

Pracowity: Don't construct a straw man. I don't believe he was actually calling for assassination -- he was making a joke in terrible taste. So he can make 'em -- but can he take 'em?
posted by dhartung at 7:34 AM on March 20, 2002

oh great, another anti-democrat propoganda site. lots of people have opinions you don't agree with, and you don't have to make a website or call in The Savage Nation everytime it happens.

and yes, I get the joke. it just isn't funny.
posted by mcsweetie at 7:41 AM on March 20, 2002

> Don't construct a straw man.

I construct nothing. I was responding to at least two posters (not counting you) who acted as if they believe it wasn't just a comedy skit.

> -- he was making a joke in terrible taste

Now you say that. First you said he was "acting out," whatever that means. Not joking?

And I don't know whether he can "take 'em," but I have no reason to believe he can't. I do know that his joke (probably written by the writing team on that television show), while not hilarious, is funnier and smarter than the web page.
posted by pracowity at 7:56 AM on March 20, 2002

Geeeeeeeeez. I've had my share of disagreements with dhartung, but please. This site is just a silly joke (an unapologetically partisan joke, but who fucking cares?); my one wish is that it were a better exectued joke ("booger-eating leftists" . . . oh, ouchie!). All of the righteous indignation in the thread is pretty ridiculous.

People are actually getting worked up over Alec Baldwin? Good lord. He's just as sensible and/or full of shit as any other opinionated person you never met, like, say, any given Metafilter poster.
posted by Skot at 8:00 AM on March 20, 2002

Was it intended to let MeFites know that there's a wide world out there that doesn't indulge in the same groupthink that's shocked, shocked there are other opinions out there? Yes.

Now, that's a little patronizing; most of us can find freerepublic on our own, for stuff like this. Where you see street theater, I see another internet poll to vote for your least favorite liberal celeb, with no cleverness in content or design. Perhaps it does make the case for why so many entertainers are liberals. Most conservatives and moderates just aren't good at being funny or creative. I'll admit they kick ass at kicking ass, though.
posted by liam at 8:12 AM on March 20, 2002

dhartung: Among those who defended Ted Rall, or at least indicated that they empathized with his position, in the linked thread were two conservatives: Aaron and Dreama. Just FYI.
posted by raysmj at 8:29 AM on March 20, 2002

'NOVEMBER MEN' with Robert Davi addresses the assassination thingy. sister-in-law goes to cuba yearly, thinking about real estate after fidel crokes. It no paradise i dont think dharts post was trollish. hes addressing a very real issue, how some recognized people flirt with politics and stumble up. Redford and Newman were considered pinko commies by Nixon and others (though, redford in 'The Castle' him dying at the base of the flag made me ill) i stared to like baldwin after he did the SNL skits....the bill brassky bit...jesus i cry tears everytime i see that.
posted by clavdivs at 9:09 AM on March 20, 2002

Considering the lowly position of actors just 100 or 200 years ago, if you went back and told someone then that actors would be the highest paid, most widely disseminated public figures, they would just laugh. And laugh and laugh.

And PS, Baldwin's a real jerk. I got into an argument with him at a wine store on the upper west side in New York once. He seems like a prima donna desperate for attention and desperate to be taken seriously. His politics seems about as deep as a toddler's wading pool. And just as full of shit.

Why we take any actor seriously is beyond me.
posted by evanizer at 9:29 AM on March 20, 2002

Yeah, actors are morons! You should probably ignore them on principle: )
posted by Skot at 9:42 AM on March 20, 2002

Any actor?
posted by brittney at 9:44 AM on March 20, 2002

pracowity: Yes, "acting out" a tasteless joke. There's a distinction? I even used scare quotes to indicate it was posturing.

liam: I said that was a troll. What do you need, <flash> tags?
posted by dhartung at 10:23 AM on March 20, 2002

Previously on Metafilter.

I personally talked about moving to Sweden if Reagan were re-elected. He was, I'm still here. Canada was also an option, one I didn't even need an airplane to get to. Still here. ;-)

I honestly don't think that Bush Jr. is in the same league, pissing-liberals-off-wise, as Reagan.
posted by dhartung at 5:35 PM PST on September 6 [2000]

Gotta love that hindsight stuff.
posted by ceiriog at 11:47 AM on March 20, 2002

two words : who cares.
posted by Satapher at 12:14 PM on March 20, 2002

dhartung: I personally talked about moving to Sweden if Reagan were re-elected. He was, I'm still here. Canada was also an option, one I didn't even need an airplane to get to. Still here. ;-)

Airline ticket purchase contributions, anyone?

Stewardess to Mr. dhartung: No sir, you can't carry on that black kettle you got there in your luggage. It won't fit under the seat.

Laugh. It's getting funnier.
posted by fold_and_mutilate at 1:05 PM on March 20, 2002

God, foldy, you are just so FUNNY! Anytime I see your handle here I just LAUGH!

Ahem.

Apologies, Skot. There are exceptions to my 'actorz r dumm' crack above. But I've made several films and, coming from the directoral end of production, actors are the enemy! ;-P
posted by evanizer at 1:23 PM on March 20, 2002

Folks round these parts don't take too kindly to you big city Baldwins. (mp3)
posted by euphorb at 1:26 PM on March 20, 2002

And ceirog wins the prize. Yes, I thought this was funny at 5 a.m. for rather obvious reasons, no? I did genuinely, sincerely try to create a funny thread. I even tried to save it. I thought the idea was non-threatening and amusing and had applications beyond politics.

And in this thread I have attacked no one but Alec Baldwin. With a side of Ted Rall.

And yes, I can laugh at myself 18 years ago. Thanks for asking.
posted by dhartung at 3:27 PM on March 20, 2002

Well, it wasn't that funny to begin with but it does get better with every comment--especially after the part about Barbra Streisand and her 50+ page memos...
< /irony>
posted by y2karl at 3:56 PM on March 20, 2002

The "one-way-ticket" routine has been tried before- by East Germany, with protest singer Wolf Biermann.

"In 1972, following a concert in West Germany, he was stripped of his GDR citizenship and refused permission to return. He was one of the first exiled artists to return to East Berlin after the collapse of the Communist régime in the fall of 1989."

That's an East German joke! Hilarious! Conservative! Hippie with a guitar! Is everybody happy?
posted by sheauga at 6:57 PM on March 20, 2002

How do we know they haven't gone? Rich people can go anywhere. This girl I know's parents are always traipsing this way and that in Europe--rarely it seems, ever at home. Rosie I guess would be the exception, unless she hightails it nightly to some butch Tijuana cantina. These people would be coming and going whether they'd stuck their feet in their collective mouth or not. Or is that collective foot in their mouths?
posted by crasspastor at 7:37 PM on March 20, 2002

Gaz: "I love that guy who runs the website is so ignorant that he thinks you can buy a plane ticket from the US to Cuba..."

Perhaps I've misunderstood your post, but it's not illegal to go to Cuba and there are several flights each week from the US that will get you there.
posted by G_Ask at 9:35 PM on March 20, 2002

it's not illegal to go to Cuba and there are several flights each week from the US that will get you there.

Well, you need a permit from the Office of Foreign Assets Control if you want to spend any money in Cuba. That means that an ordinary person, who doesn't have a free place to stay there, and free food etc, is not allowed to go. I don't think that Alec Baldwin is eligible for a permit, so he effectively could not go. Here are the regulations in pdf form.
posted by Gaz at 8:02 AM on March 21, 2002

"Considering the lowly position of actors just 100 or 200 years ago" from the 1850s until roughly 1865 the american stage was dominated by three brothers, whom were very well paid and extremely talented. They were the Booths brothers. One did a very bad thing.
posted by clavdivs at 8:49 AM on March 21, 2002

God, foldy, you are just so FUNNY! Anytime I see your handle here I just LAUGH!

Ah, I gotcha. How fun! You giggle when double standards and/or hypocrisy are pointed out for you!

I'll be happy to continue to do that for you. It's really no problem.
posted by fold_and_mutilate at 2:33 AM on March 22, 2002

Dreama: The skit you claim to have watched was on Conan O'Brien's show, not the Tonight Show. Also, the only way to believe it wasn't a joke was to believe that O'Brien keeps an oxygen mask on hand to calm agitated guests.

As I said before, I love it when people lose their sense of humor for political reasons. Especially when it was so blindingly obvious that Baldwin was doing a skit -- anyone who has ever watched O'Brien's show knows that launching a gag from the guest's chair is common.

Speaking as a liberal pragmatist, bloviating idiots like Alec Baldwin give the left a black eye -- and anybody who thought his "skit" was funny ought to take a good long look in the mirror.

dhartung: You've become really heavy-handed in your rhetoric these days. I should take a long look in the mirror because I recognized that Baldwin was kidding and was amused by the concept of a self-important bloviating actor going on a crazed, Howard Beale style tirade? Take your own advice and learn to take a joke.

There's a funny site in the concept of skewering the political pronouncements of celebrities, but Send Them Packing isn't it.
posted by rcade at 10:27 AM on March 22, 2002